UND Aerobatic Team wins national championship

For the second year in a row, the UND Aerobatic Team won first place in the 2009 National Collegiate Aerobatic Championship, according to results released by the International Aerobatics Club. This isn’t just any win — it’s the top spot in one of the world’s most difficult and challenging sports.

Aerobatic flight, which is taught at the UND John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences, is a highly specialized and rigorously demanding area of general aviation that requires highly focused attention, discipline, physical conditioning and a wide array of flying skills. The technical definition for it is “precise maneuvering in three-dimensional space.”

In the 2009 aerobatic championship competition, UND pilot Jordan Weis, a commercial aviation major, flew in the Sportsman Category and earned second place in the Collegiate Individual Competition. UND pilots Nathan Bush, Tyler Graybill, Jonathan Sepulveda, James Gardner and Thomas Reichert -— all aviation students -— competed in the Primary Category and all flew very well, according to team head coach Ryan Carlson. He’s also assistant chief and course manager at the UND John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Science flight operations department.

Several other Aerobatic Team members volunteered their time, assisted with team preparation, and attended competitions that are held throughout the Midwest, Carlson said.

The UND Aerobatic Team is especially grateful to UND Aerospace and UND Flight Operations for the tremendous support for this competition, Carlson said. The team also sends thank-yous to Joe Vacek, the team’s faculty advisor and safety pilot; Mike Lents, coach and safety pilot; Greg Gilmer, coach and safety pilot; and Neil Acomb, coach and safety pilot.

The results of the national aerobatics competition can be viewed through the following link:
2009 Collegiate Team Results:
http://www.usnationalaerobatics.org/IAC/IAC_SeriesResults.asp?SeriesID=9&Year=2009
2009 Collegiate Individual Results:
http://www.usnationalaerobatics.org/IAC/IAC_SeriesResults.asp?SeriesID=8&Year=2009