The plan for the Super Final was to fly the fastest 16 pilots in four heats of four. The four winners would then have a flyoff to determine the Super Final winner. Lee VonDerHey put up $500 cash to the winner and challenged others to contribute. In the end, $960 was collected. We ended up with nine pilots competing instead of 16, and a 3 x 3 matrix was used. Dan Coe won the first heat, Salvador Barrios won the second heat, and Bryan Blanchard won the third heat. These three then flew head-to-head to determine the Super Final winner. Bryan Blanchard earned his first-place finish.
Many of the competitors who had flown in the Team Trials or the F2d National Championship headed home, but their ranks were filled with new faces. Many are specialists in the event and fly nothing other than Speed Limit Combat.
Today was the top 20 day for the Open class and the finals day for the Advanced class. The day started out cool with a light breeze. God's curtains again obscured the big, bright lightbulb in the sky. Every once in a while, it would peek out but otherwise it was hidden. Winds stayed light throughout the morning, making for some great weather to fly in.
Today was the second day of qualifying. The best score today gets added to the best score of yesterday. Since the Open class is divided into four groups, the top five from each group get to move on to Thursday for top 20 day. The Advanced group is divided into three groups, and the top four from each group get to move on to Thursday. Those twelve get to have a flyoff to determine the winner in the Advanced class.
This morning, we started finishing up what we had left over from the day before. Luckily, that was only five rounds of GNAT. We were able to get those rounds done relatively quickly, as there were only three pilots competing. The points were getting racked up pretty well considering sticky is not allowed and so few planes were up in the air.
After a short pilot’s meeting, the first F2d Fast Combat match started right on time. Arlene Mears was taking the day off and there was a panel of new judges on the scene. There was beautiful weather too, making another perfect day for Combat.
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Leonardo Silva (left) flying for Team Mexico against Bill Maywald. With happy faces throughout the whole match, it was great to see fliers enjoying the sport.
Richard Stubblefield (left) and Fred Quezeda. According to Richard’s shirt, he’s flying for the “country” of Texas. Fred is flying for Mexico. They are two real gentlemen of the sport.
Dave Fischer giving the thumbs up for the start of the 15-seconds-to-go on the clock. Dave, like many competitors, has a very large watch/clock on his arm. It’s a small detail, but one that could help you win a close match.
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Another question to be answered was whether all foam models would have an advantage over conventional F2ds because of the “foam kill.” Rather than cutting the streamer with the propeller, the string leader cuts into the soft foam leading edge (LE) right to the spar where it breaks. In effect, the whole LE is a cutting tool rather than a six-inch propeller. Chris Gay and Pete Athans both used foam models, they came in first and second, but Chris mentioned that he only got one foam kill. The string used for this event was lighter than what was used in F2d.
The weather went from being a real challenge on Tuesday to being a really good flying day on Wednesday. Control Line (CL) Navy Carrier enjoyed light winds all day with reasonable temperatures that allowed for some good flights. Where weather dominated the late-day competition on Tuesday, Wednesday saw equipment problems keeping some contestants grounded and preventing others from completing their flights.
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Paul Smith receives his trophy for first place for Class II. He also placed third in Profile Carrier.
Pete Mazur receives his trophy for first place in Class II. Pete also won Class I and II Electric and Profile Carrier events.
Mike Hatfield placed first in the Sportsman Profile Carrier event sponsored by the Navy Carrier Society. He also placed third in Class II.
Second place in Sportsman Profile Carrier went to Bernard Suhamski.
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Paul Smith flew his model of the prototype Grumman Guardian to first place in the Class I event. Though Paul doesn’t fly his model in a pronounced hang during slow flight, his consistency has paid off with good results in recent contests, including this Nats win.
