That’s right folks, with the days getting longer and the season just around the corner, it can only mean one thing… it’s time for the Chapter 35 Annual Banquet.

Due to an unfortunate error on my part at the last monthly meeting, I inadvertently sat in the ‘ volunteers only’ seat and was quickly given the task of organizing this year’s banquet. So, my number one goal is to get YOU to join us. Imagine yourself, and a significant other if you choose, enjoying an evening of food, fun and good friends at the Holiday Inn in Mansfield. Featured attractions include; inspiring words from your Chapter President, presentation of awards for last season’s performances, and entertaining commentary from a visiting eastern block pilot, who chooses to remain nameless. Oh, and did I forget to mention the cash bar.

Too far to drive you say? Hello, you’re a pilot. So get into one of those straight and level, nighttime, fly by themselves airplanes and we’ll pick you up at the Mansfield airport; it’s only ten minutes from the hotel. Like most hotels you should feel free to rent a room for the night if you would like to/need to extend your stay.

And your cost for this casual dress evening of fine food, fine friends and fine times….just $35 per person. The date is Saturday, March 3^rd (tentatively scheduled to start at 5:00p.m.). If you should choose not to attend, you WILL be subject to a one-point penalty for every figure flown during the 2001 season.

It’s gonna be fun, details and invitations will be arriving shortly in a separate mailing.

-Mike Ganor (mikeganor@yahoo.com)

We had three days of absolutely beautiful weather during the First Annual Pocono Mountains Aerobatic Contest (October 14-16^th). The event was a resounding success thanks to the teamwork of everyone who attended. I am incredibly proud to be leading this 2 year old Chapter who's members came together to put on one incredible contest. HUGE Thank You to: The Pocono Mountains Municipal Airport Authority, Vern and Eric Moyer and all of Moyer Aviation for allowing us to hold our event at their Airport. Tom Fox for taking on the tremendous task of Volunteer Coordinator. We couldn't have done it without him. Colleen Fox for being the most organized Registrar ever. Bob McGraw for keeping our ramp safe and efficient. John Clipp and Matt Chapman for getting all our aircraft tech'ed thoroughly but quickly. Ann, Kristen, and Kathleen Fox for running registration and judges line paperwork so efficiently (and when word gets out about how easy the are to look at, we'll get ton's more competitors). Ray and Lois Rose for driving 6 hours each way to Chief our inaugural contest. Greg Dungan for flying up to Chief Basic and Sportsman (and give the Rose's a break). Danny Adams and Aviat Aircraft for devoting the entire weekend to helping Pitts pilots learn about and increase the performance/safety of their aircraft. Dennie Thompson for building us the nicest hot box panels in the sport. Joe Fox for transporting all our equipment to/from the contest site. Phil Abrams for staying on top of our Boundary Judge changeovers. FAA Monitor Mac Boyd for spending his entire weekend helping and learning about aerobatic contest operations (and we even got him on the judges line as a recorder). But most of all, all the competitors who volunteered, flew and enjoyed the wonderful fall scenery of the Pocono's.

See you again next year!

JD Johnson

Contest Director/President

IAC Chapter 113

OFFICIAL RESULTS

Rank Pilot Chapter %pp

1st Mike Ganor 35 80.14

2nd Scott Minnucci 113 74.32

3rd James B. McFarland 15.28

1st David Watson 35 85.51

2nd David Groft 58 81.00

3rd Andrew Wright 113 80.79

4th Neville Hogan 35 80.34

5th Bill Crawford 35 77.08

6th Kevin Hickling 76.24

7th Karen Greenfield 58 74.73

8th Birdie Saurenman 52 71.78

9th Phil Abrams 113 70.71

10th Craig B. Wisman 58 70.48

11th Bryan Scheible 46 67.61

12th William Wilson 58 64.79

13th Tom Fox 113 62.96

14th Dennis Thompson 113 52.99

1st Mike Herbert 58 78.72

2nd Jon Leyland 113 77.12

3rd Larry Bashore 58 69.04

4th Ron Chadwick 52 64.69

5th Rick Volker 27 51.35

Category - Advanced

1st Guenther Eichhorn 35 76.51

2nd Hans Bok 35 73.90

3rd Larry Wilson 52 67.52

4th Darwin L. Jones 58 60.04

Category - Unlimited

1st Mike Ciliberti 113 76.50

2nd Steve Grohsmeyer 11 72.10

3rd Craig Lesinski 35 67.34

Dave Watson won Grassroots for the third time this season!

We had a few new members join us since our last Hammerhead (when in the heck was that??)

George Coy was our 1999 and 2000 CD for the Springfield VT contest and he has finally officially joined the chapter. If he directed two contests as a non-member just think of what we can expect from him now!!!!!

Bill McKinney was a walk-in at our January meeting. He drove across the entire state of RI from CT to join use for a monthly meeting on a cold and miserable day. Seems like we have another dedicated sort here too!!! Bill is just getting into the ACRO thing and he is now practicing with Aerobatika in the Decathlon.

Only one Chapter 35 member made the long trek to the Farmville Virginia contest this year. Why he did, is still being debated by is team of psychiatrists. Apparently he was just so disappointed in getting all the way to the Warrington Virginia contest (four weeks prior) and having the contest cancelled that he had to try again. Yes, Dave Watson along with co-pilot Mike Ganor and wingman Hans Bok, flew all the way to Warrington and were told on arrival that the contest was CANCELLED – Bummer man. Hans should have known better. After all, the remnants of ex-hurricane "somebody" was heading directly for Virginia. It was, however, a nice flight both ways (about 8.5 of flight time).

Dave was unable to get anyone but his son to make the follow-up trip to Farmville, but persistence paid off and Dave ended up winning the contest in the Sportsman Category and taking the Grassroots award for the forth time this season. Next year – hopefully – Chapter 35 will have a bigger contingency for these contests! The Indian Summer Weekend was the best weather ever for the Farmville contest and all flights were completed by noon on Sunday. Contest director Mark Cassada put on an outstanding contest that will be memorable for the striking contest shirts and trophies.

Happy New Year to everyone. We finished off 2000 with a very successful contest season for Chapter 35. As you will see elsewhere in this newsletter, four of our members became Northeast Champions in their respective category. Mike Ganor (Basic), Dave Watson (Sportsman), Hans Bok (Advanced) and Craig Lesinski (Unlimited). I felt that we also had a good possibility of making a clean sweep by winning the Intermediate category with either Ron Burns or Bill Crawford. Unfortunately Ron sold his S2B and Bill could not compete in his Giles. Many of our chapter members, including all of the Northeast Champions listed above, owe a great deal to Craig for the excellent critique and training sessions. As it has been stated many times before, it is difficult to advance in this sport without good critiquing. One tends to practice the same mistakes if quality feedback is not available.

Bill Crawford, Sheldon Apsell and Kent Christman have agreed to continue in their positions in the chapter for the third consecutive year. On the same note, both Steve Pennypacker and George Coy have agreed to be the CD for the Orange and Springfield contest respectively. Dave Watson [missed a chapter meeting and the other members in attendance] graciously agreed to [have him] continue as newsletter editor. On behalf of the chapter, I want to personally thank all of these individuals for their continuing support.

A letter has been sent out by William Wicks of the Boston FSDO regarding noise complaints in the area of Ayer, Groton and Westford, MA. The letter is printed in full elsewhere in the newsletter. While they acknowledge that we are not in violation of any FARs, we do need to find a way to come to a viable long-term solution. They have scheduled a meeting at the Boston FSDO located at Hanscom Field Civil Air Terminal on Wednesday, February 7, 2001 at 6:30 PM. During our January Chapter 35 meeting, we discussed this issue and came up with several good ideas. Several members are already planning to be at the meeting and I urge all Chapter members to attend.

Continues....

We will be holding a Judges School again this year. Instead of the "Introduction to Aerobatic Judging" which we have had in previous years,

we will be holding the "Advanced Judging Seminar" and "Judging Criteria for Aerobatic Pilots" on February 24 and 25 respectively. The "Judging Criteria for Aerobatic Pilots" looks at contest flying from the pilots view point rather than the Judge’s and is recommended for all pilots. The "Advanced Judging Seminar" is for current Judges. The school will be held at the East Coast Aero Tech classroom as in the past. We again want to thank Sam Morgan and Steve Fitzgerald for their support. More details will be sent on the schools in the near future.

We held a seminar on January 19 on formation flying. The session was given by Joe Amara, a former F-106 and F-15 pilot, current airline pilot and instructor. Joe gave an excellent overview of what is involved to make formation flying a safe activity. As in flying aerobatics, formation flying is something that needs to be practiced. My apologies to everyone for not providing adequate notice to everyone regarding the seminar. We will hold additional seminars in the future on different phases of our sport with the intent of combining it with our monthly meeting.

The Orange contest dates have been set by our contest director, Steve Pennypacker. The date will be May 17 – 20 and the rain date will be June 21 – 24. More details will follow in the April newsletter. Make plans to attend.

Our banquet is in the initial phase of planning. It will be scheduled in March with details to follow. Our banquet coordinator is Mike Ganor. We will be raffling off an almost complete set of Sport Aerobatic magazines at the banquet, which have been donated to the club by Ed Morse. Thanks for the donation, Ed.

As noted in the last newsletter, several members were in the midst of getting new aircraft. Sheldon Apsell did get his ex-Northern Lights Extra 300L and Ron Burns did purchase Jim Baker’s Extra 230. Rumor has it that Joe Keenan has also purchased an ex-Northern Lights Extra 300L.

Sheldon Apsell has provided a financial update for fiscal year 2000. The balance as of December 30, 2000 is $2,123.22. The balance coming into the year was $3,774.82. The loss is attributed primarily to the low turnout at both the Orange and Springfield contests. Contests, along with dues, are the primary income for the club. With the exception of the Maytown contest, which had 47 contestants, most "local" contests had anywhere from 20 to 30 contestants. This is not enough to cover the contest costs which include trophies, insurance, sanction costs, etc. Our Orange contest typically has 45 to 50 contestants and I recall one year when we had close to 70 contestants. The contest fees this year will be set to reflect the anticipation of a lower turnout in order to avoid this.

Winter is a good time to have the engine and airframe of your airplane looked at and prepared for the upcoming season. We are planning to start having practice sessions in March so try to plan your annuals, maintenance, etc. accordingly to have the planes ready to go by that time.

Safe Flying,

Hans

Despite the cancellation of Chapter 91’s competition on Long Island this year, they did once again sponsor their coveted Northeast Aerobatic Championship trophies for the five power categories. Because of their cancellation, they amended the championship scoring to include the placement of the KNOWN flight for each category at the Pocono Contest in conjunction with the pilots best two other placements at any of the other four local competitions. As you can imagine, that put a lot of pressure on the competitors to perform well in that one sequence, since it had to be included in the results. As it turned out, pressure made diamonds for several of the Chapter 35 competitors. In all, we nearly cleaned up and took 4 of the 5 trophies. The following article was published on the cover of the Sunday Edition of "The Sun Chronicle", a regional newspaper in Southern MA.

BY RICK FOSTER/ SUN CHRONICLE STAFF

MANSFIELD -- Curse you, Red Barons.

David Watson admits fellow aviators aren't always thrilled when he and three other members of a Mansfield-based aerobatic flying team arrive at a competition.

`` One guy came up to me very friendly and said, `Hey Dave, I was really hoping not to see you [here],' '' said Watson, a consulting engineer from East Greenwich, R.I., who ended up winning the contest in his Super Decathlon.

This year, others who compete in the airborne world of rolls and loops have more reason than ever to fear the team led by Plainville pilot Craig Lesinski.

Lesinski, Watson and two other flyers recently swept four of five categories in the 2000 Northeast Season Championship sanctioned by the International Aerobatic Club. In doing so, the quartet shot down nearly 60 other competitors. The newly-crowned champs were feted at a banquet following the season-ending meet in Pocono, Pa.

Lesinski, a former college football coach, won the elite unlimited title in his Russian Yak 55. Hans Bok of Dartmouth took the advanced title while Watson was crowned champion in the sportsman division.

Mike Ganor of Mansfield, a pilot with only five months' experience in aerobatic flying, took the season championship in the basic category. Virginia pilot Mike Hebert won this year's intermediate title.

Lesinski, a veteran aerobatic pilot, holds a number of championships and began training other pilots two years ago. The other flyers credit Lesinski, who coaches them from the ground on a two-way radio, for helping them improve their technique. `` If you're going to get good feedback, you need someone who not only knows what the maneuver should look like, but also understands what's going on inside the airplane,'' said Bok, who has been flying aerobatics for nine years. `` Craig's been there.''

At each meet, pilots compete against each other in a three-part contest that includes compulsory maneuvers, a freestyle segment and an `` unknown'' portion in which they execute a prescribed set of moves sight unseen. `` The key is being able to fly consistently,'' Lesinski said.

All maneuvers are tightly controlled and must be performed within an invisible, 1,000-by-1000-[meter] box at a specified minimum altitude. There has never been a flight-related accident during any IAC competition, Lesinski said. Guiding a high performance airplane through a series of tight turns and loops at more than 200mph is equal parts adrenaline and physical endurance. `` When you're flying at that speed, timing is very critical,'' Bok said. `` A lot of things have to happen in a very short period of time.''

Besides the hand-eye coordination of a baseball player and the reflexes of a grand prix driver, the sheer stresses on fliers' bodies requires physical stamina comparable to that of football players. G-forces during radical maneuvers vary from the equivalent of six times the force of gravity to virtual weightlessness, often within fractions of seconds.

`` When you finish a competition, you're physically exhausted,'' Watson said. In addition, mental concentration is so intense that often pilots can't remember specific details of their performances.

To compete for the championship, pilots vie in individual contests from May through October. Competitors accumulate points based on how well they finish in each meet.

Lesinski said competitive pilots take a high degree of pride in professionalism and improving their technique. They generally eschew the label of `` stunt flying.''

`` It's an activity that requires a lot of precision,'' he said.

Northeast Aerobatic Champions from Ch. 35:

Unlimited, Craig Lesinski, Advanced, Hans Bok, Sportsman, Dave Watson, Basic, Mike Ganor.

GENERAL AVIATION 'DOWN UNDER’,

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY

Submitted by Dick Gould

Australia is a great place to fly. The weather is generally a lot better than around here, people are friendly and helpful -- especially to any "bloody Yanks" who come along -- and the scenery in many places is world class. It’s so great, that you might ask, Is there a problem?

In a word there is -- PRIVATIZATION. Australia provides a sneak preview of what we might expect if the FAA here became privatized, and it ain't pretty. In Australia, services such as air traffic control, navigation aids, weather forecasting and briefings, communications, and airports are operated by the Commonwealth Government but on a "pay-as-you-go" basis. For example, if you decide to stay current and perform touch-and-goes ("circuits") at Jandakot Airport, the main general aviation airport near Perth, Western Australia, it will cost you $6.00 each time your wheels touch the ground. This is the discounted rate -- a full-stop landing there is $15.00. At Perth Airport it's $45.00 each time your wheels arrive, so instrument pilots practicing at Perth, which has the only ILS approach in the state, have really mastered the art of the Low Approach! Most remote airports, such as Rottnest Island or Denham, at Shark Bay, are unattended and use an honor system ($20.00 per landing).

It's the same for weather. Briefings are obtained by FAX from Melbourne, and the last time I got one it was $15.00. You are also billed for use of the air traffic control system whenever you file and fly IFR. This stuff adds up fast, especially on top of the high cost of fuel (which, of course, includes all the usual taxes) and other, normal operating expenses such as parking and tie-downs.

In principle, user-fees of this kind are probably more fair than across-the-board taxes paid by the public at large. But in Australia, citizens already pay much higher income taxes than we do, and they have just introduced a 10% nationwide tax -- the GST, or General Sales Tax -- on all goods and services. So it's not as if the general public doesn't already pay a bundle for many of these services. And how good are the services? Australia has minimal navaids of any kind. It's basically a 1930s and 40s-vintage collection of NDBs. As far as I am aware, the Perth VOR and the one at Pearce RAAF base are the only ones in Western Australia (which is about one-third the size of the continental U.S.). The Aussies now use GPS for all kinds of cross-country navigation, so they have effectively leapfrogged VOR. Of course, their use of GPS relies entirely upon U.S. launched and operated satellites -- not paid for by Australian user fees or by their government.

The fun begins when you actually crank up the engine and go flying. First, ALL FLIGHTS require a written flight plan, filed either in person or by the FBO or flying club you are associated with. Yes, a day-VFR flight plan is mandatory, even if all you are doing is circuits at your local airport! There is no such thing as night VFR. To fly VFR at night requires a special Instrument Rating. Most airports do not have aviation fuel, so you must make special arrangements to have fuel delivered to your destination if you are planning a long flight or sustained flight operations in a remote area. Altitudes are in feet, but runway lengths are in meters. Altimeters also show feet, but the barometric pressure is in millibars (referred at as QNH). Confused? So are the sheep you must chase off outback runways in many places. Do this when you land (who said buzzing wasn't fun?) and again when you take off. Most runways are unpaved, so check carefully for gullies, bushes, potholes, etc. before attempting to land. The biggest hazard is getting bogged on a runway or a ramp that is wet but is covered by a layer of dust or sand that looks dry. This happens a lot.

Don't let me discourage you, however. I find the best way to fly in Australia is to join a club and benefit from the relatively low operating rates and from the advice and moral support offered by fellow club members. The Royal Aero Club at Jandakot is excellent, and I found that the University of Western Australia Flying Club was also good. You can fly neat stuff, too, like 1930s "Tiger Moths" and 1950s "Chipmunks." The Aussies are very active in soaring, and homebuilts are popular. Acro is still pretty small-scale but is growing -- especially in the Eastern States. I hold an Australian Pilots License and fly there every chance I get, for fun and for my work, as well as to maintain currency on my U.S. ratings. Flying up the west coast to Shark Bay or out into the Central Desert is some of the best anywhere on the planet, so don't miss out on this if you go there.

Chapter 35 is sponsoring the following excellent opportunities to hone your judging and competing skills – DON’T MISS OUT

February 24, 2001 - Bedford, MA,

The instructor will be Clyde Cable. You must be a judge (current or lapsed) to attend.

February 25, 2001 - Bedford, MA,

The instructor will be Clyde Cable.

Prerequisite: Intro to Aerobatic Judging Class or at least one season of competition experience.

For more details on either seminar, contact

Hans Bok at 508-994-5957, 508-997-4136 or

email:hbok@ici.net.

I’d like to thank Dick for submitting his article on flying down under. Let’s hope it’s not a glimpse of what’s to come here. Last year, we only got out ONLY 3 Hammerheads (Sorry!). Hans plans for me to get out 6 this year. That is gonna take some cooperation. I plan to have official deadlines this year. They are: Jan 31, March 31, May 31, July 31, Sept 31 and Nov 31. I will endeavor to get them out within two weeks after the deadlines (with or without the BOK TALK). At certain times during the year we have important information that may need to get out to you in a more timely fashion. If you would like to be included on the e-mail list for the "emergency" notices, please forward your e-mail address to me.

You may notice that we have a new addition to the Hammerhead – advertisements. The sponsors will be covering the costs of publishing the newsletter (plus my $50K annual editor’s salary). If you or someone you know would also like to advertise in the upcoming issues please contact me. These advertisements support to the club, your support of them helps them, and keeps the cycle going.

Hope to see you all at the Banquet,

Dave

U.S. Department of Transportation

Federal Aviation Administration

Boston Flight Standards District Office

Civil Air Terminal, Bldg 15

Bedford, Massachusetts 01730-2616

781-272-7130, Fax: 781-274-6725

January 17, 2001

Dear Mr. Christman: Aerobatic Flights

During the past year our office has received an increasing amount of complaints from residents in Ayer, Groton and Westford, Massachusetts, among others, who are very concerned about aerobatic activity in the airspace over and around their residences. Inspectors in this office are aware that the majority of aircraft and the pilots involved in the aerobatic activity are not in violation of any Federal Aviation Regulations. However, we are placed in the unenviable position of trying to calm an extremely irate and in some cases very hostile citizen on a recurring basis.

The complaints normally range from the threat of political action to stop all aerobatic activity to more extreme cases, where veiled threats to learn the identity of the pilots involved are conveyed. Normally, our message to the complainants is that of peaceful coexistence. We try to point out that the flights do not pose a risk to their safety. Their belief is that they should be able to enjoy the privacy of their home and property without the sound of screaming propellers overhead from dawn to dusk on each weekend that the sun shines. We believe that both arguments have merit and would like to see some type of compromise to the problem.

We are attempting to contact as many pilots as possible in order to make them aware of the ongoing situation. We would like to solicit your advice to help reach a lasting solution to this problem.

Inspectors of this office have scheduled a meeting to take place on Wednesday, February 7, 2001, at the Boston FSDO located on the second floor in the Hanscom Field Civil Air Terminal. The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. Please mark this date on your calendar and make a sincere effort to attend. This is a time when many General Aviation airports are being closed or are facing extreme scrutiny from the non-flying public. We need your input to reach a viable solution for all parties involved. Your knowledge and expertise are welcome. Refreshments will be served.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. Please call Operations Supervisor Ed Reinecker or myself at the FSDO for additional details at (781) 274-7130.

Sincerely,

Annual Banquet is Mar 3^rd

Advanced Judges School and Judges School for Pilots

Northeast Championship Results

PIPER YAK CESSNA PITTS BEECH

GA AND AEROBATRIC AIRCRAFT

INSPECTIONS AND REPAIRS

QUALITY WORK, QUICKLY DONE

AND FAILRLY PRICED

PROUD SPONSOR OF AEROBATIKA

MANSFIELD MUNICIPAL AIRPORT

CALL JIM CASEY AT (508) 339-9636