Cinderella Tour 2017

[Howard Rush]

My knees wore out.  There is no more gristle between the bones.  Four times per year I can get cortisone shots which enable the knees to work almost normally for a couple of weeks.  This October had three really good contests on three consecutive weekends, so I got the shots just before the first of them, became ambulatory, got some last-minute coaching, put on my glass slippers, and lit out for the Fall Follies in Salem, Oregon.  The Follies is our traditional last contest of the season, with good times and lots of food.  We got to the field in time for the Johnston spaghetti feed on Saturday.  I had perfect air for my first flight Sunday, which had a most satisfactory outcome.  I won’t tell you the results, so’s not to scoop the Contest Results section in Stunt News.

We cruised east along the scenic Columbia gorge after the contest.  I called Gordan Delaney the next day and told him we’d take him to dinner that evening when we passed through Ogden.  We got there too late for dinner, freeloaded at the Delaney house, then told the Delaneys we’d take them out for breakfast.  We snuck out before breakfast, frightening Cassidy, who was leaving for school. 

Wyoming was scenic as usual, except for billboards for the accursed Little America.  Snow covered much of Wyoming.  I took the Lincoln statue picture for Brett, who is too frightened of it to get close enough for a close-up. 

[Howard Rush]

I have to tell the guys who load the Jive Combat Team Transporter not to put all the vortex generator crates on one side. 

[Howard Rush]

We installed new mud flaps on the Transporter to promote team spirit. 

[Howard Rush]

We got to Dallas Wednesday for the F2B Team Trials, enjoyed nice practice weather on Thursday and Friday, and were well fed at the field.  I got to meet Proparc and learned that he makes his own bicycles.  I wanted to talk CAD with him, but I got distracted by the stunt goings on.  I introduced Marilou to Al Rabe, who looked happy and healthy.  She curtsied respectfully. 

The weekend forecast was for plenty of wind, so I got PW’s advice for Igor autothrottle wind settings.  The settings worked great.  My first Saturday flight was OK.  I thought the second flight was darn good stunt, but it didn’t get much score.  I loudly observed that I didn’t get points for starting within one minute, so those scoresheets couldn’t have been the correct ones for my excellent flight.  It was pointed out to me that: a) starting points had been dropped from the rules, and b) the dork who wrote the tabulation program had not updated the scoresheets to remove them.  I then remembered an incident at a bygone Nats where I told my coach what a splendid flight I had just flown, and he subsequently spent half an hour giving me a maneuver-by-maneuver analysis of why it sucked.  I decided I’d better get somebody who knows his stunt to tell me what I was doing wrong in Dallas.  I went to the hotel for a nap and came back to the field to practice.  Lo, there was the Champion of the World.  I pressed him into service to critique my stunt, and I almost crashed trying to do a recognizable outside square.  It got dark, so I loaded my stuff, except for the toolbox, into the car.  The box wasn’t there Sunday morning.  It was time to fly, and I had no lines or handle.  I had several offers of loaner lines and handles, but even if I had a handle with my unusually wide spacing, I wouldn’t have been able to get it set in time to fly.  My chances of getting a decent score or even of not crashing in the mighty wind were negligible, so I ensured my availability for the 2018 US Nats.

Richard Oliver flew this Kaz Minato Blue Max in the Team Trials.  Richard says it’s his best stunt plane ever.

[Howard Rush]

We enjoyed barbecue in Texas and the requisite red and green chiles in New Mexico.  These contest trips are not just food and stunt, though.  We take in cultural activities en route.  Here is Marilou at the Cadillac Ranch.

[Howard Rush]

Behold the typical Texas restaurant candy dish and hotel waffle:

[Howard Rush]

We moseyed along the former Route 66 and freeloaded in Arizona at the house of Marilou’s former boss.  We arrived at Madera Wednesday for the Golden State Stunt Championships.  I made some lines and bummed a Fancher handle from Alan Resinger.  It worked a treat.  Thursday weather was nice, so we socialized and practiced.  The CD had decreed a 6:30 PM curfew.  At 6:25 peer pressure forced me to make another flight.  Sure enough, at 6:30 a blustery front appeared and I lost all line tension upwind.  Don’t mess with Brian.

The blustery weather continued Friday, but wind Saturday and Sunday was just about perfect for stunt, and there was neither a cloud in the sky nor smoke from the recent fires. 

Brett Buck is always a threat to win this contest, so over the years we have tried various means to thwart him.  One time we simply poisoned him.  I figured he’d be on his guard for that, so this year we had a killer bee sting his flying arm.  It hardly fazed him.  Thermals had helped in previous contests, so we conjured some little ones for his first round flight.  They served to hold his score down to my level.  A big one that picked up his airplane and slammed it down breaking the tail did the trick. 

Lanny Shorts brought his son and grandkids, who flew and appeared to have a good time.

[Howard Rush]

The guys who placed 1, 2, and 3 in Salem placed 1, 2, and 4 in Madera, but not, alas, respectively.  Paul Walker won the contest and the Pilots’ Choice award for his airplane. 

[Howard Rush]

We returned to the cold, rainy Northwest.  My knees are turning into pumpkins just in time for Halloween. 

[Steve Fitton]

That sounds like an epic worthy of Tolkien!

[Randy Cuberly]

That sounds like an epic worthy of Tolkien!

Yeah, except with much more fantasy! 

Thanks Howard.  It's nice to hear the real story about some of these "Great" contests I never get to go to!

Sorry about the knees!  My wife, Kaye, has metal and plastic ones and they work great.  Sounds like you're ready for some!

Randy Cuberly

[Chris Cox]

For a guy who waited until late September to start flying this year, you did amazingly well Howard!  Congratulations.

You forgot to mention the wonderful Door Prize bestowed upon you at the GSSC Banquet.

[Howard Rush]

Sorry about the knees!  My wife, Kaye, has metal and plastic ones and they work great.  Sounds like you're ready for some!

I signed up for the first replacement when I got the cortisone. 

[tom brightbill]

Hi Howard,  If you need both knees done, then consider finding a doctor that will do both at the same time. My wife did that because both knees were bone-on-bone and she didn't want to go through the rehab twice. She felt 10 years younger within a couple months. The surgery time was 3 hours to do both as opposed to 2 to do one, and the rehab was only about 25% longer.
Cheers,
Tom

[Target]

Yep, you will have half the down time if you can "man up" and get them done at the same time.
I'll send you some positive vibes, and you can build under the new LED's knowing that you won't have to change a bulb....

Take care, Dude!

[Elwyn Aud]

Behold the typical Texas restaurant candy dish and hotel waffle:

The Texas theme can extend to airplanes too.

[Steve Helmick]

Oddly, we saw the other JCT team transporter over on Hwy. 395. You can tell it's the other one, because the van number is different. Also note that the pallets of VG's are properly loaded on #7109. Good job on that, Mary Lou! The mud flaps appear to be the updated ones. Is that MS Mud Flaps 2.0?    Steve

[wwwarbird]

Oddly, we saw the other JCT team transporter over on Hwy. 395. You can tell it's the other one, because the van number is different. Also note that the pallets of VG's are properly loaded on #7109. Good job on that, Mary Lou! The mud flaps appear to be the updated ones. Is that MS Mud Flaps 2.0?    Steve

 I see the door latch has the load seal tag on it, hopefully Howard's handle and lines were already stowed.

[Randy Cuberly]

I signed up for the first replacement when I got the cortisone.

I wish you the very best of luck with the knee surgery.  I believe the risk to be relatively low for any problems.

However my limited research says that there is an increased risk of blood clots when having both done at the same time.  Please don't take that as gospel because as I said it is simply my own limited research from when my wife's were done.  It might be worth discussing it with your surgeon.  My wife had considerably increased risks because she is diabetic and that may have made the difference in her case.  Certainly, in my opinion, doing both at the same time would shorten the total down time significantly and I have heard of it being done.  I do in fact have a friend who had it done on both knees at the same time, several years ago, and his total recovery was very quick.

Randy Cuberly