Lake Sammamish State Park Thank you sponsors! Chris and OJ Aerobattle
The second annual Seattle Aerobattle and North American Aerobatics Championships took place after enduring two days of rain. Still, competitors made the best of the foul weather by mastering low, on the water, towing reminiscent of the early days of hang gliding where more static line arrangements including water skis were the fashion. The pursuit was an event in itself.
Finally, the weather broke and one beautiful day of action packed "over the water" aerobatics competition took place on Oct. 1. with pilots from Korea, New Zealand, France, Spain, Argentina, Canada and the United States who competed in three Aerobatic rounds and for $5500 in prize money.
Pilot spectators from throughout the country descended on the Lake Sammamish State Park for the show and were rewarded with a festive and lively atmosphere with music, food, drink and the camaraderie that is so characteristic of the free flight community in the Western US. Huddled around the Red Bull tent and with Chris Santacroce calling the maneuvers over the loud speaker, spectators cheered when competitors dove at the water, applauded when they hit the spot and roared when the pilots splashed.
Three Ed Pitman Hydraulic pay out winch equipped speed boats were on hand to take competitors from the beach to three thousand feet in minutes. Pilots filled the skies like clock work with four in the air at a time. So much so, that the judges had to beg for relief and a slower pace.
The first round was a compulsory routine consisting of stalls, spins, asymmetric spirals and loops.
The points system was as follows;
MANEUVERS
SAT 25
Loop 20
Spin 360 15
Spin 720 15
Full Stall 20
Wing Overs 15
Asymmetric Collapse 10
Full Frontal 5
B Stall 5
B Stall w. Heading Change 5
PENALTIES
Less than 90 degrees off heading exit -5
More than 90 degrees off heading maneuvers exit -10
More than 180 degrees off heading exit -15
30-50% deflation -5
greater than 50 % deflation -10
riser twist 0 for the maneuver
reserve deployment 0 for the round
crash landing 0 for the round
Judges were Alain Zoller, Ed Pitman and Mike Haley. Alain Zoller is a DHV/ SHV/ AFNOR Test Pilot from Switzerland who organizes the other Aerobatics comp that takes place each year, Red Bull Vertigo. Ed Pitman has more than fourteen years in the sport, is a veteran Aero Battle judge, a USHGA Honarary Director and is the master mind behind the hydraulic pay out winch technology. Mike Haley has more than twenty five years in foot launched flight and is an avid P4 tandem instructor from the Portland area. Each judge was uniquely qualified and the judging was first rate.
Raul Rodriguez won the first round while Chris Santacroce placed second and Fracois Bon took third. The next round was a "freestyle" round in which competitors wrote down a list of five maneuvers and then submitted their routines to the judges for approval. Points were given for difficulty and creativity. Points were subtracted for exits off heading, deflations and bad landings. Felix Rodriguez won the freestyle round, Raul Rodriguez was second and Pablo Lopez was third.
The most remarkable maneuver to make its debut on in North America was the SAT, named after and by the Safety Acro Team comprised of the Rodriguez brothers and their fellow Spanish and South American pilots. The maneuver has also been referred to as a "Vertigo Spiral" and "The Rodriguez." It is somewhere between a spiral and a spin. It is said to have been found by accident while practicing spins and spirals. It is a maneuver that is very difficult to describe and very fun to watch. The maneuver and variations on the maneuver were both high scoring and crowd pleasing at the Aero Battle 2000.
Tumbling! a maneuver that defies belief also made its debut at the Aerobattle 2000. Combine a loop with a SAT and the pilot goes "tumbling" over the glider. It becomes hard to tell if the glider is going forward or the pilot backward and it is breathtaking. Only a few "tumbles" happen before the wing runs out of energy and the pilot must bring the rotation to a stop. Stay tuned for a better description of this exciting and presumably dangerous dynamic.
Landing points were among the most interesting. Ten points were given for both spot landing and for a spiral type landing. No extra points were given for touching the wing tip on the ground. In other words, there was no point incentive for spiral landings over the ground. Ten points were also given for a spiral landing into the water. In an effort to encourage crowd pleasing, but safe landings, fifteen points were given for a spiral type landing where the wing tip touched the water and the pilot landed safely on the ground. Pilots were thereby encouraged to spiral over the water. The result was that several competitors scored precious extra points while a handful of competitors also landed in the water. As if the aerobatics weren't enough, the water landings brought smiles all of the way around.
Pablo Lopez from Argentina wowed many spectators with the incredible power and energy of his maneuvers. Flying an extra small competition glider allowed him to make approaches and wing/ body drag(on the water) landings that were not believable.
The third round was called the "expression session." Competitors packed all of their best maneuvers into one flight and went from releasing from the tow line all the way to the ground/water. Again, Felix was first with Raul second and Chris Santacroce third. The Rodriguez brothers along with Pablo Lopez wowed the crowd with low altitude SAT maneuvers and tumbling maneuvers that were unlike anything that the Aerobattle had seen before. Meanwhile, the US contingent, Chris Santacroce and Enleau O'Connor capitolized on their smooth stall, spin, loop combinations and were mastering the SAT and Assymetric SAT on the spot, out of necessity, in order to keep up with the SAT Team.
In the end, Felix Rodriguez won. The victory was a special one for him, as it was also his birthday. Still, the results were bitter sweet for the second through forth place competitors because their scores were separated by single points. Anne O Connor put on a spectacular show, demonstrating that she could do all of the maneuvers and with more fluidity than most of the male competitors. She has truly made her debut as the foremost female aerobatic paraglider pilot in North America and as one of the top three worldwide. Likewise, her husband Enleau has demonstrated that he is among the nations best when it comes to "over the water" paraglider aerobatics.
The $5500 purse was distributed among the two female competitors and among the top five male competitors.
1st Felix Rodriquez (Spain) 502.7 pts $1500 Edel Millennium (proto)
2nd Raul Rodriquez (Spain) 478.0 pts $1250 Edel Millennium (proto)
3rd Pablo Lopez (Argentina) 477.7 pts $1000 Gin Gliders Boomerang (AFNOR Competition)
4th Chris Santacroce (USA) 476.0 pts $750 Ozone Octane (DHV II)
5th Hernan Pitocco (Brazil) 457.7 pts $500 Edel Sector TX (AFNOR Comp)
6th. Francois Bon (France) 430 pts Flying Planet (AFNOR Comp)
7th. Enleau O'Connor (USA) Firebird Booster (DHV II)
8th. Ann O'Connor(F) (USA) $300 Gin Gliders Bandit (DHV II)
9th. Rob Darby (New Zealand) Firebird Booster (DHV II)
10th. Ki Hong (Korea) Edel Response (DHV II-III)
11th. Rick Wiegelman (Canada) Hurricane (AFNOR Performance)
12th. Coco Clark (France) $200 Ozone Proton (DHV II-III)
13th. Bo Criss (USA) Gin Gliders Bonanza(DHV II-III)
The event was organized by Seattle Paragliding(Marc and Lan Chirico) and Superfly(Chris Santacroce and Jeff Farrell).
Special thanks to the sponsors who make the Aerobattle a reality, without them paragliding aerobatics competition in the US would not exist.
Punch Networks
Interstate Batteries(Tom Allen)
tappedinto.com(Dave Klapp)
Pro Flyght Maui Hawaii(Tom Chestnut)
Roomscape(Greg Routh)
Epic T's(Duane Ulisnik)
Ballard Market(Steve Williams)
O'Connors Pro Tow
Firebird
Gin Gliders
Ozone
Pat Engle
The annual event takes place through support from many members of the Nortwest Paragliding Club and many Team Chirico volunteers in the Seattle area. Thanks to each and every person who makes this unique event a reality for now and for years to come. If you are interested in sponsoring, supporting, volunteering in or participating in the Aerobattle 2001, then please contact Chris Santacroce at chris@4superfly.com. Also, Aerobattle T-shirts and videos are available throughout the year.
Stay tuned to www.seattleparagliding.com and http://fly.to/team.epic for more Aerobattle 2001 details.
The future of paragliding competition might be "over the water" Paragliding Aerobatics. Events are being planned in South America, Scandanavia and Turkey and there's even talk of an Aerobatics World Cup.
