There is nothing like jumping back into a problem work week to wash away all the good feelings from the weekend. But guess what...the weekend still rules. I wanted to follow up on the excellent posts by Garth and Derek on the IHLGF. I may be biased, but this is my favorite contest of the year for a number of reasons. First off, the technological advances every year are inspiring. Radio gear keeps getting smaller, lay ups are lighter, designs are maxed out, all resulting in ships that weigh 1/2 of their predecessors just 2 years ago. Secondly, the camaraderie and diversity of the international field is great fun. With guys representing Japan, Austria, Switzerland, New Zealand, even Kentucky (sorry Bruce) you had the feeling that it was a special gathering. A third reason is just the fun and intensity of the 10 rounds over the 2 days, with the changing field conditions and the outstanding flying going on. I've never seen so many remarkable saves from flights that looked like they were DOA. When you get a good save going on, you'll see everyone get out from their chairs and stand on the field as the plane struggles back. Finally, it is just great flying with your "rotating posse" and enjoying the time. Because of the random draws for every heat, you do have a group of guys that help you out during flying. Ideally, as John R. said, you will have 3: a timer, a scribe and a tactician. It is very hard to time, write and scan the sky, especially during the intense times of catch and launch. I had great help from my man Al Nephew (all the way out from Minnesota), Derek, Eric Farmer, Lex M., Paul A., Tim Cone, Brian B. and many others. I hope I helped them as much as they helped me. I did see some interesting downsides to the super light planes. When the winds came up, they were nowhere near ballasted enough. With the field boundaries moved upwind, I think everyone had at least 1 off field landing, probably many more than that. There were some rounds that you felt that one downwind turn was going to take you 100' away, and drop you 20' in altitude. The thermals were very concentrated and blown out in the afternoon rounds. That being said, if you could core one of these fast moving cyclones, you were out. The field was very stratified vertically; above a certain altitude you were home free (for the most part). The field also was cycling, although with enough range guys were getting air. As far as the planes flown in the flyoff it went something like this. Joe was flying his new Encore with a chrome tailboom. This thing is stout. Throwing the plane was like throwing a baseball. It was rock solid, with tremendous range and a beautiful flat glide. Arthur was flying his Flamingo, which I've seen him fly everywhere. Here is a prime example of a guy who knows exactly what his plane is going to do because he flies it in all conditions. It also floats as well as anything out there. Greg flew an Uplink and kicked some serious butt. He outlaunched everyone ala Dick Barker (it is Dick's design) and flew extremely well. I'm not sure what Paul N. flew (sorry Paul!) but whatever it was sure worked. Paul really knows the field. Local knowledge seems to help. Nowell flew his own design that he has been flying forever. Another example of someone really knowing their plane, plus someone very skilled at flying in the wind. Greg, Nowell and I sometimes get together at the Rose Bowl on Friday afternoons to fly and I think all that practice had to help. Wolfgang flew a molded, sidearm launched Euro beauty that looked fast just sitting on the ground. Bren flew the Flamingo. Paul Anderson was snakebit with planes this year. He was dominating the first day but he was starting to go through planes like they were disposable. This is a very good thing for a manufacturer :) but a bad thing for a pilot without a dozen backups. His primary plane was a Feather XL. I flew my Logic, with a Logic wing in the morning and a Brian Buaas 6063 wing in the afternoon. I also flew a Feather XL for a few rounds. I believe Mike Fox was flying a Logic like plane but I can't remember. Back up planes were critical. I got mid aired in the flyoff and went from my Logic to a D-Lite. This is like going from a Lamborghini to a '65 Mustang. The Mustang flew pretty well, however, as the extra weight of the oft repaired ship helped out, plus this is a plane that I cut my teeth on a few years back and I know pretty well. Thanks to Tim and Eric for a valiant pit crew effort to resuscitate the Logic. Tim later climbed a 50' Eucalyptus tree to get Eric's plane, stuck since Saturday. I know it was 50' because I used a rangefinder, took photos with a measuring stick, used advanced trigonometry, calculated latitude and longitude, dropped an apple and timed it, stacked ten 5' high Yugos on top of each other and finally realized that it was plenty high enough for the guy to get killed if he fell out. BTW, I completely believe the range finder to determine height. Guys were throwing 80' no problem, especially into the wind and double especially into lift. When the video comes out, you can freeze frame and dissect, but it really doesn't mean a thing until you find the lift and work it. Oh well, back to work. This has taken more time than I thought it would, but then again, there is so much more that happened that I have not written about. I look forward to next year already. -- Erickson Architects John R. Erickson, AIA W/F (661) 288-2959 RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
