DONAC 2008
2008.09.01

2008 DONAC took place at 4 meters below sealevel. Lelystad airport. A small airport, dreaming and behaving of being a large airport :-)
22 participants in the beginners, Sportsman, Intermediate and Advanced class flew their programs.
One thing we noticed from the judging line is that one of the most basic manouvres , the looping, was executed in egg-shape by the majority of the beginner and sportsman pilots. A point to improve!

The competition sequences are flown in an aerobatic zone over the airport commonly called the BOX. As the picture (left) shows, the BOX is an area 3300 feet square with the top at 3500 feet. The bottom depends of the level of competency of the individual pilot. Beginners have to fly higher whilst the unlimited pilot is trained to get to the bottom of the BOX. In competition the lower limit is 330 feet or 100 meters

The competition flights are graded by a team of judges. Every judge has his assistant who is writing down the scores. The judges grade each individual figure as well as how well the sequence is positioned within the BOX. The figures are graded on factors like precision of the lines and angles, symmetry of figures and other factors spelled out in the catalogue used by all pilots. Each judge has a copy of the figures the pilot will fly. On these sheets the figures are graphically represented by symbols. The system of graphically depicting the figures was devised by Jose L. Aresti of Spain for the use in World Aerobatic Championships (WAC). It has been successfully used for many years. 

The judges downgrade for every 5degrees of deviation from the pitch, yaw or roll axes of the aircraft. This means that a pilot always starts with a 10 and than gets penalised by the judges. Very easy!

The Dutch Aerobats VINK organised the competition is good spirit. I am looking fwd to see how the pilots progress and improve next year. I even heard rumours that some pilots are dreaming of attending the AWAC in 2009.

We will see.