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18th World Aerobatic Championships
August 18-30, Oklahoma City, OK

What's it all about?

The 18th World Aerobatic Championships is a unique international sporting event of the same stature as the Olympic Games or the America's Cup. It's making a rare appearance in America this summer, which is a wonderful conjunction with the Centennial Olympic games.

In short, the best pilots in the world compete to see who can perform compulsory and freestyle precision flight sequences in the confines of a block of sky known as the Box. So we are talking speed, color, technology, international competition, national prestige, personalities, athletic performance, artistic style, plenty of good story material.

This will be the biggest, and probably the best WAC ever held, despite the fact that Championships on this continent (there have only been two prior held here) traditionally get a lower turnout than those held in Europe, for logistics reasons. There are over 100 pilots from 25 countries entered thus far, and practice has already begun at sites scattered all over Oklahoma.

If it's such a big deal why have I never heard of it?

Competition aerobatics is very popular in Europe, and has been almost as far back as there have been airplanes. In America, competition aerobatics has been largely overlooked by the media, despite the fact that its sister activity, airshows, is the second largest public draw event in the country after Baseball, attracting some 25 million viewers each year.

Competition aerobatics is hard to convey in traditional media, and frankly, the sport has never made much of an effort to market itself. Until the cycle of media interest/sponsorship/product exposure kicks in, it will remain an undiscovered sport.

What's different about this year?

1. The internet exists. By the time we are through producing this website, a complete interactive explanation of the sport will be available to the average Joe with a modem, including 3-D technology not possible in any other medium. Anyone with a Netscape 2.0 compatible browser and some curiosity will be able to familiarize him or herself with the sport to the point that they can figure out who to root for and why.

2. The Olympics and the WAC are being held in this country this summer. This simple coincidence makes it possible for the media and the sports enthusiast to make a clear connection between the two, and understand the stature of the sport.

What do I have to do to understand the sport?

Read the following pages at our website, and you will get the basics in a hurry:

• A basic explanation of the sport is presented in our reprint of the August/September 1991 Air&Space Magazine piece on the XV WAC at Yverdon, Switzerland.

• An update, focusing on the current international competition situation is presented in our reprint of the August/September 1996 Air&Space Magazine piece on the United States Aerobatic Team's training effort.

• The rules are outlined on our Contest pages.

• The What, When and Where are presented in our Info section.

• The International Competition section tells you who we are up against.

• The U.S. Team section presents the finest American Aerobatic team ever assembled. We are working on bios of each of the team members so you can get a glimpse into their personalities, but we don't have them all in place at the moment. Check out Debby Rihn-Harvey, Linda Meyers Morrissey, Matt Chapman and Diane Hakala for starters. More soon.

What's so cool about this website?

1. Technology. We have QTVR panoramic photographs of the U.S. Team for starters. Soon, we'll have lots of QuickTime movies of the flying. After that we'll be doing some way cool things in VRML. When we get the latter installed, the website itself will be news in cyberspace.

2. Results. For the first time in the history of the sport, the results will be webcast world wide as they become available, so that the world can follow along.

3. Background. There is enough about the sport to bring anyone up to speed to appreciate the sport.

What's the deal?

Air&Space thinks that 1996 could easily be a breakout year for this sport, which is why we put so much effort in to bringing these unsung athletic heros to your attention. We think that the web, and the technology we are developing for it, has the potential to educate like no other media, but we can't do it alone. Our plan is to educate you, the media, and give you a head start to cover the Championships, in an effort to kick-start the process.

The deal is simple. You cover the sport, and mention our URL in your piece, let us know the details and we'll promote your coverage on our media page. That way the coverage in all media will be synergistic. There's lots we can't do on the web, and we are smart enough not to try. Please help, using whatever media you produce for to best advantage. We offer our site as value added to your coverage. ESPN and PBS are already on board. To participate, email details of your coverage to webmaster@airspacemag.com. We'll promote your piece, and offer links if you have a website. Your website can get the code to link to ours from our AddLink page.

What are the stories?

If you want a story line concept to start with, here are four:

• The Lost Olympians.

  Ten American athletes have devoted major portions of their lives to excel at an incredibly demanding sport no one knows exists. They are every bit as dedicated and talented as the United State's Women's Gymnastic Team, but no one knows their names.

• Can America Beat the World at its Own Game?

  For years, and for easily understood reasons, America has chosen to fly a different style of aerobatics than the rest of the world. And we've wondered what is wrong with the judges when we lost. Now, under the intense and dedicated direction of Team Trainer John Morrissey, the United States is extremely serious about playing by the world rules, in front of World judges, and winning. They have an extremely rare home field advantage, which translates into more time and money to practice.

  But more importantly, America has gotten over itself in world aerobatic competition and is preparing for the first time, to fly to the standards demanded by international judging. They are in for the fight of their lives against the teams from France and Russia. (The French practically own the sport) The remaining field includes nearly 30 pilots who can claim a present or past National Championship title for their country. Can the Americans win?

• The Year of the Woman.

  The United States Women's team, led by Linda Meyers Morrissey, Debby Rihn-Harvey and Patty Wagstaff, have 21 World Aerobatic Championship appearances among the five of them, roughly three times as many as the men's team. For Wagstaff, certainly, and possibly Morrissey and Rihn, this will be the last WAC competition. The United States stands a better chance of the women winning the FAI Challenge Cup than the Men winning the Nesterov Cup. But could this be the year of the once-unthinkable; that a Woman might be named overall World's Aerobatic Champion, and get her name engraved as the first of her gender on the Aresti Cup? There are three American women, at least, who will tell you that it is.

• The Little Town that Could.

  The Oklahoma City All Sports Association has pulled off a major coup in bringing the prestigious World Aerobatic Championships, traditionally an international competition held in Europe, to the heartland of America. This is the biggest WAC in history, reversing the characteristic low turn out for a WAC on the North American Continent, and even includes first ever participation by an Asian country as four pilots from Japan have entered. Here is how the good ol' boys did it.

For more info:

Media Desk
18th World Aerobatic Championships
8301 Glenwood Avenue
Oklahoma City, OK 73114
Phone: 405-848-6407
Fax: 405-848-6368
E-mail: carlgadd@ionet.net

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Design: Recursive Arts - Mailto: webmaster - Build Date: Thu, Aug 22, 1996