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The Dan Quinten Memorial
SPA Classic Twelve pilots gathered at the Tulsa Gluedobber field to fellowship, fly, and enjoy memories of one the originators of SPA West. Saturday was strong test to the skill and mettle of the pilots as they were greeted with a 22 mph wind and gusts in excess of 30 mph. While a few planes found the tall grass around the runway as they were battered on approach, not a single plane was lost, a real testament to the focus of the pilots and the encouragement of the callers and judges. At the beginning of round 3, the wind began to swirl and it became clear that fate should be tempted no more, and Saturday ended early. Well, the flying ended early, as the group gathered at a popular Mexican food place and told stories of the day, listened to live music, and kept the blenders for the frozen margaritas in motion. Sunday the pilots were greeted with an overcast sky and winds around 4 to 6 mph, and they poured through three rounds of great flying, bringing the total to five completed rounds for the first annual Dan Quinten Memorial SPA Classic. Brian Chapman and Brice Crawford admirably negotiated the winds in Novice B with Brian taking first and Brice second. Novice was a real shootout, as Gary Nelson, Mark Ehlers, and Richard Tibbits stayed within 10 normalized points of each other throughout most of the contest, at one point first and second were .0025 apart! The last three rounds every maneuver mattered as the smallest differences in scoring had an immediate impact on the standings. It was a joy to watch these pilots fly their hearts out. In the end, Gary pulled out the win followed by Mark in second and Richard in third. Sportsman had two pilots, Gary Alphin and Gene Hodges, who not only flew well, but with the absence of any dedicated judges scored all five of the expert rounds. Gary picked up his first win in the Sportsman class, negotiating his blazing fast Phoenix 7 with skill, and Gene showed marked improvement in his second outing since moving up from Novice. Five experts put their planes through the paces and the competition was close amongst the top three. Ken Knotts performed admirably in his first contest in Expert, and a loose firewall in his Phoenix 7 did not deter him as he completed his last 3 rounds with his backup, a Tower Kaos. Lindy Quinten struggled with some inconsistent engine runs to finish fourth, but with the help of Chris White, Dave Dingman and Gary Alphin finally had things sorted out for rounds 4 and 5 and made his best flights of the young season. The top three performed exceptionally well. Blake Arnold continued to show why he will be a real factor for years to come in the class, piloting his immaculately finished Kaos through the first three rounds, and after some trouble, completed round 4 with an Ugly Stik and round 5 with Dave Dingmans Phoenix 7. With that he still finished a strong third! Dave Dingman continued his strong smooth flying in the 2012 season, flying his Phoenix 7 to second place, winning two rounds. Those two round were the first rounds eventual winner Chris White has lost in the last three years. Chris piloted his Dirty Birdy that his father built for him with his usual smooth precision, winning three rounds and scoring highly enough bring home first. Special thanks to all the volunteers who worked to provide scoring, run the flight line, and feed the pilots throughout the event! Lindy Quinten |
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Senior Pattern Association |
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| Dedicated to the Building, Flying and Competition of Vintage Pattern Model Aircraft | ||