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2nd Annual Johnson City RC SPA
Contest
The Johnson City Radio Controllers (JCRC)
held their second annual SPA
contest on July 10-11. Both our Tennessee contest
locations and hosting clubs are fast becoming a hotbed
of SPA activity and a source for new pilots. Both
Johnson City/Kingsport and Knoxville are doing something
right, and much of it has to do with their positive
attitude and enthusiasm for SPA. It’s cool to experience
our own introduction to SPA
again through these new pilots, most flying
whatever they have. As we’ll see in a minute, new planes
brought by first-time competitors add an interesting
twist to the competition.
On the other end of the spectrum, it was a pleasure to
have Karl Gerth from Knoxville fly with us again. Karl
was previously a regular on the contest circuit who has
been taking a hiatus from competing. Karl stepped right
back into things and flew well in an increasingly
competitive BASIC class.
The forecast called for a good chance of thunderstorms
and the associated funky winds that they generate, but
overall we were very fortunate and didn’t experience any
weather delays. Temperatures were moderate for mid-July
and a manageable, variable crosswind provided some
cooling on Saturday. Sunday morning conditions were
about as good as it gets with a very light breeze. The
increased heat and rains arrived after the contest was
over.
More people signed up, but on contest day we had 14
contestants from seven states – Ohio, Kentucky,
Tennessee, North Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi and
Florida. We missed Dave Phillips who was unable to
attend due to medical treatment and Jeff Owens who chose
to stay home due to the hurricane, as well as those
unable to travel to the far northern edge of SPA
country. Check the score sheets in BASIC, SPORTSMAN, and
ADVANCED and you’ll see a scrappy competition between
several contestants with the point spread very close
until the end. ADVANCED in particular was hotly
contested with the lead changing hands several times. In
the end, 2nd place was decided by less than 4
points!
BASIC class was interesting for a number of reasons.
Whatever electric delta “screamer” Doug Lindauer was
flying looked GREAT in the air doing HUGE Reverse Cuban
Eights and loops. A couple more quick points about
Doug: 1) he is a local club member and the official
scorekeeper, (being tutored and assisted by Jim Johns),
in addition to being a participant, and 2) as the
contest progressed, even a casual observer could see he
was getting into flying this “precision pattern” thing.
After a few rounds, he announced his intention to get
something a bit more suitable for pattern. As cool as it
was, Doug’s high-pitched entry had a hard time doing a
Stall Turn even though it
had two little rudders. It’s hard to coax these
small electrics to perform aerobatics, but he did pretty
well. Eventually, people started watching to see
how the Stall Turn would go, and to see if Doug could
land without parts flying off his plane on contact with
the grass. A cheer went out when he landed in one piece
after a later round.
Bryan Adcock from Miamisburg, Ohio liked his first
contest experience in Knoxville enough to make the trek
to Kingsport for this event. He fit right in like a
veteran. He’s obviously a quick learner, and the
improvement in his flying since the Knoxville contest
was evident.
CD Vic Koenig worked so
hard to make things go smoothly that you wouldn’t have
thought it was his first time CDing a contest. When
needed, Vic got a lot of help from several CDs among the
contestants, particularly JCRC's own Jerry Black.
There was a great atmosphere of cooperation from both
club members and contestants. Judging assignments were
pre-planned, but Vic was able to ad-lib when necessary.
His work allowed five rounds to be completed
by 3:00 p.m. on
Saturday as proceedings moved right along with a group
effort to keep the flight lines moving. Two more rounds
were flown on Sunday morning. Raffle prizes were
distributed by Anthony and Anastasia Blair while the
final scores were tallied. The raffle included two $50
gas money prizes, one of which was won by the pilot with
the longest drive, Ken VandenBosch from Ocala, FL.
Trophies were awarded, vehicles were loaded and everyone
was on the road by noon.
One thing that stood out this year as well as in 2020
was the extraordinary involvement and team effort by
many JCRC club members. Each person did their part while
seeming to enjoy being involved. It was easy to see that
the club was really on-board and involved in the
contest. From President David Jones on down, the
hospitality displayed by the host club was truly
impressive, making it was a “fun” contest. David even
aided in the effort to fix Duane's sluggish 4-stroke
engine. (The help was greatly appreciated, but in the
end it was evident that this engine has seen better
days—DW).
This was an uneventful contest in terms of casualties
and mishaps—it’s wonderful
not to have to report “crashes”. Things
went smoothly other than a few broken props and
at least two dead stick landings. Duane’s muffler was
hanging by the exhaust tubing after a JB Weld repair
gave way. It didn’t depart the plane until he “bounced”
the landing but the muffler was recovered. There also
weren’t any mishaps during Friday’s practice sessions as
contestants trickled in and flew practice rounds.
Thanks to all who
attended and all who helped make the contest a reality.
JCRC member helpers were plentiful throughout the
weekend. My apologies to anyone I may have missed.
Vic
won’t praise himself, but I can. It was obvious from
the start that Vic put a lot of planning into this
contest. It’s quite a “stimulating” experience to hear
your name being called out from all directions at the
same time all day long. Vic also managed to fly
and judge while keeping it all going.
Finally, mention should be made that there were three
class winners from the two East Tennessee clubs -
Warren Oliver and Bill Dodge from KCRC in Knoxville and
Jerry Black from JCRC. I am hoping this trend continues
with even more participation from those clubs.
Everyone told CD Vic that
they had a great time, and isn’t that the point of it
all anyway? We hope to see everyone back here October 9
& 10 for the SPA East Masters!
Vic Koenig,
Duane Wilson, and Jim
Johns
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Final Scores
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