I am now back at home and had a few hours to rest up. I was happy to see a few posts on the team trials.
This years contest was well run by CD Jack Iafaret. Compared to past team trials, this one was smooth and laid back. The previous posts have already discussed the manpower shortage we faced, and the outstanding help from the folks who were able to make it to the field. I would like to personally thank every helper who took the time out of their schedules to drive to Muncie and participate in the team selection process. Hutch, Robin, Jack, Marc, Joe, Dave Hauch and everyone else whose names escape me, you did a wonderful job of throwing an intense contest. I would also like to thank my wife Marlene for spending several hours at base B calling turns in distance and speed. Between practice and the contests, I think she may be approaching 500 speed runs. As I said earlier, Jack did a great job of keeping the contest laid back. His motto was that the contest was for the pilots, not the officials. He was able to keep things moving quickly, without an overall feeling of hostility. I never felt like the contest got out of control, and when there were any issues, Jack resolved them in an amicable way. This years group of pilots was also a pleasure to fly with. There were certainly some trying moments, but it seemed like the fraternity of "F3B boys" came together to help out when needed. Randy Chronic came through with an assortment of CA and epoxy when I ended a speed run abruptly (smacked my plane into the ground after crossing the line). And it seemed like all of the teams cooperated to manage line breaks and help each other with launching and contest management. The contest itself was full of good memories. One of the best was a low altitude save that Mike Smith pulled out on the final duration flight. He already had maxes for the previous flights, so there was not really any pressure. But the Muncie thermal gods are finicky, and he found one of the 2 mile wide patches of sink. I could not call him into any decent indicators, except for a cloud of small bugs at about 8 feet AGL. Mike wrapped the thermal up and managed to work it downwind for 5 minutes. It just didn't have the pop to really let go, so when it was time to come back to the tape, he ended up short. But everyone at the contest cheered for the superb display of piloting skill. It was a great flight, and a lesson to everyone, never to give up. I really enjoyed flying speed this year. We had great air on Friday, followed by variable air on Saturday and Sunday. I managed to squeeze out a 14.51 for my first run of the contest, luckily keeping Tom Kiesling behind me with his smoking 14.7. My backup had my previous best time in practice, and seemed to be a little faster than my primary model. However my first run of the contest brought that title back to the primary model. There were some other very nice runs flown by guys like Randy Chronic, Tim Foster and Rich Burnoski. And of course, Mike Smith gets the award for machine like precision on every run. It seems like every one looks exactly the same. That little Altus is one fast airplane. Distance was also an interesting event. I don't ever remember seeing any blistering distance air, and this made the task of flying the course especially challenging. Time management and smoothness was required. Two of the most memorable flights were Mike Lachowski flying against me in the final distance flight, and Tom Kiesling flying against Mike Smith in his final flight. Both Tom and Mike L really let out all of the stops to win those rounds, following the lift WAY downwind. Mike S and I already had 5 thousands in distance and didn't risk our models by chasing the lift. I really admire the determination of Tom and Mike for working it down to the last few feet and landing way the heck out there. Dennis Phelan and I managed to have the only midair in distance this year. Unfortunately it toasted my Europhia. It was a racing accident and these things happen, but I was really sad to see that model go. Luckily my backup came with some good credentials, thanks to Martin Weberschock. It was his C model from the 2005 world champs. Overall, I had a good time at this years team trials. I am very thankful to have made the team. I would like to thank my entire family for supporting me through the years in this sport. My wife Marlene and my Dad Al have spent countless hours pushing buttons at the field. My mom who used to drive me to the contests as a kid. My kids for putting up with step dad taking weekends off to fly to Indiana for airplane contests. As well as my good friends Mike Smith, Don Vangundy, Parviz Kamiab and all of the other TPG members for helping us out and tolerating our practice sessions at the Poway field. Also, Futaba has been my sponsor since 1995 and supplied me with great radio equipment for the contest. Lastly I wanted to mention my friends David Klein and John Diniz for coming out to work as our winch and base B guys for the contest. They worked really hard to give Mike and I as much flying time as possible. Great job guys. I hope I can represent our country with pride at the 2007 world champs in Switzerland. Tom, Mike and I are really looking forward to it. Get ready to buy team USA t-shirts, floppy hats and jackets to help us on our way! -Aaron +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ |Filename: Group shot.jpg | |Download: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=969101 | +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ -- Avaldes ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Avaldes's Profile: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/member.php?u=110992 View this thread: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=563123 RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. 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