By David Harry

Staff Writer

Jay Hewett made an odd confession for a man who likes to make airplanes do adventurous things.

“I’m not a particularly well-coordinated person,” said Hewett, 62.

Hewett may feel his motor skills are challenged, but his skill with airplanes will be on display between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday, May 16, as he and about 10 other members of the New England Aerobatics Club practice maneuvers in the skies over Sanford Regional Airport.

The Boston-based club, with 35 members, is a chapter of the International Aerobatics club and hosts competitions and exhibitions throughout New England and eastern New York, according to the club Web site.

Pilots compete in five different categories, Hewett said, and combine spins, rolls, loops and turns into maneuvers that are judged and must be kept inside a space of 1,000 square meters. The “box” pilots must stay inside is marked on the ground.

Although Hewett, who works in the engineering department at Portland Water District, said his father flew P-47 fighter planes in World War II, Hewett did not fly until he went on his honeymoon with his wife, Nancy.

About 20 years ago, he took his first flying lessons, given as a gift from his wife.

“I thought it was a lot harder than it was. The actual handling of a plane is not that difficult,” Hewett said. In 1988, he earned his pilot’s license.

Enhanced spin training with pilot Jean Hardy at Little Brook Airport in Elliot taught him how to handle a plane as it stalled. It also led to taking up aerobatics.  Hewett said. 

“Imagine flying a plane where the nose and tail are swapping ends,” said Hewett about the training. “Basically, I got hooked on aerobatics.” 

His immersion in the sport was still slow, as he began to attend competitions while searching for an affordable plane he could use to compete.

Hewett said basic competitive aerobatic models need strengthened wing supports and other small modifications, but planes such as Piper Cubs with 60 to 90 horsepower engines can be used in lower levels of competition. Hewett said the Cessna model used for aerobatics is not very different from a Cessna 150 used for everyday flights.

Hewett bought his Pitts SC-1 biplane in 2000. He said he competed for a year in the entry-level category, and then advanced to the sportsman class.

Advanced competitive classes are intermediate, advanced and unlimited.

It is when aerobatic fliers move up in competitive levels that more sophisticated planes are used, Hewett said. 

“Moving up in levels creates a desire for a faster, stronger airplane,” Hewett said. 

Pilots competing in the advanced and unlimited classes perform more “negative” maneuvers where they fly upside down, Hewett said.

This requires engines and fuel systems that circulate fuel and oil through an engine while a plane is upside down.

“Imagine hanging by your feet – you start to feel a little pressure in your head,” Hewett said.

He said he cinches his seatbelt tighter as well – a pilot with a loose seatbelt can easily bump his head on the cabin roof when flying upside down.

The competitions are more similar to ice skating than auto racing, said Hewett, because the maneuvers are judged and pilots compete for scores made by judges as opposed to racing each other to a finish line.

“The essence is flying maneuvers to a high technical standard,” Hewett said.

While in flight, Hewett said there is little time to reflect on the success of a spin, roll, turn or loop because concentrating on the routine is a higher priority.

“The satisfaction comes from reliving the flight,” Hewett said. 

The competitions do not create the bragging rights for using engine parts or plane models seen in auto racing. Hewett said this is because competitions are judged and planes used in the upper levels of competition are sometimes experimental.

Club members be taking off from the west side of the airport on runway 725.

Staff writer David Harry can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 241.