Doug Cronkhite

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1st - Jesky
2nd - Shulman
3rd - Wickizer
Alt - Hyde
Jr - Sczcur (you must be CRAZY proud Don!)

TonyF

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Congrats to all the team members! Congrats to Andrew for domination. And a big congrats to Jason. Way to show how to come back!

Ricardo M.

Does anybody have info about the equipment used ? I´m interested in the planes used.

Thank you.

Doug Cronkhite

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Andrew flew his new Proteus, Jason flew Mark Leseburg's Sensation (Gernot Bruckmann design), Wickizer flew Bryan Hebert's Alferma design. Wickizer flew YS, while the other two flew electric. I think Andrew used the Q80, but I'm not 100% on that. No idea what is in the Sensation, but I'd guess it's Hacker as well.

gdaddy

Yep Doug,
It was the Q80 It makes me happy to see that you dont need fancy motors, canalyzers, yada yada to win. Andrew did it with Incredible talent and a work ethic that is unrivaled. He flies constantly and makes sure EVERY flight counts. Somehow, he maintains a cheerful, positive outlook, never gets down on the effort required to perform at this level.

His airframe is BIG, light (10.3) and Straight. He only has mix on the downline (throttle to elevator) NO roll or pitch mixand thats a fact. His plane is the perfect example of a tool that never fights the user and doesnt ask for special treatment. Best airplane out today, I really believe that.

I realize he probably would have won handily with a Kaos, as good as he is, but the plane he has designed really brought another dose of magic. (Btw, the knife edge manuevers with his plane give up NOTHING to the bipes)

Congratulations, my friend!! Andrew is the best of the best!!

Doug Cronkhite

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He DID put wing fences on the airplane at the airfoil step though, as he told me "to help it on the downwind portions of the knife-edge looping stuff", but yeah.. it's a nice, simple design. Can't wait to get my fuse here soon. I've already got the wings and stabs built.

gdaddy

Yeah,, he put those on just before the Nats. His fine tuning of his planes is pretty cool. Hes really in tune with what the planes doing and what modification they need. On one of the planes he was working with earlier this year, he thought it needed a little more thrust angle on the C50 that was in it. He looked around on the ground and saw a little piece of matchbook paper, Shoved that in the rear rubber mount to add a teeny bit more right thrust. Took the plane off and pulled a couple of lines, Said "there, thats just about it." !!!

Rudy

new Proteus???

PeterP

A picture of the model can be found here

http://www.modelaircraft.org/files/072412.pdf

gdaddy

BTW

How about the SZCUR family!! Man, those two really lit it up!! Congratulations!!

radray

Excellent flying Don and Joseph!

Ray

Malydilnar

My Feedback: (1)

Great job everybody! Just curious, is it even possible to know on what level are all these guys flying at? just asking. Can't wait to battle it out with Joseph next year at the nats when I show up lol

Alex-D8

Don Szczur

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Would like to say thank you to Archie Stafford, Tara, Tim Jesky, Bob Kane, Jerry Plyler, so many others that helped with running the NATS on the F3A side. For those who did not make it, you missed a great NATS. We really enjoyed the banquet (standing room only). A real shoot out in FAI and congratulations to Andrew for his outstanding flying. I'm told both Chip and myself are team alternates. I poured on the coals after the prelims because I knew I'd be going to South Africa no matter how I finished. Some info about the planes that Joseph and I flew. Its been extremely busy so I was not able to do my usual NATS experience report. Maybe I'll write somthing up when I get some sleep. Anyhow, Congratulations also to Joseph who worked very hard in preparation and is a Team USA Junior member. He ended up in 10th place at the NATS at 12 years old. We compared notes with Chip when he was Joseph's age and got him to pull back some of his memories from the 1980's. In any event, they measured each other (back to back) and at 12 Joe is almost as tall as Chip so in another year or so he may be taller, but I'm getting ahead. Great flying by all pilots!

Don Szczur and Joseph Szczur
Pegasus by X-Treme Composites and distributed by F3A Unlimited
E-flight 160 motor
JR 8411 rudder
JR 9411 ailerons
JR 3421 elevators
Castle HV 80 ICE
JR 11X radio
8 lb 1 oz dry (without flight battery)

Malydilnar

My Feedback: (1)

Wow he's only 12? I thoughtI was pretty young at 15. Thats mighty impressive

AmericanSpectre505

That's Awesome Don! Congradulations to you and Joseph on the Team nominations.

We should get together some time for a weekend and fly together, will help me knock off the cob webs after not flying for a year and a half.

Anyway,..wanted to say Congradulations and it's long over due.

Joseph, Great job and I look forward to flying with all of you again soon!


Regards,

bholsten

AmericanSpectre505

Dual post,..removed.

Passport1

My Feedback: (8)

Absolutely Ditto on the congrats it was a pleasure to watch and I know how proud you must be. The difficulty and competition is much much greater now then it was 30 years ago IMO. I think we had an avalanche in the 84 pattern and then a bunch of quarter loops and half rolls. I am not saying it wasn't hard but there have been so many elements added since then and he has a handle on all of them. Once again GREAT JOB JOSEPH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As for the Team it was a pleasure to watch each one of you fly as always. However on thurs. this year something was different. Up until the finals day it was anybodys contest to win or lose. However on thurs. everyone was fighting for second. AJ was in a league of his own and flew like a machine. He had his new plane that he designed and then had the molds made in Arg. (It was a google translate year but between Falco's Marino, Sergio, and of course Andrew) they got it done and done right the first time. I am not sure its as simple as an early post made it sound as I took just one look at it and saw immediately several things Andrew incorporated in the design from the beginning and one shortley after. Flared Rudder TE, Snow Wings, SFG's, Fuse size, and super lite weight IMO he has everything needed to do what he did.

Of course there are many options to chose from but this year I went with the contra. I am convinced its as good or better then anything for our P 13 Sequence and IMO all the AMA classes. Those patterns are not to power hungry in any conditions and have a ton of straight lines with rolls in them. As for F and the Unknowns just about anything will get through them in average conditions however we did not have average conditions this year. We were also not able to pick the patterns as a group so it was a true test of of everything. Personally I was just happy to do all the manuevers lol. Andrew blazed through pretty good with his Q80 on TP 5400's, as did the others however I really believe Brett had an advantage. Simply because the YS doesn't care what manuever is what, or where, as long as is has fuel in the tank.

It will be interesting to see how the European Champs go and if some others share the same opinouns.

Once again Arch, Congrats on the win as well as running a great nats. It was a pleasure to see all of you guys again and hope it happens for many years to come.

C

highfly3D

Did anyone took videos would like to see videos of top 3 pilots....

serious power

Quote
' Of course there are many options to chose from but this year I went with the contra. I am convinced its as good or better then anything for our P 13 Sequence and IMO all the AMA classes. Those patterns are not to power hungry in any conditions and have a ton of straight lines with rolls in them. As for F and the Unknowns just about anything will get through them in average conditions however we did not have average conditions this year. We were also not able to pick the patterns as a group so it was a true test of of everything. Personally I was just happy to do all the manuevers lol. Andrew blazed through pretty good with his Q80 on TP 5400's, as did the others however I really believe Brett had an advantage. Simply because the YS doesn't care what manuever is what, or where, as long as is has fuel in the tank. '


Hi,
Looking at the results it would appear that AJ had the 'advantage' in the F's and unknowns !!!
That Q80 must be some motor !!

Brian

underdw

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Are there Aresti versions of those unknowns? I read through the text (with my jaw dropping), but I can picture sequences better looking at Aresti.
Thanks

apereira

I am with Chip in regards to Andrew, in fact he should won in Muncie, he was the only one to make no mistakes in the finals, CPLR and Onda missed snaps if I remember correctly.

If the 15 degree rule was to be eliminated in the finals, he would won in my opinion, at that level the 15 degree rule just make things more complicated to judge.

There is no doubt in my mind he will be WC.

Regards

Passport1

My Feedback: (8)

Hi,
Looking at the results it would appear that AJ had the 'advantage' in the F's and unknowns !!!
That Q80 must be some motor !!

Brian
[/quote]

I am sorry I thought I covered it that Andrew flew awesome and deserved every point and then some. His combination was great as well, I was more or less saying for us mere mortals I thought it might be one less thing to think about. Granted I doubt we will have those exact same conditions and patterns again however I know Brett never gave finishing the Unknown 2 with the vertical 8 in 25 mph winds a second thought. Thats all I was saying. Not to mention the pattern was 76 K as well.

flyncajun

There is no doubt that Andrew had a advantage his advantage was hard work and,(preparation) and he knew his equipment. I bet he knew what to expect in Muncie and planned his setup for the possibility of any condition.
The guys who wins, is the guy who knows the limitations and advantages of whatever equipment he uses.

I can tell you this, there will be a mass migration back to Glow for the simple fact that Glow power has the advantage of throttle flexibility. there is no denying this . In FAI, Presentation, Grace and constant speed in all conditions play a major roll in putting up a top flight consistantly. The only time Brett even went to full power was on the last flight in the 30mph winds.Having said that, our speed did not change just the Energy we flew with.

Chip did a great job managing his setup in the conditions Better than anyone else could have, giving the same setup and conditions.
But there was no denying the direction he has to go to keep pace, I know he is already making plans

Power flexibilty and the ability to adapt to conditions without harming equipment is the key in a top set up,
Not the Cost, or what Joe blow is running. This ,takes a top pilot to determine. Being able to fly P with any set up is intended for
enclusive involvement of competitors. But,Seperation of the "Top Guys" takes a pattern that stretches the Equipment, Pilot, Caller, and challenges his preparation and skill, No matter what conditions or patterns are thrown your way.
Tha`st why they are innovators in the Hobby and set the direction of the sport when it comes to Equipment.

You can Bet Both Camps will be making adjustments to the Equipment after seeing whats involved in flying the new unknowns in any conditions. No top competitor likes surprises!

But only preparation and knowing the limitation of your equipment ,prepares you for the unknown..

Bryan

mjfrederick

I took video of Brett's second F flight from the finals. Bryan Hebert posted it to youtube and there's a link in one of the other threads that he started. That's the only one I've seen so far.

highfly3D

I need to see Andrews video also.