Phwew! Just got back home from a memorable trip. Two weeks in Montreal, then off to Illinois for the E-Fest hosted by Great Planes. This was the first offering from our buds at Great Planes into the world of hosting a contest/ fun fly on the electric tip. It was an unqualified success no matter how you look at it!
Held in the armory at University of Illinois February 11 and 12, the event featured fun in many facets. Open flying, plenty of spectators, vendors, big names, choppers, full contact combat, a pylon race, chopper throw down, E Style contest, slow fliers, well organized and media coverage out the waazoo! Things couldn't have gone much better.
The event was the brain child of Frank Noll and was headed up by my buddy Amanda Price. The organization was splendid. The best run events have a solid outline but are open to ideas and flexible. Having an idea and running with it sometimes make an average show super. This was a super show that added a couple of ideas that made it Super Duper!
Max and I were picked up at the airport by our own Kitman. Looking down the escalator to see Greg in a long black coat with Biff written on a paper plate set the tone for the weekend. We drew a line through Biff and wrote MadMax on the same piece of paper,,priceless Greg,,good job!!
We headed to the watering hole fr a couple of cocktails and were off to sleep for the big day. Max brought some of our new toys for testing. Looks like we got the training on the new goodies out of the way.
Saturday came early! We were at the venue around 7 AM. Cold temps and snow made the armory feel like heaven! What a place to fly in !!! The facility is HUGE!! We got the PA up and had the tunnel syndrome right off the bat. Nothing said could be understood. Been there before. We new as the place filled up the acoustics would change to our favor. Though not real clear, it worked well enough. We'll have it pumping next year!
The outline of the day was simply to let pilots be pilots. Open flying was a blast! We ran into several Flying Giants members and shared some hearty hand shakes. Max stole Chris's airplanes and had a blast ! I think in one flight, Max doinked 7 other airplanes foolish enough to get in his path. All while seated comfortably on a chair. At least he didn't have his tray!!
We had a 15 minute block for slow fliers, jets, 3D and choppers, then back to open flying. It worked well. For the rest of the time, 3D and choppers got one end of the facility and race trackers got the other. Mid airs were common, but that was expected. Some real cool bashes happened, but being gentlemen was the order of the day.
Saturday evening saw the real contests. The first was a full contact combat match. 2 rounds of 12 pilots. We stopped the rounds when 5 were left flying, then brought the top 10 in for the finals. The first two rounds took about 30 seconds to end. The finals took about 5 minutes!! A Zaggi like plane and a biplane 3D ship duked it out for about 2 minutes to see the winner. Mr. Macky took the top spot with a biplane. Great plaque provided by King Bradley and $100 from Hobbico were the bounty for his efforts. I DUG this,, carnage and smiles,, the audience loved it!
The Heli Throw Down was incredible!! 6 hot rock pilots and a couple of new guys. Kyle Stacy (10 years old!) and Nick Maxwell (16!) put down the line. Audience applause decided the winner. Nick Maxwell is a name you will be reading about. He is not afraid of doing a low show!! Kyle put down a monster flight as well,, the crowd was full into both of them! Nick won the money and Kyle got a Spektrum radio for their efforts. Mighty proud of both of these guys.
Next up was the E-Style contest. Simple premise, top pilots, 3 minutes and just 1 flight! We were treated to some incredible flying and some new maneuvers. Animal Jesky was doing back wards flat spins, Johnny Bravo Glezellis has a new move coined the Bravo roll. Watch vids,,,,,,COOOL!!!
QuiQue's CD had issues big time. No music would have worked better. Sean had some issues too. Looks like using a tape might be an option as well. Jason Noll sported a smoke system on his plane that was bent on lightening up his airplane! The smoke cannister was dune after 2 1/2 minutes, but the heat kept going. He has a couple extra holes on the bottom of his fuse!!
Judges were Mark Jorgenson, Marion Berninger, Mike Ramsey, Pete Goldsmith and Steve Johnson. VP was out in force and I'm happy to report the guys are really getting a handle on this technology. Yoichiro was doing some really nice down lines at 0 speed. Looks as though VP will be a BIG help for sequences as well as 3D.
When the dust settled, this was the list in order of finish;
1 Jason Noll
2 John Glezellis
3 Sean McMurtry
4 Animal Jesky
5 QuiQue Somenzini
6 Jeff Pfeifer
7 Jason Kole
8 Angelo Comelli
9 Yoichiro Ono
10 Junki Ishikawa
Long dollars provided by Hobbico plaques by John "King" Bradley
These guys are really stepping up electric flight. Seeing the level of commitment these guys are making and new technology is a breath of fresh air for the hobby. I'm very excited about what will happen in the next couple of years!
Sunday was a real relaxed day of flying. Our buddy Lee from Castle Creations had the bright idea of a pylon race! The thing was a hoot. Everything that could be flown was up and running. Two banners (TARGETS!) were place at the ends of the venue. No rules, full contact okay! Thanks goodness my boys from TEAM SPEED DEMON were on hand to officiate! Scott and son Jake did a great job of lap counting and getting me out of the danger zone!!
Frank chunked in $100 and Castle Creations dropped some major trinkets on the winner. Angelo Comelli blasted around Sean McMurty (Pete Goldsmith flying a SLOW V had a mid air with Sean) and took top spot!! We'll be taking the race thing seriously for next year. It was a crowd favorite!
The last "contest" happened Sunday. Nick Maxwell brought out his chopper for a demo flight. As he was pimping, Animal Jesky chuncked a chopper down and started hucking. 2 choppers flying in the whole gym by themselves. It quickly became a game of "Got Balls?" Low inverted, blades slapping the rubber floor, crowd going NUTS!! We had to measure the scuff marks on the blades to see who took the championship. ANIMAL put the smack down! Just when I thought I'd seen into Animal's play book he gets awesome in another discipline! Great job boy!
Overall, the event ended up with over 200 registered pilots!! I can't think of an event I've ever heard of that broke the 200 mark in it's first year. Don Anderson, Frank Noll and Amanda Price deserve GIANT ups for their vision and efforts. BIG time success!
High lights of the event from Biff; Spending quality time with MadMax,Kitman and meeting all the Flying Giants members.
Billy Hell presenting me with a new COWBOY HAT WITH STAGE COACH CUT!!! Thanks bro!
Spending time with all the flying buddies I haven't seen in a couple months.
Seeing so many people flying together with no drama. Egos checked at the door, attitudes left at the house.
Watching MadMax operate all this new equipment without reaching for a manual.
Seeing new faces that will be industry big dogs shortly
The indoor tip is a bunch of fun. Seeing so many new events taking off is a great thing. What I like so much abut it is people expect mid airs. There was no BS when planes conked each other and augured in. Being as these things are cheap, you can fly with a bit of abandon and not get too caught up in your investment. We full on support the electric craze and are all about bringing you the 411 on what's hot.
MadMax and I had a blast and wish to thank all who made us feel so welcome a Giant thank you. We will be back next year and look forward to having all you Giants there with us. The fun-o-meter was pegged the entire time. DO NOT MISS THIS EVENT!!!
Biff (posted by MadMax)
FREESTYLE VIDEOS ARE HERE:
http://www.flyinggiants.com/content/...thegiants.aspx