LAST EDITED ON 05-07-04 AT 21:02z ()This came out from AOPA today:
"AIRSHOW VETERAN IAN GROOM DIES IN FLORIDA ACCIDENT
National airshow performer Ian Groom, 58, died on his birthday in the
crash of his Russian-built Sukhoi 31 aerobatic aircraft on April 30
during practice for the Air and Sea Show in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
He failed to recover from a series of flat spins. "It was obvious there
was a problem with the maneuver," said John Cudahy, president of the
International Council of Air Shows. The South African-born Groom was
a mentor to airshow pilot Michael Goulian and friend to most of today's
top airshow stars. A pilot since his youth, Groom represented Britain
in world aerobatic competition. A devoted family man, he provided free
unusual attitude recovery training to government pilots. Groom set a
record two years ago for 57 consecutive snap rolls in less than 30 seconds.
He told an AOPA staff member days before he died that he intended to
break the record at the show."
Ben
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