Sunday August 11th    From Don Peterson / USA Team

10

Most of the teams we have spoken to today are leaving early and ditching the closing ceremonies.  It is beginning to sound as though only the French and Russians will be on hand to accept their awards, with maybe one or two of the Brits as well.  We are all thinking it would have been better to schedule the ceremonies for the Saturday evening immediately after the flying, as the urge to get home grows stronger and stronger as soon as the last scores are posted.  I suspect if the rain weren't keeping many from flying their aircraft home today, they would have only locals and CIVA staff at the banquet. Tony, Julia, and I are planning to attend at least the first few hours before airline schedules force us to move on down the road.

I must have been adding wrong, or perhaps some more scores were posted after I did the math, but the Brits got us by around 250 points, not the 50 that I earlier thought.  Bubba's protest was denied, to no one's surprise. We needed his flight to be clean to beat the Brits, and I for one have no complaint with the Brits justified victory.  They worked very hard, practiced for a full week over the contest site, and came prepared to do well.  Mark earned some medals for his individual flying, which he deserves.  His experience in handling winds was obvious, and his flying was crisp and artful.  Kester was consistently at the top, making the G202 look big and graceful, particularly when compared to the French style in the same type of aircraft.

The Russians had strength in depth.  All of their pilots were capable of being at the top, but they also had a few cracks in the armor.  I would say that the US, on any given day, can fly with the Russians and the Brits. The French conquered the field.  Frederic Chesneau won all 3 flights, which is a powerful statement of his skills and preparation.  We can talk about what it is that makes the French team so consistently good, but from my observation it comes down to their willingness to work hard, practice a lot, and work together as a team to share ideas and knowledge.  Pretty simple, really.  They have a powerful and cohesive dedication to the sport.

Is AWAC a true world championship? There were 16 nations represented.  Many, and possibly most, will not field an entrant at WAC.  Some that do fly at WAC understand that they are not remotely competitive at that level.  Yet they pay their yearly fee to FAI/CIVA, which I understand can be substantial. In speaking with the Finlanders, Swiss, Polish, Georgian, Swedish, and so on, one could sense that they take this AWAC very seriously, and that it is viewed as a true world championship in every sense.  The aeroclubs that sent their teams put their full support behind those teams, and the pilots that entered were the best available for the task.  In the end, isn't that what makes a world championship?  Many nations gather with their best available pilots, and all fly within the rules to achieve the winning result?  At the end, one nation has brought a superior effort to bear, and takes home the medals.  Congratulations Frederic, not one of us doubts your win.  A true champion.

I fielded constant questions from many other pilots and team managers asking about the past, current, and future US support for AWAC.  I did not have an answer that made sense to me or to them.  The best that I could say is that there were many of us in the US that see this as a wonderful experience, a legitimate world-level event, and that I hoped the US would increase its support and involvement in the future.  I hope I was right.

Many thanks to all for your support.  Every day one or more team members would pass on encouraging words recently received via email or phone.  It helps, and is appreciated. I doubt all of us will be flying the nationals (gotta get back to work), but hope we can stop by and say hello while you are all there.  In the meantime, Sulu, you have the helm....
 

Saturday August 10th -     From Alan Cassidy / UK Trainer

6

It is now Saturday morning and there is a break in flying due to scuddy cumulus build-up in the box. We managed 2 warm-up flights (suddenly everyone wants to do it coz they failed to make the cut...) and 2 or 3 contest flights before it all stopped when the clear sky became dotted with moisture coming up from the wet grass.

The end of the 1st Unknown last night was quite dramatic. A big storm-CB came by just as the fifth-last got airborne. There was no rain but major wind considerations. He landed and we were held for about 30 minutes before it got out of the way. Flying finished at sunset plus about 20 or 25. Kester and the leading Frenchman both flew in quite difficult darkish conditions.

As a result our lad took 2 or 3 outs, which led to slipping down the list a bit. He is now 7th overall. Mark had a good flight and has moved up to 6th, so we have two in the top ten. Gary and Steve both flew without zeroes and are both in the top 25 that will fly second Unknown today if the weather permits.

On the Team side of things, the Russian had a good day. Although their highest pilot is 8th they have strength in depth and have now edged ahead of UK into the silver place. We still hold bronze ahead of the Americans, but by only 15 points. Interesting. There was a plan to fly a third unknown today if time permits and to restrict this to the top 10 pilots after unknown 2. If this happens, which is getting less likely as I write, then having 2 pilots in the top 10 would be really useful!!

More later. Must go check the clouds.
 

Saturday 10th   cont'd ....

This is just a short email before I go off for more beer and possibly just falling down. The results of the AWAC, from the Brit viewpoint are as follows:
Individual Medals:
Kester: Silver for Free
Mark: Silver for Unknowns, Bronze overall
Team medals:
Overall UK Bronze, French Gold, Russians Silver.
Russians NO individual medals at all!!

We are quite happy. Results in full are on the AWAC website (and here on the BAeA web or from the link above). More beer awaits!
 

Saturday August 10th    From Don Peterson / USA Team

9

It is Saturday AM and we briefed at 8, with warm-ups launched before 9 and first competitor of 25 shortly thereafter.  Julia was the second warm-up pilot, and demonstrated that the balloon tested wind from the northwest had now become from the south.  Odd, these local winds.

We've flown 3 competitors, one of whom had to stop for puffies blowing through the box on what is an otherwise gorgeous day.  Irene flying 4th also came down, but is now re-launching.

They have announced that if time allows they will fly the 3rd unknown with the top 10 pilots.  I am not certain of the rules, but at this point both the UK and USA have 1 pilot in the top ten.  Getting a second pilot into that group could have a significant impact on team medals later on.  The first French pilot to fly appeared to zero the last figure due to rolling the same way instead of opposite.  Not sure if he was one of their top 3, but I don't think so. News when it arrives...

Yesterday one of the Polish pilots taxied into sheet steel runway markers that stick up like pyramids alongside the runway.  I nearly gathered the same pile up before my first contest flight, but something suddenly whispered to me "Ess turn now, stupid".  I did, and spotted the markers about 8 feet in front of me.  I hear that the Polish fellow got it with his prop (didn't see it myself), but being such light metal there appears to be no damage.  They have flown several competition flights since then with no apparent problems.

The organizers then marked the area with two tall poles having orange streamers.  They did not, however, mark an identical array of up-thrust metal runway signs near the fuel depot.  Julia, taxying in from her last flight yesterday, found them with her right hand tire.  We thought she got the prop, but it was well clear, and the general opinion was that no flimsy metal sign was a fair match for a Yak prop in any case.  They then marked the second area with one small pole and streamer.  By my count there's about 15 remaining...

The South African's have hacked into the main computer network here and loaded a variety of desk-top photos that load up seemingly at random whenever a computer is turned on.  Most of the shots are of their smiling, if ugly, mugs grinning at the camera.  Some are of rather shocking pornography.  It takes a moment to tell the difference... Meanwhile, Mark Jefferies is always busy trying to load down pop-up menus advertising his Yak-UK business and printing glowing resumes for inquiring
reporters.  A dedicated captain of industry, I'd say. Based on the results, the RSA are better hackers than the Brits.

No more at the moment.  Hope everyone is sleeping snugly.  This baby is almost a wrap.
 

Saturday 10th    cont'd ....

The US had a good day and a bad day.  I'll get the bad over with first. Bubba make boo boo. The 2nd unknown, while not being brutally demanding, provided plenty of upside down time to get disoriented.  Bubba pushed out of the push, 1/2 roll, push over, 1/4 roll, push out humpty.  The next figure should have been a half roll to upright, followed by a pull up hammerhead Bubba skipped the roll and pushed up.  He wagged on the way up and took a break.  He reentered and flew a good hammerhead and a clean sequence from there on.

In the US this would result in the 1/2 roll being zeroed, and charged a break.  At this point, using CIVA rules, he has been charged with two
zeroes, the half roll and the hammerhead.  The $100 has been paid for a jury review of the decision, but the jury is largely European, and they
have a tougher standard.  It is neither better nor worse, it is just the rules, and juries are there to interpret the rules. As this protest is being considered we are about 50 points behind the Brits in the team standing, as two of their pilots scored zeroes in this unknown also.

Now for the good news. Bob flew an astounding Unknown.  I haven't met a person yet that didn't think it was the winning flight.  Except the judges, who scored it fourth best just out of the medals, and perhaps the 3 pilots that were awarded better results.  Even Coco Bessiere, the French coach, sought out Bob to tell him it was an excellent flight.  This is rare praise indeed.  His flight has him at 4th overall in the AWAC overall standings.  Simply brilliant.

I had a good flight.  In spite of 2 outs, I placed 8th in the flight which brought me back up to 12th overall, just behind Kester Scrope from the UK. Bubba is in 20th and Julia is in 26th.  All in the upper half, and just out of the team medals by 50 points behind the English.  Unless Bubba's protest is upheld, which I am doubting it will be.

We may fly the 3rd unknown, but threatening weather and tired pilots have the jury in a huddle to decide yes or no. Tomorrow is the airshow (oh goody), closing ceremonies (ditto), and the BIG PARTY IN THE TENT (double ditto), and hopefully a ride to somewhere I can
catch a train toward Graz. There may or may not be parting thoughts.  I'll wait and see what the voices in my head tell me to do.

Best to all
 

Friday August 9th    From Don Peterson / USA Team

8

The day rose foggy, as expected.  Most of us slept in.  Fortunately, others were busy at work, and a briefing was held, and by the time I arrived at the airfield at 9:15 the warm up flight was taking off and Uli was warming his engine.

The day continues to brighten, with virtually no clouds and about 7km of viz in haze.  The haze will probably burn off as the day warms, and we are all heartened that a contest is going to get done.  The judges have decided to take no lunch break (brilliant, guys - thank you!), so there is some hope of finishing the first unknown today.  I am personally choosing to be
a bit less optimistic, given the variable weather, but we will almost certainly get the vast majority finished.  I am flying 45th, so will probably fly today.

There is an increasing likelihood that the 2nd unknown will be flown, and this morning we actually had a meeting to select the figures for the 3rd unknown.  I doubt anybody is really hanging on to the belief that we will get that far, but the rules allow a cut during the second unknown down to 25 pilots and in the 3rd to 10 pilots.  It is possible, if a bit daunting, to think of flying both the 2nd and 3rd unknown in 1 day.  The 2nd unknown is pretty challenging, but the figures we introduced for the 3rd are less brutal from a physical standpoint.  There are fun things like an outside square loop with an 8 point roll on top, but whether it was a reaction to the 2nd sequence or a general doubt of getting that far, the 3rd unknown probably won't be as hard and is unlikely to be the determining factor in who wins.  Of course, I've been wrong before.

Bubba discovered that he was incorrectly charged with an out in the free, and so will move up a place or two in that sequence.  The rules here call for a boundary judge at every corner, and for an out to be charged both judges must see and record it.  One of his outs had only 1 judge, so will be removed.  As 20 points is worth between 3 and 6 places at this contest, it is worth checking your score sheets.

As John King and Bill Stein have not been able to do enough aerobatic judging, due to the weather, they volunteered to be the judges in a story telling contest.  Needless to say, Bubba and I assumed we would be the favorites, but as in many contests the dark horse often wins. There have been many practice runs, and discussions of the rules.  It has been decided that a story must be declared via "wing rocks" to be eligible, but this can be done at the conclusion of the story.  Truth is not strictly required, but I suspect bonus points are awarded for leaving the impression that it just might have been true.

Last night we had dinner with the Italian team (more about them later), and after enough plonky-red wine Tony started in with 3 good tales about flying parachute jumpers and commuter airline duty.  His best tale involved two jumpers hanging by their toes from the wing struts of a 182, with one of them having achieved this position by climbing over the top from one side to the other.  The visuals were good, and there was enough credibility to put it into contention.

Pam shared a tale of her first days as a Flight Attendant for United, in which she asked a first class passenger if he wanted to keep his nuts or should she take them.  There are no special awards for women's teams, and she is probably in 3rd place at this point.

Bob, having muttered many times about not understanding the rules, shared a story of an early work day when he was flying right seat for a commuter airline. He told how the captain on an early morning business-commuter flight, after leveling at cruise, said to Bob "slide the curtain and look back and tell me what you see". As Bob described it to us they were all business men in blue suits with 1 leg crossed, reading the wall street journal.  Only the tops of 70-odd male heads were showing.  The captain began gently feeding in left and right rudder such that all of the engrossed masters of industry were swaying left and right in unison. At that point the captain picked up the mike and triggered the cabin PA and began singing... "We are the world, we are the...." Bob is currently in the lead by a comfortable margin.

The flying continues.  More news as it develops
 

Friday 9th    cont'd ....

The weather sort of cooperated and we got the first unknown done.  We flew all day with the optional break allowed, and everyone took it.  Bob took off with a mighty t-storm brewing to the West, and the outflow boundary hit during his take-off roll.  He climbed into the box with all of us on the ground sending thought waves for him to land, as the very strong southerly
wind aloft had now turned to an even stronger wind from the West, which would have been a tail-wind for him in the box.  Not a good thing given his planning to that point.  In the end, he had communication problems with the chief judge, and decided that he had been instructed to land due to the wind problem.  All was saved.

The storm passed us by without dropping rain, and flying was resumed with Bob launching about 7:45 with 5 pilots to go.  The last pilot, Chesneau, took off into darkness.  Clearly, he demonstrated great sportsmanship by accepting a flight time well past sundown, respecting the great desire of everyone to make the contest complete in case tomorrow brings unflyable weather.  He had a fabulous flight, and won it outright, and remains even more strongly in the lead overall.

Earlier, Julia and Bubba both had good clean flights.  I thought I had a zero, and in fact the vote was 5 to 5 on the judges' line.  A review of the video by the judges resulted in the high k figure being scored, but with a bunch of 4's which it deserved.  A classic case of a snap coming unstuck too soon.  Bob flew what I thought was the best flight of the day, but in the end he was 8th on this flight.  He had 2 outs, as did I, and I think Bubba also.  Julia had no outs.

You can check the scores on-line now, but at this point Bob is in 4th overall, Bubba moved up to 16th (14th on this flight), and I took the big slide to 17th with a 20th place on the flight.  Julia is in 26th.  It was announced that we will be flying the 2nd unknown tomorrow with the top 25 pilots.  Unless things, we must press on without Julia, and this is particularly sad given her extremely clean flying thus far.  Tomorrow's unknown would suit her well, so we are hoping something might transpire in the morning to allow her to join us.

There were many zeros in this flight, which was a bit surprising given its relative easiness.  Mostly they came from flicks gone bad, or not managing speeds and power and causing lines to be hurried or badly askew.  The ever-impressive Bichet zeroed the outside half-square with 1/4 roll for taking it too far off vertical.  Early in the day the viz was poor, which didn't help those looking for the horizon at that point.  The winds aloft kept changing and many excellent pilots found themselves being blown out on many sides. You can check the on-line scores at http://www.aeroklub-ms.si/awac2002/story_files/results/online/online.htm.

The motivating news is that the USA is only 16 points (out of about 14,000) behind the Brits for a team medal.  The French are strongly in the lead, with the Russians having made a huuuugggge move today into second.  Our English friends had many of the same problems as us, so we gained a few points on them in the team standings from today's exercise.

It is late, and I have to go to sleep dreaming about this odd program they have devised for us tomorrow.  It seems unlikely that we will fly the 3rd unknown, but if we do they will almost certainly cut it to the top 10 pilots.

One more to go.  Maybe.
 

Thursday August 8th    From Don Peterson / USA Team

7

The weather, which looked absolutely perfect for many periods of time, would change on short order to rain and low clouds.  Then back again.  In the end, we got about 15 pilots done today before things ground to a halt.

I say "about" because Uli Dembenski went up, took a look, and came back down claiming the viz was well below the limits, and he couldn't see the box looking straight down.  A weather ship was launched who reported that things were well within spec, and so Uli was zeroed for the flight.  The rules at a World event are unforgiving in the extreme. Uli became, shall we say, disappointed, by this ruling.  He is a cheerful and popular competitor from Germany, and is also the fellow allowing Bubba to use his airplane.  Uli started packing to go home. A large contingent of competitors felt great sympathy for Uli, but it was hard to know the full situation as several competitors had just completed successful flights in what appeared to be the same sky.  On the other hand, Uli just had a first hand look that none of us on the ground could share.

There must have been some sort of union meeting, as the next competitor went up, flew the safety maneuver, and landed claiming unacceptable viz. The jury re-huddled, another weather ship launched, and it was decided that both competitors would be allowed a re-flight tomorrow.

As Mike Heuer observed, as it gets closer to the end of the pack when those most in contention are flying, there is likely to be less trans-national sympathy for marginal weather decisions.  This is a competition for a world title, after all, and the result is often greatly impacted by the luck of the weather We are happy that Uli will get a re-flight.  We also hope the weather improves before time runs out so we can all get a flight.

The second unknown seems remote at this point, as we have 40 to go in the first unknown, and have yet to fly that many in one day.  We have tomorrow and Saturday to get a contest done. If we get all entries wagged into the box, I will pass on the result of John King's story telling contest.  Thus far there have been only warm-up tales, and none told for points.  Tonight should see the beginning.

Random info dept... Slovenia came into existence in the early 90's when trouble began between the various ethnic groups in Yugoslavia.  According to the version I was told, they separated and formed their nice and largely cohesive nation. The remainder of Yugoslavia didn't approve of their departure, and tried to take them back by force, but Slovenia prevailed.  Most of you will know the history of Yugoslavia / Bosnia since then, whereas Slovenia is preparing itself for entry into the European Union and has a higher GDP than some other nations already in the union. Very nice place with a lovely pace, kind people, and a good work ethic. These people are making a good go of it.

Have a great night
 

Wednesday August 7th    From Don Peterson / USA Team

6

We flew one pilot this morning before the weather delayed us again.  Then, around 2 or so things looked better and the organization started to kick into gear.  As you may recall, Julia was the last flight yesterday, and flew extremely well.  She flew in the 16th spot, and by then end of today we had finished through pilot 50 -  who was our own Bob Freeman.

As this is laid to print, Bob's flight has landed him in 2nd, I am holding on to 6th, Julia is in 13th, and Bubba is right behind her in 14th.  There are 6 top pilots to go, so it is certainly possible that we will all drop down by 6 places, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Bob's flight was set against the dusk of a half-set sun, and his little G200 became a black silhouette against a not-quite overcast sky, streaked with greenish blue fjords.  It may have helped or hurt that the G200 was no longer a flashing spot of whiteness.  It's hard to say.  But to everyone's eyes on the field it was simply brilliant.  When he wagged the finish a very loud ½Bravo, bravo, bravo!= was heard from the Italians, South Africans, and many in the watching crowd behind us.  It was that moving of a flight.  That he is in 2nd is a bit surprising, but Petr Biskup is a top player in these parts, and presented a very good if artistically less-inspiring flight.  He leads Bob by less than 9 points, so the TBL tomorrow cold actually affect their relative positions.

I'm around 53 points out of first, with Julia and Bubba about 120 points back from first.  Bubba flew a very clean flight, but had some outs and was up high enough that his framing score may have been affected.  As he has only about 5 hours in a Yak, the whole world is marveling at his performance, and his fellow team members are supporting his decision to fly
high in a strange plane.

Tomorrow the top 6 pilots from the Q will fly, and they are competent fellows indeed.  We are hoping for the promised strong north winds that never showed today, plus swarming hordes of locusts, and perhaps a brief and smoky forest fire or two.

The British team almost did themselves in this morning.  Mark Jefferies and Kester Scrope decided to play the British Gentlemen and appeared just after the briefing on two rather lovely thoroughbreds, racing down the runway at full tilt.  Clearly, someone's parents afforded riding school in their youth After this and a bit of prancing about (the horses, not Mark and Kester), they began ambling back toward the UK tent.  Suddenly, Kester's horse decided to investigate something to its right and Kester, in full view of the full assembly, departed flight with a shoulder roll to the left.  He appeared to hit on his left side and tumble over onto his back, at which point his horse bolted toward its mate and Kester was allowed to writhe in agony while we all cheered and wondered who would be the first to go over and check on the damage.  After some time, he struggled to his feet with grass stains and dirt in various places, and limped over to the horse for a quick remount.  He complained of pains for the rest of the day, but appears good enough to fly tomorrow.  Dammit.

We had quite a few other zeroed maneuvers today.  One or the other pilot left out or modified a figure and stacked up a series of zips by continuing in the wrong direction.  Cas Smith from the UK appeared to botch a figure, which was subsequently zeroed.  Later Wojciech Krupa (a good guy with the Polish team and a current Mig 21 pilot for the Polish Air Force) declined to fly when he spotted that one of the wind arrows running down the X axis was reversed from its correct direction.  He notified the chief judge who asked "what are your intentions?  Fly or not fly?" Krupa's answer heard over the radio was "not fly".  He landed and the arrow was fixed, and he re-launched to a good flight putting him to 27th at the current time.

At this point, Cas realized that his botched figure was certainly the result of having spotted the wrong arrow at a critical moment, and wisely filed a protest for a re-flight, which is being allowed.  I say bravo to both, and we wish Cas a successful re-try tomorrow.  He will be allowed to fly from the figure damaged by the mislaid arrow, and score onward from there.

Irene Rizzoli of the Italian team flew an astonishing freestyle in her Cap 21.  Astonishing in that it contained such wonders as a P loop with 2 flicks on the down line, and concluded with a double avalanche.  While the grayer heads among us might have chosen a different strategy, she flew through the gyrations with skill and bravado, and is currently in 12th just ahead of Julia and Bubba.  Bravo, indeed.

One writer asked today if the rules for the IAC and CIVA are the same.  The answer is that there is probably a 97% overlap, but that there are many procedures which have evolved to insure that a world competition meets with all nations' standards and needs.  Most nations use the CIVA rules for their domestic competitions, but the IAC has evolved along essentially parallel lines.  The IAC actually has more rules in many respects, but we tend to be more lax in some applications.  Nothing that can't be taken in on a single reading, however.

We are going to brief tomorrow at 7 am.  At last the organizers have  detected that we are all here to fly, and that the parties and marching bands are secondary.  If the weather cooperates, we will have the free finished before noon, with the required 2 hour protest period lasting over the lunch break.  The unknown flights will begin after lunch, with perhaps 30 pilots flying in the afternoon and the rest on Friday.  It's a good bet that our team will fly on Friday, or Saturday as the weather allows.

We expect to have the drawings for the second unknown tomorrow morning and submit figures at the noon briefing.  If perfect weather appears we might get to fly a second unknown before the contest ends on Saturday night, which may be done with a reduced field representing just the top pilots. It is best to be in the top 20 going into the final unknown for this reason.  The K goes up for this flight, and zeroes are more likely.

It is late, and time to end here.  I am happy to report that your grass-roots team has had such a good day and is in a fine position for the next flight. Best to all....
 

Wednesday August 7th -     From Alan Cassidy / UK Trainer

5

Flying again disrupted by slow start to weather this morning, but managed to get all bar 6 of the Frees done today. Gary and Dave both flew cleanly and are in the 70-749 range. Positions still to be decided of course.

Cas had a problem in one figure, caused by a wrong box marking (arrow in the wrong direction). His protest was upheld, however, so he has a re-fly tomorrow when figures 7 to the end will be re-graded. So really there are 6 and a half flights for tomorrow.

Steve, Mark and Kester still have to fly, of course, because they were in the top 5 of the Q. So fingers crossed for fair weather in the morning - then the first Unknown can start without too much delay. If you check the website, you will see quite a lot of low scores in the Frees. Mostly because people still turn the wrong way or miss things out under the stress. Or they draw the whole flight the wrong way round (yes!!) but still get framing scores...

Kester and Mark caused a bit of a stir this morning by turning up on horseback instead of bicycles. The hotel is also a riding school. Unfortunately, Kester caused even more amusement for the foreign teams by falling off while going at quite a lick. Luckily he landed on his head, so no damage was done. No doubt the adrenalin will be an effective pain-killer in the morning when the G starts to bite.

Best wishes to all
 

Tuesday August 6th    From Don Peterson / USA Team

5

It is Tuesday morning, and we are waiting for an area of light showers to pass in the hopes that it will clear enough to continue the free.  The forecast is promising, with good viz and 1000 - 1200 meters overcast expected.  I'm not too keen on the 1000 meters bit, as I like a more to get some speed for the free.  Oh well.

We flew through pilot 16 yesterday, who happened to be our Julia Wood.  She had the perfect spot, flying just at sundown with high thin cirrus and the sun peaking through clouds on the horizon.  Her flight was a work of grace, precision, and balletic pacing.  Her current position in second, and at 73%, bodes well for her finish in this flight.  A Russian placed higher,
but to our team's eyes was not the same quality of flight as Julia's. Alas, it is what it looks like to the judges that counts.

When the flying ended, a party formed around the beer tent.  The organizers encouraged us to participate in what must be a national sport - large rock throwing.  Sort of a stone-age shot-put.  This involved hurling rocks of perhaps 30 - 40 pounds toward a white flag stuck in the ground.  I declined, but encouraged our younger friends from the UK to do their best
with the vague thought that a crippling sprain might occur, but without the actual need for back surgery.  As they had all warmed up well by performing numerous 16 oz curls, no injuries were reported.

The unknown submissions are due at 9 am today.  The figures are all interesting, without leaving anyone in a cold sweat.  We have the expected drunk humpty with pull around after a 4 point roll on the ascending line. The South Africans were kind enough to submit a P loop with 4 of 2 on the top and a 1/4 down with push out.  It is the only cross box figure submitted, although the sequences can contain a few basic figures added by the composer to straighten things out.  The rules here require the figures to have a max of 35k for the first unknown, 40k for the second, and if we get to a third unknown, it is limited to 45k per figure.  Clearly, the crocodiles get thicker the more we fly.

I heard yesterday that the Russians are going to submit a future rule to CIVA to allow an unknown flight to be composed by each competitor from the fixed set of figures.  This would allow an unknown flight to be different for each competitor, but of the same K factor due to using the same figures.  This seems to challenge both flying and program design skills, while allowing each competitor to fit the sequence to his or her airplane. Sounds neat to me.

That's all the news that's fit to print (and perhaps some that wasn't).  I fly 15th today, if the weather lifts.  Time to go schmoooze some judges.
 

Tuesday 6th    cont'd ....

I recommend everyone to visit the Polish Aerobatic Team web site at "www.azl.pl".  Great guys, and they have put together a formation display team using 1 Zlin 50, 2 Zlin 526AFS and 1 Zlin 526F.  The 50 is the one they are using here, with a very tired motor I might add.  There are many pictures and interesting graphics on the site.

The rain has stopped, but there are persistent clouds at low altitudes and intermittent thunder to the West.  Much milling about and competitive lie telling.

I said I might share the South African story, so here goes...  There are many reasons why someone or some country will invest their time, money, and energy into international aerobatics.  I have heard some back at home say "the only reason to go is if you plan to win".  A perfectly respectable reason, of course.  And who among us ever competes with a hope of losing?  Of course not.

Two days ago I listened to the tale of how many years ago the SA team rented an aircraft at a WAC, and placed mid-pack.  Frustrated at their results, at the next WAC they shipped their aircraft at great expense only to end mid-pack.  They decided this was a poor return, and committed themselves to a strategy that depended upon renting aircraft at world competitions, understanding that their chances of world dominance would be somewhat compromised. Since then, they have cultivated friends all over the world and their teams routinely travel to contests in Europe, US, Australia, and anywhere a good contest is to be had.  They have developed a reputation for respecting the limits of the aircraft and returning them undamaged, while happily paying whatever the going rate.  By this time, only 1 phone call is required for the team to have an aircraft or two available virtually anywhere in the world. Also in return, this growing family of international friends is welcomed to South Afrika where airplanes are happily made available, private homes are offered for visits, and tours of the fabulous country are arranged. They have had pilots earn medals at world competitions, and judging by the number of non-team members sitting at their tables standing a round of beer, they have earned respect from all of their competitors. I am told there are 35 total members in their national aerobatic club, with 7 or 8 Zlin 50's and a few Pitts among the fleet.

Is "winning at all cost" the only reason to compete at an international event?  If so, there are many losers.

I am finding that conversations with many of our eastern bloc fellows results in me adopting a pattern of speech that makes me sound like a bad actor in a Russian spy movie.  "rain is going to stop now, yes?"  "you fly Yak good.  Very strong airplane, ja?".  Whether this is somehow appreciated or quietly resented by the English speaking Poles or Georgian's is unknown, and it seems to fit the pattern of speech they have developed.  Oddly, two Americans or English can then turn toward each other and speak in the same B-movie lilt without recognizing the oddness of it.  "Tony, you have rent car now, yes?"  "we eat lunch soon, have good pork."

Please rain, stop soon now, yes?
  

Monday August 5th    From Don Peterson / USA Team

4

We finished the Q and all is well with the world.  Bob held on to 6th, Bubba is at 9th, I'm above the mid point barely at 26th and Julia is at 41. The spread from 1st to 41 is 77% down to 69%, with slightly less than 90 total points from me to first (damn that 1 out!).  BTW, the out rules here are if any portion of the fuselage is visible by the boundary judge, you are out, instead of the entire-airplane rule we use.  Plus, it appears you can earn more than 1 out per figure if you, for instance, take a rolling turn out 1 side and back in another.  Treacherous waters, indeed.

We've watched a gorgeous blue sky with calm winds go a-wasting for most of the midday as the 2 hour protest period was observed, the iron-men judges were allowed a brief break, lunches eaten, and the first unknown figures submitted.  The Free will begin at about 5 pm.  It is possible Julia will fly today, but she will be on the cusp.  The weather will be perfect for her if she does.  The CD originally said we would be breaking for a party at 7pm, but several of us have pointed out that we have committed a great deal of energy to come here and fly, so perhaps he will extend the flying to dusk as is usual.  Barring big thunderstorms, which my eyes tell me are unlikely given the fair-weather cumulous everywhere.

The judging has been fine.  Vicious, but fine.  It is possible that everyone has the back of their mind on the JPF results that will be viewed later, and is trying very hard to judge fairly and consistently.  Everyone is happy that the Q results are as close as this sequence can be judged. There was nothing very challenging to trick the unwary, and so it is no surprise that the majority of the pilots are within a narrow range of scores.  After bad weather slowed us up, the judges appeared to forgo a  few breaks to catch up some lost ground, which we pilots greatly appreciated. With the sun and heat, they will all be well toasted by the end of the week.

The menu has continued to make me feel right at home.  Chicken fried steak, chicken and dumplings, fried catfish, and broiled chicken with mashed potatoes.  Geez, this could be downtown Edna.

The Czech team is partially sponsored by Budweiser, which I found to be impressive until they pointed out that "American Budweiser different beer. Czech Budweiser very good, and made in town named Budweiser"

No time to try the spa today, and tomorrow we fly the free, so Helga the masseuse will have to wait. Tomorrow, perhaps I'll share the RSA motivational tale of their international aerobatic experience.

Best to all
 

Monday August 5th -     From Alan Cassidy / UK Trainer

4

The full AWAC Q listings are now finalised, bar protests. UK positions, out of 56 pilots, are:
Kester, 3rd
Mark, 4th
Steve, 5th
Gary, 18th
Dave, 36th
Cas, 39th

First is a Frenchman, second a Russian. Naturally we are very pleased. What a shame these results don't count!!

Now I have to design a Free for the warm-up pilot!!

Sunday August 4th    From Don Peterson / USA Team

3

The storm, which was forecast for late today, blew in at about 10 am and is clearing very rapidly with much cooler air.  Things are promising for later today, with clear skies and good viz and surprisingly light winds, considering the strength of the cool front.  Of course, weather forecasters have been known to be wrong....

An observation...  There are 16 countries represented here.  The amount of joyous interplay and cooperation is astounding.  No one is playing games, no protests have been filed, the Russians are treating Julia like an honored guest in their airplane, Uli is being totally gracious and helping Bubba with his Yak. The Czechs continue to be top professionals with my airplane, and I think Bob and Pam have been adopted by one or two Italians.  Our tent is next to the French, and we are enjoying each othero company with pleasant conversation and joke-telling.  There is a complete and total lack of intrigue or conflict.  Astounding.  The conversations frequently address the future of our sport, and whether it is growing or declining.  The sense
is that we are all in this together and that helping each other is the key to a happy future.  What a concept.

All for now.  The sun is creeping out and we may be picking up again soon. Best to all
 

Sunday August 4th -     From Alan Cassidy / UK Trainer

3

Yesterday the 5th AWAC commenced with a formal briefing at 0800 in the cool hangar, then the opening ceremony (Folk dancing and parachuting with flags - you get the picture again) from 1100 - 1230 with everyone standing in 32 degree sunshine in their blazers through the speeches which were at least as long as this sentence is going to be if I don't put in some punctuation soon and what a great reflection this all is on the aero-club of Murska Sobota and the Slovenian aeronautical society and the mayor of M-S and the chief of the general staff of the Slovenian Army and by now I guess you are sweating a bit too.

One interesting tit-bit to emerge from the briefing was that none of the "teams" has brought a non-competing pilot. So who is going to do the warm-up flights?? So as well as International Jury member, I am now sole warm-up pilot and they have given me use of the Slovenian Team Yak-55 for this process. So at least I have the pleasure of trying to catch out the Judges with subtle hard zeroes that they just might not spot, as well as the sanctioned hooliganism of flying the low-low lines around the box before breakfast.

The Q Programme did actually start yesterday afternoon. There were the usual delays trying to make the corner-judge radios work etc and only 12 pilots were able to complete before we had to stop when the tailwind got too strong and anyway the mayoral reception in the M-S Grad (Castle) was beckoning. Aerobatic pilots, well the Jury anyway, are always keen to get to the free booze, so flying stopped at 6.45pm.

Kester and Steve both flew and at the close they were 1st and 2nd respectively from the 12 results. So a good start for both. Cas and Dave (not a cockney pub band) are both due this morning (now 0930 local, Sunday). Gary and Mark later in the day if the weather (already looking a bit CB-ish to the SW) does not intervene.

Regards to all
 

Saturday August 3rd    From Don Peterson / USA Team

2

We've had the Sunday morning briefing and Yaks are warming up outside.  We start with pilot 13 today - a nice guy from Germany who was in the box yesterday for his Q when they decided the wind had shifted and so called him down.  We start the Q again this morning at around 9 Am with Alan Cassidy's usually entertaining warm-up flight.  I fly 39th, with Bob at 44th (I think).  We hope to get it done today, but possible afternoon showers may have other ideas.

For those cherished innocents among you that may be confused by our resident troll's posts - don't be confused about the qualification part. If you are thinking that they are referring to Julia's 69%, do not be distracted.  The cutoff is well below this number, and Julia will be flying program 1 (the free).

Interestingly, there were some zeros in program Q so far.  Typical brain farts and nothing dangerous, however.  I suspect even those with very low scores will be allowed to continue as there was no question of safety.

For those back home in Texas............ The standard lunch and dinner is almost always some form of schnitzel.  A breaded and fried piece of veal, which when served with mashed potatoes and a mysterious brown sauce is ... voila!..... chicken fried steak.  I'm right at home.

We had a gathering at the local "castle" last night, which appeared to be much more akin to a California apartment complex.  I am guessing that the local kings were less inclined toward military exploits, and so didn't feel the need for moats and drawbridges and the like.

We will make another attempt at a web-cam wave tonight at 7pm local, this time hopefully closer up and holding the flag.  I'm thrilled to hear that our efforts made it through last night.  Yes, the update rate on the cam is about 5 - 7 seconds, so we are forced to do some stop-actioning miming for it to come across as a coordinated effort.  We may be able to get closer next time, however.

Time to go run the flag up at the tent.  Thanks to everyone's much appreciate notes of encouragement.  Sorry about the trolls (thanks KH and KL), but just view it as background noise.  Everybody here is doing great, and I predict many of our fellow IAC'ers will get to enjoy this experience in future years
 

Saturday 3rd    cont'd ....

Greetings friendly readers,

It is Saturday midday, and all has come good.  Bubba, Julia, Tony, and Stef all wandered in yesterday afternoon, and the two Zlins and the Yak came in from the CZ that Bubba and I were counting on.  All's well that end's well.

It turns out that the recent war between Canada and the Czech Republic resulted in Stef having to spend the night in the airport at the CR, and then go to Slovakia to arrange for a visa.  That finally worked out, and they got to the practice camp for a good workout.  Otherwise, their delay in getting here had more to do with touristing around Prague than anything else.

The payment issue from USAF was cleared up after faxes were received.  The local organization is truly doing a wonderful job, but keeping up with 16 nations and 58 pilots is truly like herding cats.  They must have applied the last payment to the girl's twirling trombone group, but finally located it and we're all in.  Shirts haven't arrived, but supposedly will come in today.

I got a 6 minute flight in the Czech Zlin yesterday, and it is a wonderful machine.  Far better than mine at home, so I am having to learn how to fly it.  Fortunately it has a reliable flick, so that part is not a problem.  I had to manufacture a left wing sighting gauge this AM as the promised one was not there when it arrived.  I learned in Germany that this is a critical element, so was delighted when the local aeroclub offered me the use of the one from their Zlin50M.  Very helpful and generous people.

We've now had the interminable opening ceremonies in which every local dignitary gets to give their greeting speech, translated again into
English, and tell us the history of aviation and aerobatics.  The dancing girls were entertaining and enthusiastic.

The Q starts at 3 pm this afternoon.  We got an average draw with our earliest pilots flying about 10th and the latest in the high 40's, which
will come tomorrow.  Weather is fabulous.

We are going to attempt to be standing as a team in front of the web cam around 4pm local, if we can herd all the team cats into position.  This should be between 10am and 7 am for those of you in the US able to wake up and see us smiling into the camera.  If we are still here around 7pm local we'll try again, and it is 7 hours to the CDT, I think.

Signing off for now to allow others to use the machine.  I am enjoying the many encouraging posts in response to these reports.  I request that if you want to send them, however, that you post them to the exploder rather than to me personally.  I am attempting to carry the messages of support to the other team members, but they are all able to sign on and get their email, so posting to the exploder will let them receive it personally and reply with their own updates (and defenses to my slanderous prose).

I really do appreciate everyone's support, and am sure the rest of the gang does as well.  It is going well, and we are all very happy to be here and working well together as a team.  Tony is helping immensely as our manager (a real job at these things), and John King and Bill Stein have been offering last minute critique.  It promises to be a good event.

Regards to all
 

Friday August 2nd    From Don Peterson / USA Team

1

We are approaching the end of Friday.  Busy busy box.  Czech team has arrived, but their airplanes (and mine) are still expected later tonight. I am assuming that the Czech pilots being here will encourage the ferry pilots to press on successfully.

It has now been decided that two of our team pilots (other than me) have, in fact, been paid for in previous USAF transfers.  Julia is not yet officially paid for.  I won't be surprised if the money was originally wired more or less correctly and simply mislaid.  The local organizers are truly working very hard, particularly considering that the original CD succumbed to a recently discovered disease about 1 month ago.  The two paid pilots will have to pay for the money-handling fees on the USAF wired money, but this is relatively small and is shared here only to give a humorous insight into the unusual aspects of competing in a foreign country.  All will be resolved and we will be flying - assuming Bubba and Julia are released by the revolutionaries of course.

Most pilots are being housed in the Hotel Vivat, which appears to have been designed as assisted housing for the aged and infirm.  Not a bad match for the typical pilot condition at the end of the day.  The exalted dignitaries are being coddled over at the Hotel Adja, which is adjoining a lovely golf course and has an attached spa.  Mike was heard to mumble something about getting a pedicure, but I may have been mistaken.

John King and Bill Stein arrived to provide enlightened judging.  We have a full compliment of 10 judges, being chiefed by John Gaillard from South Africa.  He and I have discovered a common interest in Stampe aircraft, and I have offered to supply him a needed English translation manual to help his restoration.  One must help others struggling to maintain historic
aircraft, never mind that he is chiefing........

Bob Freeman is flying a rented Italian G200 brilliantly.  He claims it has several improvements over his own back in the states, and he spent a week with their team in Italy training on it.  I critiqued him yesterday and immediately gave up any hopes of beating him.  He will clearly score higher than his hosts flying their airplane, which is its own reward in a way.

For those of you considering whether an AWAC might be in your future - definitely make the effort.  Yes, I'm sharing the stubbed toes and blistered fingers, but in the end it is an opportunity to fly with, learn from, and get to know some of the most wonderful people in the world, and in our sport.  These are dedicated, talented, and charming people, just as
you will find at most contests in the states.  But with new stories, different flying techniques, amazing insights.  Definitely worth the effort.

Hopefully reporting tomorrow on everyone's arrival, and the beginning of the Q.

Thursday August 1st -     From Alan Cassidy / UK Trainer

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Hello All,

The boys have now been training in the box for 4 days and must by now know every maize plant and chestnut tree, not to mention the odd box marker or two. We were the first foreigners to arrive, but have now been joined by a throng from many nations. Still we have two slots per pilot for the last training day tomorrow.

Several pilots are waiting the arrival of planes from Czech and other places north, where the met man has been throwing a wobbly. Mind, we've had a few flights here which have been in and around the clouds and lifting fog in the mornings. Hopefully things will improve if the pressure rises next week.

The grass runway here is a bit rough and has taken its toll of a fair few tail-wheels. Yesterday we lent our spare Giles tail-wheel and spring to the Italians/Americans sharing I-PULL, the Italian G200 when their spring broke. Today we used up our last long tail-wheel/fuselage bolt when old one sheared under Kester on take off. Dave Kaberry had a problem with his too, but this is now solved, at least for the time being. But the spirit of co-operation abounds and there is always lots of help as well as opinions when technical duress strikes.

When not flying, we are all busy re-making old acquaintances and finding new people to talk aeroplanes to. Can't be all that bad really, can it. There's also been a bit of gamesmanship in the practice box. Like flying illegal Unknown figures after a Free Program just to wind-up those watching with eagle eyes. Kester managed a nice push, 3/4 roll tail-slide this afternoon which had a few Italians running for their rule books.

Tomorrow, Friday, is last training day. Briefing and Q Flights start Saturday afternoon, so things will start in earnest very soon. Will try to keep you in touch as things progress. There is also a very good website, which gets updated very regularly with photos etc. You can find a link on the CIVA website www.fai.org/aerobatics, or try www.aeroklub-ms.si (hopefully).

Bye for now.
 

Tuesday July 30th -     From Alan Cassidy / UK Trainer

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At least, I think it must be the 30th. Its definitely Tuesday though, probably.

This is the state of one's brain after two days staring into the sky watching 6 advanced team pilots cavorting around the Murska Sobota box. Accompanied, every now and then, by a rather choice expletive when some fiendish figure goes awry.

So you've probably guessed that after the sunny Saturday at Little Gransden the transit flights to the AWAC site went OK. Mark, Kester and Cadbury, in the long-range machines arrived Sunday mid afternoon. Gary and myself, plodding along in the 182 were only an hour or so behind (we abstained from the 2-hour lunch break in Germany - I hate sausage anyway).

Steve and Cas in the Pitts pair had, of necessity, a couple more fuel stops and spent Saturday evening sampling the delights of Salzburg, before arriving Monday before coffee.

All have had 3 flights a day in the contest box for the two days here. This primarily because we were the first "foreigners" to arrive. We now have a German a Finn a South African and several Italians, so the rate of flights may slow down over the next 2 or 3 days, as things get busier.

The weather here is typically sunny and hot, a bit like UK at the weekend, with the chance of a shower as the clouds build during the afternoon. So far no storm/wind/hail problems, I'm pleased to say, unlike Lithuania. We have comfortable accommodation just a 10-minute bike ride from the airfield, so the logistics have also worked out very well. Thanks to Mark for setting this up some time ago.

Will let you have more news of arrivals and developments in due course. Thanks to all those who sent their best wishes to the team.

Bye for now