By : Karen Diamond

The real US National Aerobatic Championships stood up-and out-this year after having been veiled in the recent past by a plague of rain, low clouds, fog and disappointed competitors. The success story began after last year's Nationals, when competitors familiar with the Sherman, Texas are weather patterns - refusing to led bad weather wash away another national championship - pushed for a date change of the annual event. The IAC Board agreed and moved the contest, traditionally held during the last week of September, to the second week - beginning on Labor Day.

That was only the beginning of a successful formula, Enter Glenn Frick, a retired Air Force Colonel and fighter pilot and Advanced competitor from Godley, Texas who, by the close of last year's soggy event, had decided he was up for taking on the job of 1998 US Nationals contest director. Volunteers for a post like that don't just appear at the doorstep everyday, and the IAC Board wisely accepted his proposal.

By that time, the new CD was already in motion. Frick had many ideas - big ones. Several were inspired by the outstanding example set at the 1997 AWAC in Lawrence, Kansas where Glenn spent two weeks while competing as a member of the 1997 US Advanced Team. The weather was extremely hot and the organizers had a large tent erected with a huge fan for competitors to cool off. Nutritious, catered lunches were also served to pilots and officials there each day. This author recalls Frick's impression at the time. "This is great," he said. "This is how a contest ought to be fun." Little did he know then, he would soon have the job.

Having decided he would provide similar amenities at the '98 Nationals, Glenn Frick set out to find sponsors to help finance the project. Going beyond obtaining award sponsorships, he secured sponsors to provide the big tent and daily, catered launches. Companies that Glenn describes as "the true friends of IAC and aerobatics" also paid for giant scoreboards in the tent; 2,000 gallons of fuel; a sorely needed sun-shade canopy at the starting line; two tons of bottled water; hotel accommodations for judges and key officials; and door prizes - nice ones, like headsets, spark plugs and tires - given away at each evening debriefing. Of course the debrief - which turned out to be a very enjoyable social get-together-would not be complete after all flights were finished without the cold brews and soda provided by a local beer distributor. In total, some $ 25,000 in sponsorships was obtained.

There is a final ingredient to Glenn Frick's formula. Like any exceptional leader, he surrounds himself with good people. His staff and officials not only knew exactly what was expected of them, but each was super competent, organized and effective.

The combined appeal of good weather and word of Frick's plans drew 98 competitors to Grayson County Airport for this year's edition of the US Nationals. The contest was preceded by two days of practice in the box on Saturday and Sunday, September 5-6 not allowed in previous years, and another of the format changes conceived by Glenn Frick. Contestants who had been registered and teched were allowed 10 minutes in the box on a first-come basis. In all, 130 practice flights were flown.

On Monday, every scheduled flight was competed - the Advanced, Sportsman and Intermediate Knowns. The cloudless, blue sky, with not a threat of bum weather in sight, was a welcome relief for everyone. Nevertheless, there was a tradeoff - Monday's temperature hit 108 degrees. The heat was anticipated, as people familiar with central Texas weather at that time of year will tell you. In fact, the organizers had given advance warming and were well prepared with two giant fans in the central tent and plenty of water and shade at critical spots around the mammoth, former Air Force base airport.

The temperatures stayed around 100 degrees all week. Ice-water-soaked towels were commonplace as headgear.

Competitors at the starting line took refuge under the sunshade, inside an air-conditioned car or under the wing of their airplane. Those sitting in their cockpits had friends or spouses shade them with umbrellas or newspapers.

Overall, flying came off mostly as planned - Unlimited, Advanced and Intermediate flew three times and Sportsman flew twice. A minor thunderstorm blew in at 7 pm. Tuesday night, effecting only two Unlimited competitors. In all, 280 contest flights were flown throughout the week.

The hot weather, intense flying and long push of aircraft of the newly located starting line were set off ideally by two well-planned reprieves. Each day three was a flying stand-down for lunch in the big tent. Besides providing contest workers a sorely needed break, the noon hour provided an opportunity for the 150 or so IAC members to commingle. The new system prevented participants from driving ten miles into Denison or Sherman to find restaurants, therefore keeping the contest timetable on schedule. Besides that, lunches were delicious. In the evening, after all flying was finished, ice-cold beer and sodas beckoned those cooked, crisped and stewed souls who had by now spent 10 or so hours under the hot Texas sun.

The Denison and Sherman Texas Chambers of Commerce have a long history or welcoming and supporting the IAC entourage of aerobats to Texas. Besides providing two new vans, two golf carts, copy machine and coolers, they threw one heck of two parties. The "smoke-oil" party on Sunday evening offered excellent appetizers and refreshments in addition to the traditional "smoke-oil" concoction. The mid-week fish fry is also a yearly custom, and most agree that when the locals come to the airport to cook and serve up the regional favorite of fresh catfish, onions, coleslaw, baked beans and cold beer - it hit the spot and made one feel very welcome in Texas.

At week's end, the aerobatic fraternity dons dresses and ties for the annual awards banquet at the headquarters hotel. Dozens of IAC trophies, medals and plaques are arranged on a 25-foot table-they are magnificent and stunning. This evening is the culmination of a week special in may ways, and the time when the champions are officially named.

On nights in-between, groups of IAC'ers gather at local restaurants for dinner. Several local eateries have become a tradition-the Railhead in Denison among them. All in all, the US Nationals itself is an institution, and the social activities-not too many, not too few-are part of the Nationals experience.

No contest, especially a large one, is without a glitch here and there. Glenn Frick wisely had a system in place for feedback from both his staff and the competitors. Each afternoon he met with key officials and often had minor problems solved before the evening debriefing/social hour began. At the debriefing, he called for open discussion of problems. Rarely did it take him more than 30 seconds to cook up and offer a solution.

The week's activities had been publicized in advance on a web page built by Kurt Haukohl of Dallas. "Prior to the contest, the site had 600-800 hits," Kurt says. Computer scoring specialist David Reinhardt posted results as-they-happened. "Upon commencement of flying activity and posting score, the site jumped to over 2,000 hits in three days," says Haukohl. During the week, Kurt captured activities "in action" with a digital camera and posted the pictures daily on the web page. Frick points out that the best way to describe the page's efficiency was by a contestant's experience. "One of the pilots came back from flying his sequence, climbed out of his aircraft and put it in the hanger," Frick said. "He then called his wife to tell her he had finished flying. She replied, 'I know-I just read your scores on the Internet."

Other advance area publicity was successful in that the event attracted quite a few Labor Day spectators. They were welcome guests, but made themselves quite at home when they unearthed the bottled water inside the tent and proceeded to gulp down much of the supply. Area television coverage of the event totaled 1 1/2 hours, and five newspapers articles were published throughout the week.

"I believe the contest was well executed and the two primary goals I set were accomplished-sponsorship of the US Nationals has tremendous potential and we almost completed all the sorties I had set out to fly," says Glenn Frick. "To be the contest director of the US Nationals is a lot of work, but very insightful and rewarding to say the least."

On almost all counts, there have been rave reviews on the outcome of Glenn Frick's vision and year of hard work. He has set a new pace for the future while preserving the tradition of the annual pilgrimage to Sherman Texas. If future US National Championships continue with this momentum, may will view the 1998 US Nationals as a milestone, a defining moment in a still young and growing American sport.

The 1998 United States Aerobatic Championships was dedicated to the memory of Leo Loudenslager, US National Aerobatic Champion in 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981 and 1982.

This article is reproduce from Sport Aerobatics.