AWAC 2008 Completed Successfully:

Thanks to the hard work of our volunteers, diligence of the international judges and jury, and the excellent collaborative efforts of all pilots and teams, AWAC 2008 completed all flying by Friday afternoon, August 8th 2008. All flights were completed: the Q Program, Free Program and the two Unknown Programs. With the exception of one afternoon of thunderstorms, the weather was perfect - though temperatures frequently put the density altitude well above 4,000 feet MSL!

The complete results are posted on the official FAI/CIVA results website. Click here to visit the results website. In summary:

• Top individual pilots: Rob Holland of the United States (1st place, Gold), Tamás Illés of Hungary (2nd place, Silver) and Eddie Goggins of Ireland (3rd place, Bronze)
• Top teams: United States (1st place, Gold), South Africa (2nd place, Silver) and Great Britain (3rd place, Bronze)

Volunteers, Donors and Sponsors were Key:

AWAC 2008 would not have been possible without the time and effort put in by all the volunteers involved in the event. In many cases, that involvement stretches back 18 months to the first discussions and planning meetings. The praise given by pilots and team members to the volunteers at the closing ceremonies will never be forgotten.

Without the donations of cash, products and services that we received, AWAC 2008 would have been impossible. We encourage people to click on the links above to see who our supporters - donors and sponsors - were. In the case of our sponsors, we particularly encourage people to do business with them whenever possible: these are the companies who stepped up to further aerobatics and we ask the community at large to reward them by seeking their services and products.

All went beyond their original commitment to sponsor - here are just a few examples:

• NW Insurance Group not only saved us considerable money on event insurance but they sponsored the trophies for the winners.
• Sunbelt Rentals not only delivered on their original commitment but they brought in extra equipment when we needed it.
• Pepsi reacted in real time to an increased need for bottled water to keep everyone hydrated and healthy out in the hot, dry air.
• Hertz handled people's schedule changes without a hitch and met the demand for vehicles without a hiccup.
• Alaska and Horizon Air not only delivered folks via scheduled flights into Pendleton but patiently waited during Sunday's airshow for a break in the flying and departed "under the control of the airshow airboss" ...
• Western Petroleum more than helped us out in a time of rising fuel prices.
• Pendleton Aircraft Service not only handled routine maintenance issues but helped relocate aircraft on the ramp so we could avoid hot start issues between flights.
• Diva Cellars of San Luis Obispo CA provided all the wine served at the awards banquet
• And, of course, Starbucks provided plenty of caffeine ...

Key Local Support:

Our visitors were overwhelmed with the logistics, facilities and downright western hospitality the experienced in Pendleton, and also in the practice areas at Ephrata WA, Deer Park WA and Davenport WA. The management teams at all the airports and local service/support people went out of their way to make the teams welcome and their experience flawless.

The City of Pendleton and the Pendleton Chamber of Commerce put a tremendous effort into welcoming the teams - even assigning a local contact for each team to handle any questions or needs. The Chamber organized the stunning opening ceremonies and asked the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation to take the lead in appropriately opening AWAC 2008 at the ceremonies - allowing us all to get to know and experience another key part of the local culture. Having this presence and support of all the local communities was key to the success of AWAC 2008 and forms a key memory that everyone has taken back to their home countries and regions.

Pendleton Airport possesses a number of key facilities that were all made available for AWAC 2008. The airport management made certain we had all the ramp space, access and other facilities we needed. The Pendleton Tower personnel made certain we had easy to follow ATC procedures for all our pilots and the controllers remained flexible no matter what requests were made of them.

EAA Chapter 219 deserves a special mention: no matter what we needed, they found it and made it available - including providing us with complete use of their WW II hangar for both the International Village and for storing all the competition aircraft. EAA Chapter 219 members effectively all acted as volunteers for AWAC 2008 and without their efforts, we would have had some difficult operational issues to overcome.

Last, and definitely not least by any meaure, the Pendleton Air Museum (PAM) more than lived up to its commitment to co-host the airshow. Nothing was too small for PAM to take on and AWAC 2008 was able to count on a large number of willing volunteers to organize and run the airshow. PAM also managed to independently raise the funds from its donors to sponsor the airshow. Please click here to visit PAM's website for more details ...