Each year, the membership of the International Aerobatic Club nominates outstanding volunteers to be recognized for their contributions to the sport of aerobatics. The award winners are selected by a secret ballot of the IAC board of directors.
On Friday, July 26, 2019, in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, IAC President Robert Armstrong announced the recipients of the 2018 Non-Flying Awards at the IAC annual membership meeting. Later that evening awards were presented to the attending recipients at the IAC member gathering and dinner. Recipients not in attendance will receive their awards at the U.S. National Aerobatic Championships in September.
Please congratulate the following IAC members for their contributions to the aerobatics community.
Frank Price Cup: Dagmar Kress
Dagmar Kress, IAC, almost single-handedly put together a college aerobatics team. She has been an amazing ambassador for the sport, giving out countless rides and getting people into competitions. She does all of this on her own dime, too, letting members of her team fly her plane for just the cost of fuel. She acts as a safety pilot for everyone who flies with her, which means in a single competition she could fly as many as 15 times, not including practice day.
On top of that she also attends many charity events, acts as a contest director, and is an aerobatics judge at multiple contest throughout the United States. She led the MSU Denver team in 2017 to win the Collegiate National Championship Team Award.
Robert L. Heuer Award for Judging Excellence: Steve Johnson
Steve is a current IAC national judge who demonstrates his deep knowledge of the IAC official contest rules by serving as an instructor at IAC judges schools. He volunteers to travel some distance from his home in Tennessee to present judges schools to IAC chapters in other states every year. This commitment of time and effort is a positive influence on his IAC judge peers, fellow competitors, and new regional judge candidates.
From 2013 to present day, Steve annually averages four contests, where you will find him flying as a competitor in the Advanced category and serving on the judges line.
Kathy Jaffe Volunteer Award: Cleta Sweeney
Cleta Sweeney has tirelessly supported IAC Chapter 61 and its many activities, including acting as registrar for the chapter contest, providing logistical support, and coordinating volunteers. She performs her role as volunteer coordinator in a friendly and enthusiastic manner, assigning and ensuring the placement of the right people to the right tasks.
She did the logistical work setting up the chapter’s judges school and coordinating with the airport for the use of the facility as well as arranging delivery of meals, advertising, and providing information to the attendees. While attending the judges school she arranged, she took the exams and evaluations and became a regional judge herself.
Harold E. Neumann Award for Outstanding Contribution as a Chief Judge: Peggy Riedinger
Peggy has very high levels of skill, determination, and professionalism that truly warrant this recognition. She has made herself available to do this duty without hesitation and traveled long distances to do so. Her equanimity and demeanor have been a source of fairness and consistency. Her good cheer and friendliness are a source of fellowship, which encourages participation in our sport.
Curtis Pitts Memorial Trophy: Richard Giles
In the early to mid-1990s, a few aerobatic planes such as the Rebel, Sukhoi, and Extra 300 had flown with relatively heavy fiberglass wings. Carbon fiber materials were just starting to reach the consumer market, and Richard Giles spotted an opportunity to design an all-carbon aerobatic plane. He developed a complete kit using only prepreg carbon, backed up by meticulous stress and load calculations. The result was the G-200, which remains the world’s best-performing four-cylinder aerobatic plane some 25 years later.
https://www.iac.org/award-nomination-form for the 2019 season.
