2021 Golden State Stunt Championships

[Brian Massey]

Where's some pics and stories?

[Paul Walker]

Where's some pics and stories?

Stories...I have stories!!

I arrived at the field Thursday afternoon. Got some flying in that afternoon/evening...well, evening, as much as there is because the sun sets there now at about 6:30.

I flew 8 flights on Friday. Friday evening, a car runs up the taxiway and stops at the rope barrier for our circles. A tall guy pops out, and asks if I am PW. Why yes I am. He introduced himself as Tim Just. I had helped him get up to speed flying stunt a few years ago, so I knew the name. Can I fly now he asks. Sure, go for it.  He puts in two, and the second was getting real hard to see because it was dark!  I mentioned that the weather for Sunday was not good, and was going to be windy to the tune if around 20 mph. Ouch he said.

The next afternoon, he approached me again and asked what it took to fly in that kind of wind. With a smile, I said it took a "big pair".  To which he responded, my stunt pair aren't that big.  He asked if the planes trim would suffice.  Well, refer to previous comment!😁

Sunday rolls around, and it is indeed 15 to 20.....
13 experts entered. In the first round, all of 3 experts flew. He had been watching, and then out strolled Tim with his plane. He decided it was time to "learn". This made 4 experts flying.

And he did. His first flight was at 5.8 seconds a lap, and he finished everything. I told him that it needed more speed, so he dialed it up some. Second round score went up about 30 points!

To say the least, I WAS VERY IMPRESSED. Here is a relative newbie to stunt, flying in expert already, and he has the "pair" to fly in that wind. He said it would have made a long drive home if he hadn't tried. Mind you, there were 9 seasoned experts that didn't fly either flight. One other expert got his plane out, connected the lines, and was ready until he saw me nearly destroy my plane, and David bail out of his pattern on the very next flight. As soon as David quit, he shuffled over the the CD to tell him he would not fly.

So this puts a real frame of reference to Tim's effort.

Tim, I was/am impressed!!!!

[Brian Massey]

That's fantastic! When I saw his name on the score board I didn't know who he was, now I do! He's the guy with the "pair". 

[Brett Buck]

And he did. His first flight was at 5.8 seconds a lap, and he finished everything. I told him that it needed more speed, so he dialed it up some. Second round score went up about 30 points!

To say the least, I WAS VERY IMPRESSED. Here is a relative newbie to stunt, flying in expert already, and he has the "pair" to fly in that wind. He said it would have made a long drive home if he hadn't tried. Mind you, there were 9 seasoned experts that didn't fly either flight. One other expert got his plane out, connected the lines, and was ready until he saw me nearly destroy my plane, and David bail out of his pattern on the very next flight. As soon as David quit, he shuffled over the the CD to tell him he would not fly.

So this puts a real frame of reference to Tim's effort.

Tim, I was/am impressed!!!!

   I have been pretty impressed at everything Tim has done to date - he is putting forth the effort, in the correct areas and with the correct emphasis, right from the start. He came up and thanked *me* on Sunday, I was very flattered to hear I might have helped him, but it is his own hard work that got him there. I also gave him a bit of coaching between rounds, he immediately took advantage of it and clearly corrected the things I suggested to him.

    BTW, I flew his airplane a few weeks ago and it, too was very nicely trimmed and I knew that he would have no real problem with the conditions - if he kept his head about him. He was also a full-scale aerobatics pilot used to making decisions under stress, again, ideally suited to deal with stunt. I mean, you're not riding in it!

   And, truth be told, flying his airplane helped *me* a bit to narrow in on what *my* trim problems were, and I think I have that mostly corrected.

      I would also note to everyone - if you have no confidence flying in the wind, the way you correct that problem is by *flying in the wind*. The second round, particularly, was pretty challenging - I got blown out of the hourglass, Paul nearly got blown out of the vertical 8 and David bailed on the the flight after nearly sticking it in the ground in the triangles. Tim came real close on his first flight (again in the vertical . But, worst case, you wreck the airplane - it's not the end of the world, and you may learn something in the far-more-likely event that you make it through.

  The conditions were rough, but not a catastrophe (unlike, say, the second round of Top 20 at the 2003 NATs), you can fly in it, you just have to convince yourself that you can do i -  or convince yourself the worst-case consequences are not the end of the world.

        Brett

[Dennis Nunes]

  On Sunday morning everyone woke up to what was expected, wind blowing around 10-15 mph and getting worst. As everyone was arriving at the Madera Municipal Airport, one could sense it was going to be a very difficult flying day, if one chose to fly at all.

  I was extremely proud of the only Intermediate flyer, James Dean who flew on Sunday. In preparation for GSSC, on Monday, Dean crashed his only plane. Not having a plane to fly, he was still going to attend the contest just to watch. So after we were through practicing, I offered him my old IC powered Circulas 46 if he wanted to fly at Madera, but he had to pick it up at my home as I would not have room in my car to bring it down to the contest. At first he wasn’t sure, but would let me know. On Wednesday, I received a text message that he would take me up on the offer and would come down the next day to pick it up. Just before loading the plane into his truck, I told Dean to "fly the mess out of the plane and not to worry about crashing. Just fly the plane!"

  Dean, like several others, showed up at Madera on Friday and put up several flights and loved how the plane flew. On Saturday after Old Time and Classic was flown a few more flights. Then the conversation about the weather on Sunday.

  On Sunday morning at the airport, James wasn’t sure if he was going to fly because of the wind and being the only flyer in Intermediate. I reminded him again not to worry about the plane, but to just fly it and make everything a little larger than normal. He said that he wasn’t sure he could do the entire pattern. I told him not to. Just do a takeoff and level laps, then start a reverse wingover and leave it inverted and do several laps inverted and then bring it back around, then do the various loops. Starting the reverse wingover and going inverted made it an “official” flight, anything after that was “icing on the cake”. I told him to let the judges know, before his flight, what he was going to attempt to do and not do. With the wind blowing around 10-15 mph I could tell that James was pretty nervous and concerned.

  I couldn’t see his entire flight as I was next up and had to get my plane ready. But he was successful in his flight and everything worked out well. As he pulled his plane back into the pits, a big smile came across his face and said, "The plane is still in one piece".

  Way to go James!

  Dennis

[Peter in Fairfax, VA]

Thanks for the great stories.  The suggestion to practice flying in the wind works for me.  When contest day comes, the weather "is what it is."

[Ken Culbertson]

I would also note to everyone - if you have no confidence flying in the wind, the way you correct that problem is by *flying in the wind*.

    Gieseke?

Why do people think that 5-10mph is wind?  I can remember when it took that much just to do a decent pattern.
Way to go James!

Ken

[Brett Buck]

Why do people think that 5-10mph is wind? 

   That's about what it was on Saturday morning, no one was too concerned about it. It was definitely next-level stuff on Sunday - 17-18 with gusts to maybe 25, which isn't the end of the world by itself, but also, right over a 2-story building directly upwind. Howard was carrying his streamer pole out, it was blowing out of the SW right at the edge of the circle, and in 5 steps, had shifted to SE, 90 degree shift in 15 feet. David's practice flight showed that the air was about 10 degrees to the right of apparent downwind n the middle of the circle (which was consistent with Howard's streamer). That worked out right for the first round. Later, as the air slowly walked south, that turned around and doing the inside rounds assuming the 10 degree right shift, I got going about 500 mph. In fact, the air was well to the left of apparent downwind. I think that might have gotten Paul and me, and is certainly the cause of David's near-crash triangles.

    This is the sort of thing that extensive experience gives you over trying it for the first time, you have to pay attention to these sorts of things. In a previous Golden State meet at the same site, we handled 20-25 steady from the NW with no real problems, because there were no upwind obstructions, smooth as silk. Basically, there was pretty much no fudging the sizes or shapes that time.

    First round on Sunday, I started out overcompensating and quickly learned it was not necessary, and got a very competitive score, screwing up the landing of all things, which is presumably what put me behind David. My air was substantially better than Paul's, I think.

    Paul was the only one to manage proper shapes and sizes for most of the flight in the second round, all the low maneuvers were essentially same as usual (very good).

    Second flight, I had a questionable takeoff and the aforementioned supersonic inside rounds, and at that point I had more-or-less bailed because I figured that had already lost enough points that I wasn't going to improve my score. The rest of it more-or-less a practice flight, fuding all over, although with an *awesome* square 8 and a very good vertical. I got a little cocky on the hourglass, and wasn't used to my "retrimmed to at least fly acceptably well" airplane, underestimated how quickly it would turn the second corner, and that was the end, I got blown out because I was too low and killed too much speed. David didn't have Paul's second round score before his turn, he was debating passing, and then made enough mistakes early on, so he knew he was not going to improve either, and bailed.

   Brett

[Dan McEntee]

       There is a distinct difference between wind and turbulence, and especially severe turbulence !! If you have clean, straight line winds, you can practice for that. Turbulence is just a matter of luck, and there is no way to predict what is going where. I learned the difference flying at the SIG contest over my early years in stunt. If the wind was straight down the runway in either direction, or a few degrees off either way, it could be dealt with. If the wind was from the west, over the hangers just off the runway, it was almost impossible. If wind was from the east, it came up over the rise at the edge of the runway and rolled across teh circle, and at times wasn't too bad.  Buder Park has had steady tree growth over the years  and even at a lower wind speed, if the wind is from the northwest through the north east, it comes through the trees at the edge of the circle and I feel it's not worth losing even an old model over trying to get a few flights. In one level lap you can sometimes see both the top and bottom of your wing several times!!  When it is just that unpredictable, I just don't think you can practice for that, since you have no control over what it will do to your airplane when you hit it! At a contest I'll be one of the wusses that just sits that one out!
  Type at you later,
   Dan McEntee
   

[Gary Dowler]

Great stories!!! Love hearing the after action reports!

Gary

[Ken Culbertson]

.....Turbulence is just a matter of luck, and there is no way to predict what is going where.....I just don't think you can practice for that, since you have no control over what it will do to your airplane when you hit it! 

I may be a loner but I think practicing in turbulence (within reason) is as valuable as any other form of practice.   To me, part of trimming a plane is finding out how it will respond in any condition it may encounter.   However, once I know how it will deal with suddenly getting bounced around I tend to get a bit more cautious.  To me, this is the only way to know in an instant whether you will save the pattern, or save the plane.  The keyword in the stories below about some of our best fliers in bad air is not that they crashed, it is that they *ALMOST* crashed.  How do you do that without practice?

Ken

[Jim Hoffman]

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[Jim Hoffman]

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[Jim Hoffman]

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[Jim Hoffman]

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[Jim Hoffman]

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[Jim Hoffman]

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[Jim Hoffman]

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[Jim Hoffman]

scoreboards

[Howard Rush]

It was a good time.  I’m proud of Tim and our own Bob Welch, who won Classic.

Brian Moore and crew did a great job running the contest.

[Brett Buck]

It was a good time.  I’m proud of Tim and our own Bob Welch, who won Classic.

Brian Moore and crew did a great job running the contest.

  I thought it was a shame that you did not bring the Anemomwimpometer, it might have finally gone off at times on Sunday.

    Brett

[Tim Just]

What makes any endeavor worth the time and effort is the wonderful people you meet along the way.  This contest solidified that for me. 

First some random thoughts and observations.

Paul, you have a very unique, Tom Sawyer, “come paint the fence, it will be fun” way of motivating people. 

Brett, from day one your input has made my learning curve so much more enjoyable.  Thank you! 
PS,
Go Dodgers

Howard, I just wanted to fly advanced and collect jawbreakers.

Phil Granderson, Divas are cool. Okay that’s a giant understatement.

David Shorts, post pictures of your new plane.

Fred Underwood, way more to say about you in a future post.

Jim Hoffman,  you must stop walking under ladders, breaking mirrors etc.

Phil Granderson, Divas are really cool!  Worth repeating (-;


My recap,
When Sunday morning rolled around the wind was as forecast.  A chilly 15 gust to 20 MPH breeze over the hangar.  Not my problem as I had already decided to keep my airplane in the car.  Besides, the Las Vegas contest is only two weeks away and this is my only plane and and and.  Just then a voice in my head started talking.  Dennis Nunes had just put up a very good flight in advanced.  Hmmmm, maybe?  Father and son team Shorts flew next and ended up batting 500.  Hmmmmm, nope!  I sipped my coffee more or less content to be a spectator as I watched David, Paul and Brett fly.  Here comes that voice again.  “if they can do it…….   The little voice conveniently ignoring  the fact that these three gentlemen have tremendous skill, experience and have won everything that can be won, multiple times!


Throwing cation to the wind, literally in this case, I decided to fly.  I swear the wind speed doubled as I walked to the middle of the circle.  Lap after painfully slow lap I worked my way through the pattern.  Here comes that voice again,  “see, it’s not that bad.” Then came the vertical 8 and a very close encounter of the worst kind.  My inner voice now screaming. “you should have stayed in the car!”  Time almost stopped again in the hourglass.  The rest went okay.  I had survived the flight and landing too.   In these conditions the flight isn’t over until someone has your model securely in hand.  Thanks Kestas. 

Between rounds was the part I enjoyed the most.  Paul told me to turn up the RPM and Brett gave me a 4 minute class (Flying in wind for dummies) with an emphasis on the areas were I had the most difficulty.  The class was much abbreviated as Brett was next to fly.  Imagine someone in serious contention for the win stopping to help someone clearly not in contention.  That’s impressive!  The second round was actually fun and my score improved as I had incorporated as much as I could remember into that flight.

It was truly a wonderful weekend and I look forward to next year!

Hey Paul,  i’m ready to get started on that fence.

[Ken Culbertson]

Between rounds was the part I enjoyed the most.  Paul told me to turn up the RPM and Brett gave me a 4 minute class (Flying in wind for dummies) with an emphasis on the areas were I had the most difficulty.  The class was much abbreviated as Brett was next to fly.  Imagine someone in serious contention for the win stopping to help someone clearly not in contention.  That’s impressive!  The second round was actually fun and my score improved as I had incorporated as much as I could remember into that flight.

This is what makes our sport so special.  With the help of some of the best to ever pick up a handle, you have made the transition from fearing the wind to respecting it.  As you can tell from the number of drops, it is rather exclusive!  I love the part about the 2nd round being fun.  It should be fun!

Ken

[Dennis Nunes]

Tim, what you described is what I have experienced and enjoyed ever since I returned to this wonderful sport called Precision Aerobatics back in 2015. I have been extremely fortunate along the way to have the help, coaching and assistance of Dave, Brett, Jimby, Paul, Lanny Shorts, Chris Cox, Alan Resinger, to name a few. At times I’ve listened to them, not fully understanding what they may be trying to help me with. But I think, or I hope, that I’m smart enough to know that whatever they tell or show me about Precision Aerobatics is for my good.

Then, to be able to fly and practice with them on a regular basis is a tremendous help (and fun). It would have taken more than a lifetime to learn some of the things on my own that I have been taught during this short period of time. I would never have improved as I have without their assistance. And I would have most definitely not attended and competed at the NAT’s this year or last year if it weren’t for them.

All these individuals are so willing to help. It’s a privilege to know and be around these great gentlemen.

Dennis   

[Phil Spillman]

Just to satisfy my curiousity in Jim Just related to  the late Joe Just? Joe used to travel east to the Brodak Flyins with his Jennie and I do miss them a lot.

Phil Spillman

[Tim Just]

No relation to Joe Just as far as I know.

Tim

[Paul Walker]

.

It was truly a wonderful weekend and I look forward to next year!

Hey Paul,  i’m ready to get started on that fence.
[/quote]

Well, I don’t see why I oughtn’t to like it. Does a boy get a chance to fly in the wind every day?”

worked, didn't it??

 

[john e. holliday]

Tim's story reminds me of watching a gentleman by the name of Joe Gilbert fly at VSC one year when everybody was putting their planes away so he could say he made top twenty in classic.