"1982 World Aerobatic Championship" - From The Archives

you you at JFK International Airport in New York this is a familiar sight however but a day not long ago something different maybe even strange was going on for a short period of time all traffic was stopped the control tower was abuzz in anticipation of the arrival of some very special aircraft a 747 pilot thought he was in the twilight zone these little specks of the sky turned out to be the landing of the United States aerobatic team on their last stop before leaving for the World Championships in Spitzer work Austria they are all clear where they parking does anybody have any idea the pit specials the lasers the week's specials seemed almost lost upon their poem Lockheed and Douglas counterparts the itinerary for getting the championship to jurors right complex these pilots rendezvous to JFK from as far away as San Jose California each had to fly across the country at 200 and 300 mile hops finally joining formation for their dramatic entrance into this hub of commercial aviation at this point another step in the preparation process began within the next few hours each pilot had to disassemble his own aircraft and like even generally in the same bag so with screwdrivers and other tools they carefully took the planes apart some were accustomed to the procedure and others were not totally don't require competition rules the G meter and that's the only one that's broken so her changing her fate Hamill's the plains then had to be packed piece by piece part by part into giant shipping modules for transported a 747 to the economy they all knew that once the planes were on the other side of the ocean they faced the process of having to put them all together again and in this port there can be no such thing as a mistake Kermit weeks of the United States is anxious to get flying I have to leave you now Kenneth weeks is 28 years old we began building his first airplane believe it or not while he was in high school and he flew it for the first time four years later I haven't done very well in this contest so far so I'm just going out having a good time and this flight and I think I've got a lot of new maneuvers that I think they're gonna make the judges sit up on their seats while I'm flying which a lot of times in the four minutes they just sit back and you've seen one lone survivor you've seen them all but I hope I'll get their attention well I think you'll get their attention our show you've seen Kermit weeks in practice so you know what to expect it's spectacular look at this vertical roll that he started Phil he does 14 vertical rolls this in comparison do 10 or 12 which is understood as being outstanding but look at that aircraft go he's able to do this because of his horsepower weight ratio and you know this is probably ultimate you you couldn't go any more than this he's at the top of the box just spinning like a cork right up there watch this now as he comes on down and you'll flip back into the vertical bound position outstanding performance as I said this is the ultimate and aerobatic client I don't think that you could get any more performance I've been airplane in this without having to really jeopardize the top of the box when you mentioned the top of the box he uses all 3,500 vertically first bill he has to start at the very bottom so that he doesn't go out to the top normally years ago everyone worried about always working the top so that you would have enough power to sustain that and stay up on the box he doesn't worry about the staying in the top he has to get down so he can get back up again you know art leo Laden's Locker before the competition made this comparison he said an Indianapolis driver has to rely on 30% of his ability and 70% of his machine but when you're an aerobatic you have to rely on 70% of your ability and only 30% of your machine do you agree with that yes definitely bill and an interesting thing is as the performance in these aircraft get higher that ratio kind of reverses so actually weeks has got to really be on his toes here flying that because with that power that power can actually get him into trouble by going outside of the invisible box look at the Clark screen s you know bill this is a type of thing that the judges are looking for in this kind of competition comet week certainly is a showman in fact he knows what show business is like even down to the point of his paint scheme on the aircraft the main intention behind it was to present to the judges a little better than most of the kids type biplanes I tried squaring off some of the lines having geometric type paint job so the judges could refer to the angles of the airplane while I was flying it's black because I think two reasons psychologically with as much horsepower I have it kind of makes it come across as a mean machine and also in the haze conditions and poor light conditions airplane shows up much better to the judges than a say a white airplane hood put yourself in that cockpit right now your aerobatic part of yourself tell us exactly what he's doing to affect the performance of the airplane well bill I'd be in there right now looking at the ground and making sure that I'm gonna be down I'm looking up the arrestee Karnas I'm rolling the ailerons and runners and actually pulling the G's now I'm looking up ahead because I've come in the end of the invisible box pulling in a vertical position and I'm snapping back on the stick and rudder as the aircraft goes around and again looking at the horizon looking back at the arrestee by looking at my watch I have the watch that I have all the manoeuvres precisely in there before that four minutes come up and now at the end of the box straight back down again I'm pulling up feeling the cheese as I'm coming in again looking at that watch and pulling in the ailerons pushing negative now being pushed outside of the aircraft legs be snapped back into the other position to go positive and then negative and then faculty the inverted position back up frightened and warning 3/16 back and forth with all the controls moving at once watching the crown and looking at the run and what about the proper the throttle usually is a pretty much full throttle all while we're doing this what a performance and that's it coming weeks concludes it and as the judges runners pick up the score so we can get a final tabulation let's go flying with Kermit weeks because earlier this week he permitted us to mount a camera on the nose of his aircraft looking backwards so we can see what it's like to do those 14 vertical rolls perhaps as you would have seen it in the air had you been with with their great performance Kermit weeks has won the free program the event at the world aromatic championship and get this the United States and a sweep off the free program because Leo Laden swagger was second Henry Haig was third

Channel: Kermit Weeks

Views: 71,323

Rating: 4.979351 out of 5

Keywords: Kermit Weeks, Fantasy of Flight, Aerobatics, Aerobatics Competition, Aerobatic Championship, Weeks Solution

Id: hlwRPrIpizQ

Length: 9min 11sec (551 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 05 2015