Man, what a weekend! Non-stop IMAC precision by day, down-low huckin' by night!! We started off the weekend early on Friday; I arrived at the field around 9 am to find Mr. Porter and his crew had already been flying since the break of dawn. Two rules at big Jerry's R/C Airport: you must have fun, and the flightline is open 24/7.
Jerry and Kent (a/k/a Flyin' Wood Butcher) decorated up the place for our arrival: scattered remanants of their former flying rides hung from fence posts, trees, and in the middle of the road (run over it for good luck!!) adorned the road up to the field. People began arriving late morning and into the afternoon and began firing up their planes for precision practica and a little stress-relieving 3D. Pizza & drinks arrived in the evening, and everyone kicked back and enjoyed some quality flying and hangar talk.
Speaking of hangar talk, if you've never been to big Jerry's RC airport, you're missing a helluva tour through the barn. Three floors of model airplanes, a full complete workshop (they don't call Kent the FWB for nothin'!) and plenty of room left over for tired pilots who are too tired to make it back to the hotel for the evening (just gotta put up with a little snoring and some occasional wafting vapors....)
Saturday dawned clear, with light winds (almost none). Pilots meeting stared at 9, with 24 registed pilots. We flew three rounds, two flightlines, and finished by 4:30. After that, we flew a special "short killer unknown" (a separate contest, not part of the regular IMAC scoring) at center stage.
The Short Unknown started with Basic flying multiple rolling elements on a line, showing us who really knew how to work their rudder; all the way up through Unlimited with rolling loops (with opposing rolls!) Kudos to the brave pilots who stepped up to the challenge.
And special thanks to Bob Richey at Smart-Fly (
www.smart-fly.com) who generously donated prizes for our short unknown contestants. Winners were:
Basic: Vince Musser
Sportsman: Josh Bunn
Unlimited: Adam Ranck
After the short uknown, the BBQ arrived, and the huckin' began! I tore the tail off my UCD3D (actually, I blame it on Vinny!!) and Adam Ranck tore up the flight line with his down low huckin' with his big RadioWave. That boy is freakin' incredible!! Dusk arrived, the big planes went to bed for the night, and the foamies came out to play. Mr. Porter fired up the kareoke machine, and there was much reveling until the wee hours of the morning (Bat Fastard, you gotta set of pipes, man!!! We gotta do that again!) Also some of the lovely wives got into the game and stepped up to the microphone. Needless to say, I for one did not study my unknowns that night.
Sunday morning dawned a bit overcast, but with dead calm skies. We ran one flight line for unknowns, and called it a contest. But we weren't finished! Freestyle tore it up again with Alex Porter flying his mix of precision and 3D so well, it literally made his Daddy cry!! Kyle Stewart and Matt Richards put on amazing shows, but Adam Ranck ultimately took the trophy as he tore it up again with his awesome blend of precision and 3D. Great job guys!!! Standings for Freestyle:
First: Adam Ranck
Second: Alex Porter
Third: Matt Richards
Fourth: Kyle Stewart
On top of everything else, the pilots and spectators really dug deep and we were able to raise almost $1000 for a local RC pilot with Cystic Fibrosis, who is in need of a lung transplant. Way to go guys!!
Special Thanks to Jerry Huntsinger, who graciously hosted us all weekend long. Also special thanks to Wayne Matthews at Sew Busy (
www.sewbusy.com) who did a fantastic job on the ButcherFest Shirts (if you want one, give Wayne a call). Others:
Kent Porter - music, sound system
Alyssa Grimm - scoring lady extraordinaire!!
Les "Slow Huck" Darby - photos & BF Logo
Patrick "Col Klank" Mooney - announcing
"Nephew" Raymond - food all weekend long
FWB - opening up your shop and lending out your planes!
All the guys who spent time in the judging chair - Thank You!!
Final contest standings:
BasicName Normalized Score
Pride Grimm 5000.00
Bill James 4712.61
Vince Musser 4695.34
Jamie Turner 4619.97
Jonathan Gurley 4299.13
Mike Dinu 4282.27
Kent Huntsinger 4002.75
Robert Redelberger 3455.00
Todd Beard 3105.87
SportsmanName Normalized Score
Tony Gorgone 4953.84
Kent Porter 4835.59
Terry Hickey 4785.70
Edwin Santiago 4770.45
Josh Bunn 4756.25
Alex Porter 4499.70
Matt Richards 4361.12
AdvancedName Normalized Score
Kyle Stewart 4985.76
Pete Castine 4646.63
John Morisi DNF
UnlimitedName Normalized Score
Ty Lyman 4985.48
Albert Santiago 4862.64
Jon Leyland 4848.81
Adam Ranck 4484.80
Mark McClellan 3812.93
Now I'm off to take a nap - I need to recover! See you next year!!!
Pete Castine
CD