Cullman Opener
Cullman, AL
April 21-22, 2012

Cullman, AL was loaded with more than most of Milwaukee’s bubbly spirits on April 21 & 22. Twisting, turning..15 to 30 MPH…but 14 stalwart SPA pilots enjoyed 3 full rounds with the only damage a slight crack, repaired with CA to the vertical fin of Ken Antos’ Dirty Birdie and only due to a wing catching some tall grass on the far side of the runway.All week the National Weather Service had forecast 70% rain and blustery weather for the weekend, but no rain at all fell…just the “blustery” bit which was simply a challenge for the talented pilots. Steve Byrum, CD, elected to fly only one flight line and it was a very intelligent decision on his part. No one was rushed…just loads of fun and fellowship just like the gathering on Saturday night gathering at a nice restaurant near the motels. Steve not only CD’d the event but did all the scorekeeping, judged one round and participated himself.We got a late start on Saturday due to lots of visiting with each other and a “glitch” in the scoring procedure.

The close competition started in the Novice class with Richard Tibbits nosing Ken Antos 1,000 to 997. Note by the final scores, it was very close. Richard drove 328 miles from near Little Rock, Arkansas and plans to fly next week in the Ft. Worth, TX contest. His 98 model F-150 pick-up has 184,000 miles and is still running strong. In the Sportsman class,” tight as a rubber latex glove” with Garry Singleton edging Mike Wieczorek by a bit less than two points, normalized and John Nessler, Jr (Dad) amassing 1966 in 3rd. Richard Witt and David Phillips III were just slightly back of this trio. This is a FIRST……in the EXPERT class, John Nessler III (referred to by Eric as “my older Brother”)…outpointed his Brother Eric in the blustery conditions by less than 23 “normalized” points. John III’s Phantom 1 and his driving of it would make its’ designer, the late Bob Klineyoung glow with pride. Both Brothers performed excellently with Dave Phillips keeping the pressure on them.

Your PIO managed to “eeke” out a slim victory with two rounds on Saturday trying to execute the pattern with my “play-pretty” Utter Chaos with an OS 56 in it’s nose. Should have selected a calmer day for piddling with that thing as Bill Dodge cleaned my plow on round 1 and missed a spin on round two to assist on that round. I put the Utter Chaos on the wall overnight Saturday and flew round 3 on Sunday with the trusty Tiger Tail with the OS 91 which would contend with that much wind. Steve Byrum with his lovely Curare and Mike Robinson with his handsome Daddy Rabbit allowed no slack on Bill and myself.

Richard Tibbitts provided 3 merchandise prizes for the awards, they were:

  • Parts Box………………Dave Phillips

  • Parts Box……………….Mike Weiczorek

  • Batrick Combat plane…..Mike Robinson

John Nessler, Jr. (Dad) traveled the fartherest …..790 miles from Mingo Junction, OH to be with us….the boys 560 from the Southern part of the same great state.

Thanks Steve and Cullman Aeromodellers for a GREAT weekend packed with fun and excitement. We missed you last year due to the death and devastation of the worst tornado outbreak in history in Alabama. Your’ tradition and hospitality were just as good as in the past and we thoroughly enjoyed everything.

Bruce Underwood, SPA PIO