NW Regionals

[Tim Wescott]

I won't make it this year -- finances don't permit.  I had thought I'd be able to make it, then we hit some unexpected expenses.

So -- next year, and hopefully I'll be able to make it to some of the Seattle contests.

[Mark Scarborough]

Tim that bums me out , Is Tom planning on making it?

[Randy Powell]

I understand, Tim. Been there. Hope to see you sometime this season.

I, on the other hand, will be at the Regionals. I mean, someone has to be cannon fodder.

[Tim Wescott]

Tim that bums me out , Is Tom planning on making it?

Yup.  I'm standing him up for sharing a hotel room, unfortunately.

[Mark Scarborough]

bummer,,
you will be missed,, but I certainly understand how that works

[Tim Wescott]

So, I'm not going.  Mark and Randy are going.  Tom's going, to my knowledge.  I talked to Howard last night and he's going.

Who else is going to be there?

[Mark Scarborough]

well Walter Hicks from what I hear,
Pat Johnston,
John Leidle I think
Paul Walker
Chris Cox
Ala Riesinger
No Bruce Perry ,,
I am, Randy is,

[Mike Haverly]

Mieko and I are taking the land yacht.  We'll be there Friday afternoon.

[Steve Helmick]

Me no vaya. Yo soy muy triste.  Steve

[Pat Chewning]

So, I'm not going.  Mark and Randy are going.  Tom's going, to my knowledge.  I talked to Howard last night and he's going.

Who else is going to be there?

I have just decided to go for Friday only ....    Beginner PA and Old Time Stunt.    It will be a long day driving down from Portland, flying, and driving back.  Other family commitments prevent me from staying longer.

[Brett Buck]

So, I'm not going.  Mark and Randy are going.  Tom's going, to my knowledge.  I talked to Howard last night and he's going.

Who else is going to be there?

   I am planning on coming in on the usual schedule, Friday afternoon. Could get disrupted with other issues, of course.

    Brett

[Howard Rush]

We'll have 2/3 of the US team there plus the guy who beat them at the last contest of last year.  Oughta be some pretty good stunt.

[Mark Scarborough]

well there may be 2/3 thirds of the US stunt team there, but  there will also be a bunch of people for them to finish in front of,,

[Brett Buck]

We'll have 2/3 of the US team there plus the guy who beat them at the last contest of last year. 

  Oh, I am sure they have forgotten about that by now.

  Given my other issues, here's some non-zero possibility that I will take off, go up for the wingover, and either fall down, pass out, or both, on the first flight.

   Brett

 

[John Leidle]

  I from time to time will get a head rush when I stand up to walk out to the handle... dam Lisinopril...
              John

[Paul Walker]

  Oh, I am sure they have forgotten about that by now.

  Given my other issues, here's some non-zero possibility that I will take off, go up for the wingover, and either fall down, pass out, or both, on the first flight.

   Brett

 

What?  Forget about what? Did you say something?


Yeah, and he will likely still kick our butts. I tell you, no respect for his elders!

[Howard Rush]

I think the whole West Coast Varsity needs more respect for its elders. 

[Paul Walker]

I think the whole West Coast Varsity needs more respect for its elders. 

Sure, elders who have earned their respect!   

[Howard Rush]

Keep up this insolence and I might have to take my good plane to Roseburg.

[Brett Buck]

Sure, elders who have earned their respect!   

  Hey, Howard came to a Woodland contest, and knocked me not just out of first, but out of the trophies altogether! While I was the reigning national champion, no less. I watched his flight, turned to the judges and said, "that, gentlemen, it what it is supposed to look like". After they finished writing, of course.

    I make no assumptions about anything at a stunt contest any more. Getting beaten like a drum every other weekend by Ted Fancher for 15-20 straight years, you learn humility.

   Brett

[Paul Walker]

Keep up this insolence and I might have to take my good plane to Roseburg.

Sure, I dare you!   

[FLOYD CARTER]

If everyone brings their best planes, that lowers my chances even more!

(Let's hope that "chance" plays a big part in this, since skill is not my strong suit).

Floyd

[Randy Powell]

Floyd, you can hang out with Mark and me in the cannon fodder class.

[Howard Rush]

(Let's hope that "chance" plays a big part in this, since skill is not my strong suit)

I think you should play the respect-for-ones-elders card, Floyd.  With Leo and Keith Varley, there's plenty of respectability to go around.

[Mark Scarborough]

Floyd, you can hang out with Mark and me in the cannon fodder class.

You know, when I used to bowl competitively, We considered ourselves the persons who donated entry money so that the winner could have the full purse, ,I mean the money had to come from somewhere,, HOwever, with the purse being offered here, thats probably not the case huh?

We shall fill out the flying order with dignity and professionalism,, and to insure we can influence the weather during others flights,,

[Howard Rush]

...and to insure we can influence the weather during others flights,,

Shh.  We don't want to remind them that we can do that.

[Mark Scarborough]

Shh.  We don't want to remind them that we can do that.

crap, I forgot,,
ok so I did not say that ok?

[johnt4051]

Incidentally, based on Wednesday afternoon forecast, the weather should not provide any excuses.  70-78, sunny, wind below 10 mph.  Setup crew will be arriving at 10 a.m. Thursday.

[FLOYD CARTER]

I think, with Keith and "young" Leo, I come out still being the youngest.  So I have some more years to go before I can expect extra "age" points.

I don't really know who I should hang out with.  I'm still doggedly grinding away in Advanced.....all my friends have moved up, leaving me almost all alone.

Floyd

[Randy Powell]

And I'll be judging you, Floyd. So fly well. No heart attack moments, please.

Heading out in the morning. Should be fun.

[Randy Powell]

At least the weather is good.

[Tim Wescott]

At least the weather is good.

Light rain & moderate wind here, sounds like it's better flying weather there.

[john e. holliday]

Should be here in Kansas where we have had rain, thunder/lightning and tornadoes.  Its raining out side now and races canceled.

[Mark Scarborough]

Light rain & moderate wind here, sounds like it's better flying weather there.

well that depends,, this aftern00n was interesting, but just the wind,, the temperature and overcast are perfect,,

[Shawn Lenci]

Can someone post some results?

Shawn

[john e. holliday]

If the wind is below 20 MPH, should be no complaints. Looks who's typing.

[Howard Rush]

Can someone post some results?

We are at the Thai restaurant at which we customarily stop on the way home from the Regionals.

Good stunt. The W coast varsity won as usual with JV honors going to the undersigned.
1 Walker
2 Fitzgerald
3 Buck

[tom brightbill]

Howard- 1 point behind Brett.

[Shawn Lenci]

Thanks Howard and Tom.     Good Job Howard!    

Shawn

[johnt4051]

Complete results of all events and photos will be posted on Flying Lines this week.  It will be a couple of days while I wrestle with the paperwork, process the photos and compile the report.  At this writing (Monday) I still have not unloaded the pickup!   

[john e. holliday]

And you never get enough thanks for doing it.  Of course family and other things kept me from the Wichita contest that used to be in Topeka. 

[Brett Buck]

Howard- 1 point behind Brett.

  Does someone know what the scores were?  I must have misunderstood or not paid close attention because I thought I was 4th. In either case, Paul and David were in a different time zone this time. I certainly wasn't able to mount a challenge!

      Brett

[Tim Wescott]

  Does someone know what the scores were?  I must have misunderstood or not paid close attention because I thought I was 4th. In either case, Paul and David were in a different time zone this time. I certainly wasn't able to mount a challenge this time!

      Brett

Tom Brightbill texted these to me. You have 577.5 to Howard's 576.5, but your final score looks like 571.5 due to handwriting.

What happened with Alan?  It looks like he was seriously off his game.

[Shug Emery]

Tough competition out there))))))))
Yessir.

Shug

[tom brightbill]

We all have to thank the judges, who were kept moving (sometimes running) trying to stay in position with wind that seemed to be from a half dozen directions within a flight. Maybe that's the kind of air that Alan had to deal with.
Tim- I just sent you the Old Time results, please post. Congrats to Dave Royer! Sorry Pete (-1.25 points).

[Tim Wescott]

Old-time, via Tom B.

[Mark Scarborough]

the air was interesting all weekend. SUnday was plagued by some shifty winds, and I use the term wind loosly. Mostly seemed like no wind, only thermals...practicing was fun too, there was some healthy wind in the afternoons when the circles were free. Though I was able to get out there early and get in some practice. Had I flown Sunday like I practiced,, ah well

[Brett Buck]

the air was interesting all weekend. SUnday was plagued by some shifty winds, and I use the term wind loosly. Mostly seemed like no wind, only thermals...practicing was fun too, there was some healthy wind in the afternoons when the circles were free. Though I was able to get out there early and get in some practice. Had I flown Sunday like I practiced,, ah well

       I, very fortunately, got decent air on both flights. I would have done OK without it in the morning, but I would have been dead on the second flight because I missed the needle/prop selection by a lot (very much like the 2011 Team Trials, where I just couldn't bring myself to screw the needle in sufficiently after the sun came out).   Overall I would have much preferred last years 12-15 mph to what we had this time.

      I had very poor preparation for this contest and among that was that I didn't have any props in the right pitch range for various reasons. Those marked 3.9 were too much pitch for the morning, and those marked 3.75 were too little for the afternoon. That's because (as I found out ex post facto)  they were actually about 4.0-4.1 and 3.5-3.6. The "3.9"s" were WAY too fast/low revs for the morning and the 3.6's would have required at least another 300 RPM for the afternoon flight, putting it up around 10,500, 10600 which is way out of the normal range for my setup.

   The sad thing is that this little screwup might have been present since about the 2014 NATs, and would explain why it flew like gangbusters in heavy air (since the baseline is 3.75 and it was really about 3.6) but got a little soft in light air.

    No one can expect to compete at this level without proper preparation and there is only one person to blame for that. I was very fortunate to finish 3rd, possibly because Howard was competing and was also *running the contest* and also had reduced prep time. I could easily have been 10th - the competition at these big contest is just too tight and the competitors just too good to not give a full effort.

     Brett

[Randy Powell]

Brett is right on the prep. The Regionals is not the place to still be trimming a plane. Didn't help that I was judging Advanced. Judge, stop Advanced long enough to run over and put up an official flight, then back to judging. Bad idea. But, overall, it was a fun contest even if I wasn't very competitive this year. Sigh...

I'll be back next year.

[Tim Wescott]

JT has the report posted on Flying Lines.