Dennis Nunes congratulations!

[Charles Carter]

This is unsolicited and this is my own opinion.  At the awards part of the advance Golden State Stunt Championship.  There was some cheers for Dennis Nunes and congratulations for him of course for winning advance and then the "Welcome to Expert" was  said.   I personally don't mind the fact that Dennis has won Advance competition almost all the time last year.  I don't believe the solution is send him down the river to compete against the greats like Chris Cox, Brett Buck, Dave Fitzgerald, Howard Rush, Paul Walker  and the rest etc.  You know why? He will not win again competing against those guys for a very long time maybe never.  A another option could be to allow a bunch of guys in expert who also have no chance in winning against the already mentioned back into the Advance class and lets have a really kick ass Advance class.  What is the point of sending Dennis into Expert here in the West coast?  We have very few beginners and intermediate pilots showing up.  What I have observed is that the expert class at the GSSC and maybe at other places has the most people in it and is the least competitive class because it is only is a contest between the guys I already mentioned.  In my opinion the Advance class could be the largest and most competitive class of them all.

Charles Carter

[Brett Buck]

This is unsolicited and this is my own opinion.  At the awards part of the advance Golden State Stunt Championship.  There was some cheers for Dennis Nunes and congratulations for him of course for winning advance and then the "Welcome to Expert" was  said.   I personally don't mind the fact that Dennis has won Advance competition almost all the time last year.  I don't believe the solution is send him down the river to compete against the greats like Chris Cox, Brett Bart, Dave Fitzgerald, Howard Rush, Paul Walker  and the rest etc.  You know why? He will not win again competing against those guys for a very long time maybe never.  A another option could be to allow a bunch of guys in expert who also have no chance in winning against the already mentioned back into the Advance class and lets have a really kick ass Advance class.  What is the point of sending Dennis into Expert here in the West coast?  We have very few beginners and intermediate pilots showing up.  In my opinion the Advance class could be the largest and most competitive class of them all.

Charles Carter

   That was the essence of this proposal:

https://stunthanger.com/smf/rules-discussions/potential-new-rule-proposal/

 But, while you and I, and a few others, see the same thing, doesn't mean it is a widespread phenomenon. Not many other people seem to care about this issue, so I don't think it makes sense as rule change. It's been obvious for a long time now, to me, that the skill classes are hopelessly broken.

   This year's Golden State meet, down on attendance, had a good turnout for Expert and OK for advanced, but no beginners or intermediates at all. The forecast wind probably influenced that a bit, but you could see it coming.

  Dennis doesn't have to move up to expert, it is entirely voluntary, It's entirely his option.

     Brett

[Dave Hull]

The Valley Circle Burners just held our "big" contest of the year two weeks ago. All of the entries were in Expert and Advanced. Had any Beginners or Intermediates showed up, I would have combined them unless we had at least 3 in one category. People coming to contests need to expect these kinds of simplifications if the attendance demands it. The real issue is with finding judges and committing them to judging a class of no-shows when they could have been flying themselves. The awards are a bit less troublesome since we no longer provide trophies or ribbons--instead, we are offering modeling related merchandise to pick from. That seems to have worked out well so far.

I like the 3-class proposal and the declared maneuver list with reduced pattern points. We will very likely do this next year.

Based on the non-attendance of Old Time contestants, I will also propose dropping this event. I might be talked into keeping it if we had at least 4 or 5 pre-registered entries....

Dave Hull
President, Valley Circle Burners

[Brett Buck]

Not to be a wise-guy, but from last year about this time, with regard to skill classes:

I am trying to figure out a way to restore that to a working system, which I think it was in the 70's-80's. It appears to be largely non-functional now - very soon we are going to have a few guys who could only marginally get through a pattern in March (whom I again decline to name) be pitted against double-digit NATs and large regional contest winners with decades of experience due to being pressured to enter Expert.

    Guess who I was thinking of when I posted this....

     Brett

[Reuben MacBride]

Dennis has proven that he is a very good stunt flyer winning Golden State 1st Pl  three years in a row. He has also dominated many other contest.  So being that good and his building is outstanding you would think he would be proud to accomplished such a goal and be proud to be among the top of the event classes. . A  new challenge might mean he is not a trophy winner but in expert be a proud modeler who achieved that gold in life. I congratulate  Dennis for his accomplishments. Now on the second note Expert has some really good flyer's who many will never beat. They are just that great and they earned it, So there has been talk about a higher class than expert to move them up to. This will make up for the loss in beginner and Int. Pampa needs to look into this once again.

[Trostle]

Dennis has proven that he is a very good stunt flyer winning Golden State 1st Pl  three years in  row. He has also dominated many other contest.  So being that good and his building is outstanding you would think he would be proud to accomplished such a gold and be proud to be among the top of the event classes. . A  new challenge might mean he is not a trophy winner but in expert be a proud modeler who achieved that gold in life. I congratulate  Dennis for his accomplishments. Now on the second note Expert has some really good flyer's who many will never beat. They are just that great and they earned it, So there has been talk about a higher class than expert to move them up to. This will make up for the loss in beginner and Int. Pampa needs to look into this once again.

You are suggesting something that might be called a "Masters Class".  It might work, but it would have to be carefully thought out and executed.  It was tried several times.  The people that were to choose to enter the "Masters Class" were to be considered Nats qualifier capable pilots.  Was not held as a separate, but Masters and Expert pilots flew as a combined event, just the scores were posted separately.  No trophies but certificates were given.  I will not go into details, but it was considered a total disaster.   

Again, the idea sounds good and it could probably be made to work satisfactory.  It will require some special tailoring.

Keith

[Tom Luciano]

I'm pretty much that guy in the New York tri state area.
 Got the moving up push by some guys in the advanced class. I call myself a bottom feeder expert. I did have a hard time initially with it being last all the time but I'm okay with it after a year. I went to the Nats and gauged myself there and now i set personal goals for myself at local contests. It might be a person to beat or how close i can get to top level guys. Its nice to win but, i find with my current approach I'm still improving probably more than staying in Advanced. I will go one more year in Advanced at the Nationals but regardless of outcome, it will be my last Advanced contest.

Best,
Tom

Added; BTW Congrats Dennis!

[Don Jenkins]

At the Huntersville contest last week we had 4 advanced fliers and 16 experts.  In my opinion, just because you win a few local contests in advanced does not make you an expert.  Based on my limited experience in this hobby and based on my observations, the largest field should be advanced.  I moved to expert before I was ready (you know, win advanced out of 4 fliers and everyone shouts BOOT) and should have waited a few years to actually get good enough and consistent enough to be competitve as an expert.  I was somewhat competitive in advanced and really enjoyed contests.  Now I show up to support clubs, see friends and hope I can fly better than at least one expert.  Second to last is now my goal!  I like the Masters Class idea and we all know who should be in that class, either that or make those guys find other hobbies!  Just Kidding!

Don

[Tom Vieira]

Perhaps a rule change to run things like the Europeans run soccer?

Every year, the top could of teams get knocked up to the next league, and the bottom couple from the top get knocked down a class?

The only way to "get better" is to be pushed by the desire to win, otherwise you stagnate!

[john e. holliday]

I know it is ancient history, but what happened to the scores deciding what skill class you fly in?   I flew Int for years without dominating the contest trail.  After winning a few times and the scores not getting better I moved up to Adv and the scores got better, but winning never came about because I fly for fun and enter to help out the meets when I can.

[Balsa Butcher]

I've seen more than one good flier around here (no, won't name names) either drop out of competition after being "booted" up to Expert or return to Advanced after a few showings in the higher class. I suggest a 'Pro-Am" class between Advanced and Expert. I'll skip the points break down but basically, it would be a place for the better Advanced or lower echelon Experts to hone their craft before taking on the top, nationally ranked fliers. The goal would still be to move up to Expert.

As far as Beginner vs Intermediate, do away with Beginner, combine it with Intermediate but allow the Beginner flier to drop some maneuvers. Sure, there would be the possibility of abuse but I think peer pressure and pride would serve to minimize this. Sounds like what the Circle Burners did at their contest. 

Oh, BTW: Congrats Dennis, well deserved! 

[Charles Carter]

I am not suggesting a new Master's class.

Charles Carter

[Brett Buck]

As far as Beginner vs Intermediate, do away with Beginner, combine it with Intermediate but allow the Beginner flier to drop some maneuvers. Sure, there would be the possibility of abuse but I think peer pressure and pride would serve to minimize this. Sounds like what the Circle Burners did at their contest. 

  It's what WAM did in about 1949!

     Brett

[Brett Buck]

I am not suggesting a new Master's class.

Charles Carter

   I agree that there are enough classes. The only reason to have a "Masters" class is to provide cover for the real solution, one-time "amnesty", so it doesn't look like, or no one has to admit, that they went "backwards".

    Brett

[Charles Carter]

   I agree that there are enough classes. The only reason to have a "Masters" class is to provide cover for the real solution, one-time "amnesty", so it doesn't look like, or no one has to admit, that they went "backwards".

    Brett

I agree with you that the real solution is one-time "amnesty".  Let's fix it everyone?  Should'nt the Advance class be the biggest class that drives you crazy with excitement because there are so many competitors that could win the contest. I believe it would draw people from near and far to compete.

Charles Carter

[Brett Buck]

I agree with you that the real solution is one-time "amnesty".  Let's fix it everyone?  Should'nt the Advance class be the biggest class that drives you crazy with excitement because there are so many competitors that could win the contest. I believe it would draw people from near and far to compete.

   It has been that, the problem has been peer pressure has pushed many of the competitors into expert, just exactly like you saw on Sunday afternoon.

   Until more people want to do it, I don't see myself pushing it any further - this has been a topic of conversation for almost 17 years now and the problem has just gotten worse. But I am not going to impose solutions on other people (since this clearly has no effect on me one way or the other).

       Brett

[Charles Carter]

I believe Dennis Nunes won only the last two years at GSSC. Lanny Shorts won three years ago. Dennis has won so many contests out here in the best coast it gets confusing.  I still believe Dennis Nunes is beatable in the advance class.


Charles Carter

[Ken Culbertson]

I agree with you that the real solution is one-time "amnesty".  Let's fix it everyone?  Shouldn't the Advance class be the biggest class that drives you crazy with excitement because there are so many competitors that could win the contest. I believe it would draw people from near and far to compete.

Charles Carter

In my little neck of the woods that would be a solution in search of a problem.  As far as I can tell we are just fine with the classes the way they are.  I think it is more of a personal thing as to which group you identify with if you are "on the border".  I would never step down to Advanced (unless the club wanted me to judge Expert) and I will probably never get any closer to winning Expert than 3rd or 4th. (unless the weather is really nice and Doug & Steve go bass fishing and take Mike & Phillip with them).  I fight tooth & nail to win when I fly but winning is not my motivation to compete.  I am sure that there are as many like me as there are unlike me and that is the real problem....there is a real problem to half of us and no problem to the other half.

Things were a whole lot simpler when there was simply "Open" and if you wanted to win you practiced and got better.

Ken

[Mike Haverly]

Things were a whole lot simpler when there was simply "Open" and if you wanted to win you practiced and got better.

Ken


There ya go. Trophies are cheap at Good Will. 

[Clint Ormosen]

I believe Dennis Nunes won only the last two years at GSSC. Lanny Shorts won three years ago. Dennis has won so many contests out here in the best coast it gets confusing.  I still believe Dennis Nunes is beatable in the advance class.


Charles Carter

Charles, you are correct. While Dennis is a pretty durn good pilot, he is beatable. I’ve watched a LOT of flights in both adavanced and expert and as good a Dennis is, I can’t recommend he bump to expert. He is at the top of the food chain in advanced and everyone else (you included) should be gunning for him. But to be perfectly honest, he’s not quite Expert material just yet. This is not a slam on Dennis and he should recognize that. It’s just plain fact that in the expert class, he’s not going to finish in the top 50%. Currently, he’s one of the best advanced pilots I’ve seen, but that’s where he should stay, at least for a while.
I got pressured to go into expert after placing at several Advanced contests in a row, but I realized now that I was nowhere near ready for that level of competition. You flew well at GS battling a pretty good breeze with an overweight model. Keep practicing and give a Dennis and Lanny a run for their money.
Just because one pilot is dominating a class doesn’t mean said pilot is due to move up in class. Sometimes it means everyone else in the class needs to step up and challenge him.
But work hard! Because Dennis is only getting better with every flight!

[Reuben MacBride]

Maybe being booted up is like being promoted that you worked very hard at building that perfect plane, trimmed well and practicing your heart out to get better at what you love to do for enjoyment. Good consistense scores in your class and winning in the top 3 at every contest might mean your ready to move up. Not just winning one contest with 4 people in your class and moving up but winning at a high end contest like GSSC and Northwest regionals where winning is more competitive. Gee if I was in Dennis shoes and I made it to expert I would bring out the bottle of Champain and be one happy flyer.  My next gold would be to see how well I can do against those who got booted up from advance recently and get to fly against them to see how well I have improved. A good example of that is VSC one class for all. Being an advance flyer you get to see just how good you are against the big guns. If you come in the middle of the pack you beat a lot and then next year try to move up even a place or two better. That's how I feel about the event. Trophies are in my closet they only have a moment of glory when they are presented. Flying at contest is not about the hardware , it's about love of the hobby ,supporting the hobby and making goals for yourself to achieve. So if one feels they should not be moved up then they did not reach there goal yet.

[Jim Carter]

Now I know I am a chihuahua in a yard full of Mastiff's Doberman's and Shepard's but why not develop a completely different sequence and challenging pattern for those who fly at that level … Advanced, Expert and even a "Master" class!  Maneuvers could be rearranged, timed, increased and repeated.  For example:  All … appearance Points 0-20 points; Flight Procedures/Starting no points; Takeoff and level flight 10-40 points;

Intermediate: Remains as is

Advanced: Reverse wing-over 10-40 points; Three inside loops 10-40 points; Inverted laps (2 laps) 10-40 points; Three outside loops 10-40 points; Two inside square loops 10-40 points; Two outside square loops 10-40 points; Two inside triangular loops 10-40 points; Two horizontal eights 10-40 points;
Two square horizontal eights 10-40 points; Two vertical eights 10-40 points; Hourglass 10-40 points; Two overhead figure eights 10-40 points; Four-leaf clover 10-40 points; Landing 10-40 points

Expert: Wing-Over 10-40 points; Reverse wing-over 10-40 points; Inverted laps (3 laps) 10-40 points; Reverse Wing-Over 10-40 points; Three inside loops 10-40 points; Three outside loops 10-40 points; Two inside square loops 10-40 points; Two outside square loops 10-40 points; Two inside triangular loops 10-40 points; Two Outside Triangle Loops 10-40 points; Hourglass 10-40 points; Two horizontal eights 10-40 points; Two square horizontal eights 10-40 points; Two vertical eights 10-40 points; Two overhead figure eights 10-40 points; Four-leaf clover 10-40 points; Landing 10-40 points; Flight Pattern 25 points

Master (maneuver start, two laps, maneuver complete two laps max between maneuvers): Wing-Over 10-40 points; Reverse wing-over 10-40 points; Inverted laps (3 laps) 10-40 points; Three outside loops 10-40 points; Three outside square loops 10-40 points; Reverse Wing-Over 10-40 points; Three inside loops 10-40 points; Three inside square loops 10-40 points; Two inside triangular loops 10-40 points; Reverse wing-over 10-40 points; Two Outside Triangle Loops 10-40 points; Wing-Over 10-40 points; Two Hourglass 10-40 points; Two horizontal eights 10-40 points; Two vertical eights 10-40 points; Two square horizontal eights 10-40 points; Two overhead figure eights 10-40 points;   Four-leaf clover 10-40 points; Landing 10-40 points; Flight Pattern 25 points

I believe the Expert and Master will be far more challenging and taxing on the pilot's skill and ability because of the rapidity of the maneuvers and intensified need for precision.  Of course just keeping the existing categories and initiating the proposed flight plans would probably suffice as well.  Does this sound reasonable?

Jim Carter

[Jim Hoffman]

Gents,

Congrats to Dennis Nunes - a great flyer and a great guy

I am one of those folks that would be affected.   
I like I how it is…………

I fly in the 2nd tier of Experts at GSSC.  I am capable of winning or placing high any local Expert contest in the southwest if I fly my best.

•   I want to see how I compare to the Top experts at a Nats level contest
•   I want to go toe to toe with my peers and enjoy about 30 seconds of bragging rights if I am on top
•   I don’t want another trophy

[mike londke]

Leave the pattern the way it is. Go with Brett's amnesty and let some guys move down if they feel they need to. No ego's should be bruised or hurt. Hell.....plenty of "Experts" drop down to fly Advanced instead of Open at the NATS and those pilots don't have seem to have a problem with it then. 

[Tim Just]

Dennis, congratulations on your recent victory.  While it is clearly none of my business what you choose to do, I personally think It would be great if you would stay in advanced to give the rest of us in the class something to aspire to.  You have set the height of the bar.

Tim

[Walter Hicks]

Dennis, congrats on your win at the Golden State. Please do not move up to Expert just because someone thinks you should. I am an advanced pilot and one of your competitors when I fly. I have seen people move up to Expert who should not have done it and have no problem with people saying that they made a big mistake and moving back down to advanced. I agree with Charles that you can be beaten at this point. What I mean by that is you are not beating the competition by 40 points every contest. And you did not win at the Northwest Regionals. The reason I am saying this is that I personally can , build a better airplane , get more appearance points, practice more with a purpose to get better, trim my airplanes better and just plain put more effort into getting better. An I think that is the case with a lot of Advanced pilots. You are not scoring 550 points every contest , 506 or so at the Golden State and a bit more at other contests, Less at the Northwest Regionals if my memory serves me correct. Another example of this is the Northwest Regionals, I was not going to fly as I am Event Director  of Scale and Judging Expert. But I was given a beautiful airplane by Pat Johnston his Mustang and in honor of him I flew in Advanced with no appearance points, score was 486, If I had 14 appearance points I would have scored higher than you.
( I don't think that would happen very often ) It is about being consistent with scores 30-40 points higher than your competition in advanced ,
then  we should look at moving up. But this is not the case at this point.

I would hope that we would do what is necessary to keep our contests in existence. It is getting harder and harder to get people who are able and willing to help run contest, judge etc. NOW is the time for all of us to chip in and do our part. This is why I now judge whenever I am asked , or see a need.
And example the people I fly with are ages 81,76, and 72 I am turning 65. Due to family health issues one of those can no longer go to contests to fly and help as he did in the past.

Whatever we can do to make it work for beginner, intermediate pilots by all means do it now.

Many thanks to the Experts who continue to pass on their knowledge to the rest of us. Brett, Dave, Paul, and many others who are very helpful to other
pilots.

[Peter in Fairfax, VA]

An improvement would be to have an organization that treated stunt as a sport with reported contest results. 

For an excellent example, see the Brodak website, linked below.  For a lot of contests, and this includes the Nats, there is no way to tell who won the different categories unless you attended the contest.  Tracking results would enhance the sport, bringing it in line with other sports.  Fans would enjoy the data, contestants would use it to gauge category placements.

https://brodak.com/results

Peter

[Reuben MacBride]

I believe Dennis Nunes won only the last two years at GSSC. Lanny Shorts won three years ago. Dennis has won so many contests out here in the best coast it gets confusing.  I still believe Dennis Nunes is beatable in the advance class.


Charles Carter

yes that is correct Lanny Shorts won 1st in Advance in 2017 , But Dennis N. was in Intermediate and won 1st place that year also. 
 

[Steven Mac Bride]

Congratulations Dennis on your victory win at Golden State and promotion to Expert.
I believe you must feel very proud as you very well have earned and deserve it. (REWARDING)
It is always a pleasure to fly and compete against you as I knew going into any contest you and I attended would be a neck and neck battle to the top of the winners circle.
I will continue to practice hard to make my winning victory goal to expert as you did so we can have more fun competing again and the future challenges that await to the mid and winners circle in expert.
Keep up the great working efforts.
Bring your skills to the Las Vegas Stunt Challenge Nov. 8, 9, and 10th. for your 1st contest in expert and show how well you have earned your competitive level.
It is not about only winning it is the love and fun you have.

Steven

[Ken Culbertson]

Now I know I am a chihuahua in a yard full of Mastiff's Doberman's and Shepard's but why not develop a completely different sequence and challenging pattern for those who fly at that level … Advanced, Expert and even a "Master" class!  Maneuvers could be rearranged, timed, increased and repeated.  For example:  All … appearance Points 0-20 points; Flight Procedures/Starting no points; Takeoff and level flight 10-40 points;

Intermediate: Remains as is

Advanced: Reverse wing-over 10-40 points; Three inside loops 10-40 points; Inverted laps (2 laps) 10-40 points; Three outside loops 10-40 points; Two inside square loops 10-40 points; Two outside square loops 10-40 points; Two inside triangular loops 10-40 points; Two horizontal eights 10-40 points;
Two square horizontal eights 10-40 points; Two vertical eights 10-40 points; Hourglass 10-40 points; Two overhead figure eights 10-40 points; Four-leaf clover 10-40 points; Landing 10-40 points

Expert: Wing-Over 10-40 points; Reverse wing-over 10-40 points; Inverted laps (3 laps) 10-40 points; Reverse Wing-Over 10-40 points; Three inside loops 10-40 points; Three outside loops 10-40 points; Two inside square loops 10-40 points; Two outside square loops 10-40 points; Two inside triangular loops 10-40 points; Two Outside Triangle Loops 10-40 points; Hourglass 10-40 points; Two horizontal eights 10-40 points; Two square horizontal eights 10-40 points; Two vertical eights 10-40 points; Two overhead figure eights 10-40 points; Four-leaf clover 10-40 points; Landing 10-40 points; Flight Pattern 25 points

Master (maneuver start, two laps, maneuver complete two laps max between maneuvers): Wing-Over 10-40 points; Reverse wing-over 10-40 points; Inverted laps (3 laps) 10-40 points; Three outside loops 10-40 points; Three outside square loops 10-40 points; Reverse Wing-Over 10-40 points; Three inside loops 10-40 points; Three inside square loops 10-40 points; Two inside triangular loops 10-40 points; Reverse wing-over 10-40 points; Two Outside Triangle Loops 10-40 points; Wing-Over 10-40 points; Two Hourglass 10-40 points; Two horizontal eights 10-40 points; Two vertical eights 10-40 points; Two square horizontal eights 10-40 points; Two overhead figure eights 10-40 points;   Four-leaf clover 10-40 points; Landing 10-40 points; Flight Pattern 25 points

I believe the Expert and Master will be far more challenging and taxing on the pilot's skill and ability because of the rapidity of the maneuvers and intensified need for precision.  Of course just keeping the existing categories and initiating the proposed flight plans would probably suffice as well.  Does this sound reasonable?

Jim Carter

I may have a different set of maneuvers that I would like but this is really interesting.  Even though I have flown thousands of patterns I have yet to fly a perfect one and since I have returned only a handful that I would even call Nats quality but even with that I think the pattern is too easy.   I know that is hard to understand if you are a beginner or even an intermediate but it does get that way after a while.  The rapid nature of the maneuvers would require a drastic change in judging but it could be done.  I am on board but we both know that it will never happen

Ken

[Peter in Fairfax, VA]

Ken,

Please elaborate, as I think you have a couple of ideas in mind.

1) How do you propose judges write down scores more quickly?

2) What maneuvers would you add?  Outside triangles?  Bring back vertical square eight?

Peter 

[Ken Culbertson]

Ken,

Please elaborate, as I think you have a couple of ideas in mind.

1) How do you propose judges write down scores more quickly?

2) What maneuvers would you add?  Outside triangles?  Bring back vertical square eight?

Peter

It is only a pipe dream but the idea of a continuous pattern much like what you see in ice skating would be fun.  It would have to be scripted to be judged properly.  The only new maneuvers that I have toyed with, other than playing with the usual variations or placing them differently like an overhead cloverleaf or a vertical square 8, is a set of giant maneuvers like a full hemisphere hourglass and one I call a "Bow Tie" which is an hourglass with all of the corners in the same direction.  The rest could be combinations like appending loops to the bottoms of wingovers.  We could go crazy designing new stuff.

Judging is not that much of a change if you are schooled in the fine art of error counting.  I was part of that little experiment back in the 70's and learned to do it.  As far as I knew it went nowhere but when I came back into the hobby a few years ago I was surprised to see a form of it in the judges guide.   Instead of judging individual maneuvers you would judge the pattern as a whole. Since maneuvers would be nearly continuous it would require some form of recording that did not take the judges eyes off of the plane.  You don't need anything to score a pattern if you can count.  It is hard to learn but easy to use once you get the hang of it.   Also like skating used to be, I would have a technical score and an artistic score by making the pattern points a range.

All of this is a giant pie in the sky but why not bat it around.  Sometimes the squirrels miss an acorn and it becomes a tree.....but most of the time it becomes dinner.

Ken

[Dennis Nunes]

First let me say "Thank You" for all the compliments and the support. I never thought I see the day where I am the topic on a forum!

For those who don’t know me, let me share with you a little bit about my control-line background.

Back in my teenage years I started to fly competitively in the late 60's and early 70's. I was a member of the Western Associated Modelers (WAM) in California and flew mostly combat, never flew stunt. But soon cars, girls, marriage (to my wife for 46 years and counting), babies and work soon took its toll on my modeling and competitive days.

It all started back on a Sunday morning in October of 2014 when I somehow heard about the Golden State Stunt Championships in Madera, CA. I decided to drive down to Madera and check it out. I hadn't been to a contest since 1973. It was there that I saw David Fitzgerald fly for the first time. At this time I had no idea who Dave was. But what I saw him do with that stunt ship left a deep impression on me. By now, I was looking into the some of the forums (Stuka Stunt, Stunthanger) and came across Dave's email address so I sent him an email letting him know how impressed I was with his flying and wanted to know who won. Here is part of Dave's response to my email:

Dear Dennis,
Thanks very much and I’m glad you enjoyed the contest. Next time bring a plane and fly!

The words, "next time bring a plane and fly!" stuck with me. Hanging in my garage was an old "stunt" plane that I designed and built sometime in the mid 80's, thinking I would get back into flying again. But it didn't happen at that time. The plane had an old worn-out OS Max 35 that didn't fly very well as it was way under powered. On day I decided to refinish the fuselage and put in an OS LA 46. After a few flights and with the new engine broken in, the plane flew reasonably well.

So in August of 2015 at age 61, I decided to carry out Dave's suggestion and 'bring a plane and fly'.

I show up on Saturday at the Ted Goyet Memorial contest in Woodland, CA not knowing anyone or what to do. Out of the corner of my eye I see this 'old guy’ that I thought I knew from my days in WAM. Sure enough it was Lanny Shorts. I re-introduced myself and told him my predicament, that I had a plane, now what do I do? I wasn’t sure as to what class I should enter, I was thinking Beginner as this was my first stunt contest ever. Then Lanny asked, "Can you fly the pattern?" I said, "I think so...." So he tells me to “enter Intermediate…Beginner is for those that just started learning to fly”. Ok, so on Sunday I would entered my first contest in Intermediate.

While sitting there watching the contest on Saturday, Brett Buck comes by and sees my plane. Who is Brett Buck? I have no idea! He picks up my plane and looks it over, all he says is "it seems pretty light". So I explain my situation to him and he says after the contest we can check things out. So after the contest, we fire up the engine and I attempt to try and fly the pattern, which I did. Apparently Brett hears something in the engine run and ask, "What fuel are you using?" I reply, I don't know some stuff I got at the hobby shop that had 10% nitro. Brett ask Lanny if he had any GMA 10/22. So Lanny brings out a can of fuel. So after a few flights we finished up for the day. Lanny says he needs to go to the hobby shop and would pick me up a can of GMA 10/22. I guess I’m ready for Sunday.

So here I am at my first contest in over some 40 plus years, nervous as all get out. I get registered and sign up for Intermediate. From this moment on everything is a blur. There are only 4 individuals that are entered in Intermediate. I finish my first official flight, I can’t even remember if I did the complete pattern or what I scored. Later, it’s time for round 2. I tell Brett that I’m having trouble remember what maneuvers to do. He said you can have a coach with you in the middle of the circle that can help you. Ok, so my next question, “Can you coach me”? And without hesitation he did. All I remember was that I was on the final leaf of the four-leaf clover and had about 20’ of clearance to come back underneath and pull up to exit out of the maneuver. Well, the only problem was --------- I needed 25 feet! BAM the plane hits the ground and it’s all broken up.

None the less, I had a great time and met some great people. To my surprise I finished up in 3rd place! This was the first of many awards that I have received since then, but this one is the one I treasure the most out of all of them. It all started because of Dave Fitzgerald encouraging me to “Bring a plane and fly”.

I built a new plane, and in October of 2015 I entered my first Golden State Stunt Championships. I was pretty fortunate and placed 3rd. Since then, I was pretty successful in Intermediate until the end of 2017. Starting in 2018, I decided to move up to the Advanced class and have competed and will continue to compete into the 2020 season. So contrary to some rumors and published information, I will NOT be moving up to Expert anytime soon.

I think Charles Carter (who I have competed against many times) and Clint Ormosen (who has judge me on a couple of occasions) said it best ---- “He is beatable”. And I agree!

As Clint said, “Just because one pilot is dominating a class doesn’t mean said pilot is due to move up in class. Sometimes it means everyone else in the class needs to step up and challenge him”.

Over the past several years I've received a lot of encouragement (and ribbing) about moving up from Intermediate to Advanced and now from Advanced to Expert. The majority of it has been in good fun. To those who wish I would move up to Expert, because I’m winning ---- Sorry, it’s not going to happen anytime soon.

I have worked hard and not mention the considerable expense involved, in what has been accomplished so far and will try to continue to do so. I have a profound appreciation and respect for individuals like Dave Fitzgerald, Brett Buck, Chris Cox, Paul Walker, and other who are at the top of the class who are truly dedicated to this great hobby. These individuals have put in the time, used their energy and resources. They will bend over backwards to help anyone, all you have to do is ask. At each contest they go out and “beat each other’s brains out” and at the end of the contest, shake hands with one another and offer a sincere congratulations to the winner. I can only hope I can carry myself in the same manner.

In conclusion all I would like to say ---- to Dave Fitzgerald, Brett Buck, Ted Flancher, Jim Aron, Chris Cox, Paul Walker, Lanny Shorts and many, many more who have imparted and shared their knowledge and expertise with me ----  a big THANK YOU.

As Clint stated, “…Sometimes it means everyone else in the class needs to step up and challenge him”. So let’s have some fun!

Dennis Nunes

[Shorts,David]

I remember that crash Dennis. I think that was the only time I beat you. However, and this is just between you and me 😉, but I'm gunning for you next year. So please don't move up yet.

I'll post this on this board too, it looks to me like classic or profile are events where other pilots can win out west because the big boys don't compete. Of course Howard was able to win in Roseburg with a twin profile, but that was awesome.

[Ted Fancher]

Just saw this thread for the first time and read it top to bottom.  What a pleasure in today's rabid world to read so many consistently intelligent and persuasive commentaries on a large variation of ideas on a single "potentially divisive" subject.  Every one of them a pleasure to read and consider.  Makes me proud to have been associated with the event and the ilk of those inclined to compete avidly and advocate persuasively but unwilling to let doing so descend to the often repugnant and divisive levels so common in today's "larger" world.

Thanks guys.  I needed that!

Ted

[Reuben MacBride]

Dennis I was waiting for your response to this topic of your success and as I said I congradulate you for winning. I also said that you have to reach a personal goal. Each of us puts a level of acheivement they want to reach. Mine was to just be able to earn the bump up to Expert before I died. As we get older our health sometimes goes against us and  that goal never happens. So I was rooting for your ability to make it to Expert not to want you to go before your ready. As Charles said you set a standard in advance for all others to work harder to fly better and win also. Prime example is how hard Chris Cox  has worked to get where he is today. He challenges the best of them at every event and has beat the best. He is my idol.  So when your ready to make the next step to Expert it is all up to you and your goal. Stay Healthy and keep flying. Hope to see you soon.