SEN 2877 - Swiss F1E Meisterschaft, - MMM 14-Round Contest Report
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SEN 2877
From one mountain to another
1. Swiss F1E Meisterschaft,
2. 42nd Annual MMM 14-Round Contest Report
The 42nd Annual MMM 14-Round Contest
Denver, July 9-11, 2021
By John McGrath, Jace Pivonka, and Pete McQuade, CDs
This year’s 14-Rounder and F1E World Cup Contest were held in weather that free flighters dream about. With a few exceptions, winds were generally light all three days. The summer temperatures were tolerable on Friday and downright pleasant on Saturday and Sunday. We had some haze from forest fires in the western states, and this made timekeeping a bit challenging at times. But overall, the weather was our friend.
The F1E World Cup contest was held Friday on our hill at Indian Point. Jace Pivonka did an excellent job CD’ing this contest, which saw great flying that was hotly contested (both figuratively and literally). With the temperature in the high 90s going into the fifth and final round, Mike Richardson, Bob Sifleet, and Tom Ioerger were in a very tight race, with only 15 points separating first and third place. Bob held on to claim the title, with Tom in second place and Mike in third. Peter Brocks and Rick Pangell rounded out the field of hearty fliers.
A full slate of FAI, AMA, NFFS, and SAM events were flown both Saturday and Sunday. This report will cover only the FAI events. The FAI portion included two separate contests, Saturday’s Centennial Cup and Sunday’s Columbine Cup. Each of these contests featured seven rounds of F1A, B, and Q (we had no F1C/P entries), as well as eight rounds of the mini-FAI events, F1G, H, J, and S. Special perpetual trophies were awarded for the top performers in each of these events over the entire two days.
A highlight of the weekend was Grill Master Frank Menanno’s fabulous food at lunchtimes. Hamburgers, hot dogs, and brats were the main course on Saturday. Frank even had a vegetarian-burger option. Sunday featured excellent barbecued chicken. Yummm….
Another high point of the weekend was Saturday’s on-the-field ceremony to honor the inauguration of the MMM Hall of Fame, and the induction of the first six Hall-of-Famers. MMM President John McGrath led the ceremony, which included unveiling a large, permanent plaque that includes the engraved names of “the Class of 2021,” and has plenty of room for future inductees. Then the names of the inductees were read aloud, along with a summary of each person’s outstanding contributions to the MMM and to Free Flight in general. The inductees included three legendary MMM’ers who are no longer with us: Bill Etherington, Bill Gibbons, and Bill Gieskieng. The other three inductees were Jerry Murphy, Rick Pangell, and Ken Phair. Fortunately, all three were present to receive their individual plaques and certificates. By a fortunate coincidence, Ken’s daughter Michelle was also present to see her dad honored.
Of course, the real focus of the 14-Rounder was on the flying. In the large, FAI events, Enes Pecenkovic of California had his LDA Nordics skyrocketing into the sky to win F1A both days and also the 14-Round F1A championship. Pete McQuade and Peter Brocks were second and third.
In F1B, Wakefield rubber, Blake Jensen won Saturday’s Centennial Cup event, with Jace Pivonka in hot pursuit. The next day, Jace maxed out and Blake missed the perfect score by a heart-rending 1 second. But Blake’s Saturday score was convincing enough to capture the 14-Round championship for him. But the drama didn’t end there. On Jace’s final flight on Sunday, his mechanical timer failed and the model flew away to the south. Undaunted, Jace set off on his motorcycle, accompanied by Don DeLoach. Meanwhile, the timekeepers, led by Chuck Etherington, staunchly remained at their posts, maintaining contact with the chasers. Over an hour later, aided by a strong signal on the Walston tracker, Jace and Don found the wayward model nestled in a grassy field in a neighborhood of ranchette acreages. It had been a flight of 6.5 miles in the gentle late-afternoon/early evening breeze.
On Saturday in F1Q Electric, the fliers made a gentlemen’s agreement to cease flying after five rounds, because the winds were increasing. At that point, Bob Sifleet was clean with five maxes, to take the Centennial Cup. The next day, Bob continued his winning ways by recording seven more maxes. Although this guaranteed Bob the 14-Round title, it put him in a tie with Tom Ioerger for Sunday’s Columbine Cup, since Tom also maxed out that day. The two fliers agreed to hold the flyoff at a later date, in another location.
In the mini-FAI events, both Tiffaney O’Dell and Don DeLoach maxed out Saturday in F1G, Coupe d’Hiver rubber. In the flyoff for the Centennial Cup, Tiffaney handily made the 3-minute max, aided by a superb climb under power. But Don’s model was lost to sight as it glided behind a ridge, just 2 frustrating seconds short of the max. The following day, Tiffaney continued to max, and won both the Columbine Cup and the overall 8-Round championship, with a perfect score of 960! John McGrath wasn’t far behind, for second place in the 8-Round event, and Don was third.
Blake Jensen had F1H towline glider all to himself, but that didn’t deter him from racking up an outstanding performance with his high-bunting model. He made 7 maxes out of 8 flights over the two days. Thus, he took all three titles: Centennial Cup, Columbine Cup, and the 8-Round Champion.
We had no F1J fliers on Saturday, but Rick Pangell and Jerry Murphy flew the event on Sunday. Rick won the Columbine Cup, which also gave him the 8-Round win.
On Saturday, F1S electric was a real horse race, with all three competitors—Jack Murphy, Jerry Murphy (no relation), and Don DeLoach—clean after four rounds. In the Centennial Cup flyoff, Jack went on to 120-second max. Don missed the max by just 6 seconds to take second place, while Jerry was third. The next day, Jack once again maxed all four rounds, to take both the Columbine Cup and the 8-Round championship. Don was second in the 8-Round event, followed by Jerry.
In summary, the 2021 14-Rounder Contest was a great success. Great weather, great flying, great camaraderie—and great food. And what a nice change from last year, when the specter of COVID hung so drearily over everything. If you didn’t make it to the MMM 14-Rounder this year, we hope to see you in 2022!
Swiss F1E Meisterschaft
From: William Damerell
Hallo Roger,
News from a rather wet Swiss Alps!
After a lengthy postphonement of the Swiss F1E Meisterschaft, it has been decided to definitely fly the Meisterschaft this coming Sunday - the 15.08.21 - in Wikartswil, in the Bern Oberland.
See competition details at:
https://www.modellflug.ch/events.aspx?Event=5839&lang=DE
Thanks for publishing this and best regards,
In Free-Flight,
William Damerell.