MEET ALEXANDER COATS
By Zinnia Kilkenny IAC 437244
ZK: What has Team Coats meant to you?
AC: Team Coats started when I was really young. My father was my biggest inspiration growing up, and I wanted to do anything he was doing. Early on, before flying, it was golf. When I was old enough to compete, he and I would play together in every team tournament we could. We became known as Team Coats at the golf course because we always played together for years.
Team Coats is much bigger than just the golf course. My father has always been my mentor and best friend. He has supported me in everything I have done throughout my life, which carried over in aviation. While I was working towards an aviation career, he would see me struggling to get hours and would always leave me fuel in the Christen Eagle to go “build time.” I’ve been extremely blessed to have a father like him. To this day, he is still my best friend.
ZK: Endearingly, there appears to be a second TC family.
AC: We are incredibly fortunate to have such a great community at Hemet-Ryan Airport. There are four or five people hanging out at our hangar on any given day. It started early on when my father would be out grilling at the airport on the weekends, and a few people would wonder over. Now it’s grown to at least once a month he will have between 20 and 30 people over at the hangar for dinner all hanging out for hours. This is where Team Coats spread to our airport community.
ZK: How many contests have you participated in; how did you prepare?
AC: In 2021, I decided to fly my first contest, and I was hooked. We were initially introduced to competition aerobatics through Norm Manary. Norm was our flight instructor who taught us how to fly the Christen Eagle. He constantly encouraged us to compete, having been a competition aerobatic pilot for many years. So after owning and flying the Eagle for a couple of years my father and I decided we would compete in Borrego since it was so close.
The 2021 Hammerhead Round Up was our first contest and the first time I had ever flown in a box. I flew in the Sportsman category and had simple goals, stay in the box and complete all the maneuvers. After the three flights, I had accomplished my goal and took third place, winning the “Best First Time Sportsman.” I wanted to compete in every contest I could fit into my work schedule from that moment on.
The second contest my father and I participated in was the Redlands Cup a few months later. I decided to compete in Intermediate this time around. Incorporating my own Free design and the Unknown was a new challenge. I did a lot of reading before this contest. Books like Better Aerobatics and Basic Aerobatics helped me understand energy management and how to fly in the box for the judges. I also went through the IAC archives and found as many old Intermediate sequences as I could and would try a new one every flight to prepare for the Unknown. I ended up placing second in Intermediate.
The third and final was also at Borrego in the fall. I went in with the same goals as Redlands, I was going to compete in Intermediate, and I wanted to win. Unfortunately, I could only fly the first two flights of the competition before I had to leave for work. I fly Part 91 for a great family, but the job requires me to be on call. I believe I was sitting in second or third place after the first two flights, but everyone knows the Unknown is where the winner is decided.
ZK: Toward what do you aspire?
AC: My goals have always been to be the best pilot I can be, regardless of airframe. I never wanted to use the fact that I didn’t own an Extra as an excuse for not winning or not wanting to compete at a higher level. So, for 2022, I decided to go in on a partnership with a Pitts S-1S. I’ve been working towards competing in Advanced for all the contests this year. While Borrego is right around the corner, I’m not sure if I will be ready, but I will definitely be there.
The Pitts also allowed me to further my interest in formation aerobatics. I have been flying formation with my friend David Mundwiler, who also has an S-1S, for a few years now. He flew with an formation aerobatic team in Yak 52s and has since taken me under his wing to start an aerobatic formation team of our own. We are still very much in our infancy, but he has been an amazing mentor in and out of the cockpit.
ZK: What have been some rewarding aspects of competition?
AC: The most rewarding aspect of competition has been its community. I never expected to make so many friends so quickly. We speak often; almost daily. Whether it is about executing certain maneuvers or just catching up in general, the aerobatic community has motivated me the most to fly to every contest I can. While every one of us wants to go out and win, being there and seeing a friend win or my father win brings the same level of joy.
Chapter: 36
Occupation: Corporate Pilot
