Fun In The Sun Pattern Contest

Fun In The Sun Pattern Contest
TCRCM R/C Field, Richland, WA
Written by Gordon Anderson, NSRCA District 8 Vice President

The Fun In The Sun Pattern Contest was held July 1^st and 2^nd at the Tri-Cities Modelers field near Richland, Washington. The weather was HOT; I think it went over 100 Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Friday was pretty muggy due to the rain we received Thursday afternoon. We had a little breeze to deal with all weekend and it was mostly blowing out so all the pilots had to work hard to keep their planes from getting too far out. The biggest weather challenge was the heat; we had lots of shade from our canopies and lots of water consumption.

Fun In The Sun Pilots.

We flew three rounds Saturday and Sunday thus completing a full 6 round contest. We got a bit of a late start on Saturday with getting all the equipment setup and getting organized. The FAI guys had a false start on their first round because I had printed and handed out F07 score sheets instead of P07. We did not figure this out until the first FAI pilot had already taken off, so Lyle had to land and we had to scramble to print P07 score sheets. Other than that little mishap the contest ran smoothly all weekend. Sunday we started flying at 8AM and completed 3 rounds and awarded trophies by 3PM. A total of 15 pilots competed in the event with pilots in every class.

Speaking of trophies, we did something a little different for this contest. We made and handed out the 8” by 10” framed event plaques for the first 3 places in each class and smaller pictures for all other contestants. This is our normal routine but we added an extra prize for the first place winner in each class. We awarded small stick practice models personalized for this contest. These stick models rested in a wood block for display. I think everyone really liked the stick models and it added a nice touch to this great contest.

Stick Plane Trophy.

We had no lose of aircraft at this contest, that’s always nice to see, but we did have one pilot, Bob Walter, experience major engine problems and he was unable to fly in the contest. Bob stayed the weekend and helped throughout the contest, thanks Bob! I think the hot weather was causing a lot of engine challenges; I had a flame out on my second round and a number of pilots had the same problem. By Sunday everything seemed to be running smoothly.

We had a couple of first time FAI F07 pilots at this contest, Dennis Cone and Lyle Laughery. They did a great job and gave Mark Byrne a run for first place. In the end Mark won.

Hmm Mark and Lyle judging?

As is usually the case Masters was the largest group of pilots with 7 total. Brett, Gordon, and Rex all won rounds with Brett winning the contest by only 22 points over Gary McClellan. Gary had a very solid performance throughout the contest resulting in his close finish behind Brett. Rex has his eImpact flying very well, he had a little motor controller trouble at the last contest and bought a new Schulze controller that he used at this contest. His setup worked flawlessly throughout the weekend and had plenty of power in the hot thin air. Everyone better lookout for Rex!

Ray McClellan helping his son Gary.

We are fortunate to have a couple of father and son teams in D8. Brett and Bill Bowen and Gary and Ray McClellan. The McClellan’s attend most of the D8 contests and are a huge supporter of pattern. Ray has a new Icepoint this season and was dealing with a few engine problems at this contest. The Icepoint is flying very well and I’m sure he will have it dialed in at Molalla. It’s nice to see pattern spanning generations and I am sure it’s rewarding to compete with a family member. You always see Ray and Gary working as a team during the contests. I’m looking forward to attending the NATS with the McClellans this year.

John Gaylord was our only Advanced pilot, unfortunately John has been flying in Advanced without any competition last season and this season. We have a pretty active group in Intermediate and I am sure John will soon have some competition.

Intermediate had 3 pilots with Jim Hiller doing a very impressive job winning all 6 rounds of the contest.

Ray Gauthier was our only Sportsman pilot. Ray is doing a great job and has really made a commitment to pattern this season. He was at the RAMS contest and will be joining us in Molalla for the next contest.

I would like to thank our Canadian friends for making the long trip to compete in this contest. Pat and Hartley, Robin and Mark, and Char and Andrew all joined the contest to add to enjoyment. Char and Andrew donated a chair that they had embroidered with a real cool logo for the contest. We raffled off the chair and Dennis Cone was the winner. Char and Andrew Beranek create cool embroidered shirts and hats through their company inStitchez. They have been providing custom tee shirts and hats at most of our contests. These are very nice keepsakes with custom embroidery commemorating each event. Please contact them if you are interested in this service, email Andrew or Char institchez@telus.net. Thanks for the raffle donation!

Hartley in shorts! and Robin.

Here are the contest standings:

Sportsman

1^st        	4000.00      	Ray Gauthier

Intermediate

1^st        	4000.00           	Jim Hiller

2^nd       	3628.91           	Andrew Beranek

3^rd        	3512.57           	Jerry Green

Advanced

1^st        	4000.00           	John Gaylord

Masters

1^st        	3971.47           	Brett Bowen

2^nd        	3949.54           	Gary McClellan

3^rd        	3922.65           	Gordon Anderson

4^th        	3792.11           	Rex Lesher

5^th        	3765.76           	Bill Bowen

6^th        	3018.81           	Hartley Hughson

7^th        	1569.89           	Ray McClellan

FAI

1^st        	3980.54           	Mark Byrne

2^nd	3867.30           	Lyle Laughery

3^rd        	3499.12           	Dennis Cone

Click here to see scores for all rounds.

The Fun In The Sun contest held its traditional BBQ feast on Saturday night at the field. We had lots of great food and a very relaxing evening. Thanks to Linda and Dennis Cone for all the effort they put into this contest and the huge effort it takes to feed over 20 people.

Saturday nights BBQ.

I’m sure everyone will agree that this was a great contest and lots of fun in spite of the intense heat! Thanks to Wendy, Dennis’s daughter for running the scoring program all weekend and to Bob Julian a local club member who cooked lunch for us Saturday and Sunday.

Click here to see more pictures!

Next week is Molalla and I hope to see you in the pits…