IAC Congratulates Achievement Award Winners of ALL TEN
Since 1971 the International Aerobatic Club has administered its Achievement Awards program to recognize various skill levels achieved by its members. These awards are presented to pilots based on their performance of specific aerobatic maneuvers as evaluated by IAC judges. There are ten awards available to pilots including five for non-competition flying (called “Smooth” awards) and five for the competition categories (“Stars” awards) where pilots fly in IAC-sanctioned aerobatic contests. The categories for both competition and non-competition awards are Primary, Sportsman, Intermediate, Advanced, and Unlimited.
Since that first year, IAC has only awarded 40 pilots with the All Ten Award. Verne Jobst of McHenry, Illinois and an active competition pilot conceived the Achievement Awards in late 1970. Verne had many years as a glider pilot and wanted an equivalent award system for aerobatics, much like the popular soaring badges.
The 39 th and 40 th recipients of the IAC’s ALL TEN Achievement Award are Jim Bourke and Hiroyasu Endo. Jim and Hiroyasu practice and compete in the Northwest and Southwest regions of the United States.
Jim lives in Oregon and found his inspiration in aviation when he met Pappy Boyington, famed WWII pilot. Hiroyasu lives and works in Japan. When visiting California, he trains and flies the Sunrise Aviation Extra300 based out of Santa Ana.
From 2008 to 2015, Jim worked his way through Primary to the Unlimited category earning all 5 of the Stars awards. He flew an Extreme Decathlon through Sportsman and Intermediate making a change to an Extra330LX when he moved into the Advanced and Unlimited categories.
For his competition (Stars Awards), Hiroyasu began flying competition in 2003 in a Super Decathlon and progressed through to the Unlimited category earning the Unlimited Stars Award in 2016 at the Borrego Springs regional contest in Southern California in an Extra300.
When it came to earning the Smooth Awards, both men opted to fly all five categories in front of an IAC Judge within a short time frame. Hiroyasu flew for ALL FIVE (Smooth awards) in one day at a training camp in front of judge Michael Church in Borrego Springs, CA prior to the Borrego Akrofest contest in October of 2016. Jim flew all categories for the ALL FIVE after the conclusion of the Beaver State Regional contest in Pendleton, Oregon. Once the contest was wrapped up, he separated the required figures down into three programs so that some candidate judges could get experience with a mentor judge during a non-competition flight.
The IAC wishes to congratulate both men for their accomplishments, which few have achieved.
More information about the IAC Achievement Awards program can be found on the IAC website.
