Looking ahead 

As winter heads in we find ourselves immersed in planning for the next decade – a decade which will start with a significant change to our membership structure next year. We want to ensure that we are open to all aerobatic pilots and enthusiasts, so our new membership-for-all at £25/year will be the start of a push to attract both new members and old.

Our focus next year will also be on making our contests as accessible and attractive as possible, and Jen Buckenham & Brian McCartney have been working hard to put a great calendar together for 2020. That’s not all, though. We will also be working on our links to aerobatic schools and training organisations to direct aspiring aerobatic pilots on their next steps. And we will be organising more training camps to help develop competition pilots and our international teams and build on our culture of safe, well-prepared pilots at all our contests.

Here is a bit more about our plans:

Membership from 1^st January 2020

The 2019 AGM approved a change in the membership fee structure to a single fee of £25/year, with an increase in contest entry fees to ensure that our revenue covers the cost of running the contests. We have reviewed this proposal in the context of an exceptionally quiet year in 2019 and, with a few tweaks, agreed to proceed with the change. From 1^st January you will pay £25 for membership, whether you are competing or supporting, enthusiast or instructor. Payments will be taken by Stripe via the website in the usual way, but there will now be an annual renewal option on the anniversary of your first payment, with advanced notification of the renewal by email. This should make life simpler when it comes to renewal, but also much more affordable if you are not actively competing. Details will shortly be appearing at www.aerobatics.org.uk/membership . Please do sign up to the new membership and help support British Aerobatics!

Contests

The new entry fees are designed to cover our costs while still making sure that competing is affordable and fun. These are the fees for both Power and Glider contests:

Sign-up and payment for contests will be via the usual website www.aerobatics.org.uk/events and late entry fees will still apply, so please make sure you sign up in good time.

The calendar for 2020 has been designed by timing contests to fit with preparations for Intermediate (Romania), Advanced (Czech Republic) and Unlimited (Czech Republic) Power championships as well as the Glider WGAC/WAGAC (Poland). There is going to be a great Get into Aeros contest at Sleap on 23^rd/24^th May organised by Ruth Scott and her team and the ever-popular Club Event at Mark Jefferies’ Little Gransden on 30^th May.

The ADV/UNL Nationals will be at Sywell on 18^th to 21^st June with plenty of opportunity for competition practice at any of 4 contests before that and the SPO/INT Nationals will be at Conington on 20^th to 22^nd August. The Glider Nationals have yet to be finalised, but there will be a great calendar for glider contests, too, so let’s see as many pilots as we can competing next year!

International Teams

Being selected to represent the British Aerobatics Team at European and World events is both an honour and a badge of achievement in your aerobatic flying. Each year we review the performance of individuals at national and international contests and select Team and Squad members based on average sequence scores – a Team place is awarded when you consistently average over 70 % on all sequences. A Squad place allows you to train with Team members to see if you can impress the Team managers and coaches enough for them to award you a full place in the Team. There are plenty of opportunities to impress in 2020 so let Chris Sills/Phil Massetti know if you want to take up a Team or Squad place.

2019 UK UNL champion Melanie Astles collects an individual Silver medal at WAC Chateauroux (Photo credit FFA)

For 2020 those provisionally selected are:

Team managers and coaches will be advised soon. These roles are vital and require individuals to commit significant time and expense in helping Teams prepare properly for the international stage. In 2019 Phil Burgess, John Royce, Chris Sills, Nick Buckenham, Tom Cassells, Pierre Varloteaux, Will Jones, Paul Conran and Eric Lentz-Gauthier all stepped up and gave freely of their time to support our British Aerobatics Team. Thank you!

2019 Intermediate Bronze medal team ready to compete in Breclav, Czech Republic (Photo credit Dave Farley)

Training Camps

Each of the international teams will have a programme of training camps and pre-contest preparation arranged by our organising team and the respective managers and coaches. We are also looking to run open training events for SPO/INT/ADV pilots who want to improve their contest flying – let Chris or Phil know asap if you are interested. baea@ar-bu.co.uk or phil@aerobatics.org.uk .

David Nichols is also putting together some ADV/UNL winter/early season training with Pierre Varloteaux in Southern France or Spain. Let him know if this is something you would like to participate in - marketing@aerobatics.org.uk . One small plea from our Ops Team – Jen & Brian. If you are thinking of organising your own training camps at an airfield where we also hold contests, please liaise with them first to save any embarrassing noise issues.

Spitfire!

Photo credit - Darren Harbar Photography (courtesy of Boultbee Flight Academy)

Many of you will no doubt have bought tickets for our previous prize draws raising money to help towards coaching and preparing our British Aerobatic Team. The lucky winners get to live the dream in a two-seat Spitfire, or for the last draw in an L39 jet in Reims in France. Martin Payne was our jet jockey for the day and the smile below says it all. Alan Begley had a great time at Duxford on his Spitfire ride and David Munn is looking forward to better weather in the spring for his Boultbee Spitfire experience. Each of them took a punt and got the 1 in 1000 chance of a lifetime. Please help us make the current draw equally successful by heading towards www.aerobatics.org.uk/lottery and encouraging fellow pilots, friends and family to take part, too !

Martin Payne about to become Top Gun (Photo credit – Martin Payne)

Jingly Bells 

I hope that you find this update interesting and useful – we will keep you informed as we progress through next year and equally welcome your own updates for inclusion; as well as your comments, feedback and suggestions – chairman@aerobatics.org.uk or marketing@aerobatics.org.uk .

Have a great Christmas break, a very Happy New Year and safe aerobatics in 2020.

Steve Todd

Chairman