Event
Coverage by Ken Isaac, Mike
Buzzeo, Matt Kirsch, and Jeff Ring
First
held in 2004 ETOC (Electric Tournament of Champions) has
quickly become the premier event for indoor airplane aerobatics.
In 2008 the ETOC raised the bar to the level of being
the greatest indoor electric contest held. An this year
will not only continue, but promises to get better ETOC
is the Granddaddy of all electric events and sets the
standards for all other electric events to follow. This
year the ETOC invited 16 of the world's best pilots (sweet
sixteen) to compete to be the "Best of the Best"
as only the ETOC can determine. So sit back and get ready
for some of the best indoor flying in the world.
The
competition at ETOC is broken into 2 nights worth of
flying, Friday April 3rd and Saturday April 4th. On
Friday night all 16 pilots will compete for an opportunity
to move on to the Semi-Finals. Each pilot will fly 2
rounds of the Known Sequence and 2 rounds Freestyle
where the pilot is free to compose the routine he will
fly. The top eight pilots them move on to the semi-finals
on Saturday night. In the semi-finals each of the 8
pilots will again fly 2 rounds of the Known Sequence
and 2 rounds of their Freestyle Sequence. From these
8 pilots the top 4 move on to the Final round. In the
Final round each pilot will again fly one round of the
Known Sequence and one round of the Freestyle Sequence.
The ETOC 2009 Champion is determined from these 4 pilots
in the Final round, as well as 2nd and 3rd place.
At any event such as ETOC there
is always plenty going on other than the flying
taking place, and it's these sights that help
make the event great. Here are some of the
sights of ETOC.
When
a group of outstand pilots such as those at ETOC come
together to compete you can be assured of some of the
best flying around as well as fierce, but friendly, competition
trying to win. And this years event did not disappoint.
The flying this year was some of the best ever seen which
made the judges jobs very difficult this year. The scores
were incredibly close this year, however winners were
chosen. Judging by the flying it's clear to see why these
pilots hold the title "Best Pilots". We congratulate
all the winners of ETOC. And a big pat on the back to
all the pilots that made ETOC so fantastic. Thanks from
all of RCU!
Top Three Finishers
1st Place - Seth
Arnold
2nd Place - Jason Noll
3rd Place - Gernot Bruckman
Annual Awards
These
awards are new for the ETOC. They are awarded each year
and the
winners name will be attached to the front of the award.
What are the flat panels behind the main wings of a lot of the planes for? My guess is for limiting speed by having a more consistent drag, or are they some kind of control surfaces? Anyway would someone mind explaining it to me or posting a link to an explanation. It really has me confounded.
Thanks.
I think the skill of these pilots is very impressive; the snap rolls are so accurate.
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