posted on October 23, 2011 23:15
The three Northern Regions have just ended their competition season and Regional Champions in each class have emerged. Hearty congratulations to all competitors are in order and more so, to the victors, the spoils! The three Southern Regions continue to slug it out and they still have a way to go. Embroiled in all of this, the Tucson Shootout just ended. Many IMAC pilots made the “trip” out West to participate in this prestigious event. It takes commitment and determination by pilots to prepare for competition and the Tucson Shootout stretched the reach that much further. Congratulations to all the participants, especially all the winners. As a judge at the event, I can emphatically say, the future is bright for IMAC. There was so much talent displayed in Tucson by 14 year old (and up) IMAC pilots. They have to be seen to be believed. Truly amazing!
Out of the 14 judges chosen for the function by the organizers, 8 are presently active IMAC members. Out of this amount, 5 are Judging Instructors. This says a lot as to how IMAC is viewed in the Scale Aerobatics competition world.
To top this all, IMAC has also opened eyes in the full scale world. We have been contacted by the President of IAC (International Aerobatic Club) who indicated that their organization is very impressed with our on-line judges training. The IAC experiences the same issues that we have in the judging chair and judging training. In speaking with the President, we discussed how both organizations could complement each other in various endeavors. High on the list was participation in training and also participation in actual contests. We will further discuss “cross-over” training whereby IMAC judges could judge at a specified IAC contest & visa versa to test the concept, after training. Basically, the scores would be compared between both sets of judges to see how the concept could/would work. In addition, 2 members of each organization would be designated as “liaison contacts” to funnel closer ties. We also discussed expanding the EAA ‘s “Young Eagles Program” into IMAC and how it could enhance us both from an aerobatics view. There is much more that will be discussed.
It has been a unique year for modeling. In general, many events in most disciplines have experienced less participation than prior years. In IMAC competitions, we also have had a similar drop in attendance in some areas. There are certain events that hold their own and hopefully 2012 will bring a renewed vigor for competition. In speaking with many individuals who were past IMAC members, they are noticing the progress in IMAC and will be participating in competition during the 2012 season. We welcome everyone to standardized competition and look forward to having you back with us.
2012 Known Sequences: The sequence committee has been hard at work since July 1st, constructing, testing, changing & retesting the 2012 Known sequences. As of October 12th (2011), the BOD has reviewed and approved Basic, Sportsman, Intermediate and Advanced sequences for next year. The ISC is still “beating the pavement” on the Unlimited sequence and is really fine tuning it down to a “T”. It is now on Revision 12. As soon as the BOD receives and approves the final class, it will be published on the IMC website. In addition, the committee still has the responsibility of constructing and dispatching the Unknowns for the rest of 2011. Incidentally, when Winter starts in the USA, New Zealand is starting their season!! “There is no rest for the weary”. Thanks to everyone on the committee for working so hard behind the scenes for IMAC.
We would also like to THANK Peter Schmidt, Tim Larsson and Patrick Roos, all of IMAC Sweden, who have done videos of IMAC 2012 sequences which are in the Training section on the IMAC website.
2012 NATS: Gil Major will again be taking the reins as Event Director for 2012. A “glutton for punishment” kind of guy, Gil attended the preliminary planning meeting which was held at the AMA Headquarters in the latter part of September. Gil announced the 2012 dates in the NATS section of the IMAC website. It will be held on July 9-12, 2012. The BOD will be meeting with Gil in late October to start the process of planning and streamlining the event for next year.
Matt Balazs’ Blog: A new section of the IMAC website will be opened up soon with Matt Balazs giving his views to the aspiring aerobatic enthusiast on how to get started in the discipline. Matt will cover subjects such as setting up an aircraft for competition, getting ready for your first contest, learning to call the sequences and many other items that will help both new and seasoned pilots to look into the finer points of competition. THANK YOU, Matt for making such a dedicated commitment to help newcomers & existing pilots. Also thank you and Jerry Hailey for the Basic introductory session that you both put on recently in North Carolina. Reports are that it was a resounding success.
IMAC Auctions: IMAC has started a series of auctions in the classifieds section of the website in October. All funds raised by IMAC auctions will go into the general fund to assist in running the organization and website. The items have been acquired from our advertisers on the IMAC website. Please support the companies that do support us.
Well, the contest season is almost over for 2011. Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner. It is time to reflect on what we have accomplished for 2011 and where we would like to head in 2012. I do hope to see you “on the line”!
Best regards to all.
Wayne