2026 Cullman SPA Contest
 Cullman, AL
April 11-12, 2026

  Scores   Photos Coming Soon  

The 2026 Cullman SPA Contest, sponsored by the Cullman Aeromodelers, was flown on April 11-12 im Cullman, AL. After the weather shortened last year’s season opener to just one day, the 2026 SPA contest was rewarded with an entire weekend of almost unbelievably calm winds. Light and variable winds blessed us with optimal flying conditions, but a common complaint was that the varying direction after takeoff created some uncomfortable downwind landings.

The 11 registered contestants broke down into the five classes with Masters and Expert having three each, Advanced having one, and Sportsman and Basic having two each. The pilots hailed from six states - three each from Alabama & Tennessee, two from Georgia and one each from Florida, Kentucky and Missisippi.

The field was very busy on Friday with fliers taking advantage of the light winds to work off the cobwebs. Many flew until it got too dark to fly.

Saturday morning came with hardly any clouds in the sky, necessitating the use of a sun dot as the flying got started. The only casualty of the weekend took place during the second flight of the contest as Roger Gillis flew off the east side of the runway into a barbed wire fence, shredding one of the wings of his Daddy Rabbit.

Five rounds were completed on Saturday with a sixth round on Sunday Morning.

  • Norm Bonnette won 4 rounds to capture First in Basic.
  • Sportsman was controlled by Vic Koenig with Duane Wilson having some motor problems and placing second.
  • Gordon Talbot was the lone Advanced entry and flew 4 rounds to gain valuable experience in front of the judges.
  • Expert class saw Jeff Owens put up four winning rounds with newcomer Michael Kingery second and Terry Boston coming in third.
  • Masters class featured 3 entries and Greg Hoke demonstrated very consistent flying taking first place with 4 winning rounds. The battle for the next two places was very close with Jamie Strong taking second place over Joe Ryan in third place.

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

Webmaster's Note: Only five round scores are shown below due to a scoring program error. The 6th Round scores were hand tallied to ensure they did not effect the final outcomes in any class.
Final Scores
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