Over, Under, Sideways, Down: The Art and Science of Aerobatic Flight

Flying a clean aerobatic competition with no outs and no zeros can be just as satisfying as winning.

Thursday, November 17, 2022 at 11:34 AM ET

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Aerobatic competitions in the U.S. include five classes, with increasingly difficult maneuvers and sequences. [Courtesy: Tyson Rininger]

Key Takeaways:

The author recounts a triumphant flight at the 2011 FAI World Aerobatic Championship in Italy, highlighting a personal best performance that garnered high praise.
Their passion for aerobatics began in 1978, and they recommend the International Aerobatic Club as a resource for those interested in learning and participating.
Aerobatic competitions are categorized into five classes with increasing difficulty, where pilots perform sequences of maneuvers within an aerial "box," scored using the Aresti system with a K-factor for difficulty.
Competitions typically involve three types of flights—Known, Free, and Unknown sequences—and the article emphasizes the concept of a "Soul Flyer," valuing the sheer enjoyment of aerobatics over just winning.

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How on earth did I get here? This is a question I have pondered many times while flying. Sometimes it’s because nothing is going my way. But on this day in 2011, at the FAI (Fédération Aéronautique Internationale) World Aerobatic Championship in Foligno, Italy, everything was just right.

I was doing circles at 4,000 feet agl in my Extra 300S, waiting nervously for the chief judge to radio me. Soon I would do flips and turns inside an invisible box in the skies in an attempt to impress the judges. As a kid I would spin airplanes around with a remote control. Now I was inside the airplane. The silence ended and I heard the chief judge’s thick British accent: “Contestant 34, the box is yours.”