When you belong to the International Aerobatic Club, you have government representatives working for you with many federal agencies, including the FAA, to help shape future policies and support you in your daily efforts to enjoy aerobatics.
The IAC has Regional Government Relations Representatives and one National representative to assist you in applying for and/or renewing aerobatic practice box and/or contest box waivers. If you are requesting a new waiver and have not applied for a waiver previously, it might be a good idea to have one of the representatives look over the application before you submit it to your local FSDO.
The guidelines and process that the FSDO will follow for evaluating your APA or aerobatic contest box application are published in the Dynamic Regulatory System (DRS) at drs.faa.gov. See details on the Aerobatic Waivers webpage.
When you send the application to your local FSDO, make a note of the date. Keep a call log for each time you call the FSDO to follow up (if needed) on the progress of the waiver. Note the date, time and person you spoke with as well as the outcome of the call. The waiver application process should take no more than 30 days.
If you are having trouble establishing a box or renewing an existing waiver (due to noise complaints for instance), please call your regional Government Relations Representative first...long before you get into a disagreement with the local FSDO or think about taking the matter to the regional FAA office. Let your representative communicate with the FSDO and take the matter higher, if needed.
For further assistance in dealing with contest and/or practice area waivers, reach out to your regional representative (click here for contact info).
Here are two excellent 2020 Sport Aerobatics articles by Bruce Ballew, previous chair of the IAC's Government Relations Committe.
Map of the government relations regions:
