Canadian Nats 2000 - Sailplane Andersons Turf Farm, Mission, B.C. July 28-30 It was a somewhat soggy Friday morning when Jim Porter and I met with Lynn King at McDonalds in Mission. The forecast was good for the weekend, so that the main Nats events were not in jeopardy. The situation was not so certain, however, for the Friday fun fly, and scale aerotowing that we had planned. We proceeded to the farm, leaving a trail of signs to lead other glider guiders to the field. A canopy was set up, and much hangar flying was done waiting for the rain to let up. At lunch time the group proceeded to a local cafe, where fish and chips and other delicacies were enjoyed while we watched the rain get heavier and heavier. Finally, at about 1 PM, Lynn, Steve Dentz, and the rest of the scale contingent from south of the border decided that flying was unlikely, and returned home. The rest of us were there for the weekend, and returned to the field and the canopy. Finally about 3 PM, the rain stopped, and we held a belated, but enjoyable fun fly. Helmut Kihszl, Erik Eiche, Fred China and Phil Hui flew their scale gliders, expertly towed by Bruce Zelinsky and his clipped-wing Taylorcraft. Meanwhile, we did winch and hand-launch flying, and Guy Russo ran a small but fun Hand Launch event. Three pilots flew alternating rounds of Hand Launch Scramble and Guy's "Bermuda Triangle" event. The triangle event was new to John Cavelti and Arend Borst, and both enjoyed it. I look forward to seeing this on a larger scale at this year's NWSS tournament. Saturday morning brought warm sunny skies, a light East wind, and 26 pilots flying 31 planes, in 2 Meter, R/E/S, and Open classes. Thermals were relatively abundant, and after a warm-up round of 5 min ID, we flew 10ID's for the rest of the day. Landings became slightly more challenging as the day progressed, as the wind shifted to a very light West breeze, and the C.D. (that's me) stubbornly refused to turn the winches around. At the end of the day, Bill Hanson, Joe Fitz-James, Guy Russo, Robin Smith and Kirby Parker were leading in 2M, Competitor, Expert, Novice and R/E/S classes respectively. On Saturday we also had the pleasure of talking with several members of the general MAAC aeromodelling community who had come to participate in or observe the Nats. Among these were MAAC Model Aviation Canada editor Keith Morison, B.C. Zone Director Gerard McHale, and MAAC President Colin Campbell. In lieu of the originally planned BBQ, most of the group headed to the Greek restaurant in Mission city, for a pleasant meal and evening of conversation. Colin Campbell presented an award to Arend Borst to recognize his success at the recent world F3J championships in Corfu, Greece. Sunday was also warm and sunny, but the winds were stronger and the thermals weaker. After the wind had again shifted from E to W and picked up a bit, the C.D. (finally) agreed to turn the winches around. Getting times was more difficult, and we ran a combination of 5 min and 7 min tasks. Bill, Joe, Guy, Robin, and Kirby all maintained their form and positions. · I would like to thank the many volunteers, from near and far, that helped make this event possible: · Kirby and Mary Ann Parker, who did their usual impeccable job scoring the contest. · Erwin Ledat, who ran winches for most of the weekend. · Arend Borst, who trucked in and out most of the heavy equipment, and ran winches. · Lynn King, who organized flyers and tow-planes for the scale event (I'm sorry you had to leave before the rain stopped). · Bruce Zelinsky for his expert aero-towing. · Guy Russo, who ran the HL events. · Waid Reynolds and Ole Skotvold, who provided winches and did much of the set-up and tear-down work. · And everyone who came and made this event a success. Graeme Clark The final results were: 2 Meter 1 9814 89.2% Bill Hanson Lynnwood, WA 2 9072 82.5% Waid Reynolds Seattle, WA 3 8425 76.6% Jim Pugh Federal Way, WA Competitor 1 7618 69.3% Joseph Fitz-James New Westminster, BC 2 7613 69.2% Trevor LaBrie North Vancouver, BC 3 6651 60.5% Erik Heemskerk Duncan, BC 4 6299 57.3% Steven Surkes Duncan, BC 5 6142 55.8% John Cavelti Victoria, BC 6 4034 36.7% Karoly Matusik Winnipeg, MB Expert 1 10424 94.8% Guy Russo Coeur D'Alene, WA 2 10402 94.6% Graeme Clark Richmond, BC 3 10127 92.1% Bill Hanson Lynnwood, WA 4 9642 87.7% Rolf Oetter Victoria, BC 5 9605 87.3% Waid Reynolds Seattle, WA 6 9251 84.1% Bob Hamilton Langley, BC 7 9238 84.0% Fred China Vancouver, BC 8 9215 83.8% Jim Pugh Seattle, WA 9 8936 81.2% Ole Skotvold Bothell, WA 10 8739 79.4% Sandie Pugh Seattle, WA 11 8189 74.4% Randal Holzapple Spokane, WA 12 8176 74.3% Erik Eiche Richmond, BC 13 7620 69.3% Harold Ochs College Place, WA 14 6719 61.1% Jim Porter North Vancouver, BC 15 5761 52.4% Russ Young Bellevue, WA 16 4420 40.2% Kirby Parker Richland, WA Novice 1 5419 49.3% Robin Smith Surrey, BC R.E.S. 1 8801 80.0% Kirby Parker Richland, WA 2 8782 79.8% Don Hatch Winnipeg, MB 3 7532 68.5% Harold Ochs College Place, WA 4 3934 35.8% Geoff Hobbs Coquitlam, BC 5 2431 22.1% Karoly Matusik Winnipeg, MB RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. 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