The dust has settled on the Brodak speed field. Today was the 'official' speed day but Paul encouraged entrants to fly on Monday and Tuesday as well. We (The Middlesex Wrecking Crew) took advantage of the opportunity and flew the Fox planes on Monday and, both classes on Tues. Weather was good all 3 days. I'm sure there will be a full report of all contestants before long but this will cover the top spots.
Fox .35 Speed 1. C.T. Schaefer 107.4
2. Al Ferraro 105.4
3. Jim Vigani 100.27
4. H. Nelson 100.2
Perky Speed 1. R. Whitney 114.1
2. Al Ferraro 112.3
3. H. Nelson 109.17
4. C.T. Schaefer 104.6
5. Dave Hallas 99.3
So. Those are the facts. Another fact is that the 17 year cicadas are here and when there is a plane in the air they seem to be attracted to the sound and then swarm around the circle and the pilots literally wear them while trying to concentrate on keeping their screaming craft in the air let alone in the groove! It definitely put an extra fun factor on the festivities!!
There were a number of FOX Fatalities. A couple of collapsed pistons and a free flying crank/spinner assembly which, fortunately, did not hit any soft targets. We saw a nice rear intake version that needs a bit more R/D. The three top scores were posted by the Middlesex Wrecking Crew. We spent a lot of time test flying. In other words we ran the crap out of them and suffered no mechanical problems. In order to lend encouragement to other speed seekers out there, the engine in the winner was built with a blend of ALL Fox .35 parts. No custom machining or low production parts and........ it is still .35 ci.
Perky was also quite a hard working but fun event. Hats off to Bob Whitney for keeping his eye on the prize for a number of years and, today, at last, raising the Perky bar to a new level. Al's plane put in his top number on the last attempt of the day. He feels that there is still a bit left in there but we just ran out of time. Next year? Henry put up what seemed to be two methodical attempts for his solid performance. While not as fast as the top guys, my perky performed well but just would not rise any higher. Despite that I felt pretty good about the performance of my almost 45 year old Goodyear motor that has been sitting in a box for 30 years. Is there more in there? Tune in next year. More details may come along but I am tired now. Hope this is of interest. TS