Contest Director's Report

In the seven years since the first Get Into Aeros event took place, the format has had to shift and change several times in the face of challenging circumstances; however, the spirit of the scheme is not easily extinguished. Every year another cohort of young pilots, eager to take their first steps into competition aerobatics, steps up and impresses us with their enthusiasm and motivation.

This year, we welcomed our sixth cohort of such pilots to Sleap. Most had flown little or no aerobatics before, and their challenge for the weekend was to learn the Club sequence, then fly it in the competition box in front of the judges. A tall order, but every year we see inspiring levels of determination, and this year was no exception!

The forecast for the weekend was beautiful, all bright sunshine and clear skies, but this created a surprising problem: it was hot. Very hot.

Aerobatic flying exerts some unusual forces on the body, which are difficult to get used to, but even experienced pilots with well-trained G-tolerance struggle in high temperatures. The first day was a trial by fire in more ways than one, and many understandably struggled. But this is where it gets really impressive: here, we saw some really incredible resilience, with 'newbies' who were initially discouraged bouncing back at the end of the day with smiles on their faces, eager to try again! The way they handled adversity on a difficult day really reflects well on them, and makes the future of aerobatics look very bright indeed.

Also brilliant to see was the way everyone sat together over a delicious barbecue put on by the airfield’s Spitfire Grill, bonding over their shared experience. Aerobatics might seem like an individual sport, but it’s your teammates that make all the difference.

Day two was an early start at 08:00, but everyone was back for more. The spirit of Get Into Aeros came to life, and we saw some quality box flights from everyone, including those who had struggled on day one. Everyone should be very proud of their performance, and it was wonderful to see the smiles at the end.

Over the two days, local pilot Alex kindly agreed to show our newbies round his stunning Super Pitts home-build project, Nigel Lamb flew in to inspire and encourage them, and the Advanced and Unlimited competitors with whom we were sharing the airfield put on a great show in the air and made everyone feel included on the ground.

Some real heroes of the weekend were our five instructors – Bob, Julian, Tony, Rob and Phil – who worked tirelessly to coach them all from square one to brand new aerobatic pilots.

There are many more people to thank for making this event happen, starting with everyone who volunteered their time to help with the organising effort. The resourcefulness of Sleap’s crew averted near disaster when fuel ran short, and the Pegasus Café definitely deserves a mention for the amazing food over the weekend.

And to the 13 newest aerobatic pilots in the community: we hope you all stay in touch, keep persevering, and that we’ll be seeing you at another event not too far in the future!

Ruth Scott