District IX Report
Coverage
Colorado / Kansas / Nebraska / North Dakota / South Dakota / Wyoming
Vice President
Russ Miller Vice President
980 N. 3rd St. Carrington, ND 58421 Tel: (701) 652-2321 Fax: (701) 652-2994 E-mail: [email protected]
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 Morden, 410 Hart St., Salina, KS 67401
- Jim Ricketts, 4921 Fernwood Drive, Sioux Falls, SD 57103-5573
- Jack L. Siebert, 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
News from Nebraska
This information came from John Willman of the Lincoln 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 evident from 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 a 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 third-round 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.
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 knick-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!
Final Standings
Novice:
- John Van Brocklin, 1,989
- Roger Hinrichs, 1,987
- Justin Handa, 1,982
- John Boord Jr., 1,913
- John Boord Sr., 1,893
- Roger Arnett, 1,810
- Mike Ritonya, 1,721
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 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
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
