District IX Report - 2004/03

March 2004 173
NEWS FROM NEBRASKA: This
information came from John Willman of
the Linclon Sky Knights (LSK).
Sixteen pilots attended the 2003 LSK
Pattern contest. There was a good mix of
contestants with eight LSK pilots and eight
visiting pilots. Most of the visiting pilots
were from the Hastings-Grand Island area
but one visiting flier calls Kansas home.
You don’t have to be a serious Pattern
pilot to enjoy the LSK Pattern contest.
That was made evident to me by the smiles
on the contestants’ faces and the good
crowd of spectators.
I was pretty stressed as this was the
first contest I’ve ever run. Mike Yearly has
done an excellent job in the past five years
of running the LSK Pattern contest so I
had a high bar to meet.
In addition, I managed to rip the
landing gear out of my primary airplane
the evening before the contest. I stayed up
all night fixing my airplane.
This was the second time this season I
had damaged my model the day before a
contest. I think that from now on I won’t
fly my primary airplane the day before a
contest.
Regardless of my stress and lack of
rest, I think the contest went well and I
managed to always keep one eye open
during my flights.
The day started unlike any other day so
far in July; it was cool and raining. I’m not
sure if rain is the proper description as
there was just enough coming down to be
annoying. I was terrified that the contest
would have to be rescheduled.
We started round one in the misty
conditions and halfway through Novice the
rain stopped—whew! Conditions presented
a challenge for all with a moderate
crosswind in round one followed by calmer
conditions in round two (but really bad sky
with hard-to-see models). It ended with a
strong north wind in round three.
I was glad to see that we had seven
entries in Novice. After the first-round
jitters I think the novice pilots started to
enjoy the contest. I hope I lived up to my
promise that the novices would learn
something that would improve their flying.
By looking at the raw scores, I noticed
that every novice pilot scored better each
round. In fact, some pilots were scoring
twice as high in round three as in round
one! The Novice ranking was close and
first place could have gone to several
pilots.
After the dust settled, visiting pilot
John Van Brocklin squeaked by LSK’s
Roger Hinrichs by only 1.5 points out of a
possible 2,000 points, with LSK’s new
“phenom” Justin Handa just barely behind
Roger. Justin scored third out of seven in
his first contest—less than 90 days after
soloing! Watch out Chip and Quique!
The Sportsman class was a little thin
with only three entries, but I’m pretty sure
that some of this year’s novice pilots will
want to fly Sportsman next year.
John Boord Jr. won Sportsman with his
fast and pretty blue airplane. It was my
understanding that his new pretty blue
model was finished a few days before the
contest. His father, John Sr., flew a copy of
it in Novice.
Expert class had six contestants. As has
been the case all year, it was nip-and-tuck
between Nick Reiss and me. I managed to
win round two and posted a strong thirdround
score, but Nick met the challenge
and held onto the lead by four points out of
a possible 2,000. Congratulations to Nick
for a well-deserved win.
The contestants from the Lincoln Sky
Knights’ Pattern contest.
Technically we had 17 pilots register.
Don Svoboda came out to pay the entry fee
as a donation to the cause. I want to thank
Don for the donation. Under that rough
exterior lurks a heart of gold. On the same
subject, I want to thank all who helped
make the contest a success. There were
many helpers and your services were
indispensable and greatly appreciated.
Some nice prizes were given to the
contestants by random drawing after the
contests. Waverly RC donated a nice glow
booster worth $58. HobbyTown USA
donated $80 worth of gift cards, and I
donated some nick-knacks.
Thanks to Waverly RC and
HobbyTown USA for the prize donations!
Of course, the high-dollar prizes went first,
but I was pleasantly surprised that my stick
airplanes were admired by most.
For those who missed the Pattern
contest, consider attending next year, even
if only to watch. You’ll have fun but don’t
take my word for it. Ask a pilot who
attended!
Congratulations to all who were there!
You are all winners in my book!
The final standings are as follows:
Novice:
John Van Brocklin, 1,989
Roger Hinrichs, 1,987
Justin Handa, 1,982
John Cuba, 1,913
John Boord Sr., 1,893
Roger Arnett, 1,810
Mike Ritonya, 17,21
Sportsman:
John Boord Jr., 2,000
David Franzen, 1,877
Mark Bergt, 1,822
Expert
Nick Reiss, 2,000
John Willman, 1,966
Jerry Voth, 1,858
Jim Reiss, 1,777
Allan Worrest, 1,560
Mike Yearly, 1,428
Thanks for this report, John.
Wow! How time flies, especially when
you’re having fun! That is all I can say.
It seems like only yesterday I was an
associate vice president for the state of
North Dakota. A few years later there was
an opportunity to run for the vice
president’s (VP) position for in District IX.
Yes, that seems like yesterday. Where
have the years gone?
It is time to move on and let someone
else take the position of VP for District IX.
I will not be running again for this office.
Time and a desire to relocate are two of the
major considerations for not running again.
Moving to a warmer climate will
necessitate someone else representing
District IX on the national level.
Thanks for the fun and the memories.
—Russ Miller
Associate Vice Presidents
Max Hansen, 1909 Wisconsin SW, Huron SD
57350
H. Michael Harrington, 6112 Ashton Ct.,
Ft. Collins CO 80525
Fred Hildebrand, 4015 Somerset Circle, Casper
WY 82609-3161
Nathan Lancaster, 3597 S. Kendall Street, Denver
CO 80235
Troy Lapp, 1619 Wichita Dr., Bismarck ND 58504
Travis McGinnis, 8027 W. 81st Circle, Arvada CO
80005
Don Moden, 410 Hart St., Salina KS 67401
Jim Ricketts, 4921 Fernwood Drive, Sioux Falls
SD 57103-5573
Jack L. Sibert, 3611 Kimberly Circle, Lincoln NE
68506-4524
Mark T. Smith, 14632 W. 50th Street, Shawnee
KS 66216
Frequency Coordinator
Steve Mangles, c/o Radio Service Center, 918 S.
Sheridan, Denver CO 80226
Colorado / Kansas /
Nebraska / North Dakota /
South Dakota / Wyoming
Russ Miller
Vice President
980 N. 3rd St.
Carrington ND 58421
Tel.: (701) 652-2321
Fax: (701) 652-2994
E:mail:
[email protected]
District IX Report