Money For Nothing?

Money for Nothing? Dire Straits? What am I so pessimistic about? It's the time of year when AAC memberships fall due, apart from the Vic Chapter which I believe renew in July. So, what are the membership options I mentioned in the previous blog? The NSW Chapter brought in Associate and Corporate Memberships when we changed to an Incorporated Association in 2008.

Corporate Membership is for commercial organisations that wish to be associated with the NSW Chapter and Aerobatics. It is NOT de-facto sponsorship. Flying schools or any commercial organsition may wish to join this way. Membership allows their employees or members to attend and take part in one NSW Chapter event.

Associate Membership currently costs $35 dollars and is aimed at non-flying members, particularly the spouse/partner or family member of an active member. We recognise that not all people want or need full membership, and this is a slightly cheaper option for them. But, significantly, it acknowledges that without the support and assistance of family and friends it would be very difficult to run Club events.

Full Membership of the NSW Chapter is just that. For $38 you join the Chapter, get full voting rights and can participate in all Chapter events, including the annual NSW State Championships. You may also be able to participate in other non-NSW Chapter events, depending on their local rules. You do not have to join the AAC itself.

We can't neglect the option of joining the national AAC organisation. As well as the Chapter fee (NSW-$38, Vic-$35,QLD-$70,SA-%35)there is $50 for AAC subs, $12 for an FAI licence, and if a new member a $25 joining fee. $125 total for a new member joining the NSW Chapter;$100 for a renewing member!

So, what do you get for your money? The larger Chapters provide regular training opportunities where you can get coaching and critique. They may also run judge training and social events to attract new members or entertain old ones. NSW has scheduled three mini-comps amongst the regular monthly training days/weekends at Cowra in addition to the 2010 NSW State Champs. We aim to provide a social focus for members, while also getting valuable training, and also to attract new members so we can grow the sport. That $38 works pretty hard!

More photos from Temora

Michael Greig, new owner of this Giles 202, has only a few hours in this aeroplane and is already competing in Sportsman with a very decent first-time result!
Morning brief!
Guy Hanby competed in KGZ (Laser):
Starter, Cam McDonald did a great job of getting competitors on the starting line:

Pics from Day 1 of 2009 NSW Aerobatic Championship, Temora NSW

Joel Haski and XRB (Extra 200) - flown in Advanced by both Joel Haski and Laurent Lamy:Glenn Graham and Paul Bennet competed in Unlimited in IPB (Pitts S-1S):
Richard Wiltshire competed in Unlimited in his DR-107 :
Mark McNichol from NSW competed in his Edge 540S in Sportsman (leading at last count!):
Paul Monoghan's YMP (Pitts S-1S) competing in Sportsman:

2009 NSW Champs - blog 1

Sorry for the delay in getting info online. Steep learning curve for many. both in the office and in the air!

A record attendance this year, 33 registered pilots and a delectable collection of machines. Categories from Graduate to Unlimited are being contested, but it will be a long days night to get all through over the weekend.

So far we have flown the Unlimite and Advanced Q, Intermediate practice and just finished working through Sportsman/Graduate practice. We should start the Unlimited Free in the next half hour.

Weather is kind with the duty thunderies staying away from the box so far, and the cloud base is high enough not to be a concern. A quick change to the judging line to the other side of the field and away we go!

Pics coming...

Where to Begin Part III - Intermediate

Intermediate

Life starts to become a lot more interesting in Intermediate. You will need a more capable aircraft than what you may have learnt in, unless you really like to punish your mount or are already suitably equipped! You will also need to get a Low Level Permission to 1000ft AGL as the lower level for Intermediate is 1200ft.

Intermediate is a big step and should be approached methodically considering all the changes: possible new aircraft, new lower limit, new figures and coping with an Unknown sequence as well! You don’t want to max yourself out to the point safety is compromised.

Specific new figures you will have to fly are positive flicks on horizontal and +/-45 degree lines, and sustained inverted flight including inverted steep turns, and even a rolling turn on occasion. Your training sessions will have to include the Known (as it is scored in competiton, unlike in Advanced and Unlimited) and your Free sequence, as well as the permitted Unknown figures in Appendix 3 of the AAC Rule book. This is a high workload after the relative ease of Sportsman.

Once you have your head, hands and feet around most of the Intermediate stuff, it is a good time to get some extra aerobatic tuition and get signed up for inverted spinning, if you haven't already. This will give you more confidence inverted and allow you to safely start practice on some Advanced manoeuvres, lessening the step when/if you decide to move up a grade. About now you also want to start playing around with those dastardly rolling turns....

Advanced next week.

Cowra 9th August.

Beautiful weather, again, at Cowra. The aeroclub had a flying day on as well, so there were aircraft coming and going all day. Colin and I both got good training flights in, with Reggae on the radio. Some more locals also had joyflights with Colin. The BBQ was on max burner for lunch with some excellent egg and bacon rolls served up. One chap thought they were so good he had a second chew on one in the front of Colin's Extra.....

The flight home was memorable with smooth air and the low sun casting our shadows onto the wing, which Langdon used to advantage by making a dog, chicken and waterhorse silhouettes!! Excellent.

Our next weekend is the 12-13th September. We'll be having a judging seminar Saturday evening over pizza and beer (or wine, your choice).

Where to Begin Part II - Categories

Once you have a spinning and aerobatic endorsements, you are able to come along to club events and fly. But which grade?

‘Entry’ Category

This category is designed for beginners with a new aerobatic endorsement. The aerobatic sequence is comprised of basic aerobatic figures you should have just been instructed in (www.aerobaticsaustralia.com.au and click 'sequences'). Any aerobatic aircraft will be able to fly the sequence, so you should practice until you are comfortable flying the sequence right through while maintaining your position over a ground feature. Coming along to Club training days are invaluable at this stage, or at any stage, to get useful feedback and tips on how to refine your flying.

After your first competition, or a few of training days, and once getting confident in handling the aircraft down to 3000ft AGL, you may want to organise getting a 1500ft AGL Low Level Permission. See the 'Links' page (on nsw.aerobatcs.asn.au) for people who can do this for you, and have a read of CAAP-155 ('Documents' page!) so you know what is required.

Graduate Category

If you have more aerobatic experience and are comfortable with aerobatics, you can kick-off in Graduate if you wish – or any level if you want to! The difficulty of the individual figures isn’t much different to Entry, just more figures in the sequence to get through.

Sportsman

Again, at first glance not much of a step from Graduate, just more figures in the sequence to practice. The big change-up is the option to fly a Free of your own design rather than the Known sequence twice in competition. The Free must be of similar standard as the Known, and have the same total ‘K’ or difficulty. This adds another facet to the sport, as now you must practice and be proficient at two sequences. And, you must design your own sequence! This is a whole new learning experience, and is a vital skill for higher grades. I'll post some thoughts on Free design later on.

Aerobatics is peculiar in that the grade you fly is not determined by the type or capability of the aircraft you have, but by the pilot. You can fly your megabuck wondership with the flame paintjob in Entry if you want to! The key thing is to fly the grade you are comfortable with and have practised, while grinning the whole time (most important). It won’t be long, with critique and competition exposure, that you will be moving up the grades and making much better use of the machine belted to your butt.

Check back for Intermediate, Advanced and Unlimited Categories next week .

Cowra 11-12 July

A good turnout this weekend with ~15 people and 4 aircraft attending. A big thankyou to Colin, Reggae and the others who got the box markers out Friday arvo. Perfect weather saturday for flying and much was achieved. A blazing fire and BBQ under the night sky, and a few quiet ales, made for an equally satisfying evening.

Sunday dawned cooler with some scuddy showers but improved as the morning went on. More flying and positive comment that it was much better to practice overhead an airfield and be able to get immediate feedback. One comment was that it was much easier to concentrate on flying than when scanning for traffic in the Sydney training area - how true.

Thanks again to the aeroclub for opening their doors for us. Our next weekend is the 8-9 August.

NSW Training Weekend at Cowra

Well, here it is, the inaugaural blog! We'll try and give regular updates and keep you informd of what is going on in the (small) world of aerobatics in NSW and Australia.

While we advertised this training weekend at Cowra, in the end only Colin Appleton (club Treasurer) and myself (President) and Scott (student from Red Baron) made it. Colin busied himself with practising Advanced figures in the Extra 300, and exposing Scott and some of the locals to high performance aerobatics. Needles to say, all were amazed at what a specialist aerobatic aircraft can do! I arrived on Sunday morning and took the RV back up for some gentleman aeros as I surveyed potential box positioning. Much different to acro in the Giles, it is incredible what you get used to. Then I gave critique for Colin as he worked on the recalcitrant rolling circle manoeuvre. I think we made good progress. Outside rollers next time Colin.....I also took the Extra up for a run, and struggled through the Advanced Q. Again, it wasn't quite like the Giles - I've been spoilt I fear.

The locals made us very welcome. Glen from the aero club was most helpful, as was Paul Goard. We also met Bernie, the local CFI and still actively instructing at 83!! We look forward to working closely with them in the future.

The next training weekend is scheduled for 11-12 July. That's two months away, due to the Queensland Championships being held over the June long weekend. We intend having some box markers out then and minibus transport available. Check back for more info closer to the date.