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2022 Ben Oliver Memorial SPA Contest
Knoxville, TN
2022
Ben Oliver Memorial SPA Contest Report
The Ben Oliver Memorial Classic contest went
very well. We had guys showing up as early as
Wednesday. Dave “Hotrod” Phillips was busy
impressing us with his slick electric Bootlegger
sporting trike retracts and an eye catching yellow and
black scheme. As more people showed up Thursday and
Friday most were heard saying “he was the last guy I
expected to go Electric”. Dave has been a long
time gearhead and glow flier but recently is in the
process of converting his planes to elec. He’s
enjoying the benefits of a clean airplane, ample power,
and reliability.. (more on that later)
As Saturday morning
rolled in, the weather was looking decent. KCRC members
Todd Thomas and Jim Whalen helped with signups and
scoring throughout the weekend. We had a large
Basic class of 7 and 5 of them were 1st timers. It
is worth noting that 3 of these travelled in for their
1st SPA contest. I feel that being more inclusive
and advertising a fly what you bring Basic class has
helped.
We ended up having 20 sign up with 19
participating - 7 in basic, 3 in Sportsman, 2 in
Advanced, 4 in Expert and 3 in Senior Expert. When
we have a turnout like that it really helps the CD to
arrange for judges. Most of the weekend went smooth with
two planes in the air.
The trees here at KCRC continue to grow and they
actually caught 2 airplanes. First was Bill Dodge’s
after his engine quit mid-flight and he landed in the
trees at the left end of the runway. The second was Joe
Ryan, whose engine quit and the trees on the right end
caught his Curare. He emerged from the trees with
an almost fully intact airplane. After some 5min
epoxy to glue the wing blocks in we all thought he was
back in business. As he taxied out a few of us
noticed that the drooped stab was shaking a bit more
than usual and drooping more toward one side.
Jamie and Warren yelled, alerting him to check it. Joe
walked over and grabbed the stab and found it was loose
and barely hanging on. If not caught that would have
likely been a spectacular stab departure mid-flight.
Seeing those dead sticks, a couple of us E guys
were heard praising our “fool proof” systems. Warren’s
flight was cut short with an E-dead stick from trying to
fly a spent pack. Several of us double checked our
packs after that and Jerry noticed he hadn’t changed his
pack either. Later in the day the same gremlin bit
Dave as he too had an E-dead stick from a non-charged
pack. Dave wasn’t so lucky - on final his Bootlegger
landed short and caught the last bush which cracked the
fuse. Dave will get it fixed up soon but the
damage needs to be repaired in his shop and not the RV
dining table. During a hectic contest where we are
called on to judge or call right after a flight, we can
slip out of our normal battery changing routine.
I’m going to try to remember to double check that the
pack in my airplane is fully charged before each round.
Saturday
around 3 p.m. the clouds started to look ominous.
When I went to fly my 4th round I felt a few rain drops
and the wind was picking up. I called the flight
off before the 1st maneuver. While packing my gear
up, I noticed those basic guys were flying through the
wind and sprinkles. They were tougher competitors
than me.
Sunday rolled in and rain was forecasted later
in the day. So we pushed thru the remaining rounds
and were finished by 11am.
We had a decent raffle, including a fiberglass
and foam UFO kit Ellis Newkirk was kind enough to
donate. It was the same kit he won in a raffle a few
years ago. Jim Johns pulled the ticket for the UFO and
is already thinking of ways to electrify it. The contest
was a great success with lots of smiles, laughs and good
flying. Results are below.
Thanks everyone, |
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