Neil invited me to come along on his trip down to Middlesex NJ for the Middlesex Modeller's spring Super Slow and 1/2A Combat contest on April 14th.
Well, it was a lot of fun. There were about 10 pilots for the two events. It's great to see the guys from NJ, Delaware, and PA. Lots of good matches in both 1/2A and SSC. I didn't get much practice in this spring, and it showed in starting my 1/2a engine. Or not starting, as was the case. Ran like a champ in the pits before and after the match, but no joy in the circle. It ran out the prime but I missed it taking off the fuel pinch and couldn't restart the bugger. I wasn't the only one showing a bit of rust with the little engines, but most others had better luck and there were some good matches. Quite a variety of 1/2A engines - Cyclon, Fora, Norvel, and even a Picco conversion (from r/c truck engine).
Super Slow was more fun. No problem starting and plenty of good matches. I managed to take off most of Louis Lopez's outboard wing in our first match (sorry Louis!). We had a good match going until Louis stuck his wing in my prop. Next two matches I flew against Dave Edwards and then Larry Wilks. Both were solid matches. In the final round, I flew against Shawn Cook. We had a great time chasing each other around the sky, until we flew into a line tangle. I couldn't keep my ship out of the ground, which ended up costing both of us. If I remember correctly, Shawn came in 2nd place and I came in around 6th. Sometimes my finishing place in the contest doesn't match up with the amount of fun that I had. From a fun perspective I feel like I came in first place!
Thanks to Middlesex Modeller's for hosting a great contest!
Chris