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2025 Cullman SPA Contest
The Pilots competing at the
2025 Cullman SPA Contest Webmaster's note: This is the first Cullman contest since 2018 and we're glad to have them back on the schedule. The SPA contest season got off to a windy start with the 2025 Cullman SPA Contest sponsored by the Cullman Aeromodelers. It was scheduled for April 5th & 6th, but it was shortened to an abbreviated one day contest due to windy conditions and forecast storms for Saturday night and Sunday. The SPA contest season got off to a windy start with an abbreviated one day contest. The 2025 Cullman SPA Contest, sponsored by the Cullman Aeromodelers, was flown on April 5th. The weather conditions contributed to several pilots who pre-registered deciding not to make the trip and leaving 11 contestants when registration was complete. Master was the large class with 5 entries, Expert had 3 contestants, Basic 2, Sportsman 1 entry and no entries in Advanced. It was decided to run all the classes on one flight line since there were only 11 contestants. The field was very busy on Friday with fliers practicing the new patterns and several fliers going through the new sequences for the first time. More than a few laughs were heard as maneuvers were blown in very creative ways. Saturday morning cloud cover arrived just as the flying got under way eliminating the need to use a sun spot. The wind was 15 mph with gusts as high as 25 mph. While the wind was mostly straight down the runway, it would at times swing to about a 45 degree cross wind and add to the challenge of getting through the pattern. Despite the windy conditions there were no crashes, hard landings or even a broken prop. The winds had picked up considerably by the time four rounds were completed, so with strong storms and rain forecasted for Sunday, it was decided to call the contest complete. Basic class was a very close competition with each contestant winning 2 rounds and Victor McIntyre edging out Norm Bonnette by only 60 points. Both of these pilots demonstrated noticeable improvement from last season just being able to handle the very windy conditions. Vic Koenig was the lone Sportsman entry and flew 2 rounds before deciding to head home. Expert class saw Jeff Owens put up four winning rounds with Jimmy Russell taking 2nd and Terry Boston coming in 3rd in his first Expert competition. Masters class featured five entries and Greg Hoke demonstrated very consistent flying to take 1st place with 4 winning rounds. The battle for the next two places was very close with Jerry Black taking 2nd place over Joe Ryan by only 5 points. After the awards were handed out, the raffle prizes were drawn and Jerry Black won the Badass motor and ESC. The grand prize Aurora ARF was won by Steve Byrum who had spent the day entering scores in the computer and posting the results. Overall it was a very good start for the SPA season with much more to look forward to as the season progresses. Howard Moore, CD |
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