The History of the
World Aerobatic Championships

Origins of the WAC

The original version (pre FAI) of the World Aerobatic Championships was concieved of an hosted by the French Aero Club in 1934. Not surprising, given the considerable French influence in the sport at the time. What may surprise aerobatic enthuiasts is that a WAC was held in conjunction with an Olympic Games, specifically the Berlin Games in 1936. Find out who won, and more, by following this link:

Development of the WAC

The modern World Aerobatic Championships began in 1960 in Bratislava, Czechoslovokia. In the ensueing 36 years it has grown to become the premiere competition event in sport aviation. However, aerobatics has been going on for a lot longer than that. The definitive work on the subject, Flight Fantastic has a chapter more than halfway through entitled "New Influences", one of which was a young Spanish pilot, Colonel José Luis de Aresti Aguirre, about whose life story the early development of the World Aerobatic Championships as we know it today revolves.

Background on the Sport

AIR&SPACE has prepared a background on the sport, including reprints of articles describing the 1990 WAC and the preparation the 1996 U.S. Aerobatic Team has made for this year's championships.

Aircraft for competition aerobatics

Competition aerobatics demands the utmost in performance and handling from an aircraft design. In this overview of the development of aerobatic aircraft, the WAC website highlights some of the most famous and not so famous aircraft used in World Competition.

AIR&SPACE - WAC - TOC - Info - History - News - Contest - Leader - Website

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