2016 Big Al’s Contest Report

From : Walt Ghio 

The orchard trees have been getting taller and taller so I made a decision to run the contest from the approximate middle of the north Holloway land that we have permission to use.  This land has been plowed in the past and is a little soft for the top six to eight inches.  No issues driving to the site with the motor homes that attended the contest.  From this location no models landed in the trees.

The first day ended up on the hot side with some very big thermals and some very strong down drafts.  The light breeze was no issues for chasing, but did affect the climb of several models do to the turbulent conditions.  Overall it was a good day for flying our models.  I used the past rules for this contest.

The F1A event had four entries.  Ken Bauer had a perfect day with a max out.  Mike McKeever dropped the first round and then ended up with a string of maxes.  Rene and Nir each found the very strong down drafts for dropped flights.

For the second year in a row Sevak Malkhasyan maxed out and was the winner of the F1B event.  After Sevak it was a show of who could stay away from a bad flight.  The conditions were not easy with the steady breeze and warm temperature.  Bill Booth survived the best of the rest for second place with Alex Andriukov in third place.

F1C had four entries.  Ed Carroll had some issues with his timer starting and short engine runs.  Guy Mennano was fighting a stall in the glide for the first three rounds.  After a good climb in the third round and a quick return to mother earth Mike Roberts put his model away.  Taron Malkhasyan was on trim for all his flights except for the last round.  His bunt mechanisms did not function due to some dirt and his model bunted into the ground at three seconds.  After all this Taron was the winner with Guy second and Ed third.

Sunday had a good drift from the West.  With a very low entry we decided to fly the first flight to the ground just in case we had a tie and then went to a very relaxed round system to end the contest.

Mike Pykelny won out over Mike Richardson for the F1G event.  Mike McKeever was the only entry in F1H along with Ben Tracher in F1S and Mike Puykelny in F1Q.

Doug Galbreath and Ken Oliver organized the Bissonnette Memorial back in 1989.  It was one of the first contests to use the Lost Hills flying site.  Over the years it has been one of the main FAI contest in the United States.  The last few years the attendance has dropped off and a decision has been made by Doug and me to stop the contest after next year.  The winners of next years contest will be awarded the F1ABCGHJ perpetual Bissonnette Memorial trophies to keep for every.

 F1A RD 1 RD 2 RD 3 RD 4 RD 5 RD 6 RD 7 TOTAL
 1 Ken Bauer 210 180 180 180 180 180 180 1290
 2 Mike McKeever 161 180 180 180 180 180 180 1241
 3 Rene Linberger 210 180 180 180 126 180 180 1236
 4 Nir Shitrit 210 180 123 180 180 125 180 1178


 F1B RD 1 RD 2 RD 3 RD 4 RD 5 RD 6 RD 7 TOTAL
 1 Servak Malkhasyan 240 180 180 180 180 180 180 1320
 2 Bill Booth 240 180 144 180 180 180 180 1284
 3 Alex Andriukov 230 180 180 180 180 102 180 1232
 4 Roger Morrell 226 180 172 180 144 155 77 1134
 5 Mike Richardson 231 162 124 180 75 180 180 1132
 6 Walt Ghio 240 180 180 120 132 95 136 1083

 F1C RD 1 RD 2 RD 3 RD 4 RD 5 Rd 6 RD 7 TOTAL
 1 Taron Malkhasyan 235 180 180 180 166 180 3 1124
 2 Guy Mennamo 140 162 94 180 180 180 180 1116
 3 Ed Carroll 240 180 41 115 11 0 0 587
 4 Mike Roberts 240 180 94 0 0 0 0 514

 F1G RD 1 RD 2 RD 3 RD 4 RD 5 TOTAL
 1 Mike Pykelny 135 120 72 51 120 498
 2 Mike Rrichardson 120 10 0 0 0 130


 F1H RD 1 RD 2 RD 3 RD 4 RD 5 TOTAL
 1 Mike McKeever 120 120 117 95 120 572


 F1Q RD 1 RD 2 RD 3 RD 4 RD 5 TOTAL
 1 Mike Pykelny 116 137 180 180 180 793

 F1S Total
 1 Ben Tracher 6 116 50 79 62 313
 

 
Lost Hills Notice

We got the following Notice from Ted Firster the Director of Operations for the Lost Hills flying field.  All SEN subscribers who fly at Lost Hills should be members of the association so should have got Ted's message.

But just in case some people did not get the message we are reprinting it here because we believe it is very important.  As a side comment for those who not aware Ted is a former fire man is very familiar with what to do in the event of an emergency.
 
 
 
At the last Dual Meet we had an incident occur when an individual rode his chase vehicle across the orchard's irrigation line.  As all should know, this is strictly prohibited and could cost us the ability to enter the orchard.  Not only was the sprinkler line crossed but also broken. Fortunately, we had an individual that was able to repair the damage.  In order to keep a good relationship with the farmer we notified him to avoid additional difficulties.  All flyers must remember that they are financially liable for any damage to other's private property, i.e. trees, sprinkler lines, motor homes, other vehicles or personal injury.  You could lose your membership at Lost Hills if you fail to follow this requirement.

Remember when flying at Lost Hills during the summer and fall it is high fire season.  You should always have a cell phone with you in case of an incident if needing help you can call 911 and the CD, make sure you have the CD number in your phone (CD number should be posted at the headquarters table).  Also, you should be carrying a supply of water with you i.e. a couple water 
bottles and a collapsible shovel, it's amazing what can be done with a small shovel.  A small first aid kit can come in handy.

ALL CONTEST DIRECTORS:
You must post your cell phone number and attempt to make sure all contestants have your number (I post my cell phone on the time cards).  Also it is good to remind all the contestants of their responsibility in the previous paragraph.  CD's must be quick to change your flight line if the planes are landing in the orchard. I realize this becomes more difficult with non FAI flyers, but the AMA, Nostalgia and Old Time flyers will have to learn to adjust if we want to keep flying at Lost Hills.  A couple years ago we flew the US Free Flight Champs at the east end of the field and it worked out very well, also another time we went further north along the north entrance.  I know this is Holloway's property but they have given us permission to use this location.

Gentlemen, please consider the above information and fly accordingly and may we all have many good flying days in the future at Lost Hills.

Ted Firster
Director of Operations
direct all inquiries to Ted This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.