The hammerhead Times · opening their beautiful home/hangar to all associated with the Minifest. The food and company was out-standing and all had a wonderful time. So what little

The hammerhead Times An IAC 36 Publication

CHAPTER OFFICERS

Randy [email protected]

Pete [email protected]

Gray Brandt [email protected]

Bill [email protected]

DIRECTORS

Bill [email protected]

Reinaldo [email protected]

Dennis [email protected]

Jenner [email protected]

Malcolm [email protected]

PRESIDENT EMERITUS

Bob [email protected]

WEBMASTER

Randy [email protected]

NEWSLETTER EDITOR

Yolandi [email protected]

April 2007

In this Issue

* A note from the President* G-Acceleration in Aerobatics

* A Lesson from Bill Hill*The Passing of the Toarch

*1000 Hours Logged* FYI

* And the Other Stuff*The Mistress

*A Word From the Secretary * A Note from the Editor

The San Diego Hammerheads IAC 36

www.IAC36.orgVolume 1 Issue 4

THE MINIFEST 2007

Ingredients:1 Training Camp 2 Runners18 Competitors 1 Registrar 2 Categories 1 Volunteer Coordinator3 Flights 2 Computer Scorers36 Sponsors 1 Chief Judge and Assistants 5 Judges, Assistants, RecordersSeveral Boundary JudgesLiberal Sprinkling of Misc. Help6 Hours (and a few minutes) Mix all this together and stir in a beautiful Borrego morning (with a warmer, windier afternoon), and add in all the volunteers needed to fill in every as-sistant, recorder, boundary, running, coordinating, starting, scoring, teching, and chief positions, and you’ll have a pretty smooth Minifest.

Photo by Kate DeBaun

Of course, the experts made it all happen: Michael Church performed the role of Chief Judge as only a seasoned expert can. Gray Brandt showed us all how to keep them taxiing in his role as Starter. Yolandi Jooste pulled in all the volunteers (willing and otherwise) and gave them jobs suited for their abilities. Joanne Bancroft is probably the best registrar there ever was, and she got people through registration with ease. Josh Muncie ran the contest as a seasoned veteran although he’s not. Bill Hill set up, tore down, marked the box, and made sure the facilities were in place for the group. Emmy Lou Brandt, well, I can’t forget her because she coordinat-ed the lunches for all of us out on the line. Bill Ban-croft drove the corners like he was practicing for the Baja 500 in the Chapter 36 Suzuki Samurai. Heather Ogas and Barbara Hill tagged teamed the numerous numbers that had to be entered into the scoring com-puter, and those scores were put in and cranked out as fast as humanly possible. Yes, we all did quite a lot in short period of time. That’s our Minifest!

Many more souls were there and behind the scenes in the weeks leading to the contest to make it all come together for the 18 that battled for supremacy of the skies over Borrego. Everyone involved has my per-sonal thanks for their role be it pilot or volunteer. We need both to have a contest, after-all.

What about all the great gifts? Everyone that was a part of the contest (win or lose) got a free contest T-shirt and all competitors got a commemorative framed photograph standing in front of their trusty aerobatic steed. Kate DeBaun took the pictures for us and blended in a nice title and logo at the bottom of the pictures. They came out looking superb!

What about the award ceremony? The chapter owes another HUGE thanks to Bill and Joanne Bancroft for opening their beautiful home/hangar to all associated with the Minifest. The food and company was out-standing and all had a wonderful time.

So what little random “jewels” of knowledge did I gain at this contest?• It may not be necessary to win Sportsman by

flying an Extra to the edge of its design limits, but it also doesn’t seem to hurt• A Cessna 150 can use the whole length of the runway at Borrego for landing • Not every Borrego contest requires the Chief Judge’s stand to be sacrificed to the wind gods• We have a great number of members and friends who will show up just to help (we do have a great Chapter)• Not all of our members and friends wear an XL T-Shirt after-all

Remember that Apple Valley is coming this May (May 17th is practice and registration). Plan to help Chapter 49 with set-up and tear-down duties! As you see above, it’s work to put on a contest, and the more hands helping out, the less work for all.

-Randy Owens

G-Acceleration in Aerobatics: A Medical Primer for all Pilots

Reinaldo Beyer, M.D. and Malcolm Pond, M.D.

There you are, getting ready to dive into the box, wag your wings, and then crush your competitors with the brilliance of your aerobatic skills. You are jittery from the energy drink that you gulped just before climbing into the plane and rushing through the preflight drills. You didn’t really have time to drink the water that you should have. You memorized the sequence, so there is really no need to look at the sequence card again. A competitor at the last moment tells you to avoid doing the spin to the right since everyone else is spinning to the left. As you dive into the box, you suddenly panic and your heart starts pounding as you realize that your radio is set to the wrong frequency. You start your high-speed pull up into the first maneuver while you fiddle with the radio. A minute later you wake up confused, wondering exactly where you are and what just happened. Congratulations, you’re not dead.

Perhaps this scenario is a bit exaggerated, but how often have you found your performance deteriorating as you fly your sequence? There are a number of lessons to be learned from our hapless competitor, many of which involve physiology, mental and physical preparation, and stress management. Movement of the throttle, stick, and rudder are important to a good flight—but it is much more important to be prepared physically, mentally, and emotionally beforehand.

President Owens

In this column, we will explore different topics which will help you to prepare for your aerobatic routines. We will cover topics pertinent to our sport, such as g-tolerance, hydration, and other medical issues which put so many demands on our brain and body in such a short time and in such stress-provoking conditions. This primer is presented in 3 parts: I.-The ABC’s of G’s II.-Effects of Gz on Your Aerobatic Piloting Skills III.-Improving Your Gz Tolerance for Aerobatic Competition

Now, let’s turn our attention to G’s.

Part I: The ABC’s of G’s - Gwiz

When you are practicing aerobatics your body is constantly being whipped about by large “G-forces” while you go through your routine. Strictly defined in physics terms, you are actually experiencing accelerations, rather than forces. Accelerations occur in the transverse, lateral and vertical axis using the body of the pilot as a reference. They are denoted by the coordinates Gx, Gy, and Gz. This is shown in Figure 1, which illustrates the coordinate system. We will limit this article to a discussion of Gz

Figure 1: G-accelerations acting on the pilot

How many Gz?

What determines how much Gz you subject yourself when you use your airplane’s controls? In order to change the flight path of an airplane a force is generated, which ac-celerates the plane from its flight path. This acceleration (a) is determined by your velocity (v) and the radius (r) of the turn:

a = v2/r

Let’s say that you want to fly a loop at 160 kts with a diam-eter of 800 ft. The calculated Gz is 5.67.

(Gz = {[(160x6080)/3600]2/400}/32.17 where 1 kt =6080 ft/hr, 1 hr = 3600 sec, 1 G = 32.17 ft/sec 2, and r = 800/2). Note that the Gz for this plain vanilla loop approaches the G limits of a Decathlon or Pitts. Every item on your aircraft momentarily weighs more. The estimated 1600 lb gross weight of your airplane is now 9072 lbs.

What happens to your body weight? The standard 170 lb FAA pilot in just a few seconds tips the scales at 964 lb. If you then decide to do the same style loop half inside and half outside, you would transition from plus 964 to minus 964 lbs (i.e. a change in force of 1928 lbs) and you would have exceeded the -Gz limit of your Decathlon. In reality, the –Gz would be less since airspeed loss occurs at the top of the loop, the outside portion of the loop would be slower, and the –Gz push would be softer if you keep the same radius.

Physiologic effects of +Gz and –Gz

The human body has developed circulatory mechanisms to compensate for changes in posture (for instance when standing up from a reclining position), but it was never engineered for drastic changes in Gz typical of an aerobatic flight. In order to compensate for changes in Gz, we utilize both voluntary and involuntary mechanisms. Constriction of arteries in the lower extremities and changes in heart rate are involuntary mechanisms. Voluntary adaptation (such as straining maneuvers) and devices (anti-G suits, positive pressure breathing apparatus) can further increase our toler-ance to Gz. If we exceed our limits of compensation, there are immediate consequences.

As your heart contracts it generates pressure, usually in the range of 120 mm Hg (millimeters of mercury or “Torr”), sufficient to create flow to your brain and other organs. Now consider that your cerebral cortex is approximately 18 inches above the level of the heart. An 18 inch column of blood is equivalent to 33 mm Hg. This means that the blood pressure at the cerebral cortex is 33 mm Hg less than at the level of the heart, or approximately 87 mm Hg. If this 18 inch column of blood is subjected to 2.6 Gz (87/33 = 2.6), there will be no flow to the brain unless there is some sort of involuntary or voluntary compensation. All competition sequences (even primary) have periods where Gz exceeds +2.6 G.

When there is a dramatic stimulus such as a pronounced fall in blood pressure, the brain activates the sympathetic nervous system. Catecholamines such as epinephrine and norepinephrine are released, causing the heart to speed up and the arteries in the arms and legs to constrict. Blood flow is diverted away from the liver, spleen, and abdominal organs. These mechanisms take a minute or more to take

effect, and help to explain our ability to fight with or run away from a saber-toothed tiger. In addition the carotid ar-teries in the neck have pressure sensors or “baroreceptors” which help the body to regulate blood pressure on a mo-ment-to-moment basis. These are the involuntary mecha-nisms which help the blood pressure and flow to the brain to remain stable during periods of Gz stress. Gravity pulls blood out of organs and vessels above the level of the heart and pools it into organs below the heart. Pressure in ankle veins has been measured at 400 mm Hg at +8 Gz. This pooling diminishes the return of blood to the heart and results in less blood pumped with each heart beat. Unless the heart rate increases, the cardiac output decreases.

Negative Gz redistributes blood to the upper body. The physiologic responses are essentially opposite to the response to +Gz. Heart rate slows, and the baroreceptors cause leg and arm arteries to dilate in an attempt to lower blood pressure. Intracranial pressure can increase dramati-cally during prolonged high negative Gz, since the volume of veins and arteries increase inside the rigid compartment of the head. At extreme loads blood vessels can rupture and leak into the brain. The more delicate blood vessels in

the eyelids, eyes, and face can break from the higher hydro-static pressure.

Anti-G straining maneuvers

When pulling +Gz, we can assist our cardiovascular system by preventing the shift of blood from the upper body to the lower body. There are large veins in the pelvis, abdo-men and legs, which together with abdominal organs like the liver and spleen, act as reservoirs of blood. One can squeeze these veins and reservoirs by compressing them. How? Contraction of your leg muscles and your abdominal muscles will shift blood to the upper body, as you can tell why watching a piano mover’s face engorge and turn red or purple when trying to lift a piano. See Table I. Note that all maneuvers are similar. They differ in whether air is being exhaled during the chest contraction or not, and whether there is extremity muscular contraction. Be aware that the plain Valsalva maneuver (forced chest contraction without exhaling) can decrease the +Gz tolerance if started too late or for done for too long.

Muscular contraction helps the heart to maintain its output by preventing pooling of blood in the lower body. And by tensing your chest and abdomen, you are assisting your

M-1 -neck muscle contraction: pull head down Effective between the shoulders Strenuous -grunt: slowly and forcefully exhale Laryngeal irritation when through a partially closed glottis repeated, hoarseness after flight -simultaneously tense abdominal, arm and Increases tolerance by +2 Gz leg muscles. -for long duration exposure repeat every 5 s after inhaling a very fast gasp of air and then immediately restarting the contraction

L-1 - neck muscle contraction: pull head down between No post-flight hoarseness the shoulders If repeated the pause for -forcefully exhale against a completely closed inhalation/exhalation is longer, glottis (no grunt) during which there is no -simultaneously tense abdominal, arm and protection leg muscles May be as effective as M-1 -for long duration exposure repeat after exhaling and inhaling

M-2 (Valsalva) -forcefully exhale against a completely closed Less effective glottis (no grunt) May cause G-LOC if not started -abdominal muscles will tense well before the onset of +Gz - no voluntary tensing of arm or leg muscles Should not be repeated

TABLE I: anti-G straining maneuvers Maneuver Description Advantage/Disadvantage

heart momentarily to generate just a little more pressure, sufficient enough to overcome the 2.6 +Gz at which blood flow to the brain ceases. Obviously the situation is precari-ous. The brain has very limited cellular oxygen reserves, sufficient for only 5 seconds or less. When there is no flow to the brain, and your 5 seconds are up, all of the invol-untary and voluntary compensations for excess +Gz have been exhausted, and your brain shuts down. If nothing else, remember this: a = v2/r. Physics is still the commanding law.

Biographical Sketch forReinaldo Beyer, M.D.

Reinaldo Beyer is a physician board-certified in Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Diseases and Interven-tional Cardiology. He is a Senior Staff Cardiologist at Sharp Memorial Hospital and Sharp Rees-Stealy Medical Group and faculty at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine.He started flying gliders at age 16 in his native Chile. He is a Regional IAC Judge and has competed in a Decathlon, Pitts and now an Ex-tra. He was the 2003 Sportsman California Series Champion, 2003 Sportsman Arizona State Champion and 2003 Sportsman Southwest Regional Champion. In 2005 he was Intermedi-ate California Series Champion, Intermediate Southwest Regional Champion and National Vice-Champion and won the Soucy Award. He now competes in Advanced. Marty Dog (sitting in the Pitts) has shown great inclination and ability to do lines, part-loops and tumbles, but so far only around and underneath the airplane, not with the flying airplane.

Biographical Sketch forMalcolm Pond, M.D.

Malcolm is a board certified cardiologist and managing partner with Riverside Cardiol-ogy Associates in Riverside, CA. He graduated from Yale, did his training at Johns Hopkins, and has practiced adult invasive cardiology since 1978. He is a commercial pilot with instrument rating, and flew sailplanes and motorgliders until he gravitated to aerobatics in 2001. He flies an Edge 540 in the advanced

category. His other favorite pursuit is mountain biking.

A LESSON FROM BILL HILL

Bill Hill is an Aerobatic Instructor at Sunrise Avia-tion, based out of John Wayne Airport, Ca. He has 12 years experience flying competition aero-batics 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 www.IAC36.org, under the Club Newsletters. His first article starts on January 2007.

AEROBATIC INSTRUCTOR

Last month I exited the one turn spin at 160 – 180 mph ready for the next figure in the Primary sequence, the half-Cuban eight. If I managed my entry into the aerobatic box properly, I will exit the spin in center box and be able to fly the level line between the exit from the spin and the start of the loop into the half-Cuban for a 3 – second count.

Remember, a line between figures is mandatory, but its length is arbitrary. In the Primary category there is no penalty for flying outside the box, so fly a 3 – second level (constant altitude) line count between figures. But if you can manage it, start practicing aerobatic box management now. The half-Cuban is a turn around figure and, as such, will cover a third of the aerobatic boxes horizontal length. This will be followed by the loop in center box and the 180 degree turn in the last third of the box.

Back to the half-Cuban. If you have the presence of mind to do so, wait until your periphery vision sees an aerobatic box corner marker just forward of the Super Decathlon’s strut before starting the half-Cuban. If you can’t see the corner marker to your left, because you have drifted to close to the left side boundary line, look to your right for the open side corner boundary marker. For the inexperi-enced competitor, all this looking around for box position can overload the senses and have a detrimental effect on the up-coming maneuver. An alternate reference system is to take the time during your practice flights to pick out abeam references within your head and eyes level field of view outside the box boundaries on the ground or on the horizon for the end box boundary lines and the center box location. Looking to the side rather than to the side and down for an aerobatic box position reference is less demanding in the beginning.

Malcolm and “Spinner”

The Super Decathlon cannot maintain airspeed faster than 130 mph in level flight at full throttle, so don’t be surprised to see the airspeed decreasing during the level flight lines between figures. At the end of the level flight line between the spin and the half-Cuban eight, I look straight over the nose, make sure my wings are level, pull briskly on the stick to the 4 – G looping stick position, and freeze the stick. Think ¾ loop with a ½ roll to upright. When the nose pitches above the horizon, I look at the left wing tip or sight gauge and press on whichever rudder is required to keep my wings level reference lying on the horizon. As the air-plane pitches over to where the inverted left wing tip chord line is at about a 30 – degrees angle to the horizon, I release the back pressure on the stick, look straight ahead and take out any bank with aileron. I release the back stick at the 30- degree inverted chord line to horizon refer-ence on the front half of the loop in order to maintain a constant loop diameter as the airplane slows down going over the top of the loop. As with the full loop, the half-Cuban loop portion must be wind corrected and the pitch rate over the top will be varied by the pilot accordingly. Inexperienced pilots also tend to pinch the top of the half-Cuban loop and pitch down early rather than fly a constant diameter loop to the 45 – degree inverted down line. As the airplane continues to pitch over the top of the loop, I correct any heading error with rudder and look for my 45 – degree inverted dive attitude ground reference. Some pilots use the sight gauge or left/right wing tip chord line to set the 45 – degree down line. I do not. My approach is to select a spot on the ground that I estimate to be ½ way between the horizon and vertical down. Coaching and practice will lock this sight picture in your head.

There are reasons why I don’t use the wing tip or sight gauge references when setting 45 – degree down right-side up or upside down lines and vertical down lines. First and foremost, when I am pointed at the ground, I want to be looking at the ground. When I move my head left or right, my hand or hands on the stick want to move in the direction I am looking. Advocates for looking to the wing tip refer-ences to set the down-lines argue that you use these refer-ences on pitch-ups to the 45 – degree and vertical up-lines, so why not the down-lines. It is only a matter of discipline and practice. They are of course right about that. How-ever, most pilots new to aerobatics are to varying degrees insecure with inverted flight and moving the head around unnecessarily will increase that insecurity and cause vary-ing amounts of spatial disorientation.

There is a tendency for the inexperienced competition pi-lots to blend the transition from the loop to the inverted 45 – degree down line. This does not provide the judges with a visible start to the 45 – degree down line. Upon reach-ing the inverted 45 – degree down line attitude, I move the stick forward briskly to stop the pitch over to hold the 45 – degree down attitude and set the start of the 45 – degree down line. I appreciate my upright nose down trim while holding the forward stick pressure required to maintain the inverted 45 – degree down line attitude. Remember we are not judged on the track the airplane makes at this time, we are judged on the attitude of the airplane during its descent. Once you set the line, stay with it. Make no corrections be-fore the half-roll. Any change in attitude will only result in additional score reductions by the judges. From the pilot’s perspective looking over the nose inverted, the common error is to set a shallow down line attitude. Error on the side of too steep and you will score better.

After airplane attitude, the next grading criterion is place-ment of the half-roll in the center of the 45 – degree down line. Most judges will unconsciously use time to measure line lengths. Also, most judges will not factor the airplanes acceleration on the 45 – degree down line into their line length estimate. Therefore, I set the 45 – degree inverted down line with an abrupt forward stick push to stop the pitch and mark the start of the line, hold it for 2 – sec-onds, half roll to up right, hold the line for 2 –seconds and abruptly pull 4 – G’s to recover to level flight attitude.

The half-roll challenge is to maintain the airplane’s 45 – degree down line attitude and x-axis heading. Remember, the roll axis visual ground reference is not the spinner. It is a point on the windshield centerline above the spinner about which the airplane appears to rotate. I begin the roll with full left aileron and no rudder, which assumes a zero lift angle of attack, and therefore no adverse yaw. When the airplane is inverted cross controlling the aileron and rudder is coordinated flight. In order to avoid any deep ingrained habits to input left rudder with left aileron, I lift my left foot off the rudder pedal. Any sense of needing to brace myself with my feet as the roll begins translates to pressure on the right rudder pedal which is the correct input if there is any angle of attack. During the roll to knife edge, I am releasing the forward pressure on the stick and lowering my left foot to the rudder pedal, so at knife edge the elevator and rudder are centered. The amount of left rudder required after knife edge will vary with the change in angle of attack and I focus on my heading and pitch attitude relative to my roll axis ground reference point. If at any time during the roll I feel my body is being pressed against the left or right side of the cockpit, I relieve that pressure by pushing in the rudder on the side feeling the pressure.

The half-roll provides an opportunity to fix the 45 – degree down line attitude of the airplane. The most common er-ror for the inexperienced is to be at a too shallow attitude before the roll. This can be fixed during the roll. The other common mistake is to release the left rudder before the roll is stopped wings level with ailerons neutral. This causes the airplane to yaw to the right off-heading. If this happens to you, fix the heading during the pitch-up to level flight.

During the 45 – degree descent, the airplane will be ac-celerating and it may be necessary to throttle back to keep from exceeding the 200 mph redlineVne airspeed. If neces-sary I throttle back after the half-roll. There is no starting altitude finishing altitude matching requirement. The half-Cuban is an altitude losing figure. The amount of altitude lost is a function of the 45 – degree down line length. The Primary category entry altitude for the half-Cuban will be around 2,500 feet AGL, so the exit altitude should be around 2,000 feet AGL if I keep the two 45 – degree down line line-length segments 2 – seconds each. Longer line lengths risk busting the 1500 feet AGL aerobatic box floor. My target airspeed at the end of the upright 2 – second 45 – degree down line is 160 mph IAS. This will give me a level flight 180 mph IAS as I exit the half-Cuban eight in the Super Decathlon.Next month I will discuss flying the loop in some detail. The loop is easy to perform, but a challenge to do well and score high. -Bill Hill

The Passing of the Torch

The Minifest has once again passed and did so rather smoothly. Friday and Saturday saw good weather, a change from the wind and rain that drove us away from the airport on Thursday. Friday morning saw those of us that attended the Sunrise training camp getting in one last flight while the first trickle of com-petitors started to arrive. As always Joanne Bancroft made registration go quickly and smoothly with only a few late arrivals to attended to on Saturday. Saturday got off to a slightly late start as we added the late arriv-als in. We quickly regained lost time thanks to Gray Brandt and Pete Thompson who teamed together to launch an amazing 54 flights in less than six hours. Chief Judge Michael Church and his team of judges, assistants, recorders, boundary judges, runners did a heck of a job, despite hot sun and breezy conditions. Once again Vicki Cole, the airport manager, graciously opened her

doors to us, providing a place for our registrar and scor-ers to work, out of the weather in comfort. Everything ran smooth and efficient thanks to Volunteer Coordina-tor Yolandi Jooste, it was her first time as VC and she did great. The day finished early with the pilots easily getting three flights in. Our awards banquet was again held at Bill and Joanne Bancroft’s beautiful home, where there was plenty of food and drink for all. This was my first contest as director and I learned a lot. With all the support that was given to me by many selfless people I was able fly and not worry about the little things. I can now pass the torch to Ron Rapp, who is CD’ing the Akrofest, and relax. Special thanks to: Bill & Joanne Bancroft, Michael Church, Yolandi Jooste, Heather Ogas, Bill & Barbara Hill, Gray Brandt, Emmy Lou Brandt, Pete Thompson, Dennis Foster, Jenner Knight, Kate DeBaun, Vicki Cole, Randy Owens, and everyone else that gave of themselves to make a great contest. Very special thanks to all those that participated to present me with the wonderful autographed pilots picture. It is something that I cherish and will always remind me of what true friendship is.

-Joshua Muncie

A 1000 Hours Logged and A New Purpose

During the flight home from Borrego, my eyes kept darting back and forth, from the horizon to the Hobbs meter. A few more clicks. Just a few more... As I watched and waited, my mind went back to the events that lead to this moment. Learning to fly years ago lead to one certification after another, one form of aircraft to the next. It had come to the point where I needed something different; a new challenge, perhaps. The $100 hamburger was no longer a fat and juicy mouth-watering delight. I craved something new on the menu, like maybe a “Box” lunch. As I sat there waiting on that Hobbs Meter, I continued re-flecting back to just an hour before, when I was coerced, if not outright forced to fly into the aerobatic box for the first time out at Borrego in my trusty little Aerobat. Nervously I flew back and forth twice across the top of the box, just to get the feel of its dimensions. I was surprised to find that it seemed so much smaller from the air!

CD Muncie

Casey Erickson

I circled back around, lined myself up on the X-Axis, and flew back into the box. I then started into a 45 up-line/spin/aileron roll combination and flew out of the box. I was horrified! It was the worst such combination I had ever performed, and people were actually watching me on the ground, judging me. I felt like I was an actress on stage, the star of the show, for just a brief moment. My heart was racing, adrenaline pumping. It was awesome. Yes, at this point I realize you might be questioning my sanity. It was just a simple sequence that, in retrospect, I didn’t really fly all that hor-ribly. Still, something about people watching me flying the box brought a certain sense of official-ness to the event. As I flew back to Riverside, I had a huge grin on my face the entire way back. I had found a new way to fly for the pure and simple fun of it again. As a rookie to this sport I have to say it has been really nice to have been invited with open arms into a group, of what I have always thought of as elite pilots, who have all turned out to be so very nice and welcoming. I am thrilled to be involved in a sport that is part skill and part art form. And yes, for the first time in many years, I feel slightly over-whelmed trying to fly through a sequence correctly. Most of the time, it’s very humbling. I feel like I am learning to fly all over again and in a sense, I suppose I am. It’s such a great feeling. Now I find myself excited just to get out and practice again. But, back to the Hobbs meter. I waited. It seemed like forever. Turn already! *click!* I was now the world’s most recent pilot with 1000 hours logged! And with It brought a feeling of starting over again, I had a fresh outlook, and a new sense of purpose in my flying. I couldn’t have felt happier at that moment, than I was on that flight back from Borrego. By the time this makes the newsletter, no doubt a very successful Mini-fest will have been run, and a lot of fun will have been had by everyone in attendance. If you were not there or if I didn’t get a chance to meet you, hopefully I will over the next year, as I will be judging and possibly flying a contest or two, trying to learn as much as I can. I’m hard to miss. Just look for the tall (5’ 10”) blonde girl with a big smile on her face.

-Casey Erickson

THE FYI CONTEST DATES...

Some of these contest dates might not be firm just yet, but to aid with your plan-ning for 2007 here they are...

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, con-tact Dennis Foster who is just the person to do it.. Contact Dennis at [email protected]. Check with Dennis frequently for infor-mation 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 [email protected] for more information. Any help will be appreci-ated and well received.

Kate DeBaun Photography

All Pictures of the Borrego MiniFest was tak-en by Kate. If you would like copies of them

please contact her via e-mail or phone... [email protected]

http://www.kwdphotography.comhttp://www.myspace.com/kwdphoto

And The OTher STuff... RESULTS FOR THE BORREGO MINIFEST....

Primary

1 Barrett Hines..American Champion.82.25% 2 Michael Smith......Pitts S1-T............80.50% 3 Mark Mettler........36 Super D.........80.29% 4 Margo Chase........49 Decathlon.....80.03% 5 Perry Barlow........Cesna Aerobat....71.50%

Sportsman

1 Jeff Jewell..........36 Extra 300........84.59% 2 Michael Montgomery.Extra 300.......83.53% 3 Steve Madorsky.....Extra 300..........82.95% 4 James McNamara...Pitts S-2C.........82.47% 5 Joshua Muncie.....36 Super D.........82.04% 6 Niccolai Murphy....36 Pitts S-1T.......80.06% 7 Michael Freeman..36 Pitts S2B.......78.33%

8 Patrick Dugan.......49 Super D........77.55% 9 Robert Branch.......36 Pitts S1S.......75.77% 10 Jay Yau..............36 Pitts S-2B......71.37% 11 Gregory Heiertz..36 Pitts S2B.......68.28% 12 Erik Thomas.......69 Yak 55M........66.00% 13 Patrick Carter.....38 Pitts S2B........51.70%

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 [email protected]. He will tell you where, when, what time and what to bring.

Here are the scheduled dates and events for your plan-ning purposes. April 2007

Saturday 28th @ L08...................Practice and critiquingSunday 29th @ L08.....................Practice and Critiquing

May 2007Saturday 5th @ TNP.....................Practice and critiquingSaturday 12th @ L08....................Practice and critiquingSunday 13th @ L08.....................Practice and CritiquingSaturday 26th @ L08....................Practice and critiquingSunday 27th @ L08......................Practice and critiquing

Your Trophy Winners for Borrego Mini 2007Photo by Kate DeBaun

Apple Valley Contest May 2007Thursday 17th @ APV...............Practice and RegistrationFriday 18th @ APV......................................CompetitionSaturday 19th @ APV..................................CompetitionSunday 20th @ L08.........................................Rain Day

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 www.IAC36.org. Look under the events calender icon.

The mistress

I think my husband has a mistress I’ve suspected for a time I think I used to know her

When I was younger, in my prime

I can just picture her perfection Not a blemish, not a flaw

Young and peppy and adventurous Making me feel old and blah

I can tell when he’s been with her By the way he smells when he comes home

His clothes a little wrinkled His hair could use a comb

I can tell that he’s been with her Because he has a special glow

She makes him feel so free Like there’s nowhere they can’t go

He doesn’t even lie to me

When he wants her to be near He just takes off and goes to her

When skies are blue and clear

She can make him walk on air And go around and down and through

She can make his world go upside down Something I can’t do

My husband has a mistress And not my beauty or my brain

Can compete with her at all Because his mistress is his plane

--Jennifer Checkoway

A Word From the Secretary It was Thursday, the day before the MiniFest. Borrego brought 30 knot winds. Flying in the Sunrise training camp had come to a halt due to the extreme conditions on the ground. While taking refuge inside the FBO, we tried to wait out the winds. The two porta potties arrived the day before and were strategically placed in their contest ready locations. Throughout the morning the winds routinely blew them over and the camp members, one of which was our Contest Director Muncie, had to periodically upright them. Theorizing that they were blowing over so easily because they were sitting in soft sand, the porta potty up-righting crew decided to put the most wind vulner-able porta potty onto the taxiway to give it a stronger

foundation. This move proved to be a smart one for it did not blow over again. However there were unintended conse-quences. As we sat in the FBO waiting, some of us napped, others read

and one of us kept trying to light the BBQ outside (in 30 knot winds). A quiet whisper, “There goes your porta potty” came from Frank, the FBO staff for the day. I pulled myself off the couch expecting to see our porta potty on its side again. I looked out the window and replied “You don’t see that everyday!” This caused Muncie and the porta

Center Box Borrego... The happiest place on earth

Sleepy time...

potty up-righting crew to come the window expecting to see the porta potty on the ground. However, there was no need for a up-righting crew…they needed some Olympic track stars. Why? Well the porta potty decided to make a run for it. There it was heading 10 mph standing up right taxiing for take off. With quick reflexes, Muncie and his crew sprinted after the aloof porta potty catching it before it got away. With the winds still howling, the crew decided to secure the porta potty. Since it was taxi-ing like an airplane, why not use one of the airplane tie down spots? This is what Muncie and his crew did, and it was secured for the rest of the day and ready for the next morning when the contest started.

- Gray Brandt

A Note From the Editor

As the Minifest came to a close, we kicked off the California season for competition aero-batics. I want to take this time to thank all the volunteers that came down and helped out with the mini. Without you we would be unable to put on this contest. Thank you. We welcome two new columnists to the newsletter, Reinaldo Beyer, M.D. and Malcolm Pond, M.D, as they add their knowledge and wisdom to our newsletter. Look for their articles addressing the medical side of flying competition

aerobatics. In this month’s newsletter you will see new faces and additions. New to the chapter, Casey Erickson describes her life changing story in “1000 hours logged”. Also, you can read a poem by Jennifer Checkoway. Don’t forget to read the former Contest Direc-tors, Joshua Muncie’s, article as he says a personal thanks to all who came out to Borrego for the Mini. We are all looking for-ward to the Akrofest, as Joshua hands the torch to Ron Rapp. I hope you all have a safe and amazing month as you train and practice for the up-coming California contests. Don’t forget to put on sunscreen and drink lots of water!!

*If you are someone who would like to write an article, poem or story, please feel free to contact me via e-mail at [email protected]. *

-Yolandi Jooste

**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 e-mail 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 two and worry about not being “in the know” you can always view them on www.IAC36.org.

IAC Chapter 36 2007 Membership Application/Renewal Last Page Visit us at www.IAC36.org

Got oil?

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) 852-8850 e-mail [email protected] renew on-line at www.iac36.org or print and use the form below

IAC Chapter 36 2007 Membership Application/Renewal

Name ___________________________________

Address ________________________________

City ____________________________________

State ________________ Zip ______________

IAC# ________________ EAA# _____________

Home Phone ( ) ________________________

Work Phone ( ) ________________________

E-mail 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 19531 Campus Drive, #7 Santa Ana, CA 92707