Swinburne student soars in Australian Aerobatics Championships
In Summary
- Natalie Korrum has won in the Sportsman category at the Australian Aerobatics Championships
- The competition is hosted by the Australia Aerobatic Club and was held in November 2016
Flying high, and often upside down, above the New South Wales town of Tocumwal, Swinburne Bachelor of Aviation student Natalie Korrum has won big at the 2016 Australian Aerobatics Championships.
Placing first in the Sportsman category, Ms Korrum won by demonstrating her aerobatic skills to the judges in the form of three disciplines:
- a known sequence
- a free sequence created by a competitor
- an unknown sequence presented to the candidate the evening before with no ability to prepare aside from mental strategy
“Aerobatics is as much a mental game as it is a physical sport - often being the culmination of consistency and psychological resolve to perform well overall,” Ms Korrum says.
A final year Bachelor of Aviation student, Ms Korrum worked as a flight instructor at CAE Oxford Aviation Academy (CAEOAA) while undertaking her study at Swinburne.
“Swinburne aviation students are taught basic aerobatics so they can recover from unusual attitudes, this is called Upset Recovery training,” says Swinburne Aviation Department Chair Stephen Fankhauser.
“From this beginning Natalie has passionately pursued this aspect of flying to competition level.”
Ms Korrum consistently placed second over the three days of the competition in November with the aggregate of her score seeing her win first place in the Australian Aerobatic Championships for 2016 in the category of Sporstman.
The Australian Aerobatic Championships recognise Competition Aerobatics, a very exacting sport which demands high levels of skill, discipline and concentration on flying.
The competition is hosted by the Australia Aerobatic Club and was held in November 2016.