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The final results are in for the 2007 regional series competition. Forty-two (42) competitors out of 65 total series participants received awards. Fifty-two (52) pilots successfully competed at the 3 or more contests needed to qualify for the series in their respective region.

The regional series began in 2002. To be eligible, a pilot must fly at least three contests during the year (two for the Northwest Region due to unavailability of contest sites) and one contest may include the U.S. Nationals. If more than three contests are flown, the highest scores are used to arrive at each…

Joe Haycraft of Naples, Florida, is the winner of the 2007 L. Paul Soucy Award with a three-contest score of 89.87%. The next closest challenger received 86.71%.

To be eligible for the trophy, a pilot must have flown at least three contests during the season, one of which is the U.S. National Aerobatic Championships. The best two contests flown plus the pilot’s U.S. Nationals scores are used to determine the ranking.

The award was conceived and donated by L. Paul Soucy of Louisville, Kentucky, one of the IAC’s first members and a board director who passed away in 1971. The…

The International Aerobatic Club and EAA are working directly with FAA to obtain a categorical exclusion from overly burdensome environmental impact requirements that are currently proposed when pilots apply for an aerobatic practice area box. This development came during the annual EAA/FAA Recreational Aviation Summit on Jan. 23 at the EAA Aviation Center in Oshkosh.

Vicki Cruse, IAC president, represented the organization during the session. This annual meeting, unmatched anywhere else in the aviation community, included key aviation issues such as general aviation safety,…

Though aviation authorities in many countries have established formal certification criteria for aerobatic instructors, the U.S. Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs) contain no provisions for a specific “aerobatic instructor” rating or certification. Given the success of industry-based programs such as the NAFI Master Instructor Program and the ICAS Aerobatic Competency Evaluation (ACE) Program, the National Association of Flight Instructors and the International Aerobatic Club (IAC) have jointly developed a broad — and strictly voluntary — aerobatic instruction designation program.

William “Bill” Kershner spent a lifetime teaching the art of flying, particularly aerobatics. He was an educator and ardent promoter of aerobatics and personally taught aerobatics to more than 600 pilots. He was a guest lecturer at the University of Tennessee Space Institute in Tullahoma, Tennessee, lectured and demonstrated spins to engineers and test pilots at the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School in Patuxent, Maryland, and lectured at the FBI Academy. His training manuals, including The Student Pilot’s Flight Manual and The Basic Aerobatic Manual, have sold more than 1.3 million copies. The…