John Simpson's Cavalier.
By Matt Neumann
Today started the official days of competition. The contestants were greeted with cloudy skies, very light wind and cooler temperatures. The clouds stuck around for most of the events. Only towards the very end did they break up, revealing the sunshine. In the afternoon, the wind actually quit and contestants wound up having to walk backwards while doing their maneuvers to keep from hitting their own wake. Overall it was an ideal day of flying.
For those who did not enter the unofficial events, it was a day of practice. Practice was held on the L pad while the unofficial events were held in the grass circles. Three grass circles were used for Beginner/Intermediate, Classic, and Profile events. After the Beginner/Intermediates were done, OTS was then run on that circle.
As a recap, Beginner/Intermediate is a skill class designed for fliers with minimal skill to compete with other pilots of similar skills. The Beginner uses a simplified pattern, while the Intermediate, Profile, and Classic all use the AMA pattern adopted in 1953. The OTS event uses the old-time pattern used until 1953. Classic and OTS must use replicas of planes from their respective eras. Classic must have a plane designed or built before 1970, while OTS must be before 1952. You may use modern materials and engines if you wish, but the outline must match what was originally done back in the day.
The profile event uses a plane that has a plank fuselage, typically ½-inch-thick, that looks like an airplane from the side. The format of the day was that each pilot got to fly two flights in his respective event and the best score counted when it came time to figure out the placings. Pilots could (and many did) enter multiple events. So the flight orders at times had to be adjusted as things went to keep someone from having to fly two events at the same time. Everything went smoothly except for one MAJOR hiccup.
We did have one tremendous scare today. One person actually got hit with an airplane. He was launching for someone and stopped to pick up something before heading out of the circle. This did not give him time to clear out of the way before the plane came around and hit him square in the back. Fortunately, he did not suffer any severe injuries. I was in the process of taking a picture when I saw it out of the corner of my eye. All I saw in the aftermath was him and the plane laying on the ground together. At that moment, a bunch of people rushed over to try and help.
The person that got hit suffered some cuts from the prop on his back and I am sure there will be some significant bruising in the next day or two. What really surprised me was that he apologized to the pilot for wrecking his airplane. He was more worried about the plane than himself. The pilot and the person shook hands as a sign of friendship and comradery. I want to emphasize that I am glad to report that he is just fine.
We did have one other slight goof. Mark Gerber pulled out too low and clipped his rudder. It got knocked off his beautiful Al Rabe Bearcat. Fortunately it can be easily repaired. There were no other incidents that I am aware of. So overall it was a good day and everyone had a very good time.
My hat is off to Vince Bode for putting on a really good show.
Tomorrow, July 6 is practice for everyone in the morning and night, weather permitting. During the afternoon, we have the appearance point judging, concourse ballot, and pilots’ meeting in the afternoon. Stay tuned.
