Mike Heuer's blog

Closing ceremonies and awards were held last night at the Staverton Park Hotel and it was a wonderful conclusion to a successful competition. Most of us are off to various UK airports today, heading home. I leave for London Heathrow this morning and eventually home to Memphis, Tennessee, USA sometime today.

Bye for now .........

Renaud Ecalle has won the Final Freestyle (Programme 4). The results are less than 10 minutes old as of this writing so you see it here first!

In second was Jurgis Kairys and in third, Eric Vazeille. Ramon Alonso came in fourth, so this means that the three non-classical pilots took the Silver and Bronze medals for this flight.

As I write this, a Spitfire is doing an aerobatic display, so I will cut this short ..........

Results for the Final Freestyle are now available at www.civa-results.com.

There was an assembly of several YAK 50’s on the ground here in Silverstone, on display. It was good to see these proud aerobatic aircraft – once the workhorse of the Soviet Team. Russian Team trainer Victor Smolin flew one of these types to his victory at the World Aerobatic Championships in 1982 in Spitzerberg, Austria. It was the last time this aircraft type appeared at the WAC. In 1984, the Sukhoi 26 was introduced and aerobatic history was changed forever.

The YAK 50 -- once the mainstay of the Soviet Team

The flying activities have begun. To open the day’s activities, the US Team paid tribute to their fellow team member who lost her life here in Silverstone, Vicki Cruse, with a traditional “missing man” formation. As the formation flew by, a moment of silence was observed and taps were played. It was a very moving and emotional moment for all of us. The fly-by took place at 11.00, which is the traditional time in Britain for such observances to be made.

US Team pilots pay tribute to Vicki Cruse with a missing man formation at 11.00, 29 August 2009

At the briefing this morning, the pilot list for Programme 4 was announced and is as follows (in no particular order):

Renaud Ecalle (FRA), Mikhail Mamistov (RUS), David Martin (USA), Martin Albrecht (GER), Martin Sonka (CZE), Sami Kontio (FIN), Adilson Kindelmann (BRA), Ramon Alonso (ESP), Eric Vazeille (GBR), Jurgis Kairys (LIT), Francois Le Vot (FRA), Oleg Schpolyanskiy (RUS), Gerald Cooper (GBR), Hubie Tolson (USA), Castor Fantoba (ESP), and Alex Stegner (GER).

Three of the pilot entries for Programme 4 are flying this programme only -- Kairys, Alonso, and Vazeille -- now permitted under the 2009 rules.

Manfred Stroessenreuther Trophy, now missing and presumed stolenFlying of the Final Freestyle will begin at 11.30 and will take place in two time blocks.

The winner of the Final Freestyle would normally receive the Manfred Stroessenreuther Trophy but the trophy has not been seen since closing ceremonies at the World Championships in Granada, Spain in 2007.

At that competition, it was presented to winner Zach Heffley of the USA and left at the table when Zach left the stage. To date, we have been unable to locate it and assume it has been stolen.

It’s now nearly 22.00 and we have finished dinner and held a briefing on tomorrow’s schedule. Unfortunately, we had to call it quits after only four flights in Programme 2, the 1st Unknown. Very dark clouds rolled in, rain threatened, and we had to shut down flying.

In the Jury’s office, Steve Green, Alan Cassidy, Bob Chomono, Osmo Jalovaara, and I met for the final meeting of the day. It was decided, after looking at the available time left, that it was impossible to finish the first Group of pilots in the 1st Unknown. Without this Group completed, the Programme itself would be incomplete. Therefore, the contest was declared finished, with Programme 4 remaining for tomorrow, and the results validated. We had all pilots fly Programme Q and 1 and this was enough for the World Aerobatic Championships to be a valid competition.

We now have a new World Aerobatic Champion – Renaud Ecalle of France. Renaud has had an outstanding record this year – winner of the World Air Games in powered aerobatics in June and Gold Medals in both the Q and the Free. A well deserved victory for this talented Frenchmen.

Elena Klimovich -- new Women's World Aerobatic ChampionWinning the Women’s World Aerobatic Champion title for the first time is Elena Klimovich of Russia. She came in ninth in the overall standings. A veteran of aerobatic competition and a dedicated member of her Team, she turned in an outstanding performance.

Team results were: (1) France, (2) Russia, and (3) United States. These teams were “combined” and consist of both men and women pilots. This occurs when insufficient women are present to declare a team championships for that gender.

Saturday will be a major public day at Silverstone with rumors of 20,000 spectators expected. 15-16 pilots will fly in Programme 4 – the Final Freestyle – according to a decision of the International Jury. The Jury took the decision, in consultation with the organizers, to restrict entries into the Final Freestyle to those countries whose pilots achieved 60% or greater of possible points in the classical programs as a qualification for this programme. This decision means that duplicating countries will participate.

I could write a book on this last Programme – if I were to include all of the aspects of rules and who and who should not fly. It’s a difficult subject but there is no doubt we will be discussing this at the plenary meeting of CIVA in October in Oshkosh. We have a duty to be sure the maximum number of countries can participate – but safely. To date, the only qualification measure we have are the results of the classical programs. I believe we must also insure that men and women both participate in the Programme. For example, the new Women’s World Aerobatic Champion is not scheduled to fly – because only two Russian male pilots are flying (Mamistov and Schpolyanskiy). I think this must be fixed.

I am delighted we have a valid World Aerobatic Championships now – and look forward to the enjoyment of watching some beautiful Final Freestyles. My congratulations to Renaud and Elena! But also to everyone for their cooperation and work in making this Championships a success.

We carried on after the loss of Vicki Cruse, never forgetting her and honoring her by flying, and we have now named our new Champions. That said, we have one more flight to go – and the public will be here to enjoy some beautiful flying.

Results can be found at www.civa-results.com.