Rather than clog up the other NW regionals thread with my report, I thought I would start a new thread.
I was fortunate to be able to attend the 2018 Northwest Regionals in Roseberg Oregon. I wasn't planning on attending until Gordan Delaney called me a few days before and asked if I would like to accompany him this year. So, we thrashed for a couple days to got my as yet, un-flown, Gieseke Nobler ready to fly. Engine installation, tank plumbing, copper vent/overflow tubing, machining a custom aluminum prop spacer, ect. The weather didn't allow for a test flight prior to leaving, so we decided to just go for it. Thursday, early AM we departed for Oregon. I enjoyed the beautiful drive up from Utah through the meandering roads of southern Oregon.
Friday morning, we made it over to the field before 8AM. Many folks were there already waiting for the 8AM, engine-OK, to start practicing. Before we even rolled out the lines, there were a lot of smiles and happy greetings. Off to a great start! Gordan asked to put up the first flights on my plane to check for wing position and all the normal first flight checks. A simple flap tweak was all that was needed in that regard. I then put up a pattern and agreed that it still felt tail heavy. Scott Dinger provided some 5 min epoxy and in went .75oz of lead. It felt much better, but still a bit spooky for my taste. I bailed out during the clover and played it safe. We took it back to the motel and added an additional .5oz which brought the overall weight up to 39oz which is still pretty fantastic for a Gieseke Nobler powered by a Brodak .40.
Gordy wasn't feeling well in the evening, so I went solo back to the flying site and found the Roseberg airport to be very busy with the field of expert fliers. The wind was blowing quite steady and after my first flight in those conditions, I felt that I had ventured into something quite above my pay-grade. Brett referred to the wind as "stunt heaven," which was an eye opener. I never fly in winds like that. I then received some great coaching from David Fitzgerald, Brett Buck and Howard Rush. David gave me a great lesson on maneuver placement in the wind while we watched Brett Buck's flight. It was very cool to hear David's explanation and then immediately see Brett's perfect execution of the principle right in front of us. What a great opportunity it was to spend time flying and learning with world/national champs! I found this to be very beneficial and I found all of them to be extremely open and welcoming to this new face in the community. The wind slightly abated as the sun was getting lower. I was about to leave when Howard Rush invited and encouraged me to roll the lines back out and continue practicing. I am very glad that I did, as I gained some confidence flying in the winds. During Howard's flights, I had the pleasure of speaking with Paul Walker and learning about the many iterations of the Impact family over the years. Howard and I flew until it was nearly dark and then he kindly invited me to join he and his wife for dinner.
Saturday morning I entered Classic and flew my first official contest flight. I was a wreck with nerves! Contests are much different from my usual casual flying at the park. I made many simple rookie mistakes, ran out of fuel in the clover and got hit with an accompanying loss of pattern points on flight 1. Flight 2 in Classic netted a 450 with no appearance points. Not too shabby for only having flown this totally new plane a grand total of 8 flights at this point. Now I had a reference point of what to expect from the contest flying experience. Gordan elected to not risk flying his Bellanca in competition, as after 2 practice flights the rapidly expiring redhead McCoy 40 was barfing its black iron guts all over the wing.
Sunday I entered advanced, feeling that the previous days score in classic was somewhere in that realm. Paul and David were judging advanced and I was excited to be judged by two world champs. I tried to implement some of David's wind placement lesson and Brett's vertical-8/hourglass advice from the previous day. My big errors were again, bonehead rookie stuff. I made a few lap counting errors which cost me points in both the manuver and the 25 pattern points and resulting in a 413 score. Although I didn't score as well in advanced as I did in classic, I felt I probably flew the actual maneuvers superior to my previous day in Classic. David gently ribbed me after my last flight and counselled by counting on his fingers....
"learn to count...it goes, 1,2...3,4-5...6." I was embarrassed at missing such simple things, but not offended at all by any of the advice given. I was there to learn and was humbled to have so many top level experts take time to watch any part of my flights when they had their own practice and contest prep to focus upon.
As I watched the field of 17 experts and 8 advanced fly their patterns in practice and in competition, I was able to see the vast difference between advanced level flying, lower level expert level flying and top level expert flying. Brett also brought this point up during our conversations. The top expert fliers are clearly much more more calm and patient, especially in the square maneuvers and are not panicked at all by wind changes or the asphalt. They are all confident in their equipment and their years of experience is very evident. These differences played out flight after flight of the advanced and expert fliers. From standing there and watching 30+ or so expert flights over the weekend, I quickly identified many things in my own flying that must be changed immediately.
All of the experts put on a great and impressive show of skill over the weekend. In an expert field populated with the deep talent level demonstrated by Paul, David, Brett, Howard, Chris Cox, Alan Resinger, Jim Aron and many others, Paul's winning 611 performance with his new P-47 was impressive. That plane, in Paul's hands, just rips through the corners and comes out flat as can be in the straight legs. David and Brett are like machines out there as well. Consistently great, every flight. I wish I had filmed every flight of this notable expert bunch throughout the weekend, but contests are busy and it just wasn't possible.
Overall, I had a rich contest weekend experience. I had a great road trip with Gordan, who unfortunately was in terrible, constant pain throughout the entire weekend due to his broken jaw and sore feet. I couldn't have made it there without his generosity and invitation. Quite literally, every person I met was happy and a genuine pleasure to speak with. I came away from the contest better for the effort, with constructive experience gained and with many new friends and acquaintances. For all those folks who had friendly conversations with me, I thank you. For all of those experts, I thank you for your patient counsel and good conversation, (Brett, Dave, Howard, Chris, ect). You didn't have to spend any time with me, but you did, and it made a significant and positive impact upon my experience.
Brent Williams.
Enjoy the pictures.
Topic: Northwest Regionals pictures and first contest experience. (Read 6153 times)
