We flew one line (no mid-airs!), and finished 4 rounds on Saturday with time to spare before it got dark. Sunday we started at 8:30 AM and finished Rounds 5 & 6 by 12:30 PM.

The competition was extremely close in Sportsman with three of the top four placing pilots winning two rounds each. At the end newbie pattern pilot Greg Meierhoff from Big Bear was the winner by ~ 16 points over rapidly improving Wayne Lovett, and Tak Takayama. Late entering AV Tailwinds club member Tim Williams, flying in his 1st pattern contest, placed 4th but scored 5 of his 6 flights in the mid- high 900's!

In Intermediate, Mike Greear was successful in fending off all challengers by winning all 6 rounds. This continues Mike's amazing streak of winning every round in D7 since the 2006 District Championships!

In Advanced, Bob Gillespie ended a long drought by winning 5 of 6 rounds and taking the top spot over Jarvis Johnson and Steve Kanashiro. Welcome back to the winners circle Bobby!

In Masters Tony Frackowiak flew his Diamonte 28 with E-Flight power to a solid win, taking all six rounds. Jerry Budd was 2nd flying a new- to-him Evolution, with Bill Sheets placing 3rd flying a very pretty Shinden. Lynn Burkes placed 4th flying his Symphony with OS-140 Rx power.

For a change of pace, the awards were heavy cut-glass photo holders with the group and class photos printed and inserted. They were really quite nice and everyone seemed to like them.

So, why the low turnout? We have no idea, other than maybe people think the weather in the Antelope Valley in January is always cold, windy, and rainy (it's not). But it doesn't really matter because there's always next time, and there WILL be a next time since the club made $400+ profit on the event, even with the light attendance. So maybe we'll see you on the contest trail?

Thx, Jerry Budd