General
Resources for learning about competition aerobatics:
- Australian Aerobatic Club rules https://aerobaticsaustralia.com.au/acc-rules-regulations/
- IAC Flying Sportsman 2023 series https://www.iac.org/in-the-loop-flying-the-2023-sportsman-sequence
- British Aerobatic Academy https://britishaerobaticacademy.com/category/aerobatics/
- British Aerobatic Association https://www.aerobatics.org.uk/judging
- IAC34 Aerobatic Textbook by video https://www.youtube.com/@iac34-internationalaerobat3
Australian Competitions
Contests are held in South Australia, West Australia, Queensland, NSW & Victoria plus the National Championships. Specific Australian categories are Entry, Graduate & Sportsman. CIVA Categories are Intermediate, Advanced & Unlimited. Low level aerobatic endorsements are required for categories as appropriate with safety pilots (a qualified flight instructor) acceptable for some situations.
Check out the typical contest schedule shown within the rules or grab an info pack at https://aerobaticsaustralia.com.au/competitions/entry-forms/
Competition Known sequences are online at https://aerobaticsaustralia.com.au/competitions/sequences/
Results can be found at https://aerobaticsaustralia.com.au/competitions/results/ although Victoria rarely provides their results.
Entry Category
The sequence is fixed at a loop, hammerhead, wing over, barrel roll, 90 deg turn, 270 deg turn and a slow roll. You fly that same sequence three times in a contest. With the basic aerobatic endorsement per CASA’s Part 61 rules requiring a loop, hammerhead, aileron roll and spin (plus unusual attitude recoveries) the additional training required would be:
- the competition slow roll
- the competition barrel roll
- that competition wing over
The wing over and barrel roll do not feature in any other category so my recommendation is to start with Graduate.
Graduate Category
From a basic aerobatic endorsement you will need to learn:
- the competition slow roll
- roll off the top
- competition spin
- half Cuban eight
That is not a lot of effort to get into the sport of competition aerobatics! You fly this same Known sequence three times in a contest.
I recommend that, if flying a Cessna Aerobat, this is the highest category to compete in.
Sportsman Category
Sportsman is a step above Graduate with additional training required in figures such as:
- hesitation rolls
- half reverse Cuban eight
- 1/4 roll down in a humpty and hammerhead
You will need to be able to design your own Free sequence and deal with an Unknown sequence in addition to the Known sequence.
This is the highest category you can compete in with a Super Decathlon.
Fly to Win
Check out my slideshow at https://www.ozaeros.net.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/HowToWinAnAerobaticContest2024.pdf