Preliminary Flight #1

Out the hotel door early today and had our usual Starbucks stop en route to the AMA site. With Mark flying later we popped the seats up and took the girls with us. On arrival at site #3 Dez and Xavier were already busy prepping the planes. Dez would fly his primary and have his back up close by in case something went wrong during power up and battery connection.

Our entire team and it’s supporters came out to watch his flight and provide encouragement.  The planes voltage was checked and then once the judges were ready, the official starter gave the command to start. Xavier quickly and efficiently plugged in and carried the plane into the sound check circle. It was easily completed and the plane was repositioned for takeoff in front of the judging panel.

Conditions were close to perfect with clear skies and a light breeze. Dez had a solid flight pretty much on par with my expectations for the “first” round. Minor in and out with a couple geometry errors overall. A good start to the team’s flying today and one that Dez and the team can build on going forward.

We headed back to the hotel to grab Mark’s plane and my own TX that he will use for his backup plane. Kelly and Robyn were kind enough to do a juice run over to Walmart... man we go through fluids in this heat!

With the cooler replenished and the van reloaded we departed for Camp Canada to grab Mark’s back up plane. Once there Mark packed his plane over to site #3 a couple of hundred yards away while I drove:-)

Mark is close to his flight.

Mark prepped the planes and with Hartley’s help positioned them in the #3 ready box. He would be following Benoit Paysant-Le Roux whom was already waiting in the #2 ready box position. They too had their batteries tested like Dez’s earlier flight. With timer in hand I listened as the official timer said “START...your on the clock” and they swung into action. Sound check complete Mark took off on his first official flight. He seemed nervous at first but soon settled into a nice steady pace. Working hard to fix minor errors he had a solid flight going when some unintended rudder inputs softened the score for his stall turn. He kept going and finished strong. I think Hartley was more nervous then he was!

His plane was weighed and also randomly selected for re-processing which he easily passed. A great flight and I was happy that he kept driving to finish well.
We had a short team meeting as the flight roster times had been changed for the next three days. Seems the “invert method” does not work well with this many pilots :-) I gave everyone a copy of the new schedule and we retired to the trailer to cool down.

Although Mark’s flight was well under the time limit of 8 minutes there was some concern about the difference between my time and the official time... I spoke with the starter and Line Coordinator and we quickly resolved the discrepancy.
We debriefed Marks flight and then readied for a trip over to site #1 for Chad’s first competition round. The usual crowd had gathered and a repeat of the whole process unfolded. Chad put in a very solid flight and I was happy for him. He received a big cheer from the Canadian contingent that came out to support him.

Chad concentrates as the his flight approaches.

Back to the trailer for additional debriefing and a small social. The scores were posted not far from the trailer so several trips ensued. The results really don’t tell much aside from which judging panel scored the highest. The competitors true placing will be determined when he has flown in front of all 4 judging panels..... any pronouncements about who is in first is completely premature at this point in time.

CPLR brings out the crowd!

The French team pose for photos.

Our guys all put in good rounds today and have laid the foundation to help build the teams position in the coming days.

Ian Clark emerged from his scribing position and had a story to tell. Seems a plane had an ESC issue and caught fire at Site #3 in the afternoon. I believe it was one of the Norwegian planes and I am unsure if he had a backup.

We all had some laughs around the trailer and were soon joined by Harry & Rosemary Ells and Derek Koopowitz. Agnes Northeast and Alev Bek also arrived back from there side trip to West Virginia. Dinner plans were made and we all headed for the Outback Steak House and then “home” for a rest.

I have added two more picture links... Ola Fremmings as well as Xavier's Prelim pictures... I have to say that Xavier has done a great job capturing the moment. The shots of Canada's TM running across the grass were most captivating :-) 

July 27th Flight  Orders...

Chad is at Site #3 at 8:24
Mark at Site #1 at 15:48
Dez is also at Site #1 at 16:30

Official Practice Day

Today was our teams official practice day but unfortunately mother nature had other ideas. Low clouds and mist enveloped the Muncie area and the flying site was basically shut down. You could fly low but no vertical elements could be flown.

After a requisite stop at Starbucks we arrived at site #1 and saw numerous people milling about. As I mentioned the weather stopped the flights and we all waited patiently for the clouds to break. We headed over to Camp Canada and relaxed when the skies parted and the big orange thing arrived on que!  We quickly headed back over to the site and got the planes assembled and ready. The Brazilians were first up followed by China and then Belgium.

The Three Amigos at site #1

We then got our chance to have each pilot unofficially timed along with a courtesy sound check. I took careful note of the process and with assistance from Tim Jesky, Robert Gainey and Jerry Plyer I had the sound test pretty well figured out. Those guys could not have been more helpful and easily answered my questions regarding when the clock stopped and started during the sound test. This seems to vary at times hence my Q.

Mark readies his gear.

All our planes easily made sound (Max is 94db at 3 meters) and completed the practice rounds in under 7 minutes & 30 seconds. Max is 8 minutes to complete the last maneuver in both P and F schedules.

Chad was up first and to my eye, once again had a solid round. Very minor blemishes but hey... no one is perfect. Mark went second and also had a solid round with Hartley calling for him. Slight adjustments were suggested for the next flights later in the day. Dez was last up and put in a good round with some minor issues on a couple elements as well. He has improved steadily as we approach the first of four P-11 flights tomorrow and will be ready.

The last team to fly at the site was Chinese Taipei and once finished it was a team free for all for practice rounds. After a short discussion regarding a sign up sheet versus the existing rotation we followed Brazil’s Carlos Haub and Belgium’s Bert Delaere and got in several flights each before pulling the pin on the practice session.

Team Canada and supporters.

The teams all formed up for a short march on to the grass area beside site #3’s entrance. With anthems playing the various teams marched in. We heard some nice short speeches by dignitaries and CIAM officials and then we were dismissed to a dinner and reception under the big tent. Lots of people enjoyed the meal and the odd libation.

Kelly toasts Team Canada!

The Team Managers met at the AMA Boardroom (Hartley came along in case I missed something:-) where we were brought up to speed on how the timing would be done, the planes sound checked, and impounded after for either weight or possibly a full inspection. All E powered planes will be weighted to negate the possibility of having heavier packs installed and thus fly over the maximum limit. A flight disqualifying no-no.

We also discussed the proper safety procedures regarding plugging in and the subsequent unplugging of batteries. The circuit must be open for safety reasons... hey it’s safe! :-)

Planes that failed sound checks would also be impounded following completion of their flights until the same packs could be fully recharged and the check done again.  Failure on the second attempt would nullify the flight score :-(

The rosters were published with the flight order and locations for the following four days. Based on the amount of entries there will be 27 Semi Finalists at this year’s event. We all received a nice booklet featuring all the team members and a short bio on each.

Managers at Site #1

 
The team managers all took a drive to both flying sites and had the locations of the pits, sound test and impound areas all clearly pointed out. Also the scoring facilities and other amenities of each flying site were discussed. In short order we were done and we headed back to Camp Canada to let the folks know when we would be flying.

Tuesday the 26th, 2011
Dez at site #3 at 8:39
Mark at Site #3 at 11:24
Chad at Site #1 at 14:30

I made sure everyone had the details as the team will be up early to support Dez in his first flight. That said it’s time to hit the rack... I am beat!

BTW I write this blog when I have time which is usually late at night when I am really tired! I try to cover everything that I can think of but as the days blend together I can make mistakes and well... can’t put two words together.... :-) This is why I go back and check the next day... to correct grammar and/or the infamous “run on sentence error”!

More pictures posted on Xavier’s folder.

Registration & Processing Day

Today was a rare event... a nice sleep in as our team registration and processing was at 10:35 in the morning. It was very nice!

With both planes loaded, we arrived early to the AMA building and set them up for inspection.  Chad and Dez also arrived and we were met by some familiar faces in Dave & Ron Lockhart, Andre Bouchard, Ron Van Putte and Joe Lachowski who work the various plane stations. 

Adding a last minute decal.

First the paperwork was separated for each of the competitors planes and I drew the pilot numbers out of a bucket. This will determine the flight line position and order that pilots will eventually fly. Once all the teams have been completed they will create a roster that will be given to us Monday night at the Managers meeting.

Chad is #49, Mark #41 and Dez #24 for rostering purposes. Next I was issued the Pilot and Team Manager bibs that must be worn during the competition. They are white with black trim and will match our uniforms perfectly.

Our FAI licenses were checked by Colleen Pierce and then taken for the duration of the contest... not sure when I will see them again :-) and I also delivered a Canadian Flag. We were all issued new AMA Licenses as well.

Each plane was subsequently checked for maximum wingspan & length, radio gear (no gyros!) and then each removable piece of the plane was affixed with a round decal with the competitors number on it. The official FAI sticker was also attached at this time.

Dave Lockhart takes a good look as Joe chats with Mark

The planes were weighed with batteries to ensure a maximum all up weight not exceeding 5 Kilograms (with an additional 1% margin for equipment error) and finally checked for failsafe function should TX power be lost during flight. Should the plane lose transmitter signal the throttle goes to off for safety. This is a simple test and is accomplished with the throttle up and the radio then turned to the off position. The motor should quit altogether. 

Xavier holds Dez's plane as Joe affixes stickers.

We needed to tweak Dez’s failsafe but once that was accomplished with the help of Chad, the team successfully completed registration and processing. We had both Hartley and Ian snapping pictures and with the main AMA building as a backdrop we took several team pictures. I’ll post them ASAP.

I have to commend the folks at processing as they did a great job getting us through. Very thorough, helpful and best of all friendly!

We grabbed a quick bite and headed to the practice field for more of the same :-) On arrival we could see that the weather was closing in so Mark put in a nice round followed by Chad but he bailed as the rains and winds hit again... he has bad luck with this! We packed up everything as Team Lichtenstein arrived to a huge downpour and gusty winds. We rode out the weather in our vehicles and in 30 minutes the system passed and we hit the skies again. The Irish team arrived and we quickly got in flights in our usual team manner.

An hour later it was time to head home as I was hosting a BBQ Social at Camp Canada for the team. Hartley and Pat graciously offered up their rig and with the help of Robyn, Pat, Kelly, Hartley and chef Marco we served up a steak dinner to the team, it’s supporters and our good friend Derek Koopowitz who just happened to stop by. I also took the liberty of inviting the Irish Team as well but they arrived a tad late due to various reasons. None the less we enjoyed the great company and everyone seemed to have a good evening listening to Ian crack jokes. As per normal we had a rain storm in the middle of it all just to cool us down a bit.

Post dinner social in full swing.

My “crew” get a big THANK YOU for making this happen... so good in fact that we will have to do it again... soon!

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.

Practice Day #3

A bit of a broken record folks but here we go... out the door and on the road at 8 AM this morning. Another quick drive to the flying site and our usual group of flyers hit the Indiana skies on yet another nice but hot day.

Mark took his backup airframe and made sure it was trimmed and ready to go should bad things happen. Chad also put in a flight on his #2 airframe and made sure it was set up. The air density here requires one to adjust radio settings in order to get the feel and crispness that you would get back home. Mark commented that his #2 actually felt better than #1 so he may swap it to be his primary for the event.... nice problem to have!

Chargers galore!

We also check the fail safe settings in all the planes as this is a requirement during official processing. All that will take place in the coming days ahead.

For those that didn’t look at Bulletin #3, the official registration time for Canada is Sunday the 24th at 10:35 AM and our practice time at site #1 is Monday morning at 9:15 AM. We will then move to site #3 for the opening ceremony and reception later that day.

We wrapped up practice around one o’clock and headed for lunch then back to the hotel to shower up... we have to be clean and smelling nice when the gals arrive later!

Pat & Hartley arrived at the AMA site around 3 o’clock in the afternoon after their week long adventures across the USA.  They set up the RV and then headed into Muncie for some supplies (wine perhaps?)

Camp Canada is on site!

We headed out to the AMA site #3 and started putting in rounds. Hartley was put to work calling for Mark and also had a chance to meet some of the competitors. Shane & Sinead from the Irish team along with Pablo Kuri from Ecuador were on site as well as the Lichtenstein contingent. The Taiwanese team also arrived and started flying as we wrapped up our day’s flying session.

Mark readies his Xigris under Hartley's watch 

full eye.

Robyn and Kelly arrived at 7 PM following their day visit in Toronto and subsequent flight to Indianapolis this afternoon. After checking in at the hotel they made their way to the field and joined Pat at the RV.  We finished packing up the plane we headed over to “Camp Canada” for a catch up on everyone’s day.

Nedim carries Chad's Xigris Evolution back after a flight. 

Chad & Nedim went to the Roadhouse with the Lichtenstein Team in tow. They also met up with Harry & Rosemary Ells and we joined them later as hunger was setting in. After a great dinner again we headed “home” to the hotel as the gals headed to Walmart for “stuff”.

Xavier has started to take pictures and will list a link under the Pictures section on the right side of the page. For you smart phone types in blog land it’s here.....
 https://picasaweb.google.com/xavier.mouraux/20110722Practice#

Practice Day #2

Both Mark and I were up well before the alarm clock and headed for IHOP for a quick breakfast & coffee. A quick loading of the gear and we were headed out once again... see a trend here? We set the cruise control and waited for the van to make it’s way to the flying site... it knows the way now!

Paul carries John's plane back after a sortie.

 

Team Ireland (without Angus Balfour) were already flying and Mark quickly got his plane assembled and ready to fly. Team Liechtenstein arrived moments later and so did Dez and Nel. I think everyone wanted to start early and beat out the heat because today was a scorcher ... 101 degrees!! The Irish team must of thought there was an invasion!

Chad & Nedim arrived and got a good natured ribbing about sleeping in... all in fun of course. The teams took turns flying as both myself and Paul Houlihan managed to successfully complete the paper work for processing our respective teams.  This allowed me to stay in the shade as long as possible :-)

The winds were brisk out of the west and everyone seemed to handle it without any problems. I witnessed many flights from all the pilots and they all showed definite improvements from yesterday.  I believe everyone is getting more accustomed to the flying site and the weather.

I had brought my bib I wore in Argentina and made Mark wear it for his last flight. I remembered that it felt different when worn and I want Mark to have the experience before he flew at the worlds... one less “new” thing to experience. He looked good in it to. LOL

After the lunch hour we all packed up and headed back into Muncie for some R&R. We stopped at the local ice cream shop. Paul had mentioned that his team had stopped there and highly recommended it.... well those Irish were right! It was so good and we plan to stop for lunch tomorrow... anyway I am getting off topic.. sorry.

The AMA site allows open flying after 5 pm so we loaded the van and headed out for a quick drive around the site. We ended up at Site #1 as Mark wanted to put a few rounds in having never flown here. Chad just yawned :-) then put in a burner round. He seemed very comfortable today and in his element.

The Japanese team starts to assemble their planes.

The Japanese entourage arrived en mass and we were once again treated to some great model construction eye candy. These guys never cease to amaze me with their spotless planes. They put some flights in but fuel issues plagued them as the fuel that was shipped to support the team has not arrive. They made due with some “other” fuel and I suspect they will find the correct blend in short order. I heard today that the French team had similar problems as well up in Peoria.... see their blog.

Xavier arrived and called a round for Dez then after watching the Japanese team fly again, we packed up and headed to the hotel to put Mark’s #2 airframe together. Hartley and Pat finally checked in and were in El Paso, Illinois. I suspect that they should arrive tomorrow afternoon and Camp Canada will be in full swing shortly thereafter. The Clark’s were at the Smithsonian in Washington as they worked their way west.

The gals start their adventure to the Worlds tonight on the red eye out of Victoria, BC..... but that’s another story yet to be told.

I have added additional pictures to the team section so check them out... I will get the captions done as soon as possible. I will log off now and hit the rack... it’s ground hog day again tomorrow!

Practice Day

We met up with Nell, Dez, Nedim & Chad in the morning as we grabbed a quick snack downstairs. They were set to depart for the practice site so we headed back up to the room to assemble Mark’s planes.  Everything was in good order as the plane boxes were emptied and everything inspected for possible damage. Mark elected to assemble only his #1 airframe for today's practice session and after getting it all put together, we loaded up the van and were on our way.

A quick stop at Subway (for our lunch) and we arrived at the field in short order. Several teams were also actively using the site and I had a chance to meet the Irish Team Manager Paul Houlihan and his pilots Angus Balfour, John Martin and Shane Robinson. I had met Shane in Argentina in 07 with his helper/caller and wife Sinead and she was also here doing those duties. It was good to renew acquaintances with them.

The team from Lichtenstein was practicing as well and we were introduced to Wolfgang Matt, Stefan and Rob Kaiser and I believe the other team member/manager was Gunther Matt. 

Practice time.

Mark spent the first flight checking trims and putting in a few elements to see what the performance was like from our relatively colder climate and sea level elevation. With some tweaking to improve roll rates, the plane looked good and Mark was happy. Dez also put in numerous rounds as we watched. Nedim was calling and with some suggestions, had Dez starting to lock in his plane. Some throttle issues remain and with some addition tweaking we should have this resolved for tomorrows practice. Chad had solid rounds and worked hard in the winds and heat. His Xigris Evolution performed flawlessly and he seemed pleased with his flights. What more can a guy ask for.

Dez readies for another flight.

The teams took turns flying and with the heat sucking the energy out of everyone, the flying stopped around 1500 local. Did I mention there is a heat wave that is breaking records? Hottest in a decade they say!

There were some very nice flights put in with various flying styles observed. Larger & faster flights along with slower, more methodical styles contrasted the P-11 schedules flown.

We headed back to Muncie and after a nice swim to cool down we all headed to the Texas Roadhouse for dinner. It was very good. Tomorrow we will see the arrival of Xavier Mouraux to the onsite team.  No updates today from the Hughson’s or Clark’s so I am unsure of their travel status at the time of posting this blog.