Practice Day #4

Our day started a bit different this morning as we headed to the AMA site to grab Hartley for the drive to the practice site.  A quick stop at Starbucks and we were on our way.

Our usual practice partners were hard at it on arrival and we quickly assembled planes and readied for the day. Dez had just landed as we introduced Hartley to the fellow fliers and support folks.

I watched closely as John Martin of the Irish team greased up the gears on his contra rotating prop assembly. Very interesting to see how it all went together.

John carefully pulls the prop assembly apart.

Managers can be very helpful!

The gals made a visit to our humble practice site and they finally had a chance to see some flying. They visited for a bit and then headed off in search of more stimulating entertainment:-) It apparently included lunch with margaritas.... nice.

We packed up and headed home as well, after dropping Mark at the hotel,  I took Hartley back to his camping spot at site #3. While there I picked up my plane box (for my Nats flying) and charger and headed back admiring the flags on his trailer. Looking good!

Back at the hotel we reloaded the coolers, planes etc and headed for the AMA site #3 for evening practice and our team meeting at “Camp Canada”. Weather was not looking too promising but the site was empty so Mark quickly assembled his plane and took to the skies. He got in a round of P and landed as the skies threatened and the lighting arced in front of us. Yikes! There was a bit of a lull so Chad decided to get in a flight even though he was a bit apprehensive.  He’s seen things go from bad to worse very quickly with the Muncie weather.

He started out with a solid figure M and well the rest look pretty much the same.... solid.  When he started to pull to vertical for the figure nine the plane took a big jog & roll. He bailed and landed immediately and then seconds later the sky opened up and the winds blew... good call on his part. We spent the next 25 minutes watching the rains come down with gusty winds.  The rains flooded the pit area and his plane looked like it needed floats!

Time for floats.

The sun reappeared and things settled down enough that the team could hold a meeting by the RV. We reviewed the schedule for the next few days and got organized for our processing Sunday morning and the practice & opening ceremony Monday. Ian and Cheryl Clark along with Cheryl’s great niece Lacey arrived and we parked their RV beside Hartley’s... Camp Canada just doubled in size!

Now Ian's a bit of a comedian... he told me his story about flying an Extra 300 the other day and loosing half a stab in flight. When asked if he managed to get the plane back safely, he replied "Oh yeah... after I found it in the field."  LOL

Flying was canceled as the skies once again opened up. Chad and Nedim headed back to the hotel early as Anges and Alev arrived safely.

We had a little social and then headed for an Italian dinner in Muncie.  Off to bed as we get a bit of a sleep in tomorrow as processing starts just after 10 AM.  That said I am hitting the shower and then bed.

BTW More pictures posted by Xavier and myself. Also added a couple more picture links and a USA Team blog by Cindy Wickizer.