2015 SPA Masters
Well, with the SPA East Masters now in the books, along
with the SPA West OPEN a week ago---the 2015 SPA season
is now history.
For the East Masters,
with 32 pre-registered pilots, the initial registration
was up, but the final number of pilots Saturday morning
was down to 22 due largely to the largest rain event the
region had seen all year. After studying the
radar, Saturday was "scrubbed" (to quote an old NASA
term), and by Sunday morning, commitments and other
problems caused the final number flying to drop to 17.
It was disappointing, but those 17 who stayed
experienced a unique and thoroughly enjoyable Masters. The first thing that comes to
mind when thinking about SPA East Masters weather is
that it is like a "box of chocolates" ala Forrest
Gump--you never know what kind of weather you're going
to get, but it often involves some combination of
cool/cold temperatures, wind and rain. We can
think back to many past Masters events that were
memorable, (not necessarily enjoyable however), due to
weather, but somehow adverse conditions tend to bring
out the "survivalist" skills that we all have to one
degree or another. Logically, most sane people
wouldn't be out in the elements like this if they don't
have to be, but "The Defiant 17" (and
their support personnel), chose to stay and "tough it
out" anyway. We didn't know at the time that the
only "washout" (with no flying on Saturday), that I can
remember in SPA history would unexpectedly open the door
for "other activities" that would turn things around,
and make the 2015 East Masters unique, and a great
success. It was
good of Dan Dougherty to coordinate activities and call
the pilots personally to tell them where the "action"
was Saturday afternoon--room 132, his motel room.
Dan (DD) had the great idea of a football party at the
motel with party platters and "munchies" from Dan, and
the beer (and soft drinks), from Scott. Since
nearly everyone stayed at the Best Western, people were
popping in and out all afternoon, while indulging in the
"party fare". Getting lots of people together
in a non-flying environment throughout the afternoon
provided a great opportunity for more leisurely
and in-depth talk about "plane stuff" while
displaying, (like "show and tell") different planes,
(and plane parts like fiberglass cowls for example). We
got opinions and debates about all kinds of
plane-related topics, including servo favorites, (and
why each was so great), innovative building techniques,
the benefits of many R/C-related products and where to
get them etc etc. I don't know about anyone else,
but I was writing all this stuff down, taking notes, and
generally learning a lot. The football games were
on in the background, but most people weren't paying
much attention. Those with a special interest in a
particular game went off to their own room because you
"couldn't hear nuttin'" on TV. Dinner was at 6:30, (meaning
6-6:15 PM) at the best place around for too much
food and monster desserts--the City Cafe.
At the restaurant, Bobbie Johns won the ladies drawing
of a beautiful basket loaded with "goodies" donated by
Suddenly Social Media (Missy Varner). Sunday there was no rain! We saw partly cloudy skies with a nice crosswind in the face. By flying two flight lines, three classes got 4 rounds in while all the others got 3 rounds, plus we managed to fit in the Memorial Trophy fly off between Jeff Owens & Jerry Black. Unfortunately for the first competitive classes off the runway on Sunday, the toughest winds of the day were faced by the pilots who flew early. This was especially challenging for the INTRODUCTORY and NOVICE pilots, who learned quickly what precision flying in a stiff cross-wind can be like. While the crosswinds were a problem all day, they diminished somewhat as the day wore on. Temperatures also inched up slowly, so that by the time the awards and raffle was started, (more about that later), conditions were almost comfortable. Greg Hoke did some big-time work on the runway removing as much water as possible (see below), but a few small puddles remained in certain low spots on the runway, making for some interesting landings when the planes would kick up a "roostertail" of water, (to quote a term used for hydroplanes). The comment was made during my first landing, (in the largest of those remaining "waterholes"), that the puddle I drove my Rabbit through served as a great "waterbrake". If you happened to be as good a pilot as Jerry Black, and Eric & John Nessler, you nimbly hopped over some of the puddles with the judicious use of elevator on landing--the rest of us just plowed through whatever was in front of our planes while landing, sometimes washing the wheels and wing bottoms in the process. We hosted some newcomers at this
year's Masters. Bernie Olson, (all the way from
SPA West), brought his Blue Angel which got a lot
of attention and scrutiny. Just a week earlier I had
visited him in Fort Worth, attending their SPA WEST OPEN
with clear skies and temperatures in the lower 90s--what
a change a week makes! Then from the distant north, Dr
Charles Gray invited Dan Grotzinger, an old friend of
mine from VR/CS that I hadn't seen in a long while.
Dan was the pilot I trusted enough and selected to fly
Ed Kazmirski's personal Taurus II
for its first flight in 45 years in
Lexington Kentucky back in 2009--in other words, Dan is
a good pilot, he's just new to pattern competition
SPA-style. He flew his first contest with us in
SPORTSMAN. Dan is a great addition to SPA, and I
hope he travels from Indianapolis to fly with us again
next season. I think both Bernie and Dan had a
great time in spite of the tough weather conditions, and
I think both will be back. Fortunately, there were no radio
issues at Chattanooga this year, and the only plane that
was lost was during a hard landing by Jim Johns in the 4th
round of ADVANCED. Duane Wilson
received a laceration while working on a (booby-trapped
razor sharp), APC prop (from a rival SPORTSMAN pilot
[just kidding---really], so I did a quick bandage job
and he continued to fly, (thanks very much Scott--it was
deep and wouldn't stop on its own--ed). A special mention about our
PIO Bruce Underwood. We saw Bruce at breakfast
Saturday, then later in the rain-soaked Saturday morning
"huddle" before Scott dismissed us for the day. We
didn't learn of his medical difficulties that sent him
to the hospital for tests until much later in the day.
We kept him in our thoughts and prayers for the rest of
the weekend, and were relieved when we learned on Sunday
he had been released from the hospital. He and
Jane left Sunday morning for home. Our best wishes
for a speedy recovery Bruce! Speaking of Bruce,
Mamma Jane & Bruce did a great job on the plaques for
the contest as well as the Points Championship plaques
and the special SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD plaque that went to
Greg Hoke. As mentioned earlier, Greg took it upon
himself to get up early on Sunday and work hard doing
water removal duty on the runway to make our flying
possible. It couldn't have been a better choice. Regarding the Masters awards and
raffle, Scott has better manners than to dwell too much
on the fact that he put together what was without
doubt the finest raffle in the history of SPA,
(in my memory at least)! Two airplanes, a radio,
and an OS .95 engine headlined the raffle, (which
totaled 20 prizes), including many more smaller, (but
still great and valuable), prizes to complement the big
ones. Every time Scott announced something about
to be raffled I'd hear someone behind me saying "man I
want that", or "that's good"--anyway you get the idea.
I don't know where Scott got the money or the
deal-making skills to pull this off, but he did.
He probably taught Trump how to make deals. :) The
bottom line was that Scott worked very hard on this,
putting it all together, promoting it, and then running
the event in his usual "no nonsense" way. During
the raffle, I think he finally started relaxing and even
smiling some, (kidding again Scott--ed). Jim Johns
was recruited once more to do the score entry in his
usual impeccable manner, and as always, our favorite
Chattanooga club "good guy" John Davis was the perfect
host, and had a number of club member helpers to make it
all happen--a fantastic job--we all felt very welcome
there. It just
goes to show that there is more to a contest than the
weather conditions when it comes to making a very
enjoyable, memorable event. I think we all kind-of
banded together, and enjoyed the "heck out of the
weekend" in spite of the admittedly lousy weather.
Those who cancelled honestly missed out. While I
would prefer perfect weather and light winds, there was
something special about this particular Masters.
Bruce might say it "put the cherry on top" of the
season.
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