The first Australian Short Take-off and Landing (STOL) Championships have been scheduled for Tyabb Airport this coming April.
Hosted by Peninsula Aero Club and organised in conjunction with Paul Bennet Airshows, the championships will involve pilots demonstrating their skills in a series of STOL tests and judged by the length of their take-off and landing rolls.
The event–scheduled for Sunday 14 April–will be based on similar competitions that have been held at Oshkosh during Airventure, and the mother of all STOL competitions, Valdez in Alaska, which attracts the best VSTOL aircraft in the world.
In the Australian championships, each competitor will have two attempts, with the best take-off/landing pair counted as their score.
Pilots will be able to enter their aircraft in one of six classes:
- Light Touring (C150, C172, C177, Maule M-4, others of MTOW 1000-1200 kg)
- Heavy Touring (C180, C182, C206, Maule M-9, others of MTOW 1200-1700 kg)
- Light Sport/Light Experimental (Piper J-3, Just Aircraft Super STOL, Carbon Cub, others up to MTOW 600 kg)
- Alternate Bush/Experimental (Experimental aircraft with MTOW greater than 600 kg)
- Bush Class Prelim (PA-22, Stinson 108, Husky, Citabria, others with MTOW 600-1000 kg)
- Foxbat Class (specially for Aeroprakt Foxbat aircraft)
If there are 15 or more entrants in Bush Class Prelim, organisers plan to hold a series of heats with the top five in heats will progress to a Bush Class Final.
The entry fee for the STOL competition is $55 per aircraft regardless of class, and registration can be done on-line at the Australian STOL Championships website.