First of all congrats to Andrew on pulling off a win a the XFC. I know what went on there behind the scenes and I can imagine how you (he) must of felt. A mutual friend of ours told me you just turned your hat around and went out and flew your *** off. That was fairly obvious from the results. Even though I have seen you fly just a few times, I have known from the beginning you have the talent and ability to go as far as you want in this hobby. With that said, I also will tell you the same thing that someone (Ivan Christiansen)who I still respect very much, to this day, said to me after I won FAI for the first time in 1984. He said "Its lonely at the top" and he was speaking from experience. Being 12 at the time and seeing as how none of my friends that were my age flew that saying didn't really apply until I was about your age. That is when I started hangin out with fellow competitors and honestly considered them my friends.

However as you will soon see when you are constantly finishing ahead of them it becomes very hard for most people to take, and then all of the sudden you realize every single person that is in your class is out for only one thing, and that is to beat you. That can make for some long contests, but looking at it from this perspective has really made things like Toledo(for me) a peice of cake. The way I look at it now is, competition flying is like a job and you may not always like your work. However by being successful in competition(job) you then get the benefits(FUN) of doing things like demos in Antigua, Brazil, Japan and so on, all expenses paid. That makes it all well worth it, not to mention all the awesome and different people that you will meet along the way.

You know what I think about you, and where I stand on most things, so be sure to let me know if there is anything I can ever do to help. Also, you can't please everyone all the time no matter how much you would like to, but you don't have to take no s--- from people either. Keep up the hard work, cause your gonna need to BRING IT if you want the NATS too <G>.

Since going electric I feel bourne again and am LOVIN F3A. Other then the 5 minute wing change after my midair in Vegas, I have done zero maintance on my Genesi and that includes wipen it off<LOL> 2 flights in the morning 2 in the afternoon day in and day out like clockwork.

By the way your real friends, like Jones and Pete, you better not ever let anything come between you because they are far and few between. You are lucky to have them.

Any how guys I am sorry for getting off subject, I was just gonna post some pics of how we are rigging the Genesis, as well as let every one know the weights I have been seeing. The glow version is anywhere from 10lbs 2ounces to 10lbs 6 ounces depending on setup and the EP version (with carbon tubes and the 5300 mah packs) is coming in right at 10 pounds 10 ounces to 10 3/4. Thats with a 90 controller and you can save an additional 2 oz if you go with the 77, like I am using in Scandalous. I thought I had pics on my laptop but I do not so I will put them up tomorrow.

Congrats one last time on the XFC and I look forward to flying with you soon.

DV