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.

Travel Update - Part III

 Chad & Nedim hit a practice field near Muncie this morning but I have had no updates or Facebook status reports from him lately.

Hartley and Pat sent some pictures as they toured Mt Rushmore today. Only one email as I suspect they 1) could'nt find internet access or 2) found a wine store :-)

Hartley's adventures!

Mark and Robyn picked me up this morning and after saying good bye to Kelly we headed to the airport for the flight to YYZ (Toronto). The plane is posting a 20 minute delay so our connection time to Indianapolis is minimized a bit... shouldn’t be a problem.

Bags and excess baggage ( 2 plane boxes) were processed quickly by the friendly Air Canada Express staff at the Victoria airport.  Mark’s bag weighed in at 49.2 lbs... just under the limit LOL
Our flight left 20 minutes late due headwinds on the inbound flight... but that meant tail winds for us! We landed in Toronto and within 35 minutes had grabbed our baggage, clear customs redeposited baggage and arrived at the plane. That is pretty good for YYZ. Our planes arrived along with the bags but we sat for another 30 minutes waiting for other connecting passengers.

Mark composes his blog.

The flight down was uneventful (the best kind!) and I watched Mark type out his blog report on the way. We quickly grabbed our gear and headed to the rental car facility at the Indianapolis airport to pick up our van.

In the new terminal in Indianapolis

After loading up we headed around the ring road and connected to HWY 69 northbound to Muncie. An hour quickly past before we arrived at our hotel. Boxes and planes unloaded we hit the local Walmart for supplies. I’ll update tomorrow with new details

Walmart supply run complete!

Dez and Nell also arrived in Muncie today and we will get together with them in the AM. That’s it for now. Off to bed.

Travel Update part II

Both Chad and Nedim are making themselves right at home in Muncie as they take in the sights of the town. Reports indicate that they spent the day flying with Shane and Sinead Robinson from Team Ireland
but I am unsure where exactly.......  guessing the AMA site. I believe they even indulged in a liquid refreshment or two at the Roadhouse this evening. Must have been a tough day of practice for those boys!

Hartley & Pat are "unavailable"... seems the internet is not functioning well for them tonight. I believe they are in the Rapid City area basting in the 100 degree heat! Yikes hope the A/C is working for them in that RV.

Mark has been busy packing and has updated his Worlds Blog. Hit the link to the right under the Blog section and check out his packing progress/technique. We swapped some equipment today so we can share the baggage limits for the flight tomorrow.

Boarding passes are printed and Robyn and Mark will be around in the morning to pick me up... better get packing TTYL.

Travel Update

After a quick pit stop/sleep in Champaign, IL. and a dinner with Ac Glenn and Ryan Smith....  both Chad and Nedim hit the Eli RC Field in Monticello, IL this morning along with Ac. They got the planes going and after some flights headed to Muncie and checked in to their "home away from home". Glad to see they made it!

Hartley & Pat also put in almost 500 miles again today and are in a camp site in Sundance, Wyoming. There was some bad news though... after setting up the RV, Hartley went to grab a cold bottle of wine from the fridge and...... well there was none!  They ran out! I believe this is a first to my knowledge:-)

Along the Bozeman trail.

Tomorrow they will head to a campsite around Rapid City, South Dakota. and spend a few days checking out the sights and I suspect, the local wine stores:-)

The Road to Muncie

Although some team members are still relaxing at home or on vacation :- ), others are well into the long drive to Muncie. Chad & Nedim departed on Friday morning and tonight they are in Champaign, IL. With the van full of planes they will hit an RC field tomorrow morning and get in a few rounds before heading in to Muncie on Sunday. This will give them a break from driving and allow for some relaxed flying prior to the last push through.

Pat and Hartley left Sechelt, BC early Friday and stayed in Bridgeport, WA last night. They pounded through some 495 miles of continental divide today and are safely camped in Three Forks, Mt. just west of Boseman.  The camp site has wi-fi so we managed to skype tonight and get caught up on their adventures.

Camp Canada in Three Forks

Grand Coulee

They will head towards Wyoming & South Dakota with a stop planned at Mount Rushmore. The Black Hills and the Badlands will also warrant a visit. They are making good time and may even arrive a day early into Muncie... maybe. At this point we hope to see them on the 23rd as they are cruising eastward on pace.

I will be heading back home tomorrow from our mini vacation to make final arrangements and pack for my Tuesday flight with Mark. We will fly via Toronto into Indianapolis and grab a rental van for the drive up to Muncie. Walmart ice cream section... look out!

Welcome

OK folks here we go with my rendition of the 2011 team blog page. I will attempt to match the reporting that was done from our trip to Argentina in 2007.

I'll be making adjustments along the way as I edit and format these pages with additional links etc. but this will be my take on the proceedings. As I have the honor of being Team Manager I hope to add my perspective on this event and give everyone as much info as possible from this viewpoint.

Of course my job will come first... er let me rephrase that... my wife Kelly comes first :-), managing the team second and then blogging so if things seem a bit slow at times it's because I'm preoccupied with my duties :-)

So where are we at now....

Planning has been going on for the team's trip pretty much from the time the team trials finished up. Both Hartley Hughson and myself were asked to help with the calling and managing jobs going forward. Since then we have been busy getting things in order with hotel and travel bookings, donation requests, raffles and uniform arrangements. We also arranged for complete accounting of team funds etc. to ensure financial stability and a clear understanding of what the costs would be and how we as a team, would pay for it all.

With the AMA Nationals follow right after we also planned on flying at that event... but that's another story :-)

Following a very successful fund raising effort we are in good shape with some great individual donations as well as corporate donation from Sherwin Williams Paints. (Thanks Hartley!)

We've paid all our entry fees and will receive additional travel funding from MAAC's FAI Competition Fund. Thanks to MAAC for this continuing support!

As of today, Chad and Nedim are on the road/flooding through Saskatchewan and across the Canadian/US border. Hartley & Pat have picked up their trailer and are across the border at Blaine. Mark is practicing before the rains hit one last time before packing up the planes and I am in Campbell River relaxing with a cold beer in my hand :-) Can you tell why I am in management :-)

Dezso is packing his #1 airframe and will drive down to Muncie. Both Mark and I head out on Tuesday for Muncie and will meet up with Dezso & Nell . Xavier will be calling for Dez and will arrive later with Dez's #2 airframe. We also have several team supporters coming from across the country. Our spouses from the West Coast & Alberta, Spencer Gray from Ontario, and Cheryl and Ian Clark from New Brunswick.

Hartley & Pat's trailer will be the one flying the Canadian and MAAC flags in the RV parking lot at the AMA site... be sure to stop by and say hello.

If you spot links that you feel would enhance this blog then feel free to pass it on and I will add it accordingly.