River Pilots Vs Hiland Live Feed

If you see small planes flying upside down or nose diving near Highland and Redlands over the weekend, it's probably nothing to worry about.

International Aerobatic Club Chapter 26 is holding its first Redlands Aerobatic Cup Friday through Sunday, Sept. 3-5, at Redlands Municipal Airport.

About 20 to 30 pilots from across the Southwest are expected to participate, with practice starting on Friday and the contest beginning at 8 a.m. both Saturday and Sunday.

The contest is not put on for the public like an air show and there will be no announcer, nor public-facing activities.

"We do ask that the public please not walk beyond the terminal out onto the airport tarmac for safety as the field is in full operation and there are hazards such as turning propellers," said Susan Bell, chapter president and contest director.

Those interested in watching could see the action from Hangar 24 Craft Brewery, 1710 Sessums Drive, but city officials suggest the public not watch from the airport as the small parking lot would fill up quickly.

Competitors will be flying over the Santa Ana River wash, north of the airfield. Regular air traffic into the airport will be south of that, as the facility will remain open during the contest.

The closest public parks to the river wash are the Redlands Sports Park, 1790 Dearborn St. in Redlands, and Aurantia Park, 29624 Greenspot Road in Highland.

For residents concerned about noise, as from big planes at air shows, Bell says single engine aerobatic planes are definitely not as loud as military jets.

"There may be some noise heard as the planes perform their sequences, which actually comes from the propeller as the airspeed of the plane changes from slow to fast," she wrote in an email. "For example, in an aerobatic routine, the plane must be near zero airspeed to perform a spin, then will speed up to over 180 mph just 10-15 seconds later to enter a loop."

For 40 years the chapter had held its Labor Day contest in Delano, Calif., but in 2017 the contest was canceled due to FAA concerns about the pilots flying over a road.

That "was a huge blow to the chapter, which began with crop dusting pilots in the area," Bell said.

The competition was then held three times in Lancaster, but the desert climate was challenging and turnout was low.

"Last year it was 113 degrees and at the very limit of plane and pilot endurance," Bell wrote.

The chapter narrowed in on Redlands "due to its history of pilots involved with both aerobatics and air racing."

It also helped that a different chapter had held contests there in the past, and that the airport community stepped up to help.

"We do plan to grow this into an annual event and hope to include public activities in subsequent years to showcase aviation to the community, especially to youth interested in aviation as a career," Bell said.

For more information go to iacchapter26.org.

Jennifer Iyer graduated cum laude from UC Riverside in 2000 with a bachelor's in creative writing and started working at The Press-Enterprise newspaper that year. After stints as night metro editor, assistant features editor, videographer, community reporter and other roles, she transferred to sister paper the Redlands Daily Facts in March 2018. Jennifer has covered wildfires, war games, courtrooms and blimp rides, been sprayed with fire retardant, and covered in bees (in a protective suit). She has interviewed celebrities on the red carpet at the Palm Springs Film Festival and homeless people in the rain. A nature enthusiast, Jennifer sold some of her nature photography prints to raise money for local nature centers and collaborated with her mother on the book "Wildflowers and Important Native Plants of the Inland Empire" by the Riverside-Corona Resource Conservation District.

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Source: https://www.redlandsdailyfacts.com/2021/08/31/aerobatic-contest-to-be-held-over-river-between-redlands-and-highland

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