Nov. 7th and 8th

Ingleside, MD

Higgs Brother’s Farm

 More Finals Chatter

From: Joshua Finn

Not sure if this is the right way to submit a message for SEN, but I can't find any other way to contact y'all.

Anyway...I have no part in the Muncie debate, but there is a critical item that should be addressed: Chuck Markos makes this comment in SEN 1331: "Wait, it gets better...most of the acreage planted in corn in 2009 will be planted in soybeans for 2010 as good agriculture practice to rotate crops. The soybeans will be much shorter than the corn...less than 12 inches under ideal conditions."

Has Chuck EVER tried retrieving a model from a soybean field? Apparently not, or he wouldn't say that. Firstly, by the beginning of August when the Nats are held, the beans are over twice that tall. They grow fast and extremely thick, and in Indianna, attract swarms of Japanese beetles which add disgust the the general unhappiness of being in a soybean field. If it sounds like I'm trying to describe the most unwelcoming environment possible, then maybe you're starting to understand my point here. It may be easy to locate a model in a bean field, but getting to it is exhausting and frustrating. If a part came off the model when it landed, forget about finding it.

Further, the FAC Nats always deals with soybeans.

Many, many rubber scale models are lost to those beans every year. Ok, that's my set of comments. Back to lurk mode...

-Joshua Finn

From: Bill Shailor

More Muncie Chatter

Chuck Markos brings up some issues I'd like to address. In terms of off-site landings, there are crops surrounding the entire field. On the north, south and west sides, past the crops, there are impenetrable trees over 60 feet tall. A tree climber costs around 100 to 140 dollars and can get to you after his day job. There is a river along the northwest corner that I have been in. Luckily, the water level then was chest high. We haven't even mentioned the power lines along the west side of the field.

This is not bad mouthing Muncie, these are facts.

As far as the NATS are concerned, Mulvihill day had a wind generally out of the southwest. We had the luxury of moving our launch location a tenth of a mile west after John's three minute flight landed just this side of the cemetery. His 5, 6 and 7 minute flights all landed off the field. On his 6 minute flight, he was lucky enough to land in beans, past the corn field. Bud Romak's model was thought to be in the corn, and we spent an hour and a half looking for it. He even rented a plane to fly over the corn. No luck. He got a call from a farmer later in the week who found it about a mile or so further out. If we had to fly from a line, every flight over two minutes would have landed in the cemetery or beyond, in the corn or trees. 

On F1B day, the first round was 4 minutes. I hit the trees on the edge of the cemetery. Others went in. After a move the the west, we flew two or three more rounds at 3 minutes. Rounds were dropped, rightfully, to two minutes. Some fliers, who picked better air than me, landed in the corn. Others missed their maxes when their models flew behind the blue buildings we refer to as pig barns.

With winds out of the east or west, Muncie is not a three minute field. This was proven by the last Aerounts Invitational.

These are all issues that need to be debated and sorted out before we are asked to vote on where the next Finals should be.

Bill     

......

Roger Morrell