The Gordon Report
A great day was had by all on Saturday. Seven of us turned up to brave the very gusty and difficult conditions. We were supported by a loyal group of Punta Gorda contest organizers and in spite of the wind we had many maxes and plenty of landing points were scored as well. Rick Eckel took the honors with yours truly 2nd and Don Grisham 3rd. Looking forward to a less windy Sunday contest tomorrow. Heres a selection of photos of the todays fun.
Though we were hoping for fairer weather Sunday gave us even more wind with 15-20 mph and with gusts over 25 Mph. Very tough thermal conditions but 6 of us braved the conditions and flew 6 rounds with a 6 minute max. We saw some very adventurous soaring with Larry Squire and his Shadow taking second place while showing us how to thermal out after missing an approach and attempting a “go-around” to find lift over the spot and proceeded to add two more minutes to his score. We also saw the Pompano boys exploit the conditions down low with some rather amazing slope soaring of the small obstacles in the field. I managed to score pretty good with every landing and maxed enough flights to achieve my first contest win in USA after a rather long 23 year layoff. I am extremely pleased with my Sharon and she has provided me with great results on every outing she has flown since I got her from Jack Strother. She also flew extremely difficult conditions with zero ballast. Jamie Mercado from Pompano Hill Flyers did a great job with his Shadow to be a close third place at the end. Dan Johns, Don Grisham and Rick Eckel were the remaining flyers. Rick as always put up good scores but had some bad luck with too many pop-offs in the windy conditions. We had a great weekend in Punta Gorda and the locals organized a terrific contest. Let’s make sure we support their next contest effort with a lot more participation as they do a great job. I for one will be there with bells on.
Gordon
Heres the RC Groups Gordon Report with Photos
-- Since 1974 - AMA# 1248
