Things are getting back to normal as we look back on the last two plus weeks in Indiana. I have added an additional picture link from Robyn (Pattern Wife) Byrne for your viewing pleasure. A different perspective that we can all enjoy.
Hartley and Pat are in Genesee Park just off I-70 west of Denver CO. and will spend a few day exploring the area. The mighty F-350 will haul the RV up the highest paved road in North America... oops I stand corrected... he's just going in the truck. Check out the ride at http://www.mountevans.com/
Team Canada 2011
Team pilots Mark Byrne, Chad Northeast and Dezso Vaghy
Monday, August 8, 2011
Sunday, August 7, 2011
AMA Nationals 2011 - Epilogue
Hi folks
Well what a marathon! We arrived home last night at 10:40 local time in Victoria, BC Canada. Our odyssey to the Worlds and the AMA Nationals was now pretty much complete.
We were able to get some limited information at the IND airport as well as YYZ as we traveled home. We checked RCU and all our sources to get info as soon as possible and we wished we could have been there in person but it wasn't to be. We witnessed the incredible efforts everyone put in to make this event happen and greatly appreciate the work the volunteers did.
I have added some of Kieth's flicker pictures to the AMA Nat's Picture folder on the right. Thanks to Keith for sharing these with the RC community at large! Those are great shots of the cooler dump!!! LOL
So we know this.....
Masters:
1. Rick Byrd
2. Archie Stafford
3. Dave Snow
4. Tony Frackowiak
5. Chris Odom
6. Glen Watson
7. Joe Walker
8. Stephen Byrd
FAI:
1. Dave Lockhart
2. Chad Northeast (from Canada)
3. Mark Leesberg
4. Don Szczur
5. AC Glen
6. Richard Christopher (from Great Britain)
I will add the rest of my pictures that I have yet to upload in the next little while and I hope you have all enjoyed the blog as much as I did.
Pat & Hartley are working their way back across the USA and are in Waco, Nebraska last night. The weather has been harsh and they have experienced a big storm move through yesterday.
Chad & Nedim are also driving back to Calgary, Alberta and were pushing past Chicago last night... not sure where they stopped on the way home.
That's it for now.
Dave
Well what a marathon! We arrived home last night at 10:40 local time in Victoria, BC Canada. Our odyssey to the Worlds and the AMA Nationals was now pretty much complete.
We were able to get some limited information at the IND airport as well as YYZ as we traveled home. We checked RCU and all our sources to get info as soon as possible and we wished we could have been there in person but it wasn't to be. We witnessed the incredible efforts everyone put in to make this event happen and greatly appreciate the work the volunteers did.
I have added some of Kieth's flicker pictures to the AMA Nat's Picture folder on the right. Thanks to Keith for sharing these with the RC community at large! Those are great shots of the cooler dump!!! LOL
So we know this.....
Masters:
1. Rick Byrd
2. Archie Stafford
3. Dave Snow
4. Tony Frackowiak
5. Chris Odom
6. Glen Watson
7. Joe Walker
8. Stephen Byrd
FAI:
1. Dave Lockhart
2. Chad Northeast (from Canada)
3. Mark Leesberg
4. Don Szczur
5. AC Glen
6. Richard Christopher (from Great Britain)
I will add the rest of my pictures that I have yet to upload in the next little while and I hope you have all enjoyed the blog as much as I did.
Pat & Hartley are working their way back across the USA and are in Waco, Nebraska last night. The weather has been harsh and they have experienced a big storm move through yesterday.
Chad & Nedim are also driving back to Calgary, Alberta and were pushing past Chicago last night... not sure where they stopped on the way home.
That's it for now.
Dave
Saturday, August 6, 2011
AMA Nationals 2011 - Day 4 -Finals
All packed up and departing the hotel this morning. Our flight home departs IND at 16:00 so we will only see the first F-11 and Unknown #1 in all likelihood. I will do my best to update everyone but it will depend on wifi and data that I can access.
On site #1 the pilots flew the first round of F-11 in front of a panel of three judges. The judging pool has been so depleted with folks going home that the organizers canvassed the pilots for the best options. A three judge panel was the best choice under the circumstances.
This years finals is truly international as British F3A Team member Richard Christopher along with Canadian Chad Northeast vie for the podium in Muncie. Marcelo Colombo of Argentina narrowly missed the cut when Pete Collinson edged him out of 8th place by 81/100th of a point.
The winds were light out of the south west and the skies hazy with some broken cloud. These were very nice conditions although a bit muggy...so what else is new! LOL
Pretty solid flights all around with a few soft spots in some flights. The real challenge will come in the Unknowns as callers and pilots fly these cold i.e. no actual plane practice....only stick plane.
Chad’s flight was solid with the exception of the 1-1/2 snap in the Cuban Eight... slight over rotation was evident. Ac Glenn had a nice round as well and was treated to a rousing applause from the Canadian contingent. He had requested it :-)
The F round was completed by 09:30 and the Unknowns got underway. Mark was asked by Line Coordinator Tim Jesky to call the maneuvers for the judges so we can now add the label “FAI Unknowns #1 Judge’s Caller” to his every growing RC resume.
Matthew Hoyland accepted the honor of the demo flight for the Unknowns.... the Brits come through as everyone else had left or declined.
Here we go.....
Richard is up first with winds left to right. It's 10:02 local.
The Unknowns #1 are now over and there is a short break before the next F-11 rounds start. Hard to say who handled the flights the best as they all looked good. There was a few soft areas and some geometry issues in each flight but it's up to the judges now. The loop with the full roll has been key I think along with hitting the snaps.
The first F scores will hopefully be posted but there is nothing as of yet. Some F raw scores are coming in...looks like Dave Lockhart set the bar high (I didn't see the flight) and Chad is 100 points behind him. Not sure how the others did at this point... still no normalized scores for Round #1 at this point.
The F flights are midway through now and Chad had a great flight. Hit every snap! Great geometry so we will see how things play out....
I am afraid I have to stop updating as we head to Indy for our flight home. I'll try and update from the airport and/or YYZ.
UPDATE!!!
Just read RCU and got a text from Chad. Dave Lockhart was declared the US Nationals FAI Champion for 2011. Chad was in the second spot. I am unsure of the third place pilot at this time but that will be on RCU or NSRCA shortly. I'll update when I hear the placement of the other finalists when I get to Toronto.
It was a real marathon for Chad and we are all proud of his accomplishments. Congratulations to all those who participated.
 |
| The entire crowd at Site #1 |
On site #1 the pilots flew the first round of F-11 in front of a panel of three judges. The judging pool has been so depleted with folks going home that the organizers canvassed the pilots for the best options. A three judge panel was the best choice under the circumstances.
This years finals is truly international as British F3A Team member Richard Christopher along with Canadian Chad Northeast vie for the podium in Muncie. Marcelo Colombo of Argentina narrowly missed the cut when Pete Collinson edged him out of 8th place by 81/100th of a point.
The winds were light out of the south west and the skies hazy with some broken cloud. These were very nice conditions although a bit muggy...so what else is new! LOL
Pretty solid flights all around with a few soft spots in some flights. The real challenge will come in the Unknowns as callers and pilots fly these cold i.e. no actual plane practice....only stick plane.
Chad’s flight was solid with the exception of the 1-1/2 snap in the Cuban Eight... slight over rotation was evident. Ac Glenn had a nice round as well and was treated to a rousing applause from the Canadian contingent. He had requested it :-)
The F round was completed by 09:30 and the Unknowns got underway. Mark was asked by Line Coordinator Tim Jesky to call the maneuvers for the judges so we can now add the label “FAI Unknowns #1 Judge’s Caller” to his every growing RC resume.
Matthew Hoyland accepted the honor of the demo flight for the Unknowns.... the Brits come through as everyone else had left or declined.
 | |||
| Matt preps before the demo. |
Here we go.....
Richard is up first with winds left to right. It's 10:02 local.
 |
| Chip calls for Mike. |
The Unknowns #1 are now over and there is a short break before the next F-11 rounds start. Hard to say who handled the flights the best as they all looked good. There was a few soft areas and some geometry issues in each flight but it's up to the judges now. The loop with the full roll has been key I think along with hitting the snaps.
The first F scores will hopefully be posted but there is nothing as of yet. Some F raw scores are coming in...looks like Dave Lockhart set the bar high (I didn't see the flight) and Chad is 100 points behind him. Not sure how the others did at this point... still no normalized scores for Round #1 at this point.
The F flights are midway through now and Chad had a great flight. Hit every snap! Great geometry so we will see how things play out....
I am afraid I have to stop updating as we head to Indy for our flight home. I'll try and update from the airport and/or YYZ.
UPDATE!!!
Just read RCU and got a text from Chad. Dave Lockhart was declared the US Nationals FAI Champion for 2011. Chad was in the second spot. I am unsure of the third place pilot at this time but that will be on RCU or NSRCA shortly. I'll update when I hear the placement of the other finalists when I get to Toronto.
It was a real marathon for Chad and we are all proud of his accomplishments. Congratulations to all those who participated.
Friday, August 5, 2011
AMA Nationals 2011 - Day 3 FAI & Masters Results
Out of bed and off to breakfast with Kelly early this morning. Everyone split up as I had to judge Masters at Site #1, Chad judged at Site #3, Hartley flew at #3 and Mark took Robyn to the practice site to get some F-11 polished up for the afternoon FAI Semi's...... just another day at a contest! Hartley was also busy packing up the trailer in between rounds as they start to head back to BC this afternoon.
Kelly dropped me off for my Judging duties and headed back to the hotel to get some stuff done. I spent the next 3.5 hours watching the Masters guys do their stuff. Some people have coined this the No-Show Nats but I witnessed some top notch flying today from some of those that did show up. It will be a battle in both Masters and FAI. I was on a judging line with Mark Atwood whom was scheduled to fly in the semi's this afternoon. Turns out his Spark was lost last night when the RX lost signal somehow. His plane made an unceremonious arrival into a corn field and was destroyed. Felt sorry for him as he has had a string of bad Karma.
The Masters guys finished off rounds 5 & 6 and the FAI boys both flew a round each at Site #1 and #3 respectively. The top 9 Masters guys go at it in the morning as well as the top 8 FAI pilots battle it out for top spot.
The FAI guys also flew with in the afternoon and Mark had his first F-11 semi's indoctrination! He was not pleased with his flight but we watched Chad put in a burner round. Very solid. The boys packed up and headed over to site #1 to fly their next and possibly final round of F-11.
While this swap was taking place we stopped to say goodbye to Pat & Hartley as they started their journey home. It was sad to see them drive out of the AMA site but we will soon see them again back home. They were great hosts to our BBQ' s and "debrief sessions" and always welcomed us... except early in the mornings :-) I am sure Hartley would love to come back and participate again... I believe he really enjoyed the experience and will never forget the trip.
Mark was up first and finished strong with a solid flight. Considering that he was pushing the P-11 elements these past couple weeks at the Worlds his F was pretty good. Chad once again also had a great flight. Tim Jesky was handling our flight line and he ran a steady contest at this location. Jerry also had things under control at site #3.
Once the top 8 FAI guys spent a few hours picking the two unknown sequences they were printed and released to the pilots and public to practice their stick planes on:-)
We went off this evening for a nice dinner at Vera Mae's Bistro in downtown Muncie. This place was suggested by Mark Atwood while conversing during the judging session this morning. It was very good!
We arrived back at the hotel and visited with Chad & Nedim for a bit. Looked at the schedules and planned tomorrows activities.... watch Chad and the boys battle it out.
Off to bed..... if I can make it there:-)
Kelly dropped me off for my Judging duties and headed back to the hotel to get some stuff done. I spent the next 3.5 hours watching the Masters guys do their stuff. Some people have coined this the No-Show Nats but I witnessed some top notch flying today from some of those that did show up. It will be a battle in both Masters and FAI. I was on a judging line with Mark Atwood whom was scheduled to fly in the semi's this afternoon. Turns out his Spark was lost last night when the RX lost signal somehow. His plane made an unceremonious arrival into a corn field and was destroyed. Felt sorry for him as he has had a string of bad Karma.
The Masters guys finished off rounds 5 & 6 and the FAI boys both flew a round each at Site #1 and #3 respectively. The top 9 Masters guys go at it in the morning as well as the top 8 FAI pilots battle it out for top spot.
The FAI guys also flew with in the afternoon and Mark had his first F-11 semi's indoctrination! He was not pleased with his flight but we watched Chad put in a burner round. Very solid. The boys packed up and headed over to site #1 to fly their next and possibly final round of F-11.
While this swap was taking place we stopped to say goodbye to Pat & Hartley as they started their journey home. It was sad to see them drive out of the AMA site but we will soon see them again back home. They were great hosts to our BBQ' s and "debrief sessions" and always welcomed us... except early in the mornings :-) I am sure Hartley would love to come back and participate again... I believe he really enjoyed the experience and will never forget the trip.
 |
| Camp Canada 2011 |
Mark was up first and finished strong with a solid flight. Considering that he was pushing the P-11 elements these past couple weeks at the Worlds his F was pretty good. Chad once again also had a great flight. Tim Jesky was handling our flight line and he ran a steady contest at this location. Jerry also had things under control at site #3.
Once the top 8 FAI guys spent a few hours picking the two unknown sequences they were printed and released to the pilots and public to practice their stick planes on:-)
 |
| Unknown #1 |
We went off this evening for a nice dinner at Vera Mae's Bistro in downtown Muncie. This place was suggested by Mark Atwood while conversing during the judging session this morning. It was very good!
We arrived back at the hotel and visited with Chad & Nedim for a bit. Looked at the schedules and planned tomorrows activities.... watch Chad and the boys battle it out.
Off to bed..... if I can make it there:-)
Thursday, August 4, 2011
AMA Nationals 2011 - Day 2
Same routine... up, out, Starbucks, unload, fly, load, unload, fly.....:-) The gals slept in today.
Hartley was up on Site #1 at 8;00 am this morning. There was a slight delay after a few pilots as low cloud moved into the area. Flying recommenced and Hartley finally flew after Chuck Hochhalter finished off his incomplete flight. It was Hartley's best flight so far at this event and he was pleased. Mark did the calling and that may have been the difference... or not:-) I shot a bunch of pictures with Hartley's camera
After a short break, round 4 started and Hartley was preparing for his flight. Mark was calling as I started taking pictures... never know when he'll be back in Muncie so I wanted to make sure this trip and these flights were well documented.
Hartley's starting position looked good but he started pulling early on the Figure M's first radius. Things went south from that point as he struggled to regain proper position. The Cuban Eight got him all kittywonkas and he flew the remainder of the flight out of sequence in the wrong direction. He came down and was laughing at himself. What else can you do.... even Mark could not quite figure out when it got crossed until later in the pits. Two more rounds tomorrow to finish on a positive note.
We loaded up the truck with HH's plane and headed back to Site #3 for the afternoon session. With the exception of Paul Hepworth, we will all fly the last two rounds of P-11 this year together. It should be fun and we all hope Mark can put in two solid rounds to finish off the P rounds. They will take the top twenty guys into the semi's tomorrow afternoon.
We are just doing the swap out of judges as the Site #3 Masters are running late due to weather... Chad is up first..... Chad has just flown and I followed him... not the best spot but hey I am here for the fun! Chad had a solid round to lead things off and everyone followed. Some very strong rounds by several fliers like Dave Lockhart and Don Szczur.
Mark had a couple strong rounds and we finished up the FAI flights by 16:30. Pilots waited around for results and it was decided to remeet at Site#3 at 18:00 to draw the flight order of the semi-finalists. We adjourned to the RV and enjoyed some debriefing chatter. Mark had two solid rounds and we were all hopefull that he would make the top twenty cut.
We stopped and took some pictures of all the Xigris airframes at our flight line today... looking good!
At the appointed hour we all gathered around and Mark made the list at 18th place! Whoot!
It was time to draw for the two flight line orders and everyone pulled their number and subsequent flight line. Odd would fly at Site #1 and Even at Site #3. Pilots will rotate flight lines and fly once at each line during the afternoon. It should be fun as both Chad and Mark fly together at Site #3... fittingly by Camp Canada. I am very happy for Mark as this was one of his goals this trip.
I judge early on Site #1 and Mark, Chad & Nedim will practice at a local site. Hartley will fly his last two rounds of Masters in the morning with the FAI Semi's going in the afternoon. I am once again totally beat and look forward to getting back to work next week so I can rest :-)
More tomorrow.
Hartley was up on Site #1 at 8;00 am this morning. There was a slight delay after a few pilots as low cloud moved into the area. Flying recommenced and Hartley finally flew after Chuck Hochhalter finished off his incomplete flight. It was Hartley's best flight so far at this event and he was pleased. Mark did the calling and that may have been the difference... or not:-) I shot a bunch of pictures with Hartley's camera
 |
| Ginsu trio! |
After a short break, round 4 started and Hartley was preparing for his flight. Mark was calling as I started taking pictures... never know when he'll be back in Muncie so I wanted to make sure this trip and these flights were well documented.
Hartley's starting position looked good but he started pulling early on the Figure M's first radius. Things went south from that point as he struggled to regain proper position. The Cuban Eight got him all kittywonkas and he flew the remainder of the flight out of sequence in the wrong direction. He came down and was laughing at himself. What else can you do.... even Mark could not quite figure out when it got crossed until later in the pits. Two more rounds tomorrow to finish on a positive note.
We loaded up the truck with HH's plane and headed back to Site #3 for the afternoon session. With the exception of Paul Hepworth, we will all fly the last two rounds of P-11 this year together. It should be fun and we all hope Mark can put in two solid rounds to finish off the P rounds. They will take the top twenty guys into the semi's tomorrow afternoon.
We are just doing the swap out of judges as the Site #3 Masters are running late due to weather... Chad is up first..... Chad has just flown and I followed him... not the best spot but hey I am here for the fun! Chad had a solid round to lead things off and everyone followed. Some very strong rounds by several fliers like Dave Lockhart and Don Szczur.
Mark had a couple strong rounds and we finished up the FAI flights by 16:30. Pilots waited around for results and it was decided to remeet at Site#3 at 18:00 to draw the flight order of the semi-finalists. We adjourned to the RV and enjoyed some debriefing chatter. Mark had two solid rounds and we were all hopefull that he would make the top twenty cut.
We stopped and took some pictures of all the Xigris airframes at our flight line today... looking good!
At the appointed hour we all gathered around and Mark made the list at 18th place! Whoot!
It was time to draw for the two flight line orders and everyone pulled their number and subsequent flight line. Odd would fly at Site #1 and Even at Site #3. Pilots will rotate flight lines and fly once at each line during the afternoon. It should be fun as both Chad and Mark fly together at Site #3... fittingly by Camp Canada. I am very happy for Mark as this was one of his goals this trip.
 |
| Dave Lockhart goes in to pick his flight order. |
I judge early on Site #1 and Mark, Chad & Nedim will practice at a local site. Hartley will fly his last two rounds of Masters in the morning with the FAI Semi's going in the afternoon. I am once again totally beat and look forward to getting back to work next week so I can rest :-)
More tomorrow.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
AMA Nationals 2011 - Day 1
Ok the days are all blending into one as I try my best to keep you all up to date. Day one started off with mother nature laying a whooping on the Muncie area in the early morning.Thunderstorms, lighting and heavy rain pummeled the AMA site.
The weather passed and it looked like the flight lines would start on time but they delayed the start a bit due low clouds. Things started in earnest when Hartley Hughson took to the skies as the first one off our site this morning. Hartley dearly wanted to just get through it as the subtle pressure of his first Nationals was evident. He did great although he would like to have a few maneuvers back as mulligans! Both Hartley and I hung around site #3 awaiting his second flight. I did some calling for D-7 pilot Bill Wallace while Chad & Nedim arrived to watch the action and get ready for the afternoon. Hartley’s second flight was a little stronger and after a debrief we then repositioned the truck.... logistics action was going full tilt! LOL
We did a plane swap and positioned Mark’s plane over to site #1 where he was judging the morning Masters session. He hung out with the Brits and Hartley stayed there to call for him in the afternoon FAI session at site #1. Robyn also joined them to cheer Mark on.
My FAI flights on site #3 got started about 15 minutes late but everything ran pretty smoothly after that. Chad, Nedim and Paul all flew off this site so it was easy to get callers and help everyone out. The winds were quite strong and everyone worked hard to maintain distance and geometry. The top guys put in very nice rounds and everyone else followed with varying results.
We only had two glow powered planes on our site which was dominated by E powered setups of all kinds. Unfortunately one pilot had a flame out at the start of his sequence and then suffered a “no start” on his second flight. Turns out his kill switch was on for the first 40 seconds of starting before realizing it. A very tough way to knock out of the Nationals. There is a lot to be said for plug & play at times like this.
Mark had some solid flights on his line and should score well. He has ditched his tray and gone to back to the neck strap, changed his radio settings and is considering changing his hair color in order to improve his flying :-) Dave Lockhart and Don Szuzur head up the leader board although Dave did suffer a power loss on one round and shows a low position at this point. He will drop that round and be in the hunt on day #2.
Chad & Mark Leseberg dominated the flying on our line and set the bar high. We all followed them:-) My flights were ok but nothing worth writing about. Paul and Nedim also had some good elements but struggled in some areas. Everyone had a good time and we watched the rest of the flying. We all retired to the RV for a “debriefing” and had an early BBQ chicken dinner (7pm). Scores were not posted for our site due to some glitch with the way the score sheets were labeled. Site #1 Line 1 etc.... it was all worked out and we heard some scoring through Andrew Jesky in Utah! Thanks AJ!
Remember that the placings will change as each pilot flies in front of each judging panel. Lots more to go yet.
I have added a "Pattern West News Nats Pictures" link as well and will add pictures as able. Reception at Site #1 is very spotty.
The weather passed and it looked like the flight lines would start on time but they delayed the start a bit due low clouds. Things started in earnest when Hartley Hughson took to the skies as the first one off our site this morning. Hartley dearly wanted to just get through it as the subtle pressure of his first Nationals was evident. He did great although he would like to have a few maneuvers back as mulligans! Both Hartley and I hung around site #3 awaiting his second flight. I did some calling for D-7 pilot Bill Wallace while Chad & Nedim arrived to watch the action and get ready for the afternoon. Hartley’s second flight was a little stronger and after a debrief we then repositioned the truck.... logistics action was going full tilt! LOL
 |
| Hartley after his first appearance/flight at the AMA Nationals |
 | ||
| Paul with his "rental unit" |
We did a plane swap and positioned Mark’s plane over to site #1 where he was judging the morning Masters session. He hung out with the Brits and Hartley stayed there to call for him in the afternoon FAI session at site #1. Robyn also joined them to cheer Mark on.
My FAI flights on site #3 got started about 15 minutes late but everything ran pretty smoothly after that. Chad, Nedim and Paul all flew off this site so it was easy to get callers and help everyone out. The winds were quite strong and everyone worked hard to maintain distance and geometry. The top guys put in very nice rounds and everyone else followed with varying results.
We only had two glow powered planes on our site which was dominated by E powered setups of all kinds. Unfortunately one pilot had a flame out at the start of his sequence and then suffered a “no start” on his second flight. Turns out his kill switch was on for the first 40 seconds of starting before realizing it. A very tough way to knock out of the Nationals. There is a lot to be said for plug & play at times like this.
Mark had some solid flights on his line and should score well. He has ditched his tray and gone to back to the neck strap, changed his radio settings and is considering changing his hair color in order to improve his flying :-) Dave Lockhart and Don Szuzur head up the leader board although Dave did suffer a power loss on one round and shows a low position at this point. He will drop that round and be in the hunt on day #2.
Chad & Mark Leseberg dominated the flying on our line and set the bar high. We all followed them:-) My flights were ok but nothing worth writing about. Paul and Nedim also had some good elements but struggled in some areas. Everyone had a good time and we watched the rest of the flying. We all retired to the RV for a “debriefing” and had an early BBQ chicken dinner (7pm). Scores were not posted for our site due to some glitch with the way the score sheets were labeled. Site #1 Line 1 etc.... it was all worked out and we heard some scoring through Andrew Jesky in Utah! Thanks AJ!
Remember that the placings will change as each pilot flies in front of each judging panel. Lots more to go yet.
 | |
| Masters Site #1 |
 |
| Masters Site #3 |
 |
| FAI |
I have added a "Pattern West News Nats Pictures" link as well and will add pictures as able. Reception at Site #1 is very spotty.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Goodbye's and Hello's - The AMA Nats are up next!
Well folks the 2011 World Championships are now officially complete. We saw several different judges, pilots and groups start their journey home this morning. For some it's a couple hour drive, for others it's a two day marathon (Australia & South Africa!). We wish them all a safe journey to wherever home is.
Our stay in Muncie continues as both Chad, Nedim, Mark, Hartley and myself along with fellow Canadian Paul Hepworth compete in the AMA National Championships this week. I was going to start a new blog and then thought I might as well continue right here. It's only a couple extra days of blogging and thus a one stop for those on the net:-)
So... you guessed it... up early and off to the practice site as Hartley picked us up at the hotel. Paul was also waiting and was loaded down with some loaner items. Paul had suffered a ESC fire on his plane back home just before coming down but made the trek anyway to support the team. He got talking with some of the guys and presto... magic happened. From Ac Glenn a Visa pattern plane, Marcelo Colombo contributed a JR TX and Andrew Jesky threw in his charger and battery packs! Now that's a great story!
Off we went and after starting to set up our planes we had additional AMA pilots arrive in search of a practice site. The AMA sites were plugged and there was word of at least two mid-airs. Chris Moon was involved in one and lost his plane... not sure who the other pilots were or just where on the site it happened. I am sure RCU may have additional information and I will try and get the details. I do know that Chris is getting lots of assistance in getting another airframe ready for the event.
We had a great day of practice with the US guys and really enjoyed the stories and discussion on all sorts of topics pattern related. We all packed up and headed to the AMA site for the Pilot's meeting. Rusty gave everyone the latest news and Jon Carter reviewed the ranking system for the Masters guys. We broke for dinner and watched the various planes iat the different sites going fthrough thier respective maneuvers. We did witness what appeared to be another plane go down at site #4 tonight but I have no detials on what occurred. I'll send my ace reporting team in tommorrow and try and get some details for everyone.
Tomorrow morning the contest starts with Masters and Intermediate on the morning shift at 0800. FAI and Advance will fly starting at 1300. Hartley is up first on Site #3 in his first ever appearance at the AMA site... he is excited.
Off to bed after a great dinner at Camp Canada!!
Our stay in Muncie continues as both Chad, Nedim, Mark, Hartley and myself along with fellow Canadian Paul Hepworth compete in the AMA National Championships this week. I was going to start a new blog and then thought I might as well continue right here. It's only a couple extra days of blogging and thus a one stop for those on the net:-)
So... you guessed it... up early and off to the practice site as Hartley picked us up at the hotel. Paul was also waiting and was loaded down with some loaner items. Paul had suffered a ESC fire on his plane back home just before coming down but made the trek anyway to support the team. He got talking with some of the guys and presto... magic happened. From Ac Glenn a Visa pattern plane, Marcelo Colombo contributed a JR TX and Andrew Jesky threw in his charger and battery packs! Now that's a great story!
Off we went and after starting to set up our planes we had additional AMA pilots arrive in search of a practice site. The AMA sites were plugged and there was word of at least two mid-airs. Chris Moon was involved in one and lost his plane... not sure who the other pilots were or just where on the site it happened. I am sure RCU may have additional information and I will try and get the details. I do know that Chris is getting lots of assistance in getting another airframe ready for the event.
We had a great day of practice with the US guys and really enjoyed the stories and discussion on all sorts of topics pattern related. We all packed up and headed to the AMA site for the Pilot's meeting. Rusty gave everyone the latest news and Jon Carter reviewed the ranking system for the Masters guys. We broke for dinner and watched the various planes iat the different sites going fthrough thier respective maneuvers. We did witness what appeared to be another plane go down at site #4 tonight but I have no detials on what occurred. I'll send my ace reporting team in tommorrow and try and get some details for everyone.
Tomorrow morning the contest starts with Masters and Intermediate on the morning shift at 0800. FAI and Advance will fly starting at 1300. Hartley is up first on Site #3 in his first ever appearance at the AMA site... he is excited.
Off to bed after a great dinner at Camp Canada!!
Monday, August 1, 2011
Finals, Closing Ceremonies and Banquet
Mark and I headed to the AMA site this morning to pick up our Nats packages and see some finals flying. Our team was no longer in the competition but we all started to prepare for the next chapter in our trip. The US Nationals start on the 2nd with processing and a pilots meeting at 5 PM. Practice time for us has been limited what with all the AMA site in use for the Worlds.
We headed to the practice field (as everything was shut down at the AMA site) and flew most of the day then went back to the AMA site to catch the last round of the finals (2nd Unknowns) The pilots all took turns and after landing each one received a warm applause from the crowd. I noticed various styles of flying but the top guys hit pretty much every snap and rolling circle that made up the sequence. Onda, Jesky and CPLR all had a solid round 9 with all three pretty well equal in my book. Small things that the judges are trained for would no doubt be the difference.
The final flight flown by Christophe of course :-), was greeted with cheers as he completed his Figure Z in under the 8 minute flight time limitation. I understand his brother Benoit went over on one flight and had his last maneuver zeroed. Lesson: Don’t waste a second! CPLR will be talking to BPLR I am sure :-)
In fact I did some impromptu timing on Benoit during the P flights (Mark followed him in the flight order) and they did the glow start and hit the sound check circle in 8.8 seconds... try that next time your at the field!
After the flights ended we loitered around till about 7 o’clock and the results were announced. In the meantime lots of jersey swapping was taking place along with banner swaps and all around good conversation. Glenn Orchard of the Australian team gave Kelly and I a little perspective on their pattern flying down under and the F3A team selection process. All interesting stuff as each country does it a little different.
The winners were announced and the results were...
1) Christophe PLR
2) Tetuo Onda
3) Andrew Jesky
Team went to..
1) USA
2) Japan
3) France
Junior Championship
1) Marco Mazzuchelli (Italy)
2) Robin Trump (Germany)
3) Philip Rannetshauser (Germany)
The national anthems of the winners were also played.
Both CPLR and Tetsuo Onda had actually tied in the finals so the rules say the semi-final score is used to determine the eventual winner.
We all left Site #3 and went to the reception. Well actually most everyone went and had showers and cleaned up. We went direct and had our seats picked out!
Awards were presented, speeches made and many pictures taken at the banquet. Many new acquaintances as well as old ones said goodbyes.
It’s late so I’ll upload more pictures tomorrow and finish of my blog as well.
We headed to the practice field (as everything was shut down at the AMA site) and flew most of the day then went back to the AMA site to catch the last round of the finals (2nd Unknowns) The pilots all took turns and after landing each one received a warm applause from the crowd. I noticed various styles of flying but the top guys hit pretty much every snap and rolling circle that made up the sequence. Onda, Jesky and CPLR all had a solid round 9 with all three pretty well equal in my book. Small things that the judges are trained for would no doubt be the difference.
 |
| Shadow calling the unknowns. |
The final flight flown by Christophe of course :-), was greeted with cheers as he completed his Figure Z in under the 8 minute flight time limitation. I understand his brother Benoit went over on one flight and had his last maneuver zeroed. Lesson: Don’t waste a second! CPLR will be talking to BPLR I am sure :-)
In fact I did some impromptu timing on Benoit during the P flights (Mark followed him in the flight order) and they did the glow start and hit the sound check circle in 8.8 seconds... try that next time your at the field!
After the flights ended we loitered around till about 7 o’clock and the results were announced. In the meantime lots of jersey swapping was taking place along with banner swaps and all around good conversation. Glenn Orchard of the Australian team gave Kelly and I a little perspective on their pattern flying down under and the F3A team selection process. All interesting stuff as each country does it a little different.
The winners were announced and the results were...
1) Christophe PLR
2) Tetuo Onda
3) Andrew Jesky
Team went to..
1) USA
2) Japan
3) France
Junior Championship
1) Marco Mazzuchelli (Italy)
2) Robin Trump (Germany)
3) Philip Rannetshauser (Germany)
The national anthems of the winners were also played.
Both CPLR and Tetsuo Onda had actually tied in the finals so the rules say the semi-final score is used to determine the eventual winner.
We all left Site #3 and went to the reception. Well actually most everyone went and had showers and cleaned up. We went direct and had our seats picked out!
Awards were presented, speeches made and many pictures taken at the banquet. Many new acquaintances as well as old ones said goodbyes.
It’s late so I’ll upload more pictures tomorrow and finish of my blog as well.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Semi-Finals
Mark and I had left the planes with Hartley yesterday so todays trip was a light one. Starbucks stop as per normal and we headed to Site #4 to watch Chad practice. With the early morning sun skirting the right box line Mark held up a clip board as Nedim called for Chad. A solid practice round followed and with that flight in the bag Chad called it a day as far as practice was concerned.
We headed over to pick up Hartley from Site #3 and then on to Site #1 for the first of two F-11 flights today. The crowd was a bit larger as the contest started to ramp up. Chad was up in the number 2 position as I drew that number for him the night before. Sorry buddy!
Dez and Nell had to head home and stopped by to watch Chad’s flight and say goodbye.
The whole team, along with Paul Hepworth and Ivan Kristensen watched as the battery & sound test was completed and he took to the skies of Muncie. The weather was nice with clear skies and a gentle breeze. The flight was one of his better ones I have seen and he did the country & team proud. I was very happy for him.
His plane was picked for a complete processing and once done he headed towards the pit area pretty happy. You can only do so much (fly well) and the rest is really up to what the judges think.
He scored a 458 and although a seemingly solid flight to us, he was positioned well behind the pack:-(
With a few hours before his next flight we headed for lunch and a side trip the Wilbur Wright's Birthplace Museum. Heck there is an RC field right beside it as well!!! It was very interesting and a little piece of history I never knew was there.
We arrived back at the AMA site well in advance of Chad's next flight at Site #3. He was cooling off in the trailer with Nedim as Agnes and Alev had gone into town. The other scores had been posted and he was somewhat taken aback at the scoring of his flight. Welcome to the worlds :-)
His second flight today was actually better than the first and I was very happy with it. Best he has done as far as I was concerned. He had put in two solid flights and put it all on the line. He scored a 470 something...can't quite remember :-) but was still trailing the pack as other scores were released.
When the dust settled he was in 16th position and missed the finals. We gathered around the RV for a debriefing and then off to dinner at Wild Buffalo Wings. For some reason we were punished with an hour wait for our food order! It was not our day.
Finals start tomorrow!
We headed over to pick up Hartley from Site #3 and then on to Site #1 for the first of two F-11 flights today. The crowd was a bit larger as the contest started to ramp up. Chad was up in the number 2 position as I drew that number for him the night before. Sorry buddy!
Dez and Nell had to head home and stopped by to watch Chad’s flight and say goodbye.
The whole team, along with Paul Hepworth and Ivan Kristensen watched as the battery & sound test was completed and he took to the skies of Muncie. The weather was nice with clear skies and a gentle breeze. The flight was one of his better ones I have seen and he did the country & team proud. I was very happy for him.
His plane was picked for a complete processing and once done he headed towards the pit area pretty happy. You can only do so much (fly well) and the rest is really up to what the judges think.
He scored a 458 and although a seemingly solid flight to us, he was positioned well behind the pack:-(
With a few hours before his next flight we headed for lunch and a side trip the Wilbur Wright's Birthplace Museum. Heck there is an RC field right beside it as well!!! It was very interesting and a little piece of history I never knew was there.
We arrived back at the AMA site well in advance of Chad's next flight at Site #3. He was cooling off in the trailer with Nedim as Agnes and Alev had gone into town. The other scores had been posted and he was somewhat taken aback at the scoring of his flight. Welcome to the worlds :-)
His second flight today was actually better than the first and I was very happy with it. Best he has done as far as I was concerned. He had put in two solid flights and put it all on the line. He scored a 470 something...can't quite remember :-) but was still trailing the pack as other scores were released.
When the dust settled he was in 16th position and missed the finals. We gathered around the RV for a debriefing and then off to dinner at Wild Buffalo Wings. For some reason we were punished with an hour wait for our food order! It was not our day.
Finals start tomorrow!
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Rain Day became Practice Day
I met Mark downstairs at the complimentary breakfast buffet at 7 AM. Hartley was along shortly after and with all our own planes preloaded in his Ford F350, we headed to the practice site. Another quick Starbucks stop and we arrived safely at the field a half hour later.
We met some local fliers on arrival and proceeded to assemble the planes in the shade. Soon the Liechtenstein contingent arrived and shortly thereafter Team Ireland also joined the group. With both Hartley and I there to practice for the AMA Nationals everyone got in the action.
Both Wolfgang, Stefan, Angus and Chad all pounded the F schedule as they will compete against each other starting tomorrow. Shane Robinson was also practicing the F-11 elements as he received, for the third straight World’s if you can believe it, the duties as warm up pilot for the judges.
I had not flown for almost a month and really needed some rust remover... I’ll be ok though. Hartley will fly Masters and he needed the practice as well.
We all flew our routines with a short interruption for one of the club fliers beat the airstrip up with a P-47 Jug. He flew it very well and we all watched another form of aerobatics displayed... it was a welcome break!
We closed the place down and headed home around 17:30. A quick stop to grab the van and some steaks for dinner and we arrived back at Camp Canada for a “debriefing session”. The gals made it back from their overnight in Amish Country and had a great time geocaching, touring, buggy riding etc..
We headed back to the hotel after dinner and had a nice refreshing shower.... yes too much detail ... sorry.
Chad is up on Site #1 at 9:24 and we will all be there. Unfortunately a huge rain storm has flooded Dezso’s basement back home in Kingston so he has decided to get home to deal with that situation. I thank Dez for his dedication and efforts he put in to this team.
To the rack I go.
We met some local fliers on arrival and proceeded to assemble the planes in the shade. Soon the Liechtenstein contingent arrived and shortly thereafter Team Ireland also joined the group. With both Hartley and I there to practice for the AMA Nationals everyone got in the action.
Both Wolfgang, Stefan, Angus and Chad all pounded the F schedule as they will compete against each other starting tomorrow. Shane Robinson was also practicing the F-11 elements as he received, for the third straight World’s if you can believe it, the duties as warm up pilot for the judges.
 |
| Found this Irish YS tool :-) |
I had not flown for almost a month and really needed some rust remover... I’ll be ok though. Hartley will fly Masters and he needed the practice as well.
We all flew our routines with a short interruption for one of the club fliers beat the airstrip up with a P-47 Jug. He flew it very well and we all watched another form of aerobatics displayed... it was a welcome break!
 |
| Angus's Valiant |
We closed the place down and headed home around 17:30. A quick stop to grab the van and some steaks for dinner and we arrived back at Camp Canada for a “debriefing session”. The gals made it back from their overnight in Amish Country and had a great time geocaching, touring, buggy riding etc..
We headed back to the hotel after dinner and had a nice refreshing shower.... yes too much detail ... sorry.
Chad is up on Site #1 at 9:24 and we will all be there. Unfortunately a huge rain storm has flooded Dezso’s basement back home in Kingston so he has decided to get home to deal with that situation. I thank Dez for his dedication and efforts he put in to this team.
To the rack I go.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Preliminaries Day #4
Up and off to Starbucks for our morning coffee drinks... the gals in the place are starting to know us well by now! Mark wanted to put in an early flight so we headed for Site #4. This is the farthest southern flight line in the huge complex and is easily accessed by the paved roads around the facility.
I put Mark’s name down on the sign up sheet and we waited for his turn. We watched several different planes fly then waited out the last glow powered plane before he launched. Unfortunately the glow did the sequence almost twice due to the huge fuel tank it must have had.. 16 minutes easily!
After some practice elements, time was moving closer to Mark’s flight this morning at 8:51 am. We packed up and headed to Hartley’s trailer to swap my plane out for Mark’s back up. Time was beginning to become a factor when we noticed Hartley’s truck was gone. He had moved Mark’s B plane to the #1 site. Great job HH to save us some precious moments.
The planes were quickly assembled and he was on the flight line with time to spare. The rest of the team & supporters arrived and Mark took to the skies in front of the judging panel. He had another good round with some minor errors but he was happy with his efforts. The team cheered as his wheels touched down and Hartley pulled out a “Go Canada Go” banner that got the judges laughing. All in fun of course.
Dezo was up next and he too put in another solid round of flying. Once again minor errors but still very respectable. Another cheer erupted as he touched down. Overall I think Dez was happy with his efforts and learned a lot this past week.
As Chad was later in the day we headed into town for a bite to eat and a stop at Walmart for some hardware for Hartley’s trailer water connection. (minor valve leak temporarily remedied!) I drove in with Paul Hepworth who came down to support the team. Paul had a small electrical problem with his plane and although he had planned to fly in the Nationals next week, he came anyway! Now that’s support! (Turns our Ac Glenn is lending Paul a plane & radio to compete in the Nationals after all... Ac gets an official Team Canada Maple Syrup Sampler for being such a great person!)
Look who showed up! Ivan with these new glasses. They are a new technology that show 45 and 90 degree angles.... imposed into your field of view... it's the next greatest training device for pattern :-)
Kelly, Robyn and Pat all took off in search of the Amish lands and were doing a mini "vacation within a vacation" type thing... shopping and sightseeing.
Chad was up in the afternoon and put in a good round with some very solid elements. He did had a few bobbles along the way on this flight. He was a bit apprehensive about the score but still came out strong.
Final scores for preliminary rounds are here.(in pdf format)
Chad completed this portion of the contest in 18th with a normalized score for his three best P rounds of 2710.10. Dez finished in 44th with a 2468.98 and Mark in 50th with 2441.73. The scores are fairly tight so a couple of points can propel you in either direction.. quickly! The top thirty pilots advanced to the next step in the competition on Sunday. They will fly once each at site #1 and site #3 respectively with one AM and one PM time slot.
With Chad moving on to the semi-finals I attended a meeting of the team mangers to draw the starting order for Sunday’s semi’s... I drew #2 for Chad. It’s up to Chad to bring his A game to the worlds and this is pretty much what he lives for aside from family of course. We will all be behind him in the coming days.
We went home exhausted but plan to head to our practice field in the morning as both Hartley and I need to get in some practice rounds for the upcoming Nationals.
Both work and home life requires them to leave Muncie today.... Special thanks to Xavier and Spencer for helping to support the team over the last week. X-man was awesome on the camera and the flight line helping Dez!
More pictures added to the team site
Flight order for Sunday’s semi finals.
I put Mark’s name down on the sign up sheet and we waited for his turn. We watched several different planes fly then waited out the last glow powered plane before he launched. Unfortunately the glow did the sequence almost twice due to the huge fuel tank it must have had.. 16 minutes easily!
 |
| Team Japan... spotless! |
After some practice elements, time was moving closer to Mark’s flight this morning at 8:51 am. We packed up and headed to Hartley’s trailer to swap my plane out for Mark’s back up. Time was beginning to become a factor when we noticed Hartley’s truck was gone. He had moved Mark’s B plane to the #1 site. Great job HH to save us some precious moments.
The planes were quickly assembled and he was on the flight line with time to spare. The rest of the team & supporters arrived and Mark took to the skies in front of the judging panel. He had another good round with some minor errors but he was happy with his efforts. The team cheered as his wheels touched down and Hartley pulled out a “Go Canada Go” banner that got the judges laughing. All in fun of course.
 |
| Mark and the gang. |
Dezo was up next and he too put in another solid round of flying. Once again minor errors but still very respectable. Another cheer erupted as he touched down. Overall I think Dez was happy with his efforts and learned a lot this past week.
 |
| Dez and the gang again. |
 |
| Chad's turn. |
Look who showed up! Ivan with these new glasses. They are a new technology that show 45 and 90 degree angles.... imposed into your field of view... it's the next greatest training device for pattern :-)
Kelly, Robyn and Pat all took off in search of the Amish lands and were doing a mini "vacation within a vacation" type thing... shopping and sightseeing.
Chad was up in the afternoon and put in a good round with some very solid elements. He did had a few bobbles along the way on this flight. He was a bit apprehensive about the score but still came out strong.
Final scores for preliminary rounds are here.(in pdf format)
Chad completed this portion of the contest in 18th with a normalized score for his three best P rounds of 2710.10. Dez finished in 44th with a 2468.98 and Mark in 50th with 2441.73. The scores are fairly tight so a couple of points can propel you in either direction.. quickly! The top thirty pilots advanced to the next step in the competition on Sunday. They will fly once each at site #1 and site #3 respectively with one AM and one PM time slot.
With Chad moving on to the semi-finals I attended a meeting of the team mangers to draw the starting order for Sunday’s semi’s... I drew #2 for Chad. It’s up to Chad to bring his A game to the worlds and this is pretty much what he lives for aside from family of course. We will all be behind him in the coming days.
We went home exhausted but plan to head to our practice field in the morning as both Hartley and I need to get in some practice rounds for the upcoming Nationals.
Both work and home life requires them to leave Muncie today.... Special thanks to Xavier and Spencer for helping to support the team over the last week. X-man was awesome on the camera and the flight line helping Dez!
More pictures added to the team site
Flight order for Sunday’s semi finals.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Preliminary Flight # 3
Life goes on and we all make small sacrifices to do things...like attending World Championships:-) Today I missed out on my daughter Lauren’s 24th birthday. She understands my commitments and wishes the team great success via the new medium of Facebook and text messaging :-)
Mark and I were up early and hit the local IHOP for a quick breakfast before heading to site #4 for some practice rounds. Chad and Nedim were already there and we joined Andrew Jesky and the Australian Team members.
Chad made some changes and had a solid round as did Mark. The winds were very strong and an aggressive throttle was needed at certain points. If you relaxed for a second the plane would drift out very quickly. Mark put in a second practice round and I had a good chat with Junior Pilot James Nugent’s dad Dave from the Australian F3A team. We both agreed that the knowledge we can pass on to these juniors will accelerate their flying tremendously. The Australians really seamed to enjoy themselves this morning and also worked hard to get in that perfect flight. The winds had other ideas for all the pilots.
Chad was up on Site #1 at 10:57 but it obvious that things were behind. Turns out a group protest letter by several countries was being discussed. Some teams felt that judging spreads on scores were rather excessive and want some clarity as to why and what, if anything, could be done to rectify their view of the situation. Cooler heads prevailed and after some discussion on procedural issues (protests) and the judging protocols flying resumed.
Chad put in a solid round and posted a raw score of 440.20. It was a little faster pace to his flight but the results were obviously positive. The team cheered when his wheels touched the ground. The afternoon was relaxed as we watched several flight and cooled down in the trailer... I have a new appreciation for air conditioning!!
Mark was up next on Site #3 and he too had a good round. Minor errors but a clean flight none the less. He was pretty happy but wanted a couple do overs :-) He posted a raw score of 394.00
Dez followed Mark in the next group and in short order he too was churning up the skies with a solid round as well. Some minor in and out but still very respectable. Dez posted a 404.00 raw score and was also happy with the result. Some flyers did not handle the winds well and drifted out to 170 or more meters. I believe the judges would hammer these guys with lower scores :-( Today’s saying should have been “ Hold the line”!
As we packed up we heard that Chip Hyde had an incident with his back up plane on site #4. Turns out that the bolt holding the wing had stripped out and although he was able to complete the manouvers, he threw in a snap roll and... well the wing panel departed the aircraft! Chip did a great job of saving the plane with some deft flying and landed it with only minor gear damage... hey I think I have seen a similar photo shopped video on youtube! LOL. (I am told there is video recorded by a smart phone... it should turn up soon.)
I am told the damage is repairable and they were awaiting the decision on just what could be done within the rules to repair it. If this plane flies tomorrow it will be with only 8 lives :-)
We gathered around the RV’s and had a brief social to catch up on the days events then it was off to dinner. We couldn’t decide on where to go as a group so we went our separate ways this evening.
July 29th times are:
Mark at Site #1 at 8:51
Dez at Site #1 at 9.33
Chad at Site #3 at 15:30
Mark and I were up early and hit the local IHOP for a quick breakfast before heading to site #4 for some practice rounds. Chad and Nedim were already there and we joined Andrew Jesky and the Australian Team members.
Chad made some changes and had a solid round as did Mark. The winds were very strong and an aggressive throttle was needed at certain points. If you relaxed for a second the plane would drift out very quickly. Mark put in a second practice round and I had a good chat with Junior Pilot James Nugent’s dad Dave from the Australian F3A team. We both agreed that the knowledge we can pass on to these juniors will accelerate their flying tremendously. The Australians really seamed to enjoy themselves this morning and also worked hard to get in that perfect flight. The winds had other ideas for all the pilots.
 |
| Dave gives the thumbs up as the Australians await their turn. |
 |
| A $2.88 plane stand... brilliant! |
Chad was up on Site #1 at 10:57 but it obvious that things were behind. Turns out a group protest letter by several countries was being discussed. Some teams felt that judging spreads on scores were rather excessive and want some clarity as to why and what, if anything, could be done to rectify their view of the situation. Cooler heads prevailed and after some discussion on procedural issues (protests) and the judging protocols flying resumed.
Chad put in a solid round and posted a raw score of 440.20. It was a little faster pace to his flight but the results were obviously positive. The team cheered when his wheels touched the ground. The afternoon was relaxed as we watched several flight and cooled down in the trailer... I have a new appreciation for air conditioning!!
 |
| Team Canada awaits Chad's sortie. |
Mark was up next on Site #3 and he too had a good round. Minor errors but a clean flight none the less. He was pretty happy but wanted a couple do overs :-) He posted a raw score of 394.00
Dez followed Mark in the next group and in short order he too was churning up the skies with a solid round as well. Some minor in and out but still very respectable. Dez posted a 404.00 raw score and was also happy with the result. Some flyers did not handle the winds well and drifted out to 170 or more meters. I believe the judges would hammer these guys with lower scores :-( Today’s saying should have been “ Hold the line”!
As we packed up we heard that Chip Hyde had an incident with his back up plane on site #4. Turns out that the bolt holding the wing had stripped out and although he was able to complete the manouvers, he threw in a snap roll and... well the wing panel departed the aircraft! Chip did a great job of saving the plane with some deft flying and landed it with only minor gear damage... hey I think I have seen a similar photo shopped video on youtube! LOL. (I am told there is video recorded by a smart phone... it should turn up soon.)
 |
| Wing damage to Chip's backup plane. |
I am told the damage is repairable and they were awaiting the decision on just what could be done within the rules to repair it. If this plane flies tomorrow it will be with only 8 lives :-)
We gathered around the RV’s and had a brief social to catch up on the days events then it was off to dinner. We couldn’t decide on where to go as a group so we went our separate ways this evening.
July 29th times are:
Mark at Site #1 at 8:51
Dez at Site #1 at 9.33
Chad at Site #3 at 15:30
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