Central Canada Aerobatic Championships held in Steinbach

The Central Canada Aerobatic Championships were held at Steinbach’s North Airport this past weekend, with results from the three carefully scrutinized runs made by competing pilots to be tabulated and posted later this week. The winner of the competition will go on to Alberta this August for the World Championships.

“We had to run things a bit early this year because the World Championships are happening in August. Our pilot that wins here this weekend will be going,” explains competition director Abram Razon.

The weekend-long contest was deliberately kept low profile in comparison to past years, where up to 500 spectators were able to attend. The reason is not strictly due to the accelerated timetable of competitions that the World Championships has imposed on the flight teams.

“We’ve tried to limit publicity and the number of watchers in aerobatic contests like this; we’re just not able to invite the public to come out because the insurance doesn’t allow it. We save a ton of money needed for the setup that way. Plus, if the weather turns bad again, we don’t have to accommodate all those people inside the clubhouse,” said Razon.

Pilots were allowed practice runs during Friday’s preparations and then Saturday saw two judged runs, morning and afternoon, followed by a final performance on Sunday. Scores from each of the three flights, based on precision turns, loops and direct lines inside a carefully laid out course designated by ground markers, are then averaged to determine the winner.

Competitions are held in each province, but Steinbach offers an excellent venue to host the competition because of its central location and world class accommodations.

“Sometimes the hardest part of the competition for the pilots is the flight here and back home,” said Razon. “They have to fly their plane for two days just to compete … and then some have to cross the Rocky Mountains (at altitude,) so it just makes sense to meet here in the middle.”

Categories of competition include Sportsman, Advanced, Unlimited and a four-minute freestyle demonstration, all under the scrutiny of a panel of judges watching from directly beside the runway. Each pilot begins with a score of 10, with points deducted for errors such as minute deviations from flight angles or position over the ground.

“The standard is perfection,” according to the judges’ manual.