Pan Am 2009 Results<
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Pan American Open – Thursday, February 12, 2009
This contest was originated by Chris Lenartowicz, with the help of Peter Allnutt and Ron Felix – thus making it a joint Canadian & American effort. The purpose of the contest was to fill the need for a team-type competiton in this Hemisphere, similar to that of a European Champs. The award structure was created to acknowledge both teams and individuals from the Americas, as well as teams and individuals from outside the Americas – in essence, it was Pan American as well as Open.
To clarify this further, four (4) distinct contests were run concurrently:
1. One contest was for Individuals from countries within the Americas in F1A, F1B, and F1C, with gold medals for the first place winners in each event.
2. Another contest was for three-person teams from countries within the Americas (i.e., all team members are Canadian or USA, with no limit on the number of teams), involving F1A teams, F1B teams, and F1C teams. Gold medals were awarded to each team member on the first place teams for each event.
3. Open – A contest for individuals from any nation in F1A, F1B, and F1C, with gold, silver & bronze medals in each event for the first three places.
4. Open – A contest for three-person teams of any national or mixed makeup, involving teams for F1A, F1B, and F1C. Awards were medals - three golds, three silvers, and three bronzes, which were given to each team member on the first, second, and third place teams respectively.
In addition, diplomas were given to all participants, regardless of their placing in their entered event.
Up until Wednesday the day before the contest, it was not clear how many people would ultimately pay and enter this contest. However, a forcast for good weather the following day (along with forecasted possible bad weather during the Max-Men Weekend), brought out many additional paying entries at the last minute. It simply appeared that many decided to take advantage of the forecasted good weather and compete. As such, registration the evening before and during the morning of the contest made for some hectic administration.
The contest day started with light winds out of the west, and these gently shifted as the day progressed - eventually ended up with a light breeze blowing to the west. Winds were light enough to keep models visible throughout the day, and into the flyoffs - where binoculars were necessary. Temperatures ranged from approximately 40 degrees F to 60 degrees F throughout the day, and the skies varied from cloudy to partly cloudy. Throughout the day, we were also lucky to be spared from any rain or showers.
The standard of flying was very high - in no small part due to the very high caliber of the competitors themselves. In addition, it was apparent that many were also very determined to get ready for the World Champs. This was the case in all events, but especially in F1A. One flyer told us that he would never have thought that after making seven maxes, then making the five minute max, and then the seven minute max in the flyoffs- that he was ONLY able to finish 15th after the final round. It should also be said that some Teams - the USA included, used this as a team practice competition for the upcoming World Champs in Croatia. In this case, they flew in rotation, one man in the air at one time, during which time they were overseen by their Team Manger.
Scoring was run manually on desk-top mounted sheets, along with a large movable-position scoreboard with individual placards for each competitor. This was designed and constructed by Peter Allnutt specifically for this event. In addition, the use of a computer with an Excel Spreadsheet controlled/backed everything up until the fifth round. However, a computer crash created a pandemonium in the manual scoring because of the tedious team calculations. This was the situation right up until the contest end. After finding an oversight in not including one team, the final calculations had to be completed and checked the following day. As such, the team awards took place at the Max Men Banquet with the permission of Mr. Jim Parker, President of SCAT.
The contest ended with champagne, beer, wine and potato chips on the field, provided by Peter Allnutt. Judging by the amount of “empties” found on the ground the following morning, we assume that many people had a good time.
It must be said that help was given by many to run this contest, and this included Canadians and Americans, as well as the SCAT and the Max-Men organizations. We are indebted to them for providing their encouragement, help, and some equipment, for which we are very thankful.