First off I would like to thank John Schroder and Dave Link for putting on such a great event. Without these two gentlemen this contest would not have been possible. They were able to fly 56 pilots in total of 2 rounds on Saturday with plenty of time to spare for some of us to have some fun flying at the end of the day. On Saturday they handed out the unknowns to those pilots who chose not to fly Saturday after the last round and Sunday morning they handed the unknowns out to the rest of us and the flying began.

This event was special in the fact that two things were happening, one was that this contest held a special point system that would allow somebody in a lower class to win the grand champion award and also this event had basic fly a round of unknowns on Sunday. The unknowns were special this weekend because the exact unknown for each class was being flown at approximately 3-4 other contests around the world.

So again I would like to thank John Schroder, Dave Link, all the unlimited pilots for judging, all other contestants for there help judging, scribing and running scores back to be entered into the computer. Most of all I would like to thank all the pilots for showing up because with out you guys there would be no contests.


I would also like to thank John Sharpless from Aerotech for again helping me out at the contest. He was kind enough to call for me all weekend and once again start off my freestyle for me. He was also kind enough to trailer my airplane up to the field each day and trailer it home each day for me and for that I would like to send out a big thank you to him. THANK YOU JOHN SHARPLESS

I would also like to thank John Nelon who was unable to finish out the contest due to work. He was also kind enough to call for me on one round this weekend and was once again brave enough to lend me his Aerotech Extra 300 midwing airplane to use in my freestyle. I appreciate everything he has done for me and would also like to extend a big thank you out to him as well. THANK YOU JOHN NELON

I would also like to thank Matt Scott for trailering my airplane out to the field one of the days also. I was fortunate to call for Matt on his first round and was blown away by how much he has improved. Look for him in the future as he will be a great competitor in the next few years.



I was honored this weekend by being the second recipient of the grand champion award at the annual Spring Classic in Bay City. This is a great award to achieve and I cannot wait until next year to pass this trophy on to the next winner. This trophy is just like The first Grand Champion recipient Kelly Gerber Said “a traveling trophy which is the first of its kind.” I agree with him and this really and truly is a great award for all the future winners.

So again I extend my utmost appreciation to all those that made this event possible both for the contestants and for myself as well. I am honored to be the 2006 Bay City Annual Spring Classics Grand Champion. I am looking forward to next year and hope to see all of you there again, good luck to you all and happy flying.

Michael Elder