Unlimited World Champions for 2005-2006

The XXIII. World Aerobatic Championships concluded in Burgos, Spain on 2nd July 2005. The contest was under the direction of Antonio Quintana. The new Overall World Aerobatic Champion is Sergey Rakhmanin of Russia. Sergey flew his Sukhoi SU-26M3 to victory for the second WAC in a row. He also won the Championships in 2003 in Florida, USA. Only one other pilot has achieved this record – Petr Jirmus of Czechoslovakia in 1984 and 1986. Rakhmanin was awarded the Aresti Cup. In the overall results, Oleg Shpolyanski (RUS) and Renaud Ecalle (FRA) were second and third. The Russians also surged to win the Men’s Team Championships with their top pilots (Rakhmanin, Oleg Shpolyanski, and Mikhail Mamistov) gathering total points of 33,517.1422 in the event. Taking the Silver medals in the team event was France followed by the USA with the Bronze. Winners were awarded the Petr Nesterov Trophy. Svetlana Kapanina (RUS) is once again the Women’s World Aerobatic Champion. This is her fifth capture of the Royal Aero Club Trophy – an achievement unprecedented in aerobatic history. Kapanina also flew the Sukhoi SU-26M3. The Championships were conducted under difficult conditions for officials and competitors. Field elevation in Burgos was over 900 meters and temperatures were in the 30’s each day. High winds shut down the event for hours at a time and early in the competition even damaged some of the event’s tents. Toward the end of the contest, however, weather was very cooperative and flights were completed quickly and efficiently. The organizers managed to complete all flight programmes (a Known, Free, two Unknowns, and the Final Free) before the awards ceremony on the evening of 2 July. Though some technical problems occurred with various competition aircraft, the WAC was concluded safely and without incident. Chief Judge was John Gaillard (RSA) who supervised a highly qualified panel of 10 FAI International Judges. The International Jury was presided over by Mike Heuer, President of CIVA. Full results of the event can be found under “Championships Results” on this website.