District IX - 2010/11
Submitted by Joe Pirozzoli from the Rocky Mountain area
After a very long hiatus (over 15 years), RC aerobatics returned to Arvada, Colorado. There has been a noticeable absence of regular Pattern competition in Colorado for some time.
Arvada Associated Modelers (AAM) hosted its second Pattern contest in as many years. This year's event was a very successful two-day contest, following the one-day event hosted in August 2009. It appears to be the only Pattern contest in Colorado in 2010 and one of only a few in the surrounding states. These events show that Pattern still has a pulse in the Denver area.
The Denver area and the Arvada club have traditionally been a hotbed of RC aerobatics. In the late 1980s and early 1990s there were many top-notch competitors and numerous contests throughout Denver and the region. The recent events have brought out many old faces and many new ones. It is hoped that Arvada's success will encourage other local competitors and clubs to host contests in upcoming years.
This year's contest was fortunate to have tremendous sponsorship. The sponsors helped make this a first-class event and included:
- Thompson's Hobbies
- Action Hobbies
- Performance Plus RC
- Aeroworks
- Graph Tech
- Wild Berry Productions
- APC Propellers
- Tower Hobbies
- Radio South
There was over $800 worth of prizes to distribute to both contestants and helpers. No one walked away empty-handed.
The event was sanctioned as an AAA contest and was attended by a very enthusiastic 13 competitors (slightly down from 15 the prior year). There were five out-of-town guests: three from Albuquerque and two from Pueblo. The rest of the contingent was from the Denver-metro area, including seven Arvada fliers.
The classes broke down as follows:
- Sportsman: 6 competitors
- Intermediate: 2 competitors
- Advanced: 2 competitors
- Masters: 3 competitors
- FAI: no entries
All classes were hotly contested despite the modest numbers. AAM fliers proved to be very competitive. Although the numbers appear low, there was considerable diversity among participants across the two events (the total potential group from both events exceeded 20 fliers).
2010 Colorado Pattern Challenge Results
- Sportsman
- Derek Gill
- Scott Wait
- Lanny Hansen
- Intermediate
- Kent Paul
- Terry Clouse
- Advanced
- Joe Pirozzoli
- John Gayer
- Masters
- Dan Underkofler
- Chuck Schone
- Bill Chester
Contest Directors: Joe Pirozzoli and Dan Underkofler
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
