MAY 2010 OFFICIAL MAGAZINE of the INTERNATIONAL AEROBATIC CLUB Walter Extra’s First: The 230 Declaring Emergencies A Nasty Spin JUST A REMINDER... You can buy your tickets online now and save time and money. Go to www.airventure.org/tickets and get to the fun faster…and cheaper. SEE YOU THERE! JULY 26 – AUGUST 1 OFFICIAL MAGAZINE of the INTERNATIONAL AEROBATIC CLUB Vol. 39 No.5 May 2010 A PUBLICATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL AEROBATICS CLUB CONTENTS “I want to spend more time with the family, and I needed a ‘family’ airplane . .” Bob Hart FEATURES Gone 6 But not forgotten Budd Davisson 12 Nasty Spins The worst the Pitts has to offer Rich Stowell 20 Getting There Is it half the fun? Steve Johnson 22 Declaring Emergencies Just do it Ashley Messenger COLUMNS 03 / President’s Page Doug Bartlett DEPARTMENTS 02 / Letter from the Editor 04 / Newsbriefs 30 / Contest Calendar 32 / Get in the Loop THE COVER Bob Hart’s beloved Extra 230 buzzes over EAA AirVenture Oshkosh in 2009. Photo by Bonnie Kratz. PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRIS MILLER REGGIE PAULK COMMENTARY / EDITOR’S LOG OFFICIAL MAGAZINE of the INTERNATIONAL AEROBATIC CLUB PUBLISHER: Doug Bartlett IAC MANAGER: Trish Deimer EDITOR: Reggie Paulk SENIOR ART DIRECTOR: Phil Norton INTERIM DIR. OF PUBLICATIONS: Mary Jones COPY EDITOR: Colleen Walsh CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS: Doug Bartlett Budd Davisson Greg Koontz Ashley Messenger Reggie Paulk Rich Stowell IAC CORRESPONDENCE International Aerobatic Club, P.O. Box 3086 Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086 Tel: 920.426.6574 • Fax: 920.426.6579 E-mail: [email protected] PUBLICATION ADVERTISING Focus on Safety MANAGER, DOMESTIC: Sue Anderson IT’S HARD TO BELIEVE, but May is Th is issue brings something new to Tel: 920-426-6127 already upon us. Th at means the com- our membership. Rich Stowell writes Fax: 920-426-4828 petition season has begun in earnest, about a particularly nasty spin condi- MANAGER, EUROPEAN/ASIAN: and many people are out tossing their tion achievable in a Pitts, but now, with Willi Tacke airplanes happily about the sky. In In the Loop, our e-newsletter, we’re able Tel: +498841/487515 order to help ensure they do so safely, to bring you the accompanying video. Fax: +498841/496012 May is dedicated to dis- Rich mounts video cam- E-mail: willi@fl ying-pages.com cussing safety. eras to his Pitts in order to COORDINATOR, CLASSIFIED: Predictably, as soon Many pilots show us what he describes Lesley Poberezny as the weather begins to in these pages. Let us [email protected] E-mail: warm up, people start know what you think. MAILING: Change of address, lost or discussing pertinent top- are hesitant Keeping aerobatics damaged magazines, back issues. ics on Th e Exploder. I safe is what keeps aero- EAA-IAC Membership Services to declare an Tel: 800.843.3612 Fax: 920.426.6761 tracked a few of the batics fun. Th e more we E-mail: [email protected] threads for a while and can do to promote and decided to ask a couple of emergency practice safe fl ying, the The International Aerobatic Club is a division of the EAA. people for articles related more appeal this wonder- to the topics being out of fear of ful sport will have to discussed. those sitting on the fence. WWW.IAC.ORG WWW.EAA.ORG Many pilots are hesi- having to deal Flying with the ground tant to declare an and sky pivoting around EAA® and SPORT AVIATION®, the EAA Logo® and Aeronautica™ are registered trademarks and service marks of the Experimental Aircraft Association, Inc. The use of these trademarks and emergency out of fear of with the FAA. the cockpit is what many service marks without the permission of the Experimental Aircraft Association, Inc. is strictly prohibited. Copyright © 2009 by the International Aerobatic Club, Inc. All rights reserved. having to deal with the believe to be the true The International Aerobatic Club, Inc. is a division of EAA and of the NAA. FAA, either through essence of aviation. If A STATEMENT OF POLICY The International Aerobatic Club, Inc. cannot assume responsibility for the accuracy of the material presented by the authors of the articles in the enforcement action or as a conse- you’ve never had to look up to see the magazine. The pages of Sport Aerobatics are offered as a clearing house of information and a forum for the exchange of opinions and ideas. The individual reader must evaluate quence of the declaration itself. Who ground from the cockpit, I can only this material for himself and use it as he sees fit. Every effort is made to present materials of wide interest that will be of help to the majority. Likewise we cannot guarantee nor endorse wants to hear the dreaded words, say you don’t know what you’re miss- any product offered through our advertising. We invite constructive criticism and welcome any report of inferior merchandise obtained through our advertising so that corrective “Please contact the tower after land- ing. Th e weather’s warm and the skies measures can be taken. Sport Aerobatics (USPS 953-560) is owned by the International Aerobatic Club, Inc., and is published monthly at EAA Aviation Center, Editorial Department, ing”? Ashley Messenger responded to a are beautiful, so get out there and fi nd P.O. Box 3086, 3000 Poberezny Rd., Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. Periodical Postage is paid at Oshkosh Post Office, Oshkosh, Wisconsin 54901 and other post offices. Membership rate for thread related to declaring emergen- an instructor to introduce you to aero- the International Aerobatic Club, Inc., is $45.00 per 12-month period of which $18.00 is for the subscription to Sport Aerobatics. Manuscripts submitted for publication become the cies, and his response was such that I batics. You’ll fi nd a comprehensive list property of the International Aerobatic Club, Inc. Photographs will be returned upon request of the author. High resolution images are requested to assure the best quality reproduction. requested an article for our of fl ight schools here: www.IACUSN. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Sport Aerobatics, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. PM 40063731 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to Pitney Bowes IMS, membership. org/schools. IAC Station A, P.O. Box 54, Windsor, ON N9A 6J5. 2 Sport Aerobatics May 2010 Please submit news, comments, articles, or suggestions to: [email protected] DOUG BARTLETT COMMENTARY / PRESIDENT’S PAGE Working Hard for You AT THE TIME OF this writing, the board of minimal. Th e result of these actions led to asked to review the actions of other aero- directors of the IAC has just fi nished its only a few key individuals having a wide batic clubs, review the impact of such an spring meeting in Dallas, Texas. Although it knowledge of the annual plan for the IAC. action on the IAC, and to report back to is not the most exciting type of event, it is With the loss of our president and execu- the board during the fall meeting if any important to pass on to all IAC members tive director in the same year, we learned changes should be made. In a diff erent some of the actions that took place. Th e some of the weaknesses of this model. Th e report, a director brought forward a fi rst fi gure in the sequence was zeroed when model we will use this year and next will member’s comment suggesting a all of your offi cers and directors decided to require more coordination and committee Sportsman Known sequence be valid for get on one elevator. You guessed it; stuck work. It will tend to be slower but much two years, not just one, and the proposed between fl oors with the likes of Tom Adams more transparent. It will require more par- Sportsman Known sequence be available and Debby Rihn-Harvey is a special event. It ticipation from the membership, and I am for pilots to review a complete year ahead is a good thing your board members are all asking every member who desires to take of its approval. Th is action was also con- fearless pilots and get along very well. It was an active role in the leadership of the IAC sidered worth investigating and was more than a few minutes before the build- to volunteer to work on a committee of referred to the Sequence Committee for ing maintenance crew was able to pry the your choosing. Please contact review and comment. doors open and help us climb out of the Trish Deimer at headquarters Please take the time to go cramped car. No injuries to report and we to start this process. “There is a to our website and review the all still get along just fi ne! Prior to the board meet- operational plan and the min- Moving on to business, last fall Tom ing, all directors were strongly clear shift in utes of the last meeting. Read Poberezny, president of EAA, asked me to encouraged to contact every the directors’ reports. Take a prepare an operational plan that identi- one of the chapter presidents strategy as minute to talk to your chapter fi ed the action the IAC wanted to take for in their region to review the president and ask if local the near and long term. I agreed that such chapter strengths, weak- to how the issues were discussed with a plan was important not only for EAA nesses, and areas for the regional director before and IAC coordination, but also to provide improvement.