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Unedited copy as submitted for the July 30, 2000 issue of Airventure Today.
Around The Field
By Jack Hodgson

Ultralights Judged by AirVenture's Exacting Standards

One of the less-visible, but very important parts of AirVenture is the judging of homebuilt and restored aircraft. The prop-card on many of the aircraft here contains a sticker indicating that the owner would like it to be evaluated by the teams of meticulous judges.

We visited some judges from the Ultralight division, following them as they considered some of the aircraft on display at the south end of the field.

There are nine judges in the Ultralight division, plus a few others on hand as alternates in the event any of the nine become unavailable. There's very little turnover as most judges return each year. This year they judged 46 aircraft in 3 different categories: Flex-wing, Lightplane, and Ultralight.

The judges go out in teams of three to inspect each of the entries. They look over each plane in excruciating detail. It's a testament to the high quality of the aircraft here at AirVenture that even the slightest of defects will quickly eliminate an otherwise excellent aircraft from contention for an award.

A few examples of defects that will cost an aircraft points are scrapes and other hangar rash, dimpling and bumps in the skin, and misaligned parts.

Among the attributes that impress the judges are careful fit and finish, attention to detail in assembly, and modifications from the original design that enhance safety and/or appearance.

An example of the attention to detail required by an AirVenture award winner is the orientation of the nuts & bolts used on the aircraft. Unless there is some practical reason that prevents it, all bolts should be oriented so they point either down, back or toward the center.

Occasionally the judges find something they consider a safety issue. They report these to the Ultralight Safety Crew who will take the necessary actions.

AirVenture Judges are careful to look beyond the general appearance of the plane. "If you go by the paint and chrome you're dead," said judge Bob Barton. The attributes evaluated by the ultralight judges are: Appearance, Cockpit & Controls, Landing Gear, Wings, and Control Surfaces. Each aircraft is awarded points in each of these areas.

The judges work in teams of three, swarming over each entry, peering into every nook and cranny. Periodically during the judging process all nine judge will get together to make sure all planes are receiving complete consideration, but at these meetings they try not to influence each other's evaluations of the individual planes.

The Ultralight judges we visited with were Don Petzold, a second year judge and 10 year Oshkosh attendee, from Wisconsin Rapids. Don flies a T-Bird Single Seat. Todd Snyder has been a judge for seven years and coming to Oshkosh for 12 years. He's also from Wisconsin Rapids, and he flies a Titan Tornado One. And Bob Barton, from Schulenburg Texas, who's been a judge for 10 years and coming to AirVenture since 1987. Bob flies a Junior Ace homebuilt.

In the Homebuilt Cafˇ one evening after the airshow, a group of people sat, laughing, drinking pepsi and hangar flying.

"A couple of days before Father's Day," said one of the guys in the group, "I made a decision. I went to the local airport and got myself a demo flight."

"I went home and I said to my wife and kids. 'Don't buy me anything for Father's Day, I just bought myself a present. I'm learning how to fly."

Trish Dorlac has been a volunteer at AirVenture for 11 years. The youthful looking volunteer seems like she must have been 14 back when she started, but she says her husband brought her here back then. She started helping out with Vintage Flight Line Operations.

At first she performed administrative and support tasks like making sandwiches, but in her fourth year she headed out onto the field and began helping out directing airplanes to and from parking. She's been at that job ever since. Four years ago she became a Co-Chairman of Vintage Flight Line Ops.

In addition to working the line directing aircraft, she is involved with training and safety. As with other Flight Line groups here at AirVenture, all Vintage Flight Line workers are retrained every year. Trish says they trained approximately 200 volunteers for this year's fly-in.

Although Trish is not a pilot she helps out as a volunteer mechanic and would like to get more involved with maintenance and aircraft metalworking.

She says, part of the great appeal of working for Vintage Flight Line is the great sense of camaraderie on the team. Trish estimates at over 75% of the volunteers come back from year to year. They have regular yearly volunteers from as far away as Germany, Holland and Brazil. And all ages too, longtime volunteer Art Maynard is in his 90s and still helps out every year.