[TheTank]

Article by Sam "Sweetpea" Gaglio

ST George UTAH.....what a place.

I left early Saturday morning (around 3am) to meet up with part of Team Vegas for this contest. After a short 1.2 hr drive we stopped and had breakfast. Then off to the field. It was still dark out and chilly (for you east coast folks it was about 60 or so).

The RMA club lets the contest be held at the field and it’s a beautiful place. The runway is a little bumpy but wide and long enough that they hold jet rallies there also.

We got all unpacked and put the planes together. Early in the week Brian Cofer had mentioned that he would be the only CD for the contest and that Frank Kelley would be the only unlimited pilot left. Frank knew this and came along with his plane anyway. He decided not to fly by himself but helped judge/call/and make repairs for the contest. The turnout was a little low for SW standards (21 Pilots) but we had a great time and the competition was fierce.

Day 1:

Weather was high 60's to low 70's with a breeze blowing out and right to left patterns were favorable. Later in the day the wind picked up in the range of 10-15mph.

During practice flights Vegas local Richard Cody and Sean Till ripped out their landing gear on rough landings. They spent the morning hours repairing but where able to fly. (Duct tape is a wonderful thing!). Alas Mike in sporstman broke a muffler on his Comp-Arf 260 with 3W157cc. He had made custom mufflers, but they didn't hold up. He borrowed fellow Vegas flyer Warren Cross's plane (40% WH 300 w/3W150).

We decided to run 1 flight line, this way no mid-airs. Basic class flew first and Jacob put up an early lead on the class (he's only 10).

Next came sportsman. SFE was first up but "begged" the judges not to be because for the last 3 contests he has somehow managed to be first. No arguments from anyone and he moved down. The class was very tight after the first flight between John, Mike and Sam in that order (all from Vegas).

Intermediate flew next. I can't report too much on what happened as I was scribing at the time. I do think the scores were initially pretty close.

Advanced flew last and Eric Powell maintained his dominance of that class.

Round 2: Winds picked up and scores showed it.

Jacob again led the basic class, but the other flyers started improving. Notable was Warren Cross who at the young age of ....well lets just say he isn't a teenager anymore, flew very well. He even stopped zeroing his spins thanks to the advice thread on the Giants! Sean Till had a flameout and landed in the weeds (gear held though!) on his spin in the first sequence. He finished his second sequence with more engine problems as well.

In Sportsman it was again John, Mike, and Sam in that order with only 100 points separating them.

I scribed again for intermediate (and practiced judging in my mind the maneuvers for future contests) so I can't really report on them.

In Advanced, Eric put in another solid round


Day 2 UNKNOWNS:

Weather was about the same but the wind dropped down to light and variable all day. Any direction of flying was possible

Basic flew 1 sequence of knowns. There were problems left and right in this class. Jacob wasn't getting all the power out of his motor and lost 1 aileron servo but flew the plane anyway. When Warren Cross's plane landed after his sequence the gear just came ripping out (or so it looked). Almost everyone at the field helped get the plane to the side. We used an old crate that was at the field and put the plane upside down. The bolts were sheared and bent on the gear, the alum braces were bent but the wood only cracked in 1 small spot. With some epoxy and TLC his plane was ready to fly for the next round--minus wheel pants....they were toast!

Sportsman unknowns.....The Vegas pack leaders ended up near the bottom of the flying. John flew a nice sequence. Problem was Mike had already lost his plane due to a muffler, and now Warren's plane was in the gear repair process. Well Sam loaned his plane to Mike.....and that guy beat Sam in the unkown with his own plane (trust me; never again will I do that!!). Mike flew a very good unknown on a no flying time plane. Sam simply took the plane from Mike while it was airborne and flew his sequence right after Mike. He flew well also. Biggest lesson of all in unknowns.........learn ARESTI. Everyone but John Ridpath in sporstman zeroed the cuban 8 because we misinterpreted the sequence and did a 2 of 4 roll first instead of a half roll. So your top 3 in sportsman had a zero while 4th place didn't. He was 300 back at this point but gunning for a possible 3rd place.

Intermediate flew and these guys did a very good job. Not many large mistakes.

Advanced flew and man was it a hard sequence. Eric Powell accidentally did a maneuver to the wrong direction and zeroed the next 5 maneuvers. Needless to say he was very upset with himself.

Round 4 --Winds stayed light

Basic--Jacob finished off his day with a solid flight and Won Basic

Sportsman--This round was plagued with problems. Ridpath lost a fuel dot and it took over 15mins to find it. Sam flooded his engine and couldn't get it to start on time, and Mike took off with Warren's plane and had to land to adjust the needles as it got very lean on him.
John Murdoch flew a good flight, Mike got back Warren's plane and flew a good flight, and Sam flew a very good flight. Ridpath had a mistake in his flight and we swear his wheel pants hit the brush in the desert as he narrowly escaped losing his plane. In the end it went John-Mike-Sam in the results.

Advanced flew and Eric again dominated by winning his class yet again. Dave Fox had some trouble in his last round. He was doing the roller when his engine quite. He was able to land without incident but after inspecting his plane, noticed his ignition battery had been ejected from inside the cowl. Sam lent him a spare LION and he was able to fly.

Freestyle--

We had 3 freestyle contestants and I urge you to watch the videos posted here: http://www.flyinggiants.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=22196&cat=500&ppuser=31
Dave didn't go all out because right before he was going to fly he was installing Sam's battery for the ignition and had to fabricate a spring for his tail wheel as that broke also. But he still put on an impressive display. Eric edged out the competition and took home 1st place.

Just another SW contest that you shouldn't miss. It was a great time for all.

Thanks to the sponsors....Smart-Fly, Some Dudes Hobbies

And to the Club RMA and Brian Cofer for being the CD.