I think the open FAI unknown is going to be tradition for a while at least
my sides STILL hurt.
Well that and the night time foamie wars....the death foamie shall rise again!!!!! man I haven't seen that much carnage since......ok, never. We have video but....it might get us kicked out of the AMA!
oh yeah we had a pattern contest too. LOL
See my post above about the great weather forecast? Well scratch that, it was nasty windy, but still a lot of fun and some GREAT flying. Only 20 people showed up....but 20 people showed up!
As usual the sportsman, intermediate and advanced classes were where the most intense competition was. Forrest Shaffer, Mike Williams, Skip GEtelman and Doug "state of mississippi champion" harvell flew thier tails off in sportsman, with young Forrest taking 5 out of 6 rounds. That kid is going to be lethal boys....and most of the scores stayed in the 900s from everyone so that tells you the level of competition. Skip finally flew in his first AMA contest and did VERY well with his Focus sport.
Intermediate, well, Chris "the monster" Odom took all 6 rounds, one of which averaged almost 92%.....in darn near gale force winds. Likin that VF3 Chris? LOL Mikael Fedon (of Fedon Aircraft fame) took a well fought second with a borrowed plane, and Austin Wingo did very well with his new VF3 as well. Dean "the dude" Funk took 4th laying down some killer flights with his old V2. Victor Diaz took 5th with his recently acquired Symphony, (welcome Victor!), and "Uncle" Larry Odom brought up the rear with a combination of his musical engine Focus and Chris's VF3.
Advanced....Gary Courtney took all 4 rounds on Saturday, with Jon Lowe close behind in second, "Strong" Jamie Strong in 3rd, and Mike "dangit Austin I did all the work let ME fly a little too" Wingo having a blast and flying very well in 4th.
Masters.....what can I say, "Smokin" Joe Walker all the way, his kind of weather....his kind of flying....out and WFO (means "fast" LOL). Can't touch that....but John "will this thing go any faster?" Fuqua came very close. Myself, Mike "I swear I'll build myself a plane one day" Hester took 3rd having some good solid mid 900 flights followed by one episode of utter blindness (again)....and that wrapped up masters.
FAI was a lot of good fun and comradiery between Ryan "I don't need a 2 meter!" McLaughlin and Emory Schroeter (flying my old weathered prototype) and both had a lot of fun.
But of course, NOTHING compared to the open FAI unknown on Sunday. I had a feeling if we had the right crowd, this would be a lot of fun....and for once I was right
When Melissa gets back if anyone is interested I'll post the pattern we flew....it was....umm...massochistic to say the least. It included such gems as an inverted figure M with half rolls, an inside loop with integrated roll from the top, a 2 turn then 2 turn opposite negative spin on the end of the box, a cuban 8 with 1 1/2 snaps on the 45s, well you get the idea. And it was open to anyone who had the guts...with one catch: Everyone had to fly it with Jason's prototype Era 50 in nats level winds!!!!!!!! Since Jon Lowe (the "hangin judge") and I judged it, and the rest of the pilots were required to stand there and heckle the pilot, I have to admit that was probably THE most fun time I have ever sat in a judges chair, with no close second. Heck it was raining during some of the flights and I didn't even care..... I'll put it this way, one pilot had straight zeroes, a 1, and a 2....that's it....LOLOL
The really cool thing is, nobody cared who really won or lost, we just did it and the guys did thier best under such extreme circumstances and it was like a trial by fire, a D3 "hazing" if you will. But if it matters, Ryan won, Joe Walker got 2nd, and Mikael Fedon got 3rd out of 7 pilots. (MIkael had the sweetest outside rolling loop from the top out of anyone! Kids....sheesh...LOL) our only real concern was not crashing the plane, and I am happy to report that it's not scratched, and is now enshrined as a D3 legend!!!!
There was more, and I;'ll post a more "official" report as soon as melissa gets back and I have a minute.
I want to thank Gary, my wife Melissa, Skip and Bruce, and Ga Jets for the use of thier awesome facility. I also want to PERSONALLY thank each and every person in attendance, you are why we do what we do, and you are why no matter what, it's always "worth it".
-Mike