DENISON, Tex.-- Pilots from across the country are taking to the skies over North Texas for the National Aerobatics Competition. It's a national event held right here in Texoma, and as Rashi Vats tells us, some of the pilots hopes for winning are sky high.

"I really like it, it's a lot of fun, and I expect I'll do well," said Alex Land.

He's an 18-year-old freshman at Austin College. Land isn't talking about school, but his exciting hobby--competing in aerobatics.

"It's a really exciting thing to do and unusual," said Land.

Land is taking part in the U.S. Aerobatics Competition that started Sunday. So is Mike Gallaway. They're just two of 90 pilots from across the country ready to take flight.

"We ought to wear heartrate monitors. I wonder how many calories we burn doing this. It is incredibly intense. I mean you sweat, it's not even not even hot though the temperature is fairly mild and cool but believe me your working pretty hard up there," Gallaway said.

The North Texas Regional Airport has hosted this event for about 15 years, but pilots say there is something different in the air this time.

"The competition is a lot of fun and so far so good. The main ingredient that we are getting this year is good weather," said Gallaway.

The competition will continue throughout the week.

"Right now it's anyone's game but there's a few big names out there that should do fairly well and their are some newcomers that could surprise the field," said Gallaway.

Alex is no stranger to the competition. This is his second attempt at winning a national championship, and he's hoping to place when the contest draws to a close on Thursday.