Notice of Election • Candidate Profiles • Cast Your Vote
NOTICE OF ELECTION
Monday, May 12 through Tuesday, July 29
The IAC Board of Directors invites members to vote in the 2014 Election for Club Officers and Directors. Balloting opens on Monday, May 12 at 9:00 a.m. CDT and closes on Tuesday, July 29 at 5:00 p.m. CDT. Ballots must be received before closing to be counted.
We encourage members to vote securely using the online ballot. Voting online requires logging in using a member-specific email address and password. Our Webmaster can provide any assistance needed.
Members unable to vote online may use the paper ballot enclosed in the May issue of Sport Aerobatics magazine. If you need another paper ballot, please contact Trish Deimer-Steineke by email or by phone at 920-426-6574.
A member may not vote in this election in person at the annual meeting; it must be done via ballot.
A Presidential-appointed Ballot Certification Committee will tabulate the election results and announce the election outcome at the annual meeting of members on Friday, August 1, 2014.
By Order of the Board of Directors,
Lynne Stoltenberg
IAC Ballot Certification Committee Chair
Candidate Profiles
President: Mike Heuer • Secretary: Lynn Bowes
Directors: Bruce Ballew • Gray Brandt • Marty Flournoy • Rob Holland • Doug Lovell • Debby Rihn-Harvey • John Smutny
Mike Heuer - for President
It has been my honor to serve the IAC as an officer, director, and volunteer for most of our organization’s life and I ask for your support in this year’s election. I have a wide range of experience in the sport, ranging from the “grass roots” level, as a former chapter president, up to international competition. In the pages of this brochure, you will read about the qualifications each candidate brings to this election but I also would like to lay out for you, very briefly, what I see in the future if elected President.
First of all to my qualifications:
Former IAC President, Executive Director, Treasurer, and member of the Board of Directors. Currently IAC Vice President.
Former Chapter President, Contest Director, National Judge, and Chief Judge at the IAC Championships and US Nationals.
Competition pilot. First contest in 1968 in Primary (now called Sportsman) progressing through the ranks to Advanced. In those years, I flew a wide range of aerobatic aircraft including a Ryan ST-A, Pitts S-1S, Extra 230, and Pitts S-2B. I helped build the Pitts S-1S I flew in Advanced (N442X). That aircraft now rests in the EAA AirVenture Museum in Oshkosh.
Editor of Sport Aerobatics magazine for three separate terms.
IAC’s historian, unofficially and officially, since the IAC’s foundation in 1970. I am an aerobatic history enthusiast who over the years has collected hundreds of documents, books, brochures, photographs, magazines, and other memorabilia covering all aspects of our sport. Writing a book about the history of aerobatics is part of my plan for the future.
Author and contributor to Sport Aerobatics and EAA’s Sport Aviation magazines. Over the last forty years, I have contributed over 300 articles to those two magazines. As both historian and IAC member, I will continue to contribute to our club’s magazine and will increase those contributions in the months and years ahead.
Aside from my involvement in IAC, I have been active in air sports organizations that make up the mosaic of sport aviation worldwide. Formerly a member of the Board of the NAA, the Executive Board of the FAI in Switzerland, and USA’s Delegate to CIVA (the FAI’s aerobatics commission), and for 14 years, a member of EAA’s Board of Directors. I understand how these organizations all work together to benefit sport aviation.
In recognition of my contributions to aerobatics and sport aviation, I was inducted into the International Aerobatics Hall of Fame in Oshkosh and am a winner of the EAA President’s Award, the Frank Price Trophy, the L. Paul Soucy Aerobatic Award for competition flying, the IAC President’s Award three times and most recently, the FAI’s Silver Medal for contributions to air sports worldwide.
These are my qualifications but of greater importance to IAC and aerobatics are what I would do as IAC President and what value my service would bring to the membership.
While active in the sport in various capacities – both as an organizer, a judge, and a pilot – I also bring to the table experience and skill in administration, finance, and non-profit association management. A skilled leader of IAC, backed by a strong and motivated Board of Directors and the people who serve as volunteers in IAC’s various programs, is necessary if we are to grow and prosper.
To say that IAC faces challenges in the future is an understatement. We have suffered from a long decline in membership and this has greatly affected our finances and impacted membership services. IAC’s membership must be stabilized and grown if we are to offer you, the member, the kinds of services and support we have in the past. Here are some things I propose:
Put more emphasis, energy, and funding into membership recruitment and retention. Our membership chairman has proposed many ideas but they need support at the Board level and implementation. Without a better renewal rate than what we are experiencing today, along with an influx of new members, we will not continue in the form we have known in the past.
An expanded and improved Sport Aerobatics magazine. It is the one IAC product and service that reaches every member, every month. During IAC’s peak years, it was almost double in size compared to today. We can achieve that again – with a growing membership and careful financial management.
More communications with members and Chapters. I would like to beef up our digital newsletter, “In the Loop” with more content and to revive a newsletter to Chapters that I used to produce called “K-Factor.” Chapters need up-to-date information and more interaction with leadership. You are the folks in the field who are the basis of our sport. Communication must be two-way, beneficial, informative, and frequent.
A top-to-bottom review of all IAC’s finances and programs to ensure we are doing our best to provide the best membership services. Part of this is a constant recruiting effort to bring new people and talent into our committees.
Making any volunteer organization work is only possible by getting the right people in the right positions. Since our responsibilities extend from the local chapters all the way to US team participation in world competitions, this is a huge challenge for leadership. I believe I can reinforce and build a team of people that can serve you well.
A friend once told me that communication is 90% of leadership. In addition to the points above, I pledge this to you if elected President: your phone calls, e-mails, and text messages will always be answered—and quickly. I enjoy solving problems, helping members, and making your membership in IAC enjoyable and worthwhile. My home number is (901) 850-1301 or e-mail mike@mheuer.com with questions or comments.
On a personal note, I am a retired airline pilot and hold an ATP as well as A&P license and USAF Command Pilot rating. I have about 26,000 hours of flying time in several dozen types of aircraft and reside in the Memphis, Tennessee area.
Lynn Bowes - for Secretary
I am a private pilot, earning that license in June of 1979, and since that time I have owned and restored two aircraft—a 1946 Aeronca Champ and a 1941 Ryan PT-22. I attended my first contest in the summer of 1985 in Ottawa, Kansas. The flying intrigued me but the people hooked me. I joined IAC15 in Kansas City in 1985 and became a Regional Judge in 1986, National Judge shortly thereafter. In 1996, I moved to Lincoln, Nebraska, and joined the Midwest Aerobatic Club IAC 80. In both chapters I have been Chief Judge, Contest Director, Line Judge, Runner, Volunteer Coordinator, Newsletter Editor, Chief Cook and Corner Judge, always falling on the side of activity.
I have served as a Director since Spring of 2011 when I was appointed Director-at-Large and elected Director at the following election in 2012. I have maintained contact with chapters in my South Central Region and believe I have done a good job staying connected, asking for input and reporting results.
I have been the Chair of the Collegiate Program since 2012 and truly enjoy promoting that energetic, youth-focused program. If there was ever an embodiment of what we term ‘grass roots aerobatics’, this is it and the enthusiasm of the competitors is infectious. Precision aerobatics is basic to being a good pilot and I believe that all pilots should be taught the basic understanding of how to control their aircraft in any attitude. I have submitted a number of articles to Sport Aerobatics supporting the Collegiate Program and will continue to do so.
Last year I was honored to be chosen the Registrar for the 27th World Aerobatic Contest held in October 2013, in Sherman, Texas. This position required me to build and maintain a system for accepting team and individual competitor entries from 17 countries, communicate clearly with individuals who spoke little English, badge over 500 volunteers, and establish an office for all communication and distribution of contest paperwork. Without focus and a detail-oriented mindset this would have been an extremely difficult task. However, during the year prior to and including those two plus weeks in Texas, I forged new friendships, ran a tight WAC Office and I am extremely proud of my work.
Having attended every Board Meeting as a Director for the past three years, I have had the opportunity to observe our present Secretary who has set the bar high for the office. His contribution to the IAC is immeasurable and his work impeccable. I am confident that I have his support and hope he will stand with me in answering whatever questions may arise as we make the transition.
If elected Secretary for the IAC, I will accept the new responsibilities of the position yet maintain my relationships with the members in the Chapters I have represented for three years. I believe that the IAC has miles to go in generating new members and retaining membership as well as getting real results on the programs that will further membership retention. As the aerobatic division of the EAA, I believe that the IAC must promote itself as the aerobatic expert it is and work with the EAA staff to promote our programs for growth.
I believe in putting maximum energy into the IAC.
I am married to Advanced competitor Ed Bowes, and we live happily on a farmette north of Lincoln, Nebraska, where we race go-karts and still play with hotrods and motorcycles.
Bruce Ballew - for Director
I have been the Mid-America Regional Director for the past three years and am running again for a Director position with the IAC. I am an active aerobatic pilot and instructor in the St. Louis area. I am a corporate pilot with a Fortune 500 company in St. Louis.
As the Mid-America Director, I have been extensively involved with issues related to protecting our rights, as an organization, to use the airspace for our sport. I would like to see more effort and activities directed toward grass roots and noncompetitive aerobatics as I think that would add to the IAC and bring more people to aerobatic flying.
Gray Brandt - for Director
I have been flying competition aerobatics since 2004 and have been on the Board of Directors for IAC Chapter 36, located in San Diego, CA, since 2005. I was Chapter Secretary for three years and President for four years. I am an active competitor in Advanced and also a CFI-I/CFIME/AGI, specializing in tailwheel, aerobatic, and formation flying.
Over the last seven years we have steadily been able to grow our membership in IAC Chapter 36, reaching a decades high membership level last year. I have worked closely with the local community and airport to preserve an incredible 39 year old permanently waivered aerobatic box located next to the airport runway. We ran into noise complaints, like aerobatic boxes around the country, but by working closely with the Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club, American Legion, and the local elementary school and chapter is now a valued member of the community. IAC Chapter 36 can look forward to flying aerobatics and hosting competitions in the box for another 30 years. Preserving the Borrego box provides a safe place for local aerobatic schools and pilots to train and has produced continued growth for our chapter and also IAC membership in general in our area.
I think it is important for chapters around the country to share what works and what does not work to benefit all IAC members and increase contest attendance. Our part of the country has a large number of IAC members and California is home to six contests every year. It is therefore important that Southern California, which is a very active hub of aerobatics, be represented on the IAC Board of Directors. I would like to bring to the IAC Board of Directors some of the ideas that have worked for us, which include actively preserving practice areas and changes implemented at our contests that have been very well received by competitors. In turn I hope to bring back to California ideas from the rest of the country.
This year I will also be the Contest Director for the 2014 U.S. National Championships.
Thank you for your consideration.
Marty Flournoy - for Director
I am asking for your support to elect me to serve on our board. I want to assist in the leadership of our IAC organization at the National level. I have been actively involved in competition and judging since 1996, first as a pilot, then as a judge, at regional and National contests. Like many members, competition began in a Citabria and then in a Pitts, which I still keep to instruct aerobatics and spin training with. Most recently I was selected for the Advanced Team for the Advanced World contest in 2012 and this year.
Over the years, by organizing, judging, competing and as Contest Director for Chapter events I have a learned the importance of the fellowship and professional standards we maintain through a dedicated all-volunteer club. These volunteers are key to the future of our sport and I firmly support and want our club to be one of inclusion, that encourages more practices within the local chapters to retain and recruit new members.Our judges are the backbone of our competitions and we should make the process of becoming a judge and staying current easier.
Our job as Regional and National pilots and judges can sometime make us so focused on performance that we overlook the fact that the majority of our members actually do aerobatics for fun and are not competition oriented.
I look forward to working with other dedicated leaders to help strengthen our organization from the ground up.
Rob Holland - for Director
I have never known a time where I was not completely obsessed with Aviation and Aerobatics. At a young age my Dad brought me to an airshow where I saw an airplane flying upside down, and knew that was what I HAD to do.
I have been flying since the age of 18 and have accumulated greater than 11,000 hours of flight time in over 168 different types of aircraft ranging from Piper Cubs to Regional Transport Aircraft, gliders to high performance aerobatic machines.
I graduated from Daniel Webster College in 1997 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Aviation Management and a Bachelor of Science degree in Aviation Flight Operations.
I am rated as an Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) with a Certified Flight and Ground Instructor (CFI, CFII, IGI, AGI) rating and also hold a glider rating. I have had a diverse aviation career so far: flight instructor, banner tow pilot, aircraft ferry pilot, Pilatus PC-12 corporate pilot, and commuter airline pilot. I currently work full time both domestically and abroad as an professional airshow pilot and an aerobatic flight instructor. Also I am an ICAS Aerobatic Competency Evaluator and also serve as a member of the ICAS ACE committee.
Here is a list of my distinguished aerobatic achievements:
- 2012 Art Scholl Award for Showmanship
- 2011, 2012, 2013 US National Aerobatic Champion
- 2011, 2013 World Freestyle Champion
- 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013 US Freestyle Champion
- 2008 World Advanced Aerobatic Champion
- 2006 World Advanced Silver Medalist
- Two time member of US Unlimited Aerobatic Team
- Three time member of US Advanced Aerobatic Team
If elected, I will work hard to represent the interest of the membership of IAC.
Doug Lovell - for Director
Thank you to all who voted for me for Vice President last year. Losing that election to Mike Heuer gave me a year break from our Board of Directors. I’d like you to vote me back. I love this sport. I love the people in it. I relish the opportunity to care for this club.
You can learn about me in great detail at LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com/in/dclovell) and from my aerobatics page (www.wbreeze.com/aero.html). Briefly, I started as a judges assistant in 2002, worked up to National Judge, competed regionally up to Advanced, and have served at our Nationals contest over the years as Judge, Contest Director, Scorekeeper, and Jury Chair. I work as a pilot and have a software development studio that is currently me, a few consultants, and one project, myFltTime.com.
As a Director, I was your Board representative for the web and computer scoring committees. Your Board has referenced my technical background for many projects, including the IAC.org web site, the aerobatic schools listing (www.iacusn.org/schools), and our contest data and judge metrics (iaccdb.iac.org). You will find me in the IAC “yellow pages” (www.iac.org/yellow-pages) as chair of our Web Operating Group, where I work closely with our webmaster, DJ Molny, and as a member of our Technical Committee.
I will honor your trust and represent the best interests of IAC. I’ll continue to be there for you -- present, involved, attentive, engaged, and committed. Please select me for Director. Get in touch any time. I enjoy hearing from you.
Debby Rihn-Harvey - for Director
It’s that time of year again that you select YOUR Board of Directors. I would, once again, like to ask for your support and allow me to continue to represent you on the Board. I will continue to be a voice for all members, from grass roots to the international level. There have been many issues in the past few years with airspace, noise, practice waivers, and category creep. We have addressed many of these issues in the past two years but have more work to do with these as well as that of membership, the magazine and having a strong international representation.
For those who may not be familiar, I will try to be brief on my background. I have been involved in aviation my entire life, being the third generation of aviators in my family. However, when starting aerobatics in 1978 my family thought I had lost my mind. I guess I have, because now it is my passion. I began competition in 1980. On a regional level, I am currently and have held many offices within Chapter 25 (Houston). I have been contest director for several regional contests as well as working all positions necessary during contests. Nationally, I have been a judges’ school instructor and am currently an active National Judge.
Since first qualifying for the USA Unlimited Aerobatic Team in 1983, I have had the honor of representing the US in fifteen (15) World Championships over a 31-year period. Internationally, I represent the United States as an alternate delegate to CIVA.
My passion goes beyond just that of the IAC. It also includes teaching, coaching, encouraging, and promoting aviation. I have owned and managed a fixed base operation since 1979, with an emphasis on aerobatics and safety proficiency training. My other jobs include being an FAA Designated Examiner, an ICAS Aerobatic Competency Evaluator, an airshow pilot and an airline pilot.
If re-elected, I promise to continue being a voice for the membership. Being actively involved in all aspects and levels of the sport, I understand your concerns. Through business and competition I have had many of the problems that each of you have experienced. I feel it is important to have continuity of leadership and a vast knowledge of the past history of the club. There is much work to be done, but together we can make this the best aerobatic club possible.
Thanks for your consideration!!
John Smutny - for Director
Aerobatics has been integral to my flying since the very beginning. When I was learning to fly in the 1980s, it was in a Cessna 150 Aerobat. One lesson consisted of a few loops and rolls, with the ubiquitous, “Don’t do this on your own!” Yeah, right. My first log book was filled with training flights where I practiced “spins.”
After a short break from flying in the early 1990s, aerobatics once again lured me back into the cockpit, when I was at an air show and I chased down a performer with an IAC patch on his jacket and asked how I could connect with the IAC. We talked for a bit and he provided me contact information for my local chapter (Thanks, Don!).
My first competition was in 1997, with a rented Decathlon and a Safety Pilot. In 2000, I received the opportunity to become a member of a Christen Eagle II partnership. Then in 2011, I was lucky enough to acquire the Wolf Pitts. I’m currently an Intermediate competitor and usually attend four contests a year, including Nationals.
I’ve been a Regional Judge since 2006 and became a National Judge in 2011. Since 2006, I’ve tried to be a Contest Director for at least one Regional contest every year, and in 2013 was the Contest Director for both the inaugural IAC Open West Championships and the US National Aerobatic Championships. For the 2008 AWAC (now WAAC) competition held in Pendleton, Oregon, I was an organizing director, supporting the lead-up activities to the competition and putting on the air show afterwards. Since 1997, I’ve participated in over 45 competitions, whether as a competitor, volunteer, contest director, or judge. I’m committed to our sport of aerobatics.
Outside of the IAC, I own a business that works with local and regional government. I also provide air boss services to a number of air shows and events in the Northwest. From 2010 through the end of 2013, I sat as President on the board of the Arlington Fly In and continue as their Air Operations Manager.
My desire is for the IAC is to become the premier sport aviation club—whether your goals are competitive domination, recreational aerobatics, judging or just supporting your spouse or friend in their endeavors. Recent membership drive projects by Northwest chapters have shown an interest in aerobatics by the flying community, a desire to find local training and knowledge, but not as much interest to jump immediately into competition. Our own membership numbers, where roughly 10% are actual competitors, reinforce that fact. However, the IAC can be relevant to the casual aerobat—we have the knowledge to help every pilot reach their goals—and we need to reinforce this for the flying community. We are lacking consistent programs across our chapter network to communicate that message to pilots. From these recreational pilots we will undoubtedly get some competitors, but we should also be about the fun of flight, not just the trophy. One of my goals is to expand membership among those not immediately interested in competition. The IAC is the keystone of the aerobatic community and we should strive to welcome everyone, whether they are competitive or hobbyist pilots. I want to ensure that the IAC is an inclusive organization for all aerobatic pilots.
The IAC should help guide individual members and chapters to create opportunities for training, aircraft partnerships, aerobatic boxes, and improved volunteer recognition. My goal is to create a stronger, richer IAC experience for all members.
