2015 Cass Underwood Memorial Pattern and Antique Contest
Andersonville, GA
June 19-21, 2015

Report by Jim Johns:

Another wonderful weekend at Mac Hodges' beautiful facility in Andersonville, GA is in the books and it was a good one. Conditions were interesting - mostly sunny with a few clouds and variable winds 5-15 mph. There were no crashes this weekend, so no airplanes were taken home in pieces.

Friday's festivities started with open practice and the Antique contest. Six brave souls tried their hand at the Antique patterns.

Antique Sportsman: - Doc Charles Gray won with his 1966 Deb-N-Air, closely followed by Dan Dougherty flying a Daddy Rabbit.

Antique Expert: 1st - President Jeff Owens (Kwik-Fli ARF), 2nd - Ken Blackwell (Beachcomer), 3rd - Mike Kingery (Beachcomer), and 4th - Keith Watson (DD's Daddy Rabbit).

Ken shared the story of that Beachcomer with me. It originally belonged to Bruce Underwood which is OBVIOUS from the color scheme and is now owned by Charlie Johns. Ken and Mike borrowed it from Charlie just for this contest.

Cass Underwood Memorial SPA Contest

Thirteen contestants travelled to Andersonville this weekend and were treated to a great SPA contest. CD Dan Dougherty and Chief Judge Scott Sappington kept things humming, while yours truly stepped in to assist with the score keeping. Pizza appeared just in time for Saturday lunch, so no one starved.

The wind varied from 5 to 15 mph - Saturday it was mainly right down the runway right to left, but Sunday it picked up a slight crosswind component that blew some folks in toward the flight line. The breeze made this old Kansas boy feel right at home, and also kept the sand gnats at bay.

Fred Robertson was the only entrant in Novice, flying his electric Killer Chaos. CD Dan told him at breakfast Sunday that if he kept his nose clean and flew well enough, he should be able to hold his position. Sure enough Fred did and won his class.

Sportsman saw a good battle between four contestants, three of whom won at least one round. Roy Thompson won one round, and Doc Gray, flying much better since he switched over to a Dirty Birdy ARF, won two rounds to put up a strong fight and capture 2nd. CD Dan Dougherty won three rounds to scratch out the victory.

Advanced was hotly contested by six fliers. Newcomer Mike Kingery, an old AMA pattern flier from the 90s who lives near Ken Blackwell, was a welcome new addition to our ranks. He joined SPA this weekend and picked up four K's to secure the win in Advanced. He's going to be someone to watch out for this year. Chief Judge Scott Sappington won the other two rounds to garner 2nd Place, while Jim Johns put down some good flights late to grab 3rd Place from John Nessler Jr by a mere 5 points. Bill Dodge and Ken Blackwell kept us honest, although Ken suffered bearing problems in his OS 95 that sidelined him after the 2nd round.

We only had two contestants in Expert, but boy did they put on a clinic. Greg Hoke edges out John Nessler III by a mere 12.85 points out of 4,000 for the win.

The four old guys - the Senior Experts - flew well too. Jerry Black won all four rounds Saturday to secure the win, then sat out Sunday and helped judge. Pres. Jeff Owens finished a close 2nd, with Keith Watson placing 3rd. Russ Chiles had engine problems which caused him to flame out several times, dropping him to 4th.

Our host Mac Hodges treated us to an impromptu airshow with his ultralight aircraft while the final scores were being tabulated Sunday afternoon. I don't know his ultralight is called, but it has a 2-stroke engine with a TUNED PIPE mounted above the wing. Boy, did that ever bring back good memories for me.

Trophies were awarded and raffle prizes were given away. Several SPA patches were won, but the BIG WINNER was Debbie Hoke, wife of Expert class flier Greg. She won BOTH major prizes - a laser cut plywood desktop CA bottle holder kit donated by Jim Johns and a brand new OS 91 Surpass II engine. Such a deal!

Hugs, handshakes, and goodbyes were shared before everyone drove off toward their respective home fields. SPA is much more than just a competition organization - it's a family that gets together once a month during the summer. We just happen to bring pattern planes along and have a contest while we're at it. Come and join us - you'll be glad you did!

Jim Johns, Webmaster