I Finally Won a Competition

After three years of competing in aerobatics I have come close a few times only to be left holding the bouquet. The monkey is now off my back. I placed 1st out of 9 in the Intermediate Category at the Wildwoods AcroBlast, a regional contest held at Cape May, NJ (KWWD). I won both the Known and Unknown sequences (weather prevented us from flying the Free sequence). My Pitts was built in 1975 and enjoyed years solid success by previous owners at both the regional and national levels. Ever since our first flight I could almost hear it sigh in anticipation of my unworthiness each time I hit the starter. For reasons I won’t get into here, she is a unique plane in ways both good and bad. Yesterday she proved that she is wearing her years well and needs only a pilot who knows his left from his right (never a guarantee with this particular pilot).

Me on right

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Well done congrats !!!

That’s an awesome accomplishment. Congrats on the win and I’ll be you were elated right off the bat. Do you get your score over the radio immediately after the routine, or is something you all have to wait for the tally for at an ending event?

Huge congrats @smokinhole! It is really cool to read the way you talk about your relationship with your plane. She sounds like she has quite the personality!

Thanks all! @BeachAV8R, no. The scores usually take an hour or more to be posted after the completion of a category. The scoring is complicated, with at least 11 people on the judges’ line plus observers at the boundaries. Deductions and scores are recorded by hand and taken to the scoring office where volunteers who are practically locked inside enter everything into the software. Eventually the scores, along with a myriad of judging statistics, are posted into a national database run by the IAC.

F’kin A Smokin’! … I’ve been watching your vids for a couple years now so I know you’ve been working hard! Time to reap your rewards. :+1:

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Well done! :trophy:

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That really is awesome @smokinhole! Congratulations and well done!

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This is really cool. Congratulations!

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Yep

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Congrats! Or as we say in the Navy - BRAVO ZULU!

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