The Hammerhead Times RUN JOSH!!! THE MINI IS COMING!!! An IAC 36 Publication THE MINIFEST: BORN 1990, STILL TICKING. The San Diego Hammerheads IAC 36

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1 Volume 1 Issue 3 The Hammerhead Times An IAC 36 Publication March 2007 CHAPTER OFFICERS Randy Owens President rdowens@sbcglobal.net Pete Thompson Vice-President Petethompson2@cox.net Gray Brandt Secretary graybrandt@yahoo.com Bill Hill Treasurer hillgroup@cox.net DIRECTORS Bill Bancroft n77tw@aol.com Reinaldo Beyer rwbeyer@pacbell.net Dennis Foster dfoster8@earthlink.net Jenner Knight jknight1@san.rr.com Malcolm Pond malpond@earthlink.net PRESIDENT EMERITUS Bob Branch n69tw@cox.net WEBMASTER Randy Owens rdowens@sbcglobal.net NEWSLETTER EDITOR Yolandi Jooste yjooste@gmail.com RUN JOSH!!! THE MINI IS COMING!!! In this Issue *The MiniFest * A note from the President * A Lesson from Bill Hill * Snaps and Tumbles * FYI * And the Other Stuff * A Note from the Editor The San Diego Hammerheads IAC 36 THE MINIFEST: BORN 1990, STILL TICKING Here comes the first Chapter 36 contest of 2007: April The Borrego MiniFest has been a Chapter fixture for so long it may seem as much a tradition as the Akrofest itself. In fact, the chapter had been hosting Regional contests for almost fifteen years by the time the first Mini was announced in The Mini was the dream child of five influential chapter members: Bob Branch, Bruce Laurie, Finn Jensen, George Eaton and Bob Thiessen, all Advanced pilots. Although the idea was not entirely novel, it was new to the southern California aerobatic community: start the year off by hosting a contest for the least experienced competitors, just Primary (called Basic then) and Sportsman. The aim was to create a less intimidating environment than offered

2 by the standard Regional. You ve seen it: gangs of Unlimited pilots striding down the ramp, pushing lowly Sportsman hopefuls into the grass. One unique element among Primary-Sportsman contests the Chapter would apply for IAC sanction, a move that had significant consequence. It meant the contest would have full IAC recognition and the insurance coverage required by the County of San Diego, but at a price: the Chapter would have to cover the standard costs of a Regional, despite a Mini-sized competitor list. In addition to promising financial loss, it was also clear the contest would be a labor of love none of the competitors would qualify to work, and none the workers would qualify to fly. How would we get anyone to show up and volunteer? Enter Sportsman II an unknown sequence scheduled to be flown after the last Sportsman flight on Saturday. The pilots would be the Intermediate and Advanced contest volunteers; the prize would be bragging rights. Yes, I won Sportsman II. No, it s not Sportsman. It s well, let me explain As was the case for the first four or five Mini s, the first event was a two-day affair, run much like a standard Regional. The contestant list is probably lost forever, but I do remember Sportsman II. It was four Intermediate unknowns, flown back-to-back by each competitor. New to Intermediate, I was up against a slew of Advanced pilots, with little hope of success and the likelihood of lots of zeros. Until several of the Advanced crew including Branch and Laurie decided they would try their luck in a Decathlon, square loops, snaps and all. That decision tipped the scales, and I got lucky. Through the years, the Mini has proved its worth time and again by giving dozens of new competitors a low-impact starting point. The trophy wall at Sunrise displays lots of tributes to the success of the concept: past winners include notables Jon Nash, Tom Wade, Dennis Foster and Steve Smith, all of whom stayed in the sport and added considerable value. In the late 90s the decision was made to limit the contest to Saturday only, in the hope that a shorter contest would attract more pilots and volunteers. Three flights in a single day require lots of stamina on both sides of the starting line, but the concept has proven workable. An unfortunate casualty of this decision was the Sportsman II event. Three years ago, Joanne and Bill Bancroft started a grand new tradition: the contest banquet/party was held at their magnificent Casa Fabulosa del Desert Aeropuerto. You have to be there to understand the value. If we call it a tradition, Joanne and Bill will have to do it forever. And finally, a new twist for 2007: thanks to good attendance at the recent Intro to Judging school at Sunrise, it looks like we will have five brand new aerobatic judges on the line this April. So the contest will serve to christen not only new pilots, but new judges as well. New judges always score really high, so this will be great! As always, we need pilots and volunteers. Come on out practice all day Friday and fly into the record books on Saturday. See you there! Why do they always have to have the briefings at 7 AM? -Michael Church A Note From the President Borrego Minifest Dreams... My first contest was the Borrego Minifest back in I was ready to go. I had completed the Basic Aerobatics course at Sunrise Aviation and was starting the Intermediate Course with one of my favorite instructors of all time: Bill Hill. Bill talked me into attending that first contest. He told me that it would be a lot of fun and it was a great first contest. I thought to myself that I didn t really know if I cared to compete. I mean, why do it? I had no aspirations of glory. I thought about it, and I think I decided to compete for the same reasons that I learned to fly in the first place: the fun and the challenge. It s an interesting combination of motivators, and for all us noncouch-potato-types, those two things are huge motivators.

3 I hitched a ride out to Borrego with my business partner who had just completed his instrument rating. There was actually a little bit of actual on the way there. I think he was just as nervous about the clouds as I was about competing. When we got to the contest, good old N5535K was already there and waiting for me. At the time, this was the premier Decathlon on the line at Sunrise. It was Bill Hill s baby and he kept it as nice as any rental ever was. N5535K and I had been out to the Blockhouse just about everyday for a week before that first contest just to make sure we were both ready. I wanted to make sure I knew the plane, and I wanted to have that sequence down (all 5 figures: a spin, a loop, a 90 degree 90, a slow-roll, and a 270 turn, if I recall correctly). Sitting through the briefing the first day, I was wondering if I really understood everything (could find the hold, can I keep it in the box, etc.). I had a couple of dumb questions for Bill and he answered everything in his normal calm and patient manner. My turn came around and I remember flying in from the hold (yes, I did find it). On the way in, I thought, judges: who cares? This flight is for me. It was a blast. Somehow flying at the contest made the activity more fun than it already was. It was over before it began. I was back on the ground, and I had a huge smile on my face. I have a couple of pictures of me next to N5535K just after that flight, and I m ear-to-ear. I was surprised to see the results come out: I was in first place after that first flight and I stayed there for the whole contest. My week of hardcore practice in the Blockhouse paid off! Fast forward to the present day: I fly Intermediate and I need to practice a lot more than the week prior to the contest to even come in the top half of the field. I can t remember the last time I flew a Decathlon, and if I flew one now, it probably wouldn t be pretty. I think a reasonably competent Sportsman Decathlon driver would chew me up and spit me out. Even though I no longer compete in the Minifest, I still look forward to that contest every year. It s my first opportunity to get out to a contest and reconnect with many old friends who I might not have seen since the last contest in October. The fun that I mentioned earlier is still to be found at the Minifest. Every year, I ve come back, I ve volunteered, doing whatever needed to be done, and I usually end up on the judging line as an assistant. This year, I expect that I may have that judge s credential in hand before the Minifest comes around. Now, my new challenge: being a fair and critical judge to all the contestants. As in all prior years, I am looking forward to the Minifest. If you compete at the Sportsman or Primary level, come on out. If you are thinking about competing and haven t yet, this is the perfect first contest (I speak from experience): come on out. If you don t want to compete or fly Intermediate or above, there s still plenty of reasons to come on out and enjoy the day in Borrego with friends and airplanes. I hope to see you there! A LESSON FROM BILL HILL -Randy Owens Bill Hill is an Aerobatic Instructor at Sunrise Aviation, based out of John Wayne Airport, Ca. He has 12 years experience flying competition aerobatics in a Super Decathlon and has logged over 2000 hours of aerobatic instruction. As an aerobatic instructor and competitor, he has encouraged a lot of pilots and got them interested in competition aerobatics. Some of these pilots have moved on to be National Competitors. If you missed Bill Hill s last article, you can read it at under the Club Newsletters. His first article starts on January 2007.

4 AEROBATIC INSTRUCTOR The International Aerobatic Club (IAC) official contest rules encourage each competitor to signal readiness and intent to start a sequence using wing dips. However, no penalty shall be incurred if this signal is omitted. The standardized signal to the judges is a distinct dipping of the wing (3) times immediately one after the other and maybe performed in horizontal, climbing, or descending flight. The most common wing dip is to roll the airplane from side-toside, for example left wing down followed by right wing down and repeat three times. An alternative wing dip is to roll into the crosswind (windward) with top rudder (left roll, right rudder) to hold your heading on the x-axis then back to wings level and repeat three (3) times. The one direction wing dip will give you more time to assess your position relative to the aerobatic box boundaries. There is no criterion for the amount of bank used during the wing dip, but from the judges perspective, more is better. The wing dip is what your instructor called a Dutch roll. It needs to be practiced. Being able to maintain heading while rolling to bank angles of degrees should be your goal. When flying the Primary Sequence, I approach the box on the x-axis into the contest wind at 4,000 feet AGL with full throttle and trimmed nose down. Most competition aerobatics pilots trim their airplanes nose down (nose heavy). This forces you to hold back pressure on the stick to fly a level (constant altitude) line using the sight picture through the windshield. It will guard against inadvertent climbs in turbulence and will put the airplane in better trim for vertical up lines and inverted attitudes. In the Super Decathlon I trim for a full throttle, hands off, descending 140 mph IAS with the propeller set at 2600 rpm. There are no heading penalties outside the box. Once I have corrected my position for the expected drift across the box as I fly the Primary sequence along the x-axis, I line up heading parallel to the x-axis boundary line and prepare to enter the box. I begin my descent at full throttle when the dive attitude to the far end y-axis aerobatic box boundary is 45-degrees. A common mistake is to begin the first figure before reaching the aerobatic box boundary line. During the descent I execute my three (3) wing dips starting signal, level off at whatever airspeed (NOT TO EXCEED 200 mph IAS) I attain in the descent to 3,000 feet AGL, and focus on entering the aerobatic box wings level on heading. A common mistake is to begin the first figure before reaching the aerobatic box boundary line. In the Super Decathlon you are not inside the box until the visible box boundary line corner marker on your left or right side is behind the rear wing strut. I start the first figure, the 45-degree line up looking straight ahead and counting off 3-seconds after entering the aerobatic box. During the 3-second count off I lock in my heading with rudder, lock in wings level with lateral stick (aileron) and hold level flight with longitudinal stick (elevator). The most common error here is using left aileron (bank) instead of left rudder to control heading. Right yaw will occur when the airplane is in a high speed, 1-G environment. This right yawing tendency must be countered with left rudder, not left aileron. At the end of the 3-second count-off I make a brisk 4-G pull up and freeze the stick position. I am looking to spike the 4-G mark on the initial pull and not to sustain 4 -G s throughout the pitch up (loop) to the 45-degree line. During the first 20-degrees of pitch up I use my peripheral vision to monitor the area approximately 20-degrees left and right of the nose to keep the wings level. During the pull the nose will always want to yaw to right due to the propeller s gyroscopic precession. This right yaw is countered with left rudder, not left aileron. If you use left aileron prior to the pull to counter the right yaw associated with high speed and then incorrectly use more left aileron to counter the right yaw caused by gyroscopic forces during the pull, the airplane will be in a significant left roll/right yaw condition as it approaches the 45-degree up line. As soon as there is nothing but sky in the front window, I immediately shift my focus from dead ahead to the left horizon. You must learn to control pitch, roll and heading/yaw while looking 90 degrees away from your flight path by referring to the relationship between the wing tip or sight gauge and the horizon. During and after the pull to the 45-degree line, pitch is

5 always controlled by longitudinal stick and the relationship between the left wing tip chord line or sight gauge 45 degree reference and the horizon. Roll is always controlled by lateral stick and the relationship between the left wing tip or sight gauge and a spot on the horizon. Yaw is always controlled by rudder and the fore and aft movement of the horizon along the left wing tip chord or sight gauge 45-degree reference. Upon reaching the 45-degree line up I freeze the pitch attitude. Fixing pitch attitude errors during the climb will result in further grading score deductions. I continue to monitor the relationship between the left wing tip or sight gauge and the horizon for pitch, roll and yaw until I push to level flight. The next figure is the spin, so I cap off the 45-degree line up at an airspeed that sets me up for the spin entry as soon as I close the throttle. In the Super Decathlon I hold the 45-degree line up until the airspeed bleeds down to 80 mph IAS. During the push to level flight attitude I switch my focus back over the nose. The nose will always want to yaw to the left due to the propeller gyroscopic forces, so be ready to use right rudder to maintain heading. I keep the wings level and briskly push over just enough to maintain a 200 fpm climb. Too much pitch over the top will result in a descending line before the spin. Too little pitch and the airplane will slow down and sag below the level line. The judges are looking for either of these mistakes. It takes practice and coaching to achieve a consistent and proper cap off to the level flight attitude. The 45-degree line up should be completed in the first third of the aerobatic box with an altitude gain of about 500 feet. Level off in reference to airspeed and not altitude. I will enter the spin at or about the center of the aerobatic box with no perceptual climb or descent before or during the yaw into the spin. Grading points will be deducted if you allow a noticeable pitch up on entry. At no time does the aerobatic pilot want the airplane to settle in a maneuver, and in the case of the Super Decathlon you will achieve the cleanest spin entry out of a 200 fpm climb. I cap off the 45-degree line up in a gradual climb, close the throttle and enter the spin at a speed of mph IAS. The climb does not last long enough for there to be a noticeable altitude gain in the eyes of the judges. Spin entry is a brisk full rudder input followed by full back stick. The airplane yaws and the airspeed decays rapidly into a clean stall with no pitch up. This produces a smooth unforced entry into the spin s autorotation. If you allow the Super Decathlon to sag into the spin entry or stall before it yaws, the result will be a sloppy hunting entry into an initial steep spiral that will probably not go into autorotation within the one turn. The result will be at the very least a low score and a zero if the judges do not see an autorotation. At the ½ turn point I ease the stick forward to lower the nose and accelerate the spin rate. Passing the ¾ turn point, I apply full opposite rudder and upon reaching the one turn heading, it s forward stick to break the stall and set the vertical down attitude, full in-spin rudder back to rudder centered, full throttle, and hold the vertical down line to 140 mph IAS. Then I make a 4-G loop entry pull to level flight and exit the spin at about mph IAS ready for the next figure in the sequence. During the spin recovery, if you do not develop the habit of inputting in-spin rudder before centering the rudder the airplane will not always stabilize wings parallel to the ground (horizon). This is more of a problem during the one and one quarter spin recovery, but you want to practice the best techniques from the beginning. Do not hesitate advancing full throttle when the spin rotation stops. This will stabilize the vertical down line and accelerate the airplane to your exit speed with the least loss of altitude. I expect to loose feet in the spin. The cleaner and quicker the spin entry is, the smaller the altitude loss. It is important that you be able to spin equally well to the left and the right. Always yaw into the y-axis crosswind and if there is no crosswind, yaw toward the judges line. The spin entry to the right will be quicker because propeller precession pushes the nose down. This results in a more vertical down attitude and a faster rotation rate in the first turn. Things happen faster to the right, but the transition to the vertical down attitude is easier because the airplane is closer to vertical when the wing unstalls. How do you know when the airplane is vertical? The only way you really know what vertical is to the judg-

6 es on the ground is to have your critiquer or coach tell you over the radio when the airplane s attitude is vertical down. Until then, there are ways to get it close. The vertical line is established by the zero lift line, which in the Super Decathlon is the wing tip chord line, the line between the trailing edge and the leading edge stagnation point. If you have a sight gauge, lay the vertical reference on the horizon. It is not a good idea to look away from the ground when you are pointed at the ground, so I would practice setting the vertical line at altitude, power-off and then looking over the nose and memorizing the vertical line sight picture. In the Super Decathlon, the cowl and spinner will be past vertical. With practice and critiquing from the ground you will learn what the down line vertical attitude is looking over the nose. That s it for this month. Next month I will discuss the ½ Cuban and more. Biography Snaps and Tumbles By Jon Nash -Bill Hill Competing primarily in a Pitts S2B, Extra 300, and Edge 540 I have been ranked among the top 10 U.S. Unlimited Pilots and medaled five times in the California Championship Series from 1993 to the present. In 1999 I placed second in the U.S. Unlimited Point Series and Flew Warmups at the 2003 World Aerobatic Championship. Along the way, I earned his flight instructor certificate and a place on the Sunrise Aviation staff as an active aerobatic instructor. Since 2001 I have flown the Edge 540 in regional and national competition and has extended these skills to the extreme arena of airshow performance. My continuing mastery of aerobatic competition delivers crisp and accurate lines, coupled with slow flight virtuosity and amazing high speed tumbles. My signature maneuvers include: the knife edge spin, tumbles to a torque roll and the end-over-end tumble. My father started to teach me to fly when I was only 11 years old. I soloed a glider at 14, and earned my private pilot certificate in a powered airplane at 17. During the early years aerobatics remained a dream; I had to wait more than a decade before forming an association with Michael Church at Sunrise Aviation to shape the reality of championship aerobatic performance. Introduction I have learned many things about aerobatics from flying Unlimited over the past 10 years. One of the biggest learning points came several years ago while training for the U.S. Nationals. I was getting very frustrated with my snap rolls. It seemed the harder I tried, the worse things became. The revelation in this instance came when I realized the mechanics I was using were causing the airplane to tumble, not snap. However, those same control inputs with a different timing caused the airplane to snap fast, clean, and stop effortlessly on point. I knew the key was close and I have been working ever since to unlock the many different factors that influence snap rolls and tumbles. As most of you know, the longer you train, the longer the learning plateaus seem to become. Plateaus are those periods of time when your skills are not progressing as fast as they could be. In this column I hope to shorten those plateaus for you by passing on some of the key learning points, and hopefully removing some of the mystery behind snaps and tumbles. We will explore the mechanics, aerodynamics, physiological factors, and competitive issues facing your progression starting with basic snap rolls all the way through Unlimited competition and 4-Minute Freestyle performances. Learning correctly and safely from the beginning will help to streamline your progression and advance you through the ranks quicker. The following chapters will take you through a logical progression from basic concepts to advanced techniques. I ll reserve the right to modify the order and content based on your feedback. I m sure as we work through these concepts, questions will come up that need to be addressed.

7 1. Aerodynamics for Aerobatic Pilots 2. Spins and Recovery 3. Snap Basics 4. Inside Snaps 5. ½ Snaps Line Snaps 7. Vertical Snap Rolls 8. Combination Rolls 9. Outside Snap Rolls 10. Basic Tumbles 11. Advanced Tumbling Techniques 12. The 4-Minute Freestyle 13. Air Show Performance Design and Safety As with everything aviation I want you to do some homework prior to practicing the skills. Safety is a critical component of all flight instruction and this is especially true in the area of competition aerobatics. So you will notice the first two subjects deal with the equipment i.e., the airplane and its environment. Second, how to recover from some of the possible situations you may find yourself in as an aerobatic pilot. Starting next time with Aerodynamics for Aerobatic Pilots I hope to review with you some of the more important areas of aerodynamics necessary to master your sport and enhance your skills. Some of these items will be a reminder serving to knock off the cobwebs, other areas may be new to you. In any case the topics I have picked to review are: Flight Dynamics, Weight and Balance, and Relative Wind. Next month s article will be an interesting and necessary foundation for later discussion on Snaps and Tumbles. As I mentioned previously I want to hear from you. Feel free to reach me via with your questions: JonSNash@cox.net. You may also book aerobatic instruction with me at Sunrise Aviation. Thanks! -Jon Nash THE FYI WHAT? The Borrego Mini Fest... WHERE? Borrego Springs, CA, L08 WHEN? April 13 and 14th WHO? Power Primary and Sportsman WHAT TIME? 0900 Sunset WHERE TO STAY? Accommodations: La Casa Del Zorro Resort: (800) & (760) *Borrego Springs Resort: (888) & (760) *Palm Canyon Resort: (800) & (760) The Palms at Indian Head: (760) Hacienda Del Sol: (760) Oasis Motel: (760) Stanlunds: (760) * Rooms reserved for this contest and discounts for mentioning San Diego IAC Chapter 36 and the aerobatic contest. Car Rental: Desert Car Rental (Airport Manager- Vicci Cole and staff) (760) For More Information: Visit the Chapter 36 web site and pre-register at Or contact the Contest Director: Joshua Muncie jlmuncie@yahoo.com Chapter 49 Judges School Jon in his Edge 540 CP Aviation will also be hosting a Regional Judging School on March 24-25th. Anyone interested contact: Steve Weidler at Docstevew1@aol.com.

8 SUNRISE AVIATION TRAINING CAMP!! When? April Who? Any pilot that needs coaching for primary or sportsman Where can I sign up? Registration is at Who do I contact? Michael Church at Sunrise Aviation (949) CONTEST DATES... Some of these contest dates might not be firm just yet, but to aid with your planning for 2007 here they are... Borrego Minifest: April 14th Apple Valley: May 18th and 19th Paso Robles: June 8th and 9th Delano: September 1st and 2nd Borrego Akrofest: October 19th and 20th Practice and Registration, of course, is the day prior to the contest dates listed above and the rain day is the day after the listed date. Please refer back to IAC36.org for up-to-date information on all contest dates* The box in TNP is a valuable practice area... HOWEVER... You must open the box every time you go there!! How? Well, contact Dennis Foster who is just the person to do it.. Contact Dennis at dfoster8@earthlink.net. Check with Dennis frequently for information about the box and how to open it. Things can always change* CHAPTER 49 & 26 NEEDS YOUR HELP!!! We are asking anyone, and by anyone we mean ANYONE to go out and help out the contests in Delano and Apple Valley. They especially need help with set up and tear down duties, so if you are able to come out a day early or stay a day later to lend a hand please mark it on your calender and contact Randy Owens at rdowens@sbcglobal.net for more information. Any help will be appreciated and well received. And The Other Stuff... The Next Four Weeks... EVERYONE IS INVITED!!! To where you ask? Well, practice days of course, or other special events!! Are you going to be alone? NO!!!! Your fellow pilots will join you in critiquing and helping you. This is YOUR club, so make use of it. If there is something you are dying to know about a hammerhead...there will be people to ask and questions to be answered... But how do we get information on all these events? Contact the person in the know...gray Brandt at graybrandt@yahoo.com. He will tell you where, when, what time and what to bring. Here are the scheduled dates and events for your planning purposes. March 2007 Saturday TNP...Practice and critiquing *Reminder...Borrego aerobatic box is closed. Saturday TNP...Practice and critiquing *Reminder...Borrego aerobatic box is closed. *Weekend switched from 3/31 and 4/1 to accommodate a training camp.

9 April 2007 Saturday TNP...Practice and critiquing Wed. 11th - Thus L08...Sunrise Training Camp Mini Fest Competition Friday L08...Practice and Registration Saturday L08...Competition Sunday L08...Rain Day Saturday TNP...Practice and critiquing REMEMBER, times and dates are subject to change, as mother nature has a way of changing events, so contact Gray a few days in advance to know who is going and what time to get there. Check for updates and yearly calendar of events at Look under the events calender icon. IAC 36 and Sunrise Aviation Judges School On February 24th and 25th, Sunrise Aviation hosted a IAC 36 Introduction to Aerobatic Regional Judges School. There were 15 students in attendance for both days that now are prospective new judges. On the last day 2 National Judges joined the fun and relaxed environment to remain current as Judges. Who was teaching the class? Well, a friendly guy name Doug Hansmann. He took students with little knowledge of the sport and turned them into the new aspiring judges for Included in the class was our IAC 36 club president and IAC 36s newsletter editor. New Aspiring Judges for 2007 and the late one... Thank you Doug for a great Judges School! Biography Doug Hansmann PhD, earned his private SEL certificate in 1972 at Santa Monica Airport. Since then he has earned a commercial rating for SEL, SES, CFII and glider. Along with his ratings he is also a USPA Sport Parachuting Instructor. In real life, he is the Chief Operating Officer for a medical device company in Seattle called EKOS Corporation. Doug is a Aeronautical/biomedical engineer. The first aerobatic chapter he joined was IAC Chapter 36. He took his first competition lesson with Michael Church in his Great Lakes Biplane, N6220L, in That beautiful sunburst biplane is still based at SNA (with his former partners). His wife, Nancy Hansmann, and he were Contest Directors for the Borrego Akrofest in In 1993 they moved to Seattle where they joined IAC 67 and Doug began flying a Pitts S2-B in the Washington Regional Contests; Ephrata (Washington) Apple Cup and the Pendleton (Oregon) State contest. He won Sportsman in 1995 along with the Highest Score Trophy. (Move Up!!). Shortly thereafter, the Pitts became unavailable (owner became involved in the airshow circuit) and he has been without aero steed ever since. Instead, Doug and Nancy fly in their Rockwell Commander, judge local contests and, in 2000, they both became National Judges. Shortly thereafter he started teaching the Intro to Aerobatic Judging Class. Doug intend to restart flying contests again but, in the meantime, this keeps us involved with the sport and connected to our numerous aerobatic friends. Doug and His wife Nancy now live on Bainbridge Island, WA.

10 An Introduction to RV Aerobatics User fees. TFRs. High fuel prices. Increasing regulation. A tight insurance market. It seems everywhere we turn these days, there s a new challenge for general aviation. And that goes double for our aerobatic community, which by its very nature has additional noise and public relations issues with which to contend. IAC membership is down. Here in Southern California, we re being relegated to ever smaller and more distant chunks of airspace in which to legally do our thing. How depressing! There are days when I question whether this avocation of ours will survive. So it was with great pleasure that I accepted an invitation last month to present a seminar on aerobatics at the Socal RV Rendezvous, a regional gathering of homebuilt RVs. Fifty seven aircraft and more than 100 people showed up. The event coincided with IAC s recent push to be more inclusive of recreational aerobatics, and the RV Rendezvous reinforced in my mind the wisdom of that shift. According to Vans Aircraft, 5,024 RV-series airplanes have been built and flown thus far. Thousands more are under construction around the country, and the rate at which they are achieving flight status is increasing rapidly as the build time drops. Aside from the 350 RV-9/10 models, every one of those 5,024 airplanes is designed for aerobatic flight. This represents the largest aerobatics capable fleet in the world. Compare these 5,000 RVs to perhaps the most ubiquitous competition aircraft, the Pitts. According to Aviat, approximately 700 factorybuilt and 600 homebuilt aircraft are in that fleet world- wide. The Extra? I counted 258 of those on the U.S. registry. I ve been involved with the RV community since a friend of mine started building his RV-7 in I pounded rivets on his plane and had a chance to watch one come together from the ground up. My general impression is that these aircraft are quite conventional and well designed. I ve flown the RV-4, RV-6, RV-7, and RV-8. I wouldn t consider them to be well suited for competition, primarily because the clean design, flush riveting, and careful fairing of the draggy bits mean the airspeed will build quickly when pointed downhill. But they are splendid for recreational aerobatics. RVs are light in roll but somewhat heavier in pitch. Reminiscent of a Pitts, though not quite as heavy in the lateral axis. Speaking of drag, an aerobatic flight in an RV will open your eyes to just how draggy most of our competition airplanes are! All that horsepower under the cowl of your S-2B or Sukhoi is designed for vertical penetration. Speed is, to a certain extent, an enemy when you re competing. It will carry you through the box too quickly. The RV was designed for speed because they are used for cross country transportation. Put that 300 hp engine in an RV and it will Harmon Rocket II go a lot faster than any Extra 300, Edge 540, or Velox. I ve flown a wide variety of Sportsman-level maneuvers in RVs, and they perform remarkably well as long as the energy is properly managed. Spins, aileron rolls, loops, immelmans, cubans, hammerheads, barrel rolls, and the split s are easily done in an RV within a +3.5/-0G range. This is well within the designer s stated design limits of +6/-3G (and ultimate load factors +9/-4.5G). Airspeed limits such as Vne, Vno, and Va are high enough that RVs can fly through these maneuvers without danger of over speeding the aircraft. Throttle management, unusual attitude

11 training, and a clear understanding of the RVs slippery aerodynamics are key to safety in these birds. Unlike certificated airplanes, RVs come in many flavors. Different engines, props, canopy styles, landing gear configurations, etc. Much like a Citabria, Stearman, or Cub, most of them do not have inverted fuel or oil systems, so I will modify maneuvers like the half Cuban by rolling upright as soon as the 45 degree inverted point is reached in the loop. Remember, we re just talking about recreational aerobatics. These guys aren t going to fly competition in their pride and joy. They just want to be able to safely perform basic figures. On the topic of safety, my primary goal at the Socal RV Rendezvous was to encourage RV pilots seek out quality instruction before attempting acro in their aircraft. This is smart advice for any aspiring aerobat, but it s especially true with the RV for two reasons: first, the aforementioned sleekness of the airframe. And second, builders are often out of the air completely for several years while they focus on construction. Their Phase One flight testing may have been prepared for with recurrent flight training, but very infrequently does that training include aerobatics. Yet aerobatics must be included in the flight testing if it s going to be added to the approved maneuvers in the airplane s operating limitations. A Note From the Editor Another month has passed and the newsletter is growing. We welcome a new columnist to the newsletter, Jon Nash, as he adds his wisdom to our monthlies. Look for Jon Nash s article about Snaps and Tumbles. This is your Chapter and we welcome any articles or ideas you would like to share with your fellow aerobatic community. We also welcome outside articles from different chapters in the IAC family. Please feel free to contact me via at yjooste@gmail.com. The Borrego MiniFest is coming, so feel free to come on out and watch the beginning categories kick off the California Competition Season, Saturday April 14th in Borrego Springs, Ca. I will be there volunteering, you should too!! (Actually I am Volunteer Coordinator So you should come out to Borrego so I can put you to work) **This newspaper will be a monthly publication** Which means it will come out every month... If you are someone that would like a hard copy of all the up coming newsletters, please me with your name, address and contact information and I will send them to you. Even if you are going on vacation somewhere for a month or too and worry about not being in the know you can always view them on Imagination is more important than knowledge. -Albert Einstein -Yolandi Jooste On the way home, I couldn t help but marvel at the strength and energy in the RV community. We could use a little of that in our local IAC chapter, don t you think? There are five thousand of them out there, so let s start recruiting! And if you have the opportunity to take an aerobatic flight in an RV, don t pass it up. I ll bet you d be pleasantly surprised with what those little kit planes are capable of. -Ron Rapp N1191 Flying Home From TNP IAC Chapter Membership Application/Renewal Last Page Visit us at

12 You must read and abide by Borrego Box Rules published on the web at iac36.org Hey! Have you paid your dues for 2007? The Borrego box is reserved for current IAC 36 Members... Call Bill Hill at (949) renew on-line at or print and use the form below IAC Chapter Membership Application/Renewal Name Address City State Zip IAC# EAA# Home Phone ( ) Work Phone ( ) address Aircraft Type Referred By Dues (per calendar year) $30.00 Competition Experience: None Basic Sportsman Intermediate Advanced Unlimited Are you an IAC approved Aerobatic Judge? No Regional National Send your dues payment to: Bill Hill Care of: Sunrise Aviation Campus Drive, #7 Santa Ana, CA 92707