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Joined: 7/11/2002 From: Raleigh, NC, USA Status: offline
I thought everyone would enjoy a pictorial overview from the recent USRA giant scale air race that was held in Ashtabula, OH on August 19-21. CD Tony Husak and the MARCS club have been hosting this race for five years at the Ashtabula County Airport and they certainly put on a very well-run contest for this sixth year, too. Best of all, the racing was awesome and everyone had a wonderful time!
This is the main hanger that was used for pilot meetings, nightly aircraft storage, and the Saturday night banquet. The racers were stored among the full-scales which made for some interesting photo opportunities!
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Joined: 7/11/2002 From: Raleigh, NC, USA Status: offline
The pits were mostly setup on the aircraft parking ramp area and along the main taxiway. Here are some general shots of several of the competitor's pit areas.
Posts: 140
Joined: 7/11/2002 From: Raleigh, NC, USA Status: offline
The aircaft were staged according to class and the current heat matrix along the main taxiway. Here the Dominators are first up with the Fornula 1-GT planes awaiting their turn. An interesting variety of aircraft is evident!
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Joined: 7/11/2002 From: Raleigh, NC, USA Status: offline
The fueling station was professionally managed by the incomparable Pete Hanbury. He expertly delivered the gas and kept everyone laughing with his "antics". Eric Hunter gets his GR-7 a fresh tank here.
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Joined: 7/11/2002 From: Raleigh, NC, USA Status: offline
The pilot stations were arranged and protected with carefully placed hay bails. Note the five "lane" colors. Here, the Formula One pilots and thier crew members await the start of their heat race. Once race control has everything ready, they give the command to start engines and the launch seqeunce commences while the two-minute start clock counts down. Ken McSpadden's orange GR-7 is just about to be released as Fred Sargent (left) and Fred French (right) circle overhead.
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Joined: 7/11/2002 From: Raleigh, NC, USA Status: offline
The camera I was using was not well suited for flight shots, so I decided to get plenty of static shots of airplanes.
Pic 1 - I believe this is Mike Tallman's #29 GR-7 in the foreground and Dean Cranston preparing his Polecat in the background.
Pic 2 - Another Polecat that Terry Williams' flew in the F1 class with another Dominator from the Indiana gang.
Pic 3 - The "twin" Kellys (sorry scoring judges!) from "Potential Flow Racing". That's the #43 of Larry Lewis (at the trailer door) in the foreground and my #42 in back. We both raced in the F1-GT class and fortunately only flew in the same heat once.
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Joined: 7/11/2002 From: Raleigh, NC, USA Status: offline
Pic 1 - Dad, Scott Hanbury (right) and Mike Tallman (center) getting ready to do an engine run on Jake Hanbury's Dominator.
Pic 2 - Ed Rankin, a cornerstone of this hobby for many years, sits and ponders the next heat with his fast, self-designed, F1 "Proud Bird". The very knowledgeable and awesome flying Fred Sattler did the piloting honors.
Pic 3 - "Fast Freddy" French has it all figured out. He has sleek own-designed airplanes (green F1-GT GR-7 in front and red F-1 version on stand), powered by awesome self-modified engines (in his F-1), with a great caller in his wife, and has the "thumbs" to get the job done right! He won both classes at this race!
Posts: 140
Joined: 7/11/2002 From: Raleigh, NC, USA Status: offline
Pic 1 - I believe this is Larry Sutherland with a Cosmic Wind F-1. This aircraft was quite fast but unfortunately was grounded after the rudder departed and was lost out in the field. Who says everyone flies a GR-7!
Pic 2 - Although I don't recall the owner's name, this was the best looking Dominator I have seen. Fred French helped the fellow Texas flyer all weekend and even donated a Zenoah GT-80 to him at the awards ceremony. What a great mentor!
Pic 3 - More of those "Texas guys". Jerry Bradley (front) and Eric Hunter (rear) ready their GR-7's. Jerry won F-1 at the Rantoul race! I think this was a new airplane for Eric and he made the Gold Trophy race with it!
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Joined: 7/11/2002 From: Raleigh, NC, USA Status: offline
Pic 1 - The fun and ever-helpful Ray "Big Dog" Thompson poses with his Cassutt.
Pic 2 - Big Dog and Bobby Slaughter are trying hard to revitalize the biplane class. They each flew 1/3 scaleGreat Planes Christan Eagle ARF's with GT-80's in them. These planes are cheap, legal (as modified Pitts S-2's), strong , and fast and should get many more people racing quickly.
Pics 3&4 - Loren and Sammy with their fleet of racers. Shown are an F-1 Proud Bird (in back), an unlimited NA-50 (center), and a Dominator (right).
Posts: 140
Joined: 7/11/2002 From: Raleigh, NC, USA Status: offline
Pic 1 - The "Team JR Racing" pits were full of aircraft. Pete Goldsmith is all smiles as he and Larry Lewis trade laughs. That's Pete's Kelly in front of him.
Pic 2 - And this is Pete's "Vendetta" that was developed as a light-weight, low complexity unlimited racer powered by a DA-150 on glow! Tom Keating (foreground) and Chris Justus worked very hard with Pete to get his thing right....and they did! It was competitive!!
Pic 3 - Tom also likes something different with his F-1. Here, he poses with his "Video Cassutt" that he and Chris developed. Cool!
Pic 4 - This is Chris' GR-7 that I had to battle with all weekend. He was consistently fast and finished second in the F1-GT Gold.
Pic 5 - All you need at the flight line is your TX and a starter....NOT! Chris Justus packs up the wagon.
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Pics from Ashtabula, OH USRA Race - 
