Visa

Glen's new Hyde/Colombo Visa fresh from CA Model's paint shop waiting for clear coat...

SCRCC 3rd Annual Spring Pattern Classic (Houston)

May 1st & 2nd Space City RC Club a west Houston TX suburb is hosting their 3rd annual Pattern Spring Classic. Any AMA legal aircraft can participate in Sportsman class plus FAI will fly P11 and F11 sequences.


See flyers below for more details.

YS powered Integral

Newly completed Comp-Arf Integral with custom color scheme...

RTF weight 10lbs
Equip List:14MZ FASST
R6008HS FASST
9252 - ail
9650 - elev & throttle
BLS151 - rud
Lipo RX battery 2100 2S
Jaccio 6.0v regulator
YS DZ-170
Hyde ARA mount
Hatori 823/821 exhaust
ZNLine landing gear
GraphTech wheel pants

Tru-Turn red anodized spinner

Space City RC 2nd Annual Pattern Classic

Pattern activity in D6 appears to be thriving. This is based on the recent attendance at my clubs 2nd annual pattern event recently held May 2nd and 3rd. This year’s event we had 3 more in attendance than last year, 29 in all. The surprising thing was 1/3 in attendance this year were not at last year’s event. That being said if personal schedules permitted there is the potential to have near 40 in future events.

Texas weather can be brutal and unpredictable. Monday before the event the Northwest and West Houston areas received 11 inches of rain in an 8 hour period. Tuesday morning the news was all about roads and homes that were inundated with flood waters stranding motorists in high water on Houston roads. The club field is located in Katy, TX an area hit hard by the rain. The surrounding area mainly cow pastures is very flat which drains very slowly. I planned to meet Jim Sheffield Wednesday evening to setup the center poles and paint the box lines. As I drove to the field the drainage ditches along the road sides were filled to the brim some were spilling over onto the roads even though it was 48 hours after it had rained. I was certain the flying field would be under water and unusable. To my surprise all the hard work the club membership had done in the past to facilitate drainage worked optimally. The runway was wet in some areas however there was no standing water. With no additional rain forecasted before the weekend, the runaway had the opportunity to dry out by Saturday morning.

There has been chatter on the NSRCA list recently about how to manage time especially with a high number of Masters entries. We had 8 Masters this year. What worked for us was dedicating a resource to run and maintain the flight order and judge assignments. This ensures you keep a plane or planes in the air throughout the contest. Both Saturday and Sunday flying started around 10am four rounds were flown on Saturday with a finish time of 6ish. Two rounds were flown on Sunday and including the awards ceremony attendees where on the road around 2:30. Other tangible elements that impact the flow of the event is the great job our area of D6 does in training contestants to judge any class, (thanks Don Ramsey). This reduces unnecessary time spent negotiating whether someone feels qualified of judging when asked. In addition familiarization and preparation of the scoring system, we used PACSS. Contestants are there happiest and most cooperative when raw scores are available soon after their flight and the round status is posted in a timely fashion.

Special thanks to:

Leonard - field preparation

John Underwood - chef

John Blackmon - line chief

Kyle - score runner

The Space City Club is looking forward to hosting a bigger and better 3rd annual event in 2010.

Space City RC Club contest flyer

The Space City RC Club located in Katy Texas a west Houston Suburb has confirmed hosting their 2nd annual spring pattern classic May 2nd & 3rd 2009. See flyer above for details or contact:

1) Dale Dickey CD @ 281 463-8462 events@spacecityrc.com

2) Glen Watson Event Coordinator @ 281-300-1619 ghwatson@comcast.net.

Space City Contest announcement

Hey fellow D6 competitors my RC club (http://www.spacecityrc.com/) is planning to hold its 2nd annual pattern event this coming May. We are shooting for May 2nd-3rd, 2009. Details will be published when available on the NSRCA site. For those who missed last year's event you can read about it at the following link:

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_7412021/anchors_7412021/mpage_1/key_space%252Ccity/anchor/tm.htm#7412021

Space City Club like last year unanimously voted to hold an event in 2009 and beyond. Please help me say thanks to the Space City Club by supporting this upcoming event. We have an outstanding facility for holding a pattern event in addition this event will draw such notables as Brett Wickizer, Mike Harrison, Earl Haury, Todd Blose, Mark Hunt, Don Ramsey, Jim Sheffield and many other D6 top National contenders. Please contact me for details and questions at ghwatson@comcast.net.

By the way I was honored by the Space City Club by receiving November Model of the Month with the Beryll GP I flew at the 2008 NATS.

2008 Nationals

The 2008 AMA Nationals are in the record books. My flying buddy, Jim Sheffield and I had more fun than the law should allow. We left Texas Saturday am and drove through to a location about 80 miles south of Louisville, KY. The following day we drove a short distance to our super secret practice site in southern IN. We both flew several flights and decided to call it day because of approaching bad weather from the west. It's a good thing we did, as we were loading the last of our equipment into the van winds that we later found out were estimated to be gusting up to 50mph began to blow. As we drove from the practice site we saw trees and power lines that had been blown down from the high winds. We arrived at our hotel only to find out the local area was experiencing a power outage due to the storm. However the upside to this was others who were wanting to check-in to the hotel like us decided to have a tail gate party in the parking lot. Let's just say a good time was had by all. After a couple of hours of waiting for the power to be restored we decided to move onto Muncie that evening. Early Monday to our surprise the AMA site was fairly unoccupied. Jim and I were able to get in several practice flights each fairly quickly before others arrived after attending the judges clinic. All classes were well attended and the level of competition across the board was the best I've ever witnessed at the Nats. The scores in the Masters class in particular during the prelims were closely packed. I attribute this not only to the level of competition but also to the great weather we experienced during the Nats. Especially the weather on the finals day, there was only a 60 point spread between first and fifth place. In light to moderate wind conditions everyone flies well.

In summary even thought I had aspirations of repeating as the Masters National champion, I am proud to have placed 2nd 15 points out of first. Congrats to Ken Velez this year's Masters champion, he flew extremely well.

I've included some random shots taken of me, my plane and Jim during the Masters' finals and awards ceremony.

Results available at:

http://www.modelaircraft.org/events/nats/NatsNews08/0726.pdf

http://www.modelaircraft.org/events/nats/scores.aspx?yr=2008

http://pages.suddenlink.net/donramsey/ (go to Contest/Results/Nats history)

Oxai Beryll

Beryll GP by OXAI

Late 2007 I contacted Sam Johnson of http://oxai.us the US importer for OXAI products to explore the opportunity of purchasing an aircraft. Aircraft I have selected in the past had to meet a short list of minimum requirements. Those requirements are use readily available accessories from US pattern suppliers like Central Hobbies, easily transportable (two piece wing), and be on the cutting edge of current design trends. The Beryll GP (glo power version) by Oxai met those requirements. In addition the craftsmanship, fit and finish far exceeded my expectations for an ARF.

I opted for the gray/silver/orange/white/black color scheme. For years my airframes have been red, yellow and black which have proven to be extremely visible in most light conditions. Once assembled the Beryll’s color scheme is striking however much different then anything I have seen over the years. In the air I was pleasantly surprised how visible it is even in moderate to low light conditions. The orange and white bottom scheme clearly distinguishes the top from the bottom.

To date I have logged approximately 45 flights. I am very pleased how quickly I was able to trim the Beryll GP to obtain a competitive feel. Rolling maneuvers are easy to manage, snaps are crisp and predictable. I look forward to competing with this aircraft at the 2008 Nationals. First pattern plane I’ve ever owned that required zero mix with rudder application.

Equipment list:
YS DZ 170
APC 15X11 4bld
Hatori 821 muffler, 822 header
Futaba 14MZ 9154=ail, 9155=rudder, 9650=elevator & throttle

Finished weight 10lbs 5ozs

Pattern Fashion

Protective cover by www.planewrappers.com what the best dressed pattern plane is wearing this season.

2008 pattern season

The road to the 2008 Nationals is going well for me this year. As for equipment I am well ahead of last year. Currently I have 3 aircraft flying, an Integral, Twister and GP Beryll. The Integral and twister are contest proven and ready with 5 Masters wins in District 6 between them. The Beryll is in the trimming stage with approximately 2 dozen flights logged to date. All are powered with the DZ 170 swinging an APC 15x11 4-blade.

The following are various pictures taken at the 2008 contest I have attended to date: