Rusty Dose with Kasey and Valerie Johnson. They live in East Grand Forks, MN. Kasey has been flying for five years, and this is his first time at the NATS. He is 17 years old.
By Jerry Budd and Jarvis Johnson
Competition resumed on Thursday morning for the final round of preliminary flights. Mother Nature, however, had other plans. The low cloud ceiling experienced on Wednesday returned, along with a quartering crosswind blowing in from the north-northeast. One flight was flown before it was determined that visibility was too limited to fly the specified sequences. The low ceiling finally lifted after a 90-minute delay and competition resumed.
As on Wednesday, the weather conditions were challenging for most pilots, requiring honed crosswind skills to maintain a consistent line and minimize point deductions. Competition for the day ended at approximately 4:30 pm. The results for the event to date are shown at the NSRCA website: Scores.
Competition will begin again on Friday, August 22 at 8:30 am on Sites 1, 3, and 4 with Masters and F3A pilots flying a three-round final. Advanced will also fly a three-round final on Site 4 beginning at 8:30 am. Sportsman and Intermediate will also continue with rounds 7 & 8 on Friday.
The day’s activities ended with a finals meeting in the McCullough Center, where the finalists for the last day of competition were announced and their flight orders were drawn. Unknown sequences to be flown by the F3A finalists were also released for them (and the judges) to study overnight before the finals on Friday morning.
