Jim,

     Steve asked that I give you the verbal report for the Spence Memorial FAI events and he will send the actual results when he gets a chance.

We were expecting 10-15 MPH out of the south on Saturday and 4-8 out of the North on Sunday, but as usual the weather guessers were WAY OFF!

 

Saturday started with steady South winds at about 15, increasing with gusts to 25. We waited to start the first round to see if it would drop, but no such luck, so Steve opened the round at 10AM. Everyone one that flew used ALL of the field in two minutes. Three quarters of the way through the second round ominous skies encroached upon us and at exactly noon the wind immediate switched to the North  and the temp dropped from about 85 to 65. All flying was halted and a move ensued. The third round opened at around two PM with steady 15+ wind and gusts to 27. The direction was fairly good for chasing except for the Fracking pond that I overflew on all three of my flights from the North end of the field. Long Chases! Everything ended at 5 PM (5 rounds) as the wind continued to get stronger. The Glider guys decided to wait until Sunday, but -----

 

Sunday was supposed to be nice, but to our disappointment it was not. We flew the first round from what looked like a good spot, but models were again heading for the Fracking pond and landing in the housing area to the west of the field. So a move ensued that required us to check out an area we had not flown on before. It was interesting and quite picturesque, BUT absolutely a nightmare for chasing. We were overlooking three ridges and valleys to the south and depth perception became the problem. Winds were averaging around 12 MPH , with gusts to 30. Steve added an hour onto the contest to account for the move and we all managed to get all of our flights in. The first valley in the series has been deemed “The Valley of Death” as it had a tendency to suck aircraft into it after transition if you were not in good lift – lots of drops!

 

I personally have never worked so hard chasing to get in a total of 15 flights (10 for me and 5 for Julie). Average chase time from launch for me was 40 minutes. This is not an ideal site, but for now it is what we have. The search will continue for a flatter site with less obstacles.

Take care,

 

Faust R. Parker, Jr.





Reminder of Hatschek International Challenge this weekend for FAI/AMA/NOS and FAC events


Dear Free Flight Friends:

Here a reminder of the BOB HATCHEK INTERNATIONAL CHALLENGE (Americas Cup, National Cup, run by the Brooklyn Skyscrapers) and the FOUNDING FATHERS MEMORIAL MEET (FAC, sponsored by the Glastonbury Modelers and Pinkham Irregulars) both at Barron Field in Wawayanda, New York (near Middletown, Goshen, and Pine Island).  The schedule of the International Challenge for FAI,AMA,NOS events is as previously announced for Saturday and Sunday (now June 8-9), with CDs Dave Acton and Alan Abriss.  F1GHJQ rounds start Saturday at 9:30am and F1ABCP sunday at 7:30am.  AMA/NFFS events are HLG, CAT, Mulvihill, P-30, Dawn Unlimited, E-36, Electric B, 1/2A,AB Classic Gas/ Nostalgia Gas, Classic Towline, Pee-Wee 30 Gas, and 1/4A Nostalgia/.020 Oldtime replica.  Go to www.brooklynskyscrapers.org for details.

For the FOUNDING FATHERS MEMORIAL Flying Aces meet, Eddie Pelatowski, CD has arranged a compressed Sunday only schedule (June 9, also at Barron Field), starting at 9am.  He has a reduced set of events as follows
FAC scale, GHQ P-nut ,FAC Jumbo-Giant,  No-Cal, WW I , WWII, Thompson-Greve, Air Devil design, Baby Glider, and Embryo.

Baby Glider is a new event run by Eddie Pelatowski this year.  It is a catapult glider event, with Rubber Limited to a nine inch loop of super sport with no more than a quarter inch cross section.  It is a mass launch event flown in rounds.  First Flier to win four rounds gets the Kanonoe! Gliders are limited to a ten inch projected wing span.

Thermals,
Andrew Barron


...........
Roger Morrell