2005 Frozen Fingers Fun Fly
by David Beach
January 9th, 2005 turned out to be a great day
for the FFFF. We had fresh snow, and about the best winter weather you can get
for an outdoor event. The temperature was moderate (that means in the
twenties), and winds were light and variable. The sun started out bright and
low in the sky, but even that was not a problem for any of the pilots.
First, I’d like to extend a big “Thank You” to all the club
members and guests who came out early to help setup and/or lend a hand during
the day. This is one of the ‘big’ events for the club, and everyone who pitched
in can take pride in their part of making it a success. Special mention goes to
Bob Perreault and Jason Fine (both guests), who were gracious enough to groom
the field by towing an upside-down picnic table back and forth across the field
to pack down the prior day’s snowfall. Jason looked a bit like the Abominable
Snowman once things were done, but hopefully he agrees that it was worth it.
The field was in super shape when they finished grooming.
Jim Austin ran the registration table for pilots, and
collected money for the OS .46AX engine raffle and membership renewals while
folks had their wallets open. We had sixteen pilots register for competition,
so the prize pool topped out at a total of $80 to be awarded to the top three
overall pilots.
The first event was 60-Second Spinneroo. After a 30 second
climb, pilots had 60 seconds to record nose-down spins with additional climbs
allowed during the countdown. Al Vasquez was first to get a plane in the air to
compete, and got 9 spins done with a plane that clearly was not built for
spinning. Jason did his typical fine job with a total of 21, but was beaten out
a few pilots later by me (sometimes it helps to know what events the CD will
choose). Brian Henderson had by far the fastest spinning plane, but his engine
quit on the first descent and he had to perform a dead stick landing with lots
of time left on the clock. Late arrival John Spitz’s Dazzler also turned in a
competitive score for 27 spins and second place.
As the second event started, it was hard to decide whether
to watch the action or stop in at the shelter for Chef Frank Phillips’ stew and
warm up by the wood stove.
The second event was NATS Special. Much like what is done
in the AMA Fun-Fly competitions, each pilot had to takeoff, do five loops,
touch-n-go, do file rolls, touch-n-go, do 3 ‘roops’ (roll then loop, or loop
then roll), and time stops with first touch on landing. Dorian was second up,
and put in a competitive time of 93.06 seconds. His time proved hard to beat
until Jason turned in the fastest time of 71.70 seconds. Third place went to Al
Vasquez who just squeezed out Bob Perrault by 34 hundredths of a second at
98.65.
Last up was the Speed and Stop in Box event. First place
would go to the fastest time for completing the task of takeoff, exit the field
to the south, enter the field through the notch for a touch-n-go, and circle the
field once again to land and taxi to the ‘box’ drawn on the snow. Brian
Henderson was second up, and got the job done in 68.20 seconds. As with the
other events, that was the score to beat until Jason got his turn. Jason blazed
through the course and turned in a swift time of 47.90 seconds, wow! I might
have been ‘in the money’ with a good showing here, but my touch-n-go was too
fast and too hard. My Four Start caught the prop and I was not one of the seven
pilots to successfully complete the event. Much luckier was Al Vasquez, who
ripped out his gear on landing, but the engine and fuselage made it to the box
for a second place time of 57.31 seconds.
As we tallied the scores, the drawing was held for the
engine raffle. The lucky winner was Brian Stevens, who plans to mount the
engine in an Avistar he is currently building. Brian was not present for the
drawing, but came by to pick up the engine before the day was done.
Pictures and detailed scores for all pilots are available
on the club web site in the photo gallery (http://www.snhflyingeagles.org/photos.htm).
As you might have guessed by now, the top three overall pilots are:
1st – Jason Fine
2nd – Brian Henderson
3rd – Al Vasquez
