With an accumulation of more than 7,500 hours in over 142 types of aircraft, Daniel Webster College graduate Rob Holland, who owns and operates Aerial Advantage Aviation in Nashua, is in Poland to participate in the 2006 Advanced World Aerobatic Championships.

No stranger to competition, Rob has a plethora of first place and other awards in aerobatic competitions under his belt, is a two-time member of the U.S. Advanced Aerobatic Team, and was the top-placing US pilot at the 2004 Championships held in Sweden, placing 10th over-all in the world.

So what about the 2006 Championship beginning August 3rd in Poland? “I hope to do better,” he said. (Remember he came in 10th in the world and first among US pilots in the same competition in 2004.) There are three components to the competition, the qualifier, which is the "Known" portion, where pilots perform a routine they know about in advance, The "Free" and the "Unknown" portion, where, each pilot has only 18 hours to learn what they have to do for this routine they are flying for the first time. “That’s the most fun,” said Rob, “and what separates everyone.”

The actual flying will take place over Radom, Poland, southeast of Warsaw in a cube of airspace that is only 3300-ft wide, 3300-ft deep, has a bottom at 660-ft and a top at 3500-ft. It is known as the aerobatic "Box." About two dozen teams of some 85 pilots compete, many from countries who consider aerobatic competition a full-time government job.

“It is tough to compete against those pilots,” concedes Rob, “for those of us who consider aerobatics as a hobby and hold down a full-time job.

Rob has been involved in many areas of aviation, including flight instruction, commuter airline flying, corporate flying, and aerial advertising. He is an ATP-rated professional (airline transport pilot) and holds a glider rating. Additionally, he is also an FAA-designated Aviation Safety Counselor.

Over the years, Holland has flight instructed, towed banners, ferried aircraft throughout the country, flown cooperate in a Pilatus PC-12, flown for commuters in a Jetstream 31, and currently performs at air shows around the country. This year he will have participated in 22 air shows.

His high-intensity aerobatics that push the limit for both the pilot and the machine have led to countless awards, including being named the New England Aerobatic Competitor of the Year for 2002, 2003, and 2004. He won the “Pitts Trophy” twice and was the Northeast Advanced Aerobatic Champion for 2003, 2004, and 2005. Rob holds a Level 1 Unrestricted Aerobatic Low Level Waiver, one of only about a hundred in the country for air shows, and lays claim to being the youngest Wing Walker Pilot in North America in 2005, receiving his waiver at only 30 years of age. He is now 32.

For Rob, aerobatics represents total freedom. “There’s nothing like it. You get to see the world from a view that most people never get to see.” More importantly, unlike what many people think, aerial aerobatics is a disciplined sport where you always know the outcome. “I enjoy the discipline of it. It’s not stunt flying; you practice a maneuver and practice how to get out of a bad situation, should that happen.”

His advice to anyone interested in aerobatic flying is to find a good, qualified instructor, even if you just want to “try it out.” “You become more confident, have better ‘situational awareness’, and are a better overall pilot.”

It was in April 2002 that Rob and fellow DWC grad Kathy Hogan-Bouchie ’96 founded Aerial Advantage Aviation, a safety-oriented flight school whose mission is to help make pilots safer, more confident and higher-skilled through superior education and training. Aerial Advantage Aviation specializes in aerobatic instruction, emergency upset-spin recognition and recovery training, Tailwheel Transition Training and Competition Aerobatic preparation — all with a strong emphasis on safety in everything that’s done.

A Nashua resident, Rob’s interest in aviation and aerobatics started back when he was a youngster in Norton, Mass., when his dad brought him to his first air show. Flying since age 18, he graduated from Daniel Webster in 1997 with baccalaureate degrees both in Aviation Management and Aviation Flight Operations.

Founded in 1965 as the New England Aeronautical Institute, Daniel Webster is a student-focused independent college whose nationally ranked degree programs in aviation (professional pilot, aviation management and air traffic management) are well complemented by its innovative programs in business and management, computer science and information technology, aeronautical and mechanical engineering, sport management, and social and behavioral sciences. Daniel Webster College's flight training program (professional pilot) is approved under the guidelines of federal Aviation Regulation Parts 141 and 61, and all instructors are Certified Flight Instructors. DWC's air traffic management major is one of only 13 academic programs recognized by the FAA as part of its Collegiate Training Initiative.

FMI: www.dwc.edu, www.awac2006.com, www.ultimateairshows.com