The Sierra Sagebrush Flyers R/C club will be holding what is turning out to be the contest of the year on the west coast! We are expecting a fantastic turnout for the return to pattern in northern Nevada in a number of years. The contest will be held in Gardnerville which is about an hour south of Reno, and about 35 minutes drive from beautiful Lake Tahoe! The field is located just outside of town and is 10 minutes from the hotels. Camping will be available at the field but no hook ups. The views are simply spectacular and the competition even more so!

We will be flying Sportsman through FAI (P-07). Entry fees for Sportsman will be $25, the rest will be $35. There will be a raffle, including a YS 140L generously donated by YS Performance, an AXI 5330/F3A and a Jeti 90 ESC donated by Blackbird RC, a Venus 40 generously donated by Hobbico, as well as donations by APC and Central Hobbies. Each competitor will recieve one ticket, additional tickets may be purchased for $1/per. Each registered competitor will receive a hat commemorating the event.

In addition, the first place finishers of Sportsman, Intermediate, and Advanced will receive a cash award of $100. Second place finishers in those classes will receive a Chevron gas card worth $50!!! These awards were donated by a very generous District 7 member who at this time wishes to remain nameless. Those of you in D7 probably already know who the Godfather of West Coast Pattern is...

A downloadable flyer can be found on the D7 website if you click [link=http://www.nsrca.org/d7/calendar.htm]here[/link]. If you have any questions feel free to email the CD (me) on the address provided on the flyer, or just PM me here.

Below are some pictures of the field and the map to the flying site.

Say. That third picture from the left wouldn't be Richard Verano would it? If so, he must be getting old. He used to fly a lot lower than that.

Yeah that pic is of Richard and his Pinnacle. He did have one or two REALLY low passes, but the pictures didn't come out that well... He's into the contest mode again flying the snot out of that plane several times a week.

These pics were taken on Sunday when an informal Pattern primer/clinic was held for the local members. The Sportsman sequence was demonstrated for the group of about 10, and then individual flyers were coached about straight and level and the ins and outs of sequence flying. Richard was ready with his Pinnacle to demonstrate the Masters pattern and a little old school, pre-turnaround, barn burning, low flying! Always a fun sight.

We hope to have about half a dozen brand new contest flyers at this contest, and they are all excited about the challenge of precision flying. With any luck, a couple will catch the bug and fly in a couple more contests next year.

To those who may be planning on coming up, the hotels are listed on the flyer as posted on the D7 website. Best bet is the Best Western in Minden, about 10 minutes from the field, after that give the Carson Valley Inn a shot. Book your rooms now!

Tom

Why is Richard flying my color scheme!!...

Greg Grigsby

Had Jon Carter & Mechanic (wife) over for dinner tonight, we spent some time talking about this contest.. and can't wait!.. Good job Tom.

sc

Thanks Scott, it should be a good time, we're looking forward to it as well. Verano has spent a lot of time on the phone trying to rally some support in the form of donations, and trying to really get a large pilot turnout. So as usual with pattern in District 7 it's a team effort.

Should also mention to those flying glow, the field is located at about 4500' msl... so if you can I highly suggest getting there with enough time on Friday to sort out engine mixtures and props. You will have time Saturday morning, but with the turnout that we are expecting, we will be starting at 9 am on the dot (maybe earlier). We will be registering on Friday too to help speed up the process.

The field does have tables, but you might want to bring your favorite stand/support along with you. There is some shade at the field, but if you have a quick shade/tent/awning type thing, it wouldn't be a bad thing to have to cover your models and equipment. There is plenty of shade to take a rest in between rounds though.

For you electric flyers. If you charge your batteries via a power supply (instead of the deep cycle batt) we will have a charging table set up to plug your power supplys into powered by a 4000W gen, and that will be shaded too. We are planning on lunch being available on at least Sat, and right now we are working out those details.

It's going to be a good time, there are plenty of things to do in the area if you bring your family along... Tahoe, Reno, Virginia City, Genoa are all within a max of an hour or so driving time.

Below is one picture that just had to make it on the web... Picture this, a beautiful sunday morning, modelers showing up at the field and assembling their models. The local engine guru, and YS engine importer, walks up to a slightly used pattern plane with a YS sticker on the side. Looking closer he notices the HUGE prop and grabs a hold of it... imagine his surprise when the now electric pattern plane has no compression!

Well the time is here. Pattern flyers from the west and all over are descending upon the berg of Gardnerville, NV. We had a couple of early arrivals flying yesterday and today enjoying perfect weather most of the day, a little wind in the afternoon. More are arriving tonight, and the practice/bs-ing sessions should start promptly tomorrow morning.

Our raffle is getting finalized, a couple more items may be added. As it stands now we have approx. $2000 in prizes so far. Generous donations by Hobbico, APC, Central Hobbies, YS Performance were mentioned before. This week we received two... TWO, radios from Airtronics... THANK YOU!!!

Again, everybody who enters the contest takes home something... we have cash prizes for the lower three classes for first and second place. Every contestant gets one raffle ticket upon registration, more tickets will be sold for $1.

This is also the week for Hot August Nights in Reno... for those of you who haven't heard of this it's like a flash back to the 50's in Reno with all the restored cars and hotrods... fun and festivities for all. The downside, many of the hotel rooms in Gardnerville/Minden are taken... Some contestants have had some difficulty finding hotel rooms. Calling around tonight we found that the Holiday Lodge in Minden does have rooms available through the weekend. You can reach them at 775-782-2288.

This is going to be a big one... don't miss it if at all possible!

Tom M.

Some sad news, Dick Belden will not attend, but sends his best wishes to all, Dick writes... "I won't be able to make it because I had a run-in with my garage door and lost . I cut 3 tendons in my left hand and have it in a cast." For me (sc).. I CAN'T WAIT.. !!! Had to call several Pattern pilots from Phoenix and Texas, just to get my 'fix'... but now that I'm back from my business trip, it's time to blow the dust off my plane and get in a few flights before Jon and I leave on Friday.

sc

Sounds Great! I wish I could attend! I've heard that there is going to strong attendance there with new and old-time pattern guys. Please post a good report when done.

Thanks,
Jim W.

Wish you could make it too Jim, maybe next year? We are getting a lot of interest from guys who used to compete but haven't for years... some have shown up thinking that they are just going to watch, starting today, transmitters will be placed in their hands!

The new guys are starting to waffle a little bit, but I think once they see the prizes, and more people start to show up and they see the atmosphere develop, they will enter. Many it seems have the notion that it's hard core, serious competition with no room for amatuers... Well, we are all amatuers except for one or two 'pros' that are coming... nothing to be nervous or apprehensive about, and that's what we are trying to get across. This is all for fun, and that is the only goal.

As always there will be pictures posted on the District website, and a narrative in the K-factor. There is a possibility of another magazine article, at least I'll try to champion one... but as always there will be pictures and maybe even video on here next week. I have a trip right after the contest so it might take a couple days to do the videos etc. but it will get done.

Tom M.

It will take LITTLE time to get info posted on the web... I have the day off after the contest - but playing golf with my kids, but that won't take all day. I plan to get pictures and results up on Monday after the contest.. and I'll post a few movies also.

sc

Tom: wow, the flying site looks great, I wish I could go [], best wishes to all of you.

Scott: I will waiting for you pix!


Luke

I may not post pictures of 5th place and below, so you will not see my picture! ;-(

sc

Chris and Vic on the way, Frank K and Rusty, on the way, and here I sit waiting for Jon!!! 7am, ready to go, and he's just getting up! what's with this?? Be there in 4 hours.

sc

At least you'll all get some practice in... I'm only leaving this evening because of work - DOES EVERYONE KNOW WHAT THAT IS?

I'll be flying my plane without practice and with two repaired motors that I've not even run yet. 1st round tomorrow will be the test of the motor as well as settings for snaps, etc. due to altitude change.

Getting updates done as time allows, hope to have most done by tonight..

sc

Well the contest is over and I can get my life back to 'normal' again. It was a lot of work to put this thing on, and most of it wasn't done by me! Some pictures and results can be found on the [link=http://www.nsrca.org/d7/]District 7 website[/link], but I wanted to say a few things here.

First of all, to those who came to fly, thank you so very much! It was a great weekend and it's because of the guys and gals who packed up their trucks and headed to Gardnerville/Minden that made it such a success.

To those of you who couldn't make it, don't worry... we missed ya, but next year will be even better (weather permitting of course)!

Also, though this is a necessary evil at our contests these days... thanks to all the guys who didn't complain when I asked them to judge.

I had one guy who didn't fly, but donated his time all weekend to be a designated judge. I worked him hard too, only gave him one round off! Don Atwood, thanks again, I owe you one (again).

I need to thank the sponsors who made the raffle a huge success and really added to the fun on sunday...

Airtronics donated two radios and a neck strap... thank you they were gone very fast!

APC donated coupons for props... thank you.

Hobbico donated a Venus 40... again, thank you so much!

Jerry Budd (Budd Engineering) couldn't make it, but he sent some engine mounts in his stead, thanks Jerry, hope you can make it next year!

Central Hobbies sent a ton of linkages, wheels, header/pipe mounts... a BUNCH of cool stuff... thanks you guys!

Adrian Wong donated a airplane cover, thanks Adrian... I need one of those for myself!

An AXI 5330/F3A, Jeti 90, and Flight Power 1200 mah 3s packs were also donated.

Sam from Oxai USA gave a $250 coupon to the winner of Sportsman against one of their airplanes.

And last but definitely not least, Richard Verano of YS Performance personally donated a YS 140 Sport and was largely responsible for the large turnout. He made phone call after phone call to his old buddies to get them to come up. They had a great time reuniting, and some of us made some new friends as well. Thanks Richard, it wouldn't have been near the success if you hadn't been there.

And to the local club members who helped put everything together, the field was beautiful and everybody enjoyed the fruits of your labor... thanks!

A couple of pictures taken this weekend:

Tom,

Thanks for a great contest, a job well done.

Adrian

The trophy winners are shown below, FAI - Sportsman.

sc

the hat every contestant received:

Tom
Glad it was such a success!! Sounds like I missed a great one.
Thanks once again for taking me out into the bush and helping search for my plane. I really can't thank you enough for it. I owe you for sure. Beers on me next time. But then again, when isn't it? LOL
I can't believe I've lost 3 this year.. Unbelievable. I guess it's payback time for not losing any for so long.
I had thoughts of flying the E-Patriot but with only 13 flights on it I didn't want to risk it. It's my last ship. haha
Vic's plane has some sort of motor issue where its obvious to me that it's sucking air from somewhere. I took it apart and didn't find anything wrong with it. Still going to replace everything I see. The darn thing won't shut off. Makes it near impossible for Vic to land successfully. You know.
Hope to have some flights on it and make it to Hemet. Doubt you'll make that so see ya at Hollister!!

Thanks again!
Chris

Tom - Thank you very much for all of the work you put in to make it a great contest! I think everyone had a great time (I know Scott and I did!) and did some great flying. You and your Dad and all of your club members are to be congratulated for a great weekend!

Thanks again,

Jon Carter

Scott, Jon, Adrian... thanks, glad you guys had a good time, we've got some pretty big plans for next year, so be prepared!

Chris... sorry as hell about the Zen... made me sick when I saw what happened. You do have the Patriot still... take your time and get it set up right... fresh batteries, rx and tx check ups... don't want to take any chances with this one... or any of them anymore. But you know all this.

I have more pictures that i want to post... problem is they are still in my camera in Fresno, and I'm in Calgary! Maybe I'll get them up when I get back.

Excellent event...I spent Thursday-Sunday flying with Richard, Tom, Al, and George Asteris and all the other guys and it was a great time. Richard Verano of YS Performance was an excellent host and I got to know him and his family. What a super nice bunch of folks. It was like flying back in Colorado at a mile high. I remembered models still fly up there.

Had a blast and will return next year too.

Get your Hotel rooms early as HOT August Nights is a huge vintage car show. We went down to and saw about 2% of it. George Asteris was quite impressive with his knowledge base on the cars....

Now I know what people talk about with a 59' caddy...That thing has fins that will make it knife edge like no other!


Again fun event and had a great time. Thanks to all for the hospitality. This is the type of stuff that will get more people to pattern contests.

Hint hint for the rest of the Cd's around the country and in D7

Tom send me some more of those Low pass photos when you get a chance. I think that one I made with Richard's Pinnacle on Friday morning was the fastest I have ever seen a pattern model go. That 170 was humpin' on that 17-12. Mine was a bit more controlled and tame....but the background could still get a bit blurry.

I will also say that when Kimbro flew Richard's model I have never seen a pattern model fly that far away getting setup for a speed run. There was one time I was questioning if I could actually tell what it was doing. RF link was strong on that one the model was way out there. Thak goodness it was JR stuff

It was also good that Jim liked the plane so much he bought that one on the spot. Its good to get feedback from others that the plane flies so well. I was beginning to think I had an excuse....buts its just me.

Troy Newman

I had to look closely to see that you YS folk weren't flying the routine's with curare's on Friday..
You know, the lead sled's.
Sorry I didn't stick around Tom! Sucked to lose a third plane this year. Glad I finally found it.
Still paying for it though as my calf muscle pull is keeping me from working.
Not keeping me from flying though!!
Chris