Salina, KS, (September 26, 2022) – The premier event for the International Aerobatic Club, the U.S. National Aerobatic Championships, returns to Salina, Kansas in October. The official contest flights begin October 2 and end on October 7 at the Salina Regional Airport.
This year’s contest director is President Emeritus Mike Heuer. Mr. Heuer has been with the IAC since its founding in 1970 and holds member number 4. His father, Robert L. Heuer, led a group of aerobatic pilots, mostly from the Chicago area, to formalize the Experimental Aircraft Association’s Precision Flying Division to become the IAC.
During the championships pilots compete in five categories– Primary, Sportsman, Intermediate, Advanced, and Unlimited in both power and glider aerobatics. Pilots in each category fly at least three routines:
- Known: where all competitors fly a pre-published set of maneuvers.
- Unknown: the sequences of aerobatic figures are presented to the pilot 12 hours before.
- Free Program: pilots create their own routine based on maneuvers allowed in their category.
Some of the best aerobatic pilots in the nation will be flying their airplanes in loops, rolls, dives, stalls and turns. Each flight is thoroughly planned to ensure the highest levels of safety while testing the abilities of both pilot and airplane.
The flights are judged for precision and excellence. Top finishers in the advanced category will earn berths on the U.S. Advanced Aerobatic Team that will compete in the 2023 World Aerobatic Championships to be held in Las Vegas, Nevada on October and November of 2023.
A separate championship for the Four Minute Freestyle takes place on Friday, October 7. Only the top 10 competitors in the Unlimited and Advanced category are invited to fly in this event. Music and smoke are part of this event and the public can attend this and any other flights during the week as observers at no cost. Public viewing for the event will be near Fossett Plaza located off of Beechcraft Road.
