Tue, Nov 25, 2003
Ever try to decipcher the
sanskrit-like diagrams you may have seen in the cockpits of a
number of aerobatic aircraft? Unless you've been trained to
understand the intricacies of "reading Aresti" it probably seemed
all greek to you.
The man who organized the means by which aerobatic pilots have
come to plan and fly aerobatics was a Spanish flyer by the name of
Jose Aresti, and we regret to note that this aerobatic icon has
"gone west," passing away November 18th.
Jose Louis de Aresti Aguirre, a member of the International
Aerobatic Club (IAC) Hall of Fame, passed away on November 18 in
Madrid, Spain at the age of 84. Born in Bilbao, Spain, he began
flying in the 1930's and was an aerobatic flight instructor in the
Spanish Air Force during World War II, providing them their first
aerobatic flight manual. Aresti went on to found several pilot
training schools after the war and became active in the airshow
circuit around Europe flying the Bucker Jungmeister.
Very active in the early years of CIVA as the Delegate of Spain
-- which would host the WAC at Bilbao in 1964 -- his work on an
aerobatic catalogue is what he became most known for. It was in
1964 that the "Aresti Aerocryptographic System" was introduced and
approved by CIVA. At the time, some 3,000 maneuvers were catalogued
along with difficulty coefficients (we know as K-factors today) and
was used up until 1987. He was highly instrumental in obtaining
government support for aerobatic flying in Spain which led to very
successful aerobatic teams from Spain at WAC.
President of CIVA in 1968-1969 and its President of Honour up
until his death, he was awarded the FAI Silver and Gold Medals for
his work on the catalogue. He brought a professional standard to
the cataloguing of aerobatic figures and provided a "shorthand"
that was used internationally for decades --- thereby touching the
lives of thousands of aerobatic pilots --- by enabling a competitor
to easily diagram his or her aerobatic figures and sequences
regardless of their native language.
Mr. Aresti's work touched the lives of thousands of aerobatic
pilots around the world.
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