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.