by Dan G. MVSA Webmaster
Yesterday seven flyers competed in the October Hand Launch contest under a quiet overcast sky with bratwurst on the grill.
The contest had been postponed due to rain earlier in the month. They are normally held on the first Saturday of the month. Yesterday’s contest was called on a vote after nine rounds due to brats on the grill and hungry flyers.
Contest results as well as year to date can be found on the Contests page of the MVSA Website.
“We managed to get the October HL contest in the books today,” Wayne, the CD, wrote on the club’s Google Group. He released the contest results last night.
“Postponed from being rained out on the 1st Saturday of the month, the threat of rain hung over our heads again all day… We enjoyed a day of high overcast and light breezes, which kept the temps in the upper 50s and demanded some light jacket action in order to keep warm. With the threat of rain, we also asked John to come out a little earlier than planned in order to get the brats done before anything might ruin our parade.”
Once again Wayne W. continues to dominate the class with his seventh straight win.
Dave Q. upsets Bill C for a second place finish. Bill has been the strong #2 in the class fighting it out with Robert S. who was absent yesterday. Earlier in the season Bill C and Robert S traded second place for the season. Bill took a several month hiatus and returned yesterday with flights and tactics that stunned competitors. He used a tree line for ridge lift.
By round 5, Bill’s scores dropped with two off field landings. Dave took the resigns and took second for the second time this season only 101 points behind Wayne. Bill takes home 3rd place, a little more than 200 points off the leader, 100 points behind 2nd place and just 30 points ahead of Rich S. in 4th.
The talk of the day was Kevin’s round 2 – eight second flight.
“I heard the sound of carbon fiber crunching in the air behind me during the launch,” Dan said. “I had just launched and said to myself, ‘fly the plane, don’t turn around. Then I heard the clump hit the ground.”
“My wife wasn’t impressed with the video. She mentioned static models and trains! LOL!!!” – Kevin
Kevin’s flight was caught on video, the plane went into the air and twirled shortly after launch landing in a crumpled mass behind Dan G. Kevin is seen picking up the plane which appears to have a broken tail boom. He responded to the video later in the club’s Google Group after other club members began to comment.
“Ouch!” Robert S. wrote. “So, what DID happen. I looked at the video and it did not look like a tip strike. (He signs – “Robert (back home and pissed that I had to miss a great day at the field)”
“Fun contest, thanks again.” Kevin responded. “I have a new radio and absolute love it! That said, doing the first trim flight, my unzipped jacket hit the throttle stick during my spin launch. It had a ballistic trajectory with its nose buried. The model standing almost perpendicular as I pulled it out of the ground. The nose cone/nose were wrinkled and there were a couple of small cracks on the boom just behind the wing. I figured it would make through the contest but I also started throwing harder as the contest progressed. The launch on the video shows the SuperFr3ak boom finally gave up. My wife wasn’t impressed with the video. She mentioned static models and trains! LOL!!!”
Several club members responded and asked questions.
As of last night Kevin had a solution for the radio and had already begun fixing the plane. “Thanks. I have already started repairing, it will not be pretty, [but] probably stronger and heavier. 🙂 ” Kevin wrote.
The club’s next contest will be in 13 days – on November 6th, the monthly Hand Launch contest. The location and CD are to be announced.