Well another season approaches and I don't Know about everyone else but I'm stoked. Really looking forward to this competition . Some people say it was better than the jr challenge last year. Prizes were great, The mc was motivating (The mouth of the south Bob Sadler), Chip Hyde put on a great show, and the competition was fierce. Hoping the weather holds up. I would like to hear your comments ... Post them here in this thread.


See ya there
Tony Fandino

The Imac adventures of Tony and Gerry
http://tonyandgerry.com

So what class are you flying?!
See you there!

This is our first time there hope the weather is flyable.

G I fly in sportsman. As far as the conditions. Well can u say miserable. FR winds gust to 24 90 degree crosswind. Sat. winds gust to 20 30 degree cross wind out of the Northwest. Sun wind gust to 20 30 degree cross wind from the Northeast.
SO boy did you have to work to fly a strait line not to mention landing your airplane.

As far as the event . 64 pilots showed up 23 in sportsman . that made for some slow going. But the prizes and camaraderie made it well worth the trip . This year chip Hyde was here competing and doing all the wild fling he is known for. I do want to make a point to thank him and all the sponsors that made all the prizes possible .Chip went out of his way to give an airplane to a young pilot who really needed some help. KUDOS CHIP ! Bob Saddler was also present providing us with some witty entertainment. The hardest thing to deal with was the cold, it was 39 degrees on Sunday morning and at one O'clock it hadn't broken 50.

this year i didn't do well but there's next year.... and i came home with my plane in one piece.

Tony Fandino
the Imac adventures if Tony and Gerry
http://tonyandgerry.com

Tony!, hey bud it's Kelly. Let me backup with what you said about the temperature, man was it COLD all weekend, especially Sunday. So many pilots showed up (mostly sportsman) that the second round wasn't even completed after the first day. This meant that we all had to organize and work really hard to get the rest of the second round done so we could fly the unknowns. The unknown's were also handed out on Sunday so we all hopped in our vehicles with our limited stickplane aerobatic box trying to practice these unknowns!

The event wouldn't have been the success that it was without it's sponsors, as Tony said. Off the top of my head big thanks need to go out to Bob Shapiro for doing all he can to keep everything running smoothly and getting all of the pilots together and making this event a big step from what it was last year. Mike Stokes for donating several Futaba and Great Planes products for the pilots. Team JR for also donating several prizes. Chip Hyde for donating a few airplanes to the contest, and for helping out local Ocala native Ben by setting him up with a NIB Cap-X! I'd also like to congradulate Baron Johnson for getting the Master's invite from his 4th place finish against several pilot's that were already invited from placing top 10 in the TOC. All in all it was a great contest, accept for the cold, and I'll definetly make the 2 hour trip again next year.

-Kelly

Kelly Congrats on you victory in advanced (pretty impressive). This guy made the jump from sportsman to advanced.
Great job... It was a pleasure to see everyone from ocala and all other parts of the state there . There was quite a turnout.
Carlos had some tough luck with his motor breaking a piston ring. I might see you guys at the jr challange yet...


Later Dude
great job

Tony Fandino

Thanks for the kind words Tony! Carlos is putting the motor from his cap on the 260 today to get it flying again. We are planning on flying this weekend. We will also most definetely see you down at the challange.

-Kelly

Kelly or Tony:

You don't by any chance have the finals for each class do you,??.

Sorry no. We will all have to wait till the results are posted at the imac website.

Well after I totaled my plane and engine on takeoff, my time was dismal! I figured I would get a prize for the best crash but NO!!!!!

It wasn't that cold but I did have a great time!

Sounds like a good contest....

Geistware.....sorry to hear you crashed. What happened?

Pugs

Geistware
If you are the guy with the Patty I'm the guy with the other Patty who totaled my canopy. I called Great Planes today and they are going to replace it. Of course its out of stock. Well back to thawing out!
What time did it get over? We finally left at 4:00 because we weren't going to get to fly Sunday. We decided to head home before the awards. Does anyone know if the Basic standings will be posed?

Hummmm. I would like to hear that story.........



Hey Miles, It was nice meeting you, sorry to hear about your patty.

rdcracer, yea, we talked. you were telling me about that and the fact that I got your wing tube

AS far as the crash, everything works here. I have run the packs down and charged them and run them down again cycling the servos with my 9C. From what I was told at the field, the elevators deflected "DOWN" when I took off.

It was a controlled maneuver and I would like to have seen a list of pilots on Channel 38.
At first I thought it went into failsafe but if it did, the throttle would have went to idle. I do have to admit, that I store my transmitter with the throttle at idle. If someone turned theirs on, it should go to idle or some setting different than mine. Unless the controls are reversed then their idle would be my WOT.

G always remember if you had a pcm rec. and some one turned on your airplane should have held its attitude ( lock out) unless you had your failsafes programed. I was judging basic at the time of your crash . I saw the airplane lift off then I looked down and heard crash. It totally caught us off guard. G could something could have come lose on the elevator control ? I know there was not much left but when you got to the crash site did you look at your linkage on the elevator ? Just some idea's . Don't let this mishap discourage you . It can happen to anyone.


good luck
Tony Fandino

It wasn't in fail safe because the engine didn't throttle back. (I checked and verified this) The rudder and elevator worked great. No problems. I had 1750 and 1710 left on my packs (1800maH rating) everything works. I guess it was just unfortunate circumstances that caused it. I would like to thank Peter Jackson for letting me use his plane. He is a true gentleman!

The results are now posted on the IMAC website...

http://www.mini-iac.com/pages/schedu...lts.asp?ID=578

Well, 21 out of 24 is bad but I would have been last without Peter letting me use his plane so I can't someplain and he shows that he is a true sportsman!

So Baron,

Did you and Ransom get the automatic invites to the Masters? If I am correct here, then congratulations! If not, then who? I'm pretty sure I read that you did. Who else? It is cold as hell here--looking for any IMAC info I can get!

Ken

Yes, and thanks!

Do you fly a FUTABA 9 ZAP Tx G? I have observed the following:
You know how when you turn the Tx on, it takes a few seconds to go through the "BOOT UP". Well, I used to get impatient and just hit the little "END" button. With both of my 9 ZAPs, if you have Fail Safe activated, and you don't let the Tx boot up undisturbed, the fail safe may not function. It seems that the Tx must boot up undisturbed to implement the FS, or it is at the beginning of the signal that it lets the Rx know what the FS settings are. I am not sure. What ever Tx you have try this test. Turn on Tx and hit the END button immediately to go to the menus. Turn on Rx and put the sticks in a corner and turn Tx off.... will your system go to FS? My system sometimes will... and sometimes wont.... usually not. I have had 100% success if I turn the Rx on first, then turn on the Tx and let it boot up undisturbed. I check this at the end of each flight by "Boxing the sticks" and then shutting Tx off... and watch plane for Control Surface response..... Is this a documented issue with FUTABA?

I have never heard of that problem. From what I know the "boot up" sequence you speak of is to tell you weather or not switches are in non-default or preset positions. I bypass this sequence every time i turn on my Tx and don't ever come across the problem you mentioned. The FS info is sent out every few seconds indicated by the blinking red light on top of the Tx. Geistware also flies a 9C from what I saw anyways.

-Kelly

Interesting, I do have a 9C and I never thought about canceling the boot up. I have a campac clone and I measure the boot up at 3 seconds. While I can cancel the boot-up (an option I didn't know I had) why would I? If this is checking out my transmitter, then it is one more assurance that I will have a successful flight. I want all of the comfort I can get.

Believe it or not, I do a range check after I make changes to a plane. I also do a range check at 'ANY' new field that I fly at. The first time in 4 years that I didn't do that, I crashed! (Venice contest). Guess what????? I will never not do a range check at a new field again! I need all the guarantees of a successfully flight I can get.... 3 seconds! just not worth it

Miles,
That's some where around $400.00 a second...............[]

If I can get paid that for a job, I would work one day then retire!
I just wish that crashs was due to the lack of skill and not the unknown!