The official Minutes of the CIVA plenary meeting which was held in Stockholm/Helsinki on the 7th through the 9th of November are available here.

Over 60 people attended the meeting from 22 nations. The Minutes include copies of the 2004 Programme Q (Known) sequences, the complete text on the new Judges Performance Index system adopted by CIVA, and complete details on the rules on Advanced aircraft which will take effect on 1st January 2005.

Complete results of the elections are also included.

The 2004 versions of the CIVA Programme Q (Knowns) are now available for viewing here.

These flight programmes can be viewed online or downloaded as VSD (Visio) files and the necessary contest forms produced from this format. They are effective 1st January 2004 and will be flown at all FAI Aerobatics Championships scheduled next year.

by Mike Heuer
President of CIVA

CIVA just completed its annual plenary meeting a few days ago on 7th through 9th November 2003. It was a splendid meeting with 63 people in attendance from 22 different nations. The atmosphere was cordial, productive, and enjoyable --- and it was held on the Baltic Sea aboard the beautiful cruise ship "Symphony" owned by the Silja Line in Stockholm. Our hosts from Sweden and Finland did everything possible to make our meeting a good one and in a friendly atmosphere.

Many reports were reviewed by CIVA this year, proposed rules changes considered, and bids and proposals for future Championships, including three major events scheduled for next year, were all a part of the agenda package.

Following is a brief summary of the report that I presented to CIVA as President as well as some other news.

The Year's Activities

2003 has been a busy year for CIVA officers, sub-committee members, and your various elected officials. Three FAI aerobatic championships were held this year:

XXII. World Aerobatic Championships; Lakeland, Florida, USA
X. World Glider Aerobatic Championships; Pér, Hungary
III. Advanced European Aerobatic Championships; Karlsborg, Sweden

Reports from the various Jury Presidents, Chief Judges, and Contest Directors were included with the agenda packages for the plenary meeting this year. I want to pay special tribute to Jury Chairmen Karl Berger and Jiri Kobrle; Chief Judges John Gaillard and Pavol Kavka; and Contest Directors Phil Knight, L-G. Arvidsson, and Sándor Dózsa for their excellent work. Organizing, running, and supervising championships is a difficult task and our sport owes all of these men a debt of gratitude as well as the huge number of volunteers who made these events possible.

Pavol Kavka's work is particularly noteworthy as he served as the Chief Judge of both the AEAC and WGAC this year. The same could be said of our Boards of Judges as some of them also worked more than one event this year.

All three of our Championships were safely conducted and completed the necessary flights to name World and European Champions in the various disciplines. A total of 147 pilots flew in these three World or European Championships. My congratulations to all.

CIVA Sanction Fees Account

Liz Cook, CIVA Vice President of Finance, reported to CIVA on the status of our Sanction Fees account and our projected income and expenses in 2004. The account holds in excess of $60,000 at this time and up until now has been used to pay various officer travel expenses as well as jury and judge stipends for world championship events.

CIVA collects a sanction fee of $100 per pilot for world championship events and $75 for continental championships. In the past, we have also realized income from World Grand Prix competitions.

These funds have made much of our work possible. While there are some threats to our accounts now due to pending legal matters, I am confident that we will continue to have enough funding on hand to conduct our business and expand our activities in the future.

Collection of Entry Fees

Once again, contest organizers experienced difficulty in collecting Entry Fees from national aero clubs in a timely manner. This jeopardized the organization of these competitions. This problem has existed for as long as I have been President of CIVA. This problem has often been mentioned in Contest Director reports in the past.

This year, CIVA instituted a new procedure whereby the Bureau designates a particular country participating in WAC to forward its Entry Fees directly to our accounts at FAI headquarters. France was selected to do so this year. The French Team paid its fees promptly. After deducting the sanction fees when the event was completed, the remainder of the French funds were transferred to the WAC organizers in the United States.

While the transfer of these funds is not to occur unless the Chief Judge and Jury President certify the event was "satisfactory" and in accordance with our standards and regulations, it does not solve the problem of teams canceling at the last moment or being late in payment. As an example, two countries canceled their participation in AEAC this year which placed the organizers in financial jeopardy. While I do not have any particular solution to this problem, I would strongly recommend to all Delegates that their teams be realistic in terms of their participation in Championships. If there is any doubt that such participation will take place, I am sure the organizers of our various Championships would prefer that teams indicate they are not coming. If they can compete in the end, then organizers might consider this a "bonus".

To summarize, please do not indicate to organizers that your country will participate if there is doubt. It is far better for an organizer to create a budget based on a conservative estimate of entry fee income rather than one which is too high and based on optimistic preliminary entries.

I did, however, submit the following proposal to CIVA which was agreed at the meeting. It will be effective for all 2004 FAI Aerobatic Championships, to include EAC, AWAC, and EGAC:

At the time they submit their Preliminary Entry Forms, participants in World and Continental Championships will be expected to pay a deposit. The amount of the deposit will be approved by the Bureau of CIVA. Cancellation of participation after a date determined by the organizers will cause the deposit to be forfeited.

Trophies

Trophies continue to be a problem for CIVA and contest organizers. The sport of aerobatics presents beautiful awards and trophies to the winners of its competitions. FAI's trophies for teams and individuals are the most coveted in aerobatic competition. The list of winners of trophies like the Aresti Cup includes pilots who have become legends and heroes in our sport. Thus, I believe it is important for CIVA to continue to recognize the men and women in our sport in an appropriate way. This requires presenting trophies and awards of the highest quality and in the best possible condition.

The Aresti Cup was not presented this year at WAC in the United States. It now rests in Madrid in the care of Antonio Quintana, President of RACE. The trophy was given over to the Aresti family in Burgos, Spain in 2001 at the conclusion of the WAC. Full restoration of the Cup by the family was promised as well as the creation of small recipient awards that could be kept permanently by World Aerobatic Champions. Restoration work was not completed. The cost of shipping the trophy to Florida from Spain this past summer was prohibitive as the Cup is extremely valuable and insurance would have been very expensive.

The Manfred Strössenreuther Trophy also arrived at WAC in damaged condition. A piece of the marble top was broken off. The Trophy had been shipped to the USA by Hans Vogtmann and left his possession in perfect condition. No one took responsibility for the damages and when I inspected the trophy along with Ernst Paukner in Florida, the shipping case had already been opened. My assumption is that US Customs may have damaged the trophy when they opened the box for inspection. We will never know for sure.

In the past, the Eric Müller Trophy has been broken and the Nesterov Trophy does not stand straight up even today as its base is bent. We all remember when the Nesterov Trophy went missing for some months and was eventually found in Paris.

When I last saw the Advanced World Champion trophy in Slovenia, it was badly in need of small repairs and cleaning. That said, I am thankful at the same time that winners of the various trophies have not taken it upon themselves to do restoration or cleaning. The possibility of damage is too great.

So what is CIVA to do? CIVA does not have the funds to do extensive restoration work on the Aresti Cup though I would very much like to see this Cup presented for many years to come. All of us can recall many photos of it being awarded over the years since 1964 and I would like to continue that tradition.

Secondly, we have the larger issue of whether these beautiful and valuable trophies should continue to travel. My view is they should all be retired to a suitable display in an aviation museum somewhere or at FAI headquarters, though Max Bishop, Secretary General of FAI, is quick to point out that FAI hardly has the room for these trophies.

In turn, CIVA should provide for small replicas to be made which would be presented to the winners and retained by them permanently. The trophies should never leave their museum home.

CIVA did agree that the Bureau would be authorised to consider the matter (cost of transport, display/storage of trophies) with further input encouraged from Delegates.

Rules Proposals

At our meeting in Germany last year and again this year on the "Symphony", there was discussion regarding the need for the Rules & Judging Sub-Committees to publish their reasons when not recommending proposals from national aero clubs. CIVA Sub-Committees have considerable authority and responsibility --- all of their members are elected annually at plenary --- and any proposals received from national aero clubs which do not survive their scrutiny are not considered at plenary.

Eventually, such a requirement may be included in the Internal Regulations if CIVA so decides. However, I would mention that reasons can sometimes be quite lengthy and based on an historical context that may not be apparent to new Delegates. Remember that a Rules Sub-Committee meeting can usually last a full day with many discussions and debates. Summarizing the reasons for a proposal's rejection can be a challenge.

However, I do agree that Delegates deserve this courtesy. This year, we again had an informal discussion session on Friday before the plenary began and it afforded an opportunity to discuss rules proposals before the formal meeting. This was quite useful. It will help Delegates in drafting future proposals and discourage the practice of submitting the same proposals year after year.

Once proposals are submitted --- April 1st being the deadline each year --- they are posted on the CIVA website and everyone in the aerobatic community is encouraged to contact your national CIVA Delegate to provide input on these proposals.

2004 Meeting of CIVA

CIVA accepted the proposal of Spain to host the 2004 meeting in Madrid. It will take place just prior to the FAI General Conference and dates are 25th and 26th of September 2004.

While this is a considerable departure from our past practice of meeting in early to mid-November, I think it is a good plan. Last year, for various reasons, the Bureau decided not to meet in Madrid and our meeting was moved to Germany. I think we owe Antonio Quintana and the Royal Aero Club of Spain a chance to organize the meeting for us and having it close to the FAI General Conference would permit some of us to attend that meeting, all in one trip. Please remember that three of the CIVA officers (President, 1st Vice President, Secretary) do not reside in Europe so attending so many meetings can be difficult. I believe it is also important for CIVA to have a stronger presence at the FAI meetings and this would help make it possible.

Corps of Judges

As most Delegates know, the Judges who serve at our various Championships are not a part of national teams. We changed Sporting Code, Section 6, to reflect this FAI rule back in 2000. Judges always serve as international officials and should not wear any national emblems, team uniforms, or parade with national teams during opening or closing ceremonies. Not all have observed this protocol, but we are making progress.

This has sometimes created confusion with contest organizers, who are accustomed to judges being included with teams. Slowly, we have been able to separate the two groups and in most cases, judges are not included on entry forms with team members. At WAC and AEAC this year, judges were required to send in separate entry forms.

I would like to take a step further down the road to complete "internationalization" of our Board of Judges. Thus, I proposed the following at the CIVA meeting and it was accepted:

Judges who wish to serve at World and Continental Championships must send their entry forms directly to the President of CIVA. These forms will be reviewed by the Judging Sub-Committee and the Bureau of CIVA. Judge qualification and currency will be checked. "FAI Judges" who are to be paid the stipend will be selected by the Bureau from these applications. Organizers will be advised of the composition of the Board of Judges as soon as possible.

Current practice is for judges to arrive on the contest site, attend a briefing conducted by the Chief Judge, complete a written examination, and to participate in Programme Q (Known) as a minimum. The International Jury has sometimes collected the Judges Personal Data forms on site. However, this is much too late to determine if a Judge is current and qualified. While this new procedure does not specifically authorize the Bureau to reject any application, at least if there is a problem with a Judge's currency, it can be resolved long before he or she is expected to arrive on the contest site.

My eventual goal is to have CIVA receive, screen, and select all Judges for Championships. This is not what I proposed this year, but I wanted the Delegates to be clear as to where I think we should eventually be. Clearly, Judges must be international. This is required by the General Section of Sporting Code but we must take every step necessary to see that it is carried out from a policy and operational standpoint. Eventually, I hope we reach the point where we simply refer to these men and women as "FAI Judges" and not the "French Judge" or the "Russian Judge". Judges can have no nationality when they are on the line, judging aerobatic competitors.

Known and Q Sequences

My congratulations to the British and their Delegate, Alan Cassidy, for submitting the winning proposals for the Q programmes for both Advanced and Unlimited powered aerobatics. This is the first time that two submissions from the same country have been accepted by CIVA. The sequences can be found elsewhere on this website.

The Glider Known sequence that was adopted was submitted by the Glider Aerobatics Sub-Committee (GASC). The GASC always reviews the various proposals and submits its recommended programme directly to CIVA. It is usually approved as a matter of routine.

Other Rules

The new 2004 versions of Section 6 of Sporting Code and CIVA Regulations will be up on the CIVA website and available for download (in PDF) as soon as possible. Fortunately, changes were fairly minor this year and the new Advanced aircraft list will not go into effect until 1 January 2005. This is always a very hot topic and occupies many hours of CIVA's time each year.

The Summary of Conclusions for the meeting --- also available on this website --- can be consulted on the specifics of rules changes which were approved at the plenary.

CIVA Archives

The subject of preservation of historical documents, photographs, and contest materials is something very dear to my heart. I have been collecting and preserving aerobatic material for over three decades and eventually the CIVA-related material will be in a separate archive. I tend to save everything --- even car park passes! Yet I believe it to be important.

Anyone who has material related to the World and European Aerobatic Championships (in both power and glider) and would wish to donate it to the CIVA Archives should contact me. I have little material for glider, as an example, and almost non-existent files for pre-1984 contests in Unlimited. I welcome your donations.

The FAI Aerobatics Commission (CIVA) held its annual plenary meeting on the 7th through the 9th of November aboard the Silja "Symphony" -- a cruise ship that plies the Baltic Sea between Stockholm and Helsinki.

Reports were received from various contest officials on the three FAI Aerobatic Championships which were held this year. New rules were considered for 2004 and bids and proposals were received for future aerobatic championships. Altogether, 68 people from 22 nations attended the meeting -- a record number.

The Summary of Conclusions are now available for download.

Mr. Jose Luis Aresti of Spain passed away yesterday, 18 November 2003 in Madrid.

Born in Bilbao, Spain, he began flying in the 1930's and was an aerobatic flight instructor in the Spanish Air Force during World War II, providing them their first aerobatic flight manual. Aresti went on to found several pilot training schools after the war and became active in the airshow circuit around Europe flying the Bucker Jungmeister.

Very active in the early years of CIVA as the Delegate of Spain -- which would host the WAC at Bilbao in 1964 -- his work on an aerobatic catalogue is what he became most known for. It was in 1964 that the "Aresti Aerocryptographic System" was introduced and approved by CIVA. At the time, some 3,000 maneuvers were catalogued along with difficulty coefficients (we know as K-factors today) and was used up until 1987. He was highly instrumental in obtaining government support for aerobatic flying in Spain which led to very successful aerobatic teams from Spain at WAC.

President of CIVA in 1968-1969 and its President of Honour up until his death, he was awarded the FAI Silver and Gold Medals for his work on the catalogue. He brought a professional standard to the cataloguing of aerobatic figures and provided a "shorthand" that was used internationally for decades --- thereby touching the lives of thousands of aerobatic pilots --- by enabling a competitor to easily diagram his or her aerobatic figures and sequences regardless of their native language.

Mr. Aresti's work touched the lives of thousands of aerobatic pilots around the world.

One of the most important matters to be considered at the CIVA meeting on 7-9 November will be the proposed rules changes for 2004. The CIVA Judging and Rules Sub-Committees met in Lakeland, Florida, USA on 24 June --- just prior to WAC --- to consider dozens of proposals made by national air sports organizations.

The Sub-Committees have reported their recommendations to CIVA which are available here for download. Proposals will be voted on during the meeting and will take effect on 1st January 2004. Also under consideration are the Known/Q programmes for 2004 --- for Unlimited, Advanced, and Glider categories.

The aerobatic community is welcome to provide their input to CIVA through their national delegates.

On the 7th of November, nearly 60 representatives of aerobatic organizations all over the world will be gathering in Stockholm, Sweden for the beginning of informal discussions and the plenary meeting of the FAI Aerobatics Commission (CIVA).

Twenty-two nations are expected to send delegations and observers to the meeting. CIVA has just finished a very successful contest year. The World Aerobatic Championships in the USA; the Advanced European Aerobatic Championships in Sweden; and the World Glider Aerobatic Championships were all concluded this year and Champions named in all of these disciplines.

CIVA will be considering rules changes for 2004 as well as proposals and bids for various future Championships. Sweden is scheduled to report on its plans for the Advanced World Championships. Lithuania will discuss the European Aerobatic Championships it is organizing for the second time in a row. Finally, organizers of the European Glider Aerobatic Championships will be on hand to review the details of the contest to be held in the Czech Republic. CIVA will also conduct elections of the various officials who will preside over these events next year.

All told, 147 pilots participated in 2003 FAI Aerobatic Championships in all three categories. The contests were safe and very well organised this year --- as the sport's participants continue to improve these air sports events held under the FAI banner.

THE 22ND WAC --- AN OVERVIEW
By Mike Heuer
President
FAI International Aerobatics Commission (CIVA)

Printed in the August 2003 Issue of SPORT AEROBATICS magazine …

Burgos, Muret, Trencin, Debrecen, Le Havre, Yverdon --- these small to medium-sized cities in Europe are now all associated in our memories with World Aerobatic Championships. For those of us fortunate enough to have attended many or all of these competitions, each had its own flavor and personality. In the past 43 years, twenty-two WAC's have been held with the most recent, Lakeland, also now a memory. But what a wonderful memory it will be!

Three WAC's have now been held in the United States --- Oshkosh in 1980, Oklahoma City in 1996, and Lakeland in 2003. But this was the first time that IAC took total control of the event and our staff, officers, directors, and many other volunteers worked for many months to make it a success. The planning for it began almost three years ago when the IAC Board of Directors decided to make a bid at CIVA for the honor of organizing the event.

Fortunately, it was IAC's great fortune to have Phil Knight step forward to serve as Contest Director. As an experienced former US team pilot, contest organizer, and chief judge, Phil brought a unique set of credentials to this job. He is the one of the few contest organizers in my memory to have served in so many different positions prior to the WAC and which gave him a vast base of experience to put this one together. Phil also knows how to delegate and to choose his staff and this he did very well, bringing people into various contest positions who knew their jobs and were tireless in carrying them out -- top quality people like Bob Stark and Bill Williamson and many others.

CIVA approved the American bid for the WAC "in principal" at its plenary meeting in Prague, Czech Republic, in November 2001. Of course, the search for a suitable site was already underway and it was shortly thereafter that the partnership with the Sun 'N Fun Fly-In organization was consummated. John Burton and Greg Harbaugh pledged their full support and were subsequently also relentless in their work.

Finally, in November 2002, CIVA gave its final blessing to the United States for organization of the WAC at its meeting near Nuremberg, Germany. The decision was not without controversy as some of the Delegates were very concerned about the level of entry fees, which were higher than at previous WAC's. Of course, complaints about entry fees are not uncommon and little was said about the deterioration of the US dollar against the Euro in that last couple of years, which gave many Europeans an advantage from previous years. Gerry Molidor and Howie Stock also assured Delegates that more would be provided than at past WAC's, including vehicles for all teams. This was subsequently done and well received.

As it turned out, the Sun 'N Fun Fly-In site was the perfect set-up for a major contest. The FAA building was contest headquarters for most of the WAC and with its excellent briefing room, personnel, and audio-visual equipment --- and Phil's "no nonsense" briefings --- everyone was kept well informed. The contest registrars worked out of this building as well, handling the mountain of paperwork and other assorted details that go way beyond any domestic contest most had been associated with. It was all handled smoothly and well.

Hangars were available and unlike many past WAC's, all of the competition airplanes were stored every day and every night in these beautiful, clean hangars. Naturally, everyone was concerned about the heat and humidity and some thought the choice of a Florida location in June and July was folly. Yes, it was very hot and very humid. But this was well planned for with plenty of water supplied to competitors, special shades constructed on the flight line which covered the airplanes while the pilot strapped in and prepared for flight, and even special hats for everyone.

The most difficult working conditions are always those suffered by the judges. Unlike most domestic competitions, WAC judges must be out on the line all day, every day for almost two weeks. Their concentration level is very high as this is very complex, Unlimited competition flying taking place and their attention can never stray. Under the leadership of Chief Judge John Gaillard, the judging line functioned very well. John brings a vast array of experience to his position as well. He has now served as Chief Judge of more WAC's than anyone in aerobatic history. His immediate helpers --- Americans who jumped in and volunteered --- included Brian Howard who served as Assistant Chief Judge; Charlie Harrison who handled the boundaries; and Brian Becker on the radios. Of course, there were many others and it is impossible to credit everyone.

The judges were supplied with comfortable chairs, umbrellas, and an air-conditioned building for rest periods which was well stocked with food and beverages. The WAC Volunteer Coordinator, Ann Salcedo, and the Chief of the Boundary Judges, Greg Dungan, did an incredible job of taking care of everyone. I had never seen such energy put into accommodating volunteers and contest staff.

At one point in the contest, Greg told me that over 75 IAC volunteers were employed at the WAC. Indeed, boundary judges (called "Line Judges" in CIVA parlance), were rotated about every two hours. With the huge cadre of volunteers that the Sun 'N Fun organization also brought in, I was informed that about 250 volunteers made the contest run. In other words, about 5 people for every 1 pilot. Quite an achievement.

Now to some comments from the Jury perspective …

Unlike domestic competitions, the International Jury plays a much different role at WAC than an IAC contest jury does at regional or national events. The International Jury is composed of five individuals (President and four members) from different countries. Our job is to oversee the event to made sure it is administered "efficiently" (as required in Section 6 of the FAI Sporting Code --- this rule was introduced in 1993); that all Regulations and Codes are complied with (for this we have to refer to CIVA Regulations, the General Section of Sporting Code, and Section 6); and that all protests and complaints are handled by the rules. This year's Jury included Jiri Kobrle (Czech Republic); Ernst Paukner (Germany); Robert Chomono (France); and Lars Frölander (Sweden).

To accomplish these tasks, I usually begin my consulting and liaison work with contest organizers many months in advance of the competition. This usually takes place, in this day and age, in the form of dozens if not hundreds of e-mails. While the Jury cannot become involved in actual contest organizational matters, when it comes to rules application and "traditions" at WAC, I do get involved. Indeed, my communications with Phil Knight began many months ago. What I appreciated about working with Phil was that he knew the questions to ask and which not to ask. I do not recall any WAC where more problems were ironed out well before the event began than this one.

Much of that, of course, was due to the fact that we all know each other and have for many years. The aerobatic community is a fairly tight-knit group and I count many friends in international and national circles. But the fact that I am an American also made it somewhat easier as communication was simple and short. Of course, I was concerned that it would be more difficult for me as well since being President of CIVA and being an American could have been a problem. I frequently recalled the Biblical phrase about how a man cannot be a prophet in his own land. But ultimately, there were few problems. In fact, my acquaintance with most of the contest staff made my job much easier and the entire Jury was treated with the greatest respect by everyone.

When we get to the contest site, the Jury's duties are divided up into four key areas --- flight line operations, the Board of Judges, boundaries, and computer scoring and weather. Jury members are stationed at the flight line and the Chief Judge's position at all times. Frequent inspections of the boundaries are made and the "Met Man" (this year it was Alex Belov) is frequently consulted. Depending on the contest, some of these duties may be relatively trouble-free and others a headache.

This year our greatest problems were not one organization but rather of wind and cloud. Typically, low clouds would move in just after the morning briefing. Sometimes, only the required "warm up" flights would get airborne before the lunch break. Then flying would resume normally in the afternoon with occasional breaks for thunderstorms or winds increasing out of limits. Alex Belov was a very busy man.

CIVA Regulations are very strict --- indeed, some have argued they are too constrictive --- regarding wind and cloud base. We can operate with breaks if the cloud base is down to a minimum of 800 meters but the contest is shut down if wind goes over headwind, crosswind, or tailwind limits. The wind has to be measured accurately (in meters per second) at the surface and 500 meters. This was done by balloon launch and theodolite readings --- an almost lost art. Martin Brenner flew in from California to help Alex and brought with him a specially modified theodolite. It worked flawlessly and provided that all important wind information that the pilots and team managers crave during the course of the competition. I think it was a surprise to some on the starting line as to how obsessive some of the managers and trainers are about this information. But it is a WAC, after all, and such attention to matters that will affect competition flights should be no surprise. In periods of rapidly changing weather conditions, wind observations were often made every thirty minutes, which kept Alex and Martin very busy for hours at a time.

I often get questions about protests and if any are in progress during the contest. This year, we only received one --- from Matthieu Roulet of France. During one of those rapidly changing wind scenarios we experienced in Lakeland, Matthieu was flying after a wind observation that showed we were in limits. However, the pilot subsequent to him was recalled by the Jury and Chief Judge when we found that wind had gone over limits at the next 30 minute interval. It was our view that Matthieu had actually flown in conditions over limit, so a re-fly was granted. While we did hear some grumbling about this from other competitors, it was the fair thing to do and the Jury is always guided by the principle enshrined in Sporting Code which says the benefit of any doubt must be given to the competitor. For me, this was a "common sense" decision. No other protests were filed during the course of the WAC and so from this point-of-view, it was also one of the best ever. I cannot recall a previous WAC where the Jury had less protests to decide.

From a technical standpoint, the contest was also good. There were three mechanicals. One was a loose oil cap on a Sukhoi flown by a Spanish pilot; a broken attachment on an aileron control mechanism on an American-flown CAP 232; and a missing landing gear bolt on the G-200 flown by the Italian team. The WAC Technical Commission Chairman, Mike Mays, handled all of them professionally and quickly. In the case of the loose oil cap, the Spanish pilot, Castor Santoba, was not allowed to fly his Programme Q again for scores as such a mechanical problem is preventable and the responsibility of the pilot-in-command. But the Jury did permit him to fly the Q in the box for safety reasons without official scores. The American pilot, David Martin, went on to fly another CAP 232 for the remainder of the competition. The G-200 was repaired. So all is well that ends well.

And the outcome? The International Jury's job is to insure that a WAC is run "by the book". If a contest follows the rules to the letter and the judging is good, then the result is something that everyone accepts. For anyone who knows the history of WAC over this past half-century, you almost certainly realize that such has not always been the case. In the past, rules have been flaunted and huge advantages given to the "home team". During the Cold War, international tensions that existed between the various political blocs filtered its way down to world aerobatic competition as well.

While the Cold War is over and international cooperation within the aerobatic community could not be better, competition itself is just as fierce as ever. Some teams do not enjoy the state support they used to have or have much less of it. Some teams have disappeared from the international Unlimited arena altogether --- countries with rich aerobatic traditions such as the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Germany. Because of the fact that sponsor funding is now more important than ever to just about every country's team, good results in competition flying takes on new meaning. Thus, despite the fact that political tensions may have eased between former enemies, competition is just as strong as ever. Actually, this is good for the sport. Pilots and teams want to win and they work very hard at it --- just as they did in decades past.

The Jury was very content at the conclusion of this WAC. We believed the organizers had done a very good job and attention to detail was very high. Thus, Lakeland continued a building tradition of better and better contests which started in Trencin, Slovakia in 1998 --- a contest which surprised all of us by its quality. The most recent WAC in Burgos, Spain was also superb under the leadership of Luis Cabre. IAC, Sun 'N Fun, and the volunteers had a high standard to meet if the WAC in Lakeland was to be an improvement on these events. Indeed, it was.

A couple of other notes of interest …

We had several "independents" at this competition. Mostly Americans with one Russian, these pilots were permitted to fly in the competition "hors concours", i.e. they would be ranked and scored by the judges but their scores would not count toward awards or trophies. This has been a long-standing tradition in CIVA. It was once the way we accommodated the South Africans when their country was still under the apartheid system. In recent years, it has been a way to permit pilots to fly who are not members of official teams but want the experience of an international competition. David Martin and Robert Armstrong, for example, had flown in Lithuania at the European Championships in 2002 in this status. Independents are always treated equally in all respects, however, and most come away richer for the experience.

Interestingly, an independent managed to actually score first place in the Four Minute Free (Programme 4). Victor Chmal of Russia was an independent this year for reasons unknown to me, despite his having been the World Champion in 1996 in Oklahoma City. However, because his scores could not be counted --- though I was under some pressure to alter this ruling --- Mikhail Mamistov ultimately took home the Manfred Strössenreuther Trophy, given to the first place winner in this programme. We were very happy to have the independents --- all enthusiastic and superb pilots. I am quite sure this tradition will continue.

Of course, I had countless other impressions and experiences at this WAC which I will savor in the years ahead and as we in CIVA prepare for the next WAC. Location of that competition in 2005 is not yet decided. But Lakeland will remain a standard by which all future WAC's will be judged. I also hope that some of the talented and experienced people we had in Lakeland will join the volunteer group at future contests. CIVA has managed to cultivate a truly international team of people who come in and work these events at the side of local volunteers. People like Michel Dupont who created the CIVA software for scoring the event --- as well as many others. Now I hope that people like Ann Salcedo, Brian Howard, and Greg Dungan --- all of whom expressed interest in helping in the future --- will join our ranks. Not to worry. We will not steal them away from IAC! They will become involved --- just as anyone can in aerobatics --- in just another aspect of our sport which will bring them new friends and experiences.

My congratulations to Sergey Rakhmanin, the new World Aerobatic Champion; Svetlana Kapanina, the Women's World Aerobatic Champion; and the Russian Team for your victories. Also, to those who followed very closely behind. They will be there next time, trying to wrest those trophies away and with the benefit of even more practice, experience, and skill.

Thank you, IAC and Sun 'N Fun --- for a wonderful WAC!

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