In May, Pablo Quintero, the president of our Argentina IAC chapter, contacted Steve Kurtzahn, IAC Executive Director who forwarded the e-mail to Wes Liu, Judge Program Chair. Pablo was attempting to organize a Judges School with the goal of then organizing an aerobatic contest. Pablo was asking for assistance and advice on how to put together a school, certify Judges, and what organizational structure they needed.
Wes contacted Robert Armstrong, president emeritus, to get information on how the international world works. Robert sent back an explanation that Argentina has a National Aero Club that Pablo, and the IAC 136 Secretary, Ignacio Colado, needed to negotiate and work with. The relationship is like what IAC has with the National Aeronautic Association (NAA) in the United States.
Wes had a dialog with "Nacho" through August about Judge training and in which he provided all of the IAC Judges School presentations (PowerPoint) to Nacho for translation, review, and adaptation to their own schedule and structure.
Beginning the weekend of November 7, IAC 136 started their judge school to take place on five consecutive Saturdays. “We have 16 students of different ages, most of them pilots with the intention of entering the world of aerobatics,” said IAC 136 President, Pablo Quintero. Those in charge of the ground course were Ruben Weisvek and Jorge Manrique. The attendees were split into two groups to respect the local COVID-19 guidelines. Theoretical classes too place outside and lasted about four hours.
In the afternoon session, two pilots; Marcelo Porchetto in his Christen Eagle II and Sergio Ribeiro in his Rans S-9 flew sequences for the fledging judges. The idea was to fly different airplanes thereby varying the aircraft profiles so that the judge school students would have some contrasting experiences. In the last few Saturdays, Pablo was also able to participate as a pilot and fly his Pitts S-1 for the students.
When the judge school is complete, the chapter intends to have an aerobatic practice day. The aim will be to cement in their new-found judging knowledge and have some fun flying for the pilots.
The chapter had originally scheduled their aerobatic contest for November 7-8, which had to be cancelled because of COVID-19. As soon as conditions improve, IAC 136 will be planning a new date for their contest.
See photos from the judge school and other IAC 136 activities: IAC chapter 136 archive photos. Learn more about the aerobatic judge program online: The Judges Program and Judges Training.
