Texas WingsSPA Contest
October 8, 2011

The Texas Wings Flying Club hosted its first Senior Pattern Association contest. The day was greeted with cloudy weather with fifteen to twenty mile per hour winds gusting to as high as twenty-nine, but the wind was from the south right down the runway. The rain was taunting, but held off until later that night. Seventeen contestants signed up for the event. Pilots got to fly four rounds with two flight lines going at the same time (and no mid-airs). Mechanical problems frustrated some pilots, two planes downed with fuel tank problems, one with a broken engine mount (windy landings can be entertaining), and one due to a lost muffler.

Contestants came from as far as Arkansas and Mississippi. Elton Rhoten, John Fischer, Roman Partz and John Ebert, provided the judging so no contestants had to be judges. Lou Cordero handled the record keeping duties. A very special thank you to Ken Knotts and Gary Alphin, of the Fort Worth Thunderbirds, for their instructional assistance on the judging and use of the P.A.C.S.S. program.
Novice-B was won by Tony Steely with Tim Reed second but disqualified themselves, (next year they will move up novice class) This made 10 year old Parker Gaines the winner. Ronald Kosar took second and Logan Davis finished third.

Gene Hodges won the Novice class. He will be moving up to sportsman next year. Mark Ehlers finished second with Jonathan Efinger taking third. There were eight pilots in that hard fought class.

Sportsman class was won by Blake Arnold (will Blake be moving up to expert? We will have to wait and see.) Ken Knotts second place and Gary Alphin third.

Our friends from Oklahoma couldn't make it to this event, so Dave Dingman was left to battle the winds of expert class by himself. The event started with the usual first time SNAFU, but we were able to overcome the problems and finish with a fine, fun day. The winds did not deter anybody from flying and they were a pleasure to watch. Prizes included two fiberglass short kits for a Dirty Birdy airplane made and donated by Tim Reed and Tony Stelly.

Billy Talmadge