Valley Circle Burners held their annual Hi Johnson Contest

[Andrew Borgogna]

This past weekend the Valley Circle Burners of Los Angeles held their annual Hi Johnson contest.  With gas over $5.00/gal it was no supprise that the number of contestant was down a bit this year but for those of us who attended we had a great time.  We had one heck of a supprise on Saturday with a recent addition to the control line aerobatic team, none other than Chip Hyde.  Chip has competed and won at almost every level of R/C flying and is know world wide for his skills.  Well it seems Chip wants to give C/L aerobatics a try, and after just five weeks of practice he scored a 450+ in competition.  No joke he looked well into advance for someone who just took up the handle.  I was first introduced to Chip at the 1984 Nationals in Reno Nevada, at the time the only think you heard in the elevators of  Circus Circus was "Who the hell is this kid Chip Hyde, and where the hell did he come from???".  I thought Chip was a teenager at the time, but on Saturday he told me he was only 12 years old at the 84 Nat's.  He is a really nice person and a great addition to our part of the hobby.  One last thing I asked Chip what his plans were for control line and he answered "I want to win the Nat's". 

Here are some pics I took over the weekend.
Andy

[Mike Keville]

Hey, Chip Hyde going CLPA, hmm?  That's great!  See if you can get him to come to VSC-25 next March (19-23).

[Gary Mondry]

What was Chip flying?

[john e. holliday]

Watch out as Chip has won almost everything in RC.  If he goes CL he will be a force to reacon with.

[Andrew Borgogna]

Gary
The plane Chip was flying looked like a 40 size Pathfinder or something in that mold.  As he pointed out, he did not build it but he does support BOM and is capable of building model airplanes.  By the way the guy in the red hat with his hands out is Chip.  He said he started out five weeks ago with a Nobler and lots of practice, something about several inverted scrapes with the ground.  His bottoms on the outside squares and reverse wingover were where they should be.  He still has quite a ways to go to be competitive at the Nat's but where he is now for as little time he has been practicing is truly amazing.

I spent 25 years flying R/C before coming back to C/L and I followed this guys career from 1984 on and as Doc said he is a force to be reckoned with.
Andy

[Randy Cuberly]

If Chip Hyde really wants to win the NATs...He probably will.
It's a long, long road but they don't come any more competitive than this guy.
Whatever it takes he'll do it.
He certainly has the physical skill (hand eye coordination) and resources.

Good luck to him.

Randy Cuberly

[Howard Rush]

Isn't the Scorpion Enrique Diez's airplane?  Was he there?

If you send me the scores, I'll try to put them in Stunt News.

[FLOYD CARTER]

Mr. Hyde will first have to break through the "Calibration Barrier", meaning the judges will take a long time and many contest flights to let him break through into the "top ten" (or is it twenty?).  In the meanwhile, the usual suspects have nothing to fear.

Floyd

[Aaron Little]

Mr. Hyde will first have to break through the "Calibration Barrier", meaning the judges will take a long time and many contest flights to let him break through into the "top ten" (or is it twenty?).  In the meanwhile, the usual suspects have nothing to fear.

Floyd

What about Orestes?

[Howard Rush]

What about Orestes?

That's what I was thinking.

[Larry Fernandez]

Mr. Hyde will first have to break through the "Calibration Barrier", meaning the judges will take a long time and many contest flights to let him break through into the "top ten" (or is it twenty?).  In the meanwhile, the usual suspects have nothing to fear.

Floyd

Sorry Floyd, I could'nt disagree more.
If Chip or anybody else flys better than the rest, he will win.
There is no "Calibration Barrier"

Larry, Buttafucco Stunt Team

[Bill Morell]

Is "Calibration Barrier" another way of saying "Halo"?

[Doug Moon]

Mr. Hyde will first have to break through the "Calibration Barrier", meaning the judges will take a long time and many contest flights to let him break through into the "top ten" (or is it twenty?).  In the meanwhile, the usual suspects have nothing to fear.

Floyd

I dont think so.  You fly good you score good.  Not trying to toot my own horn here but I made the Top5 in Open as a Rookie in 2002.  It just goes to show you that if you fly good you score good. 

Orestes Hernandez won the Nats very shortly after jumping to Open as well.  It's all about flying good and flying good over and over and over....

[Wade Bognuda]

Chip shows up with a Halo, though none is needed. He'll get there.