Greater
Detroit Soaring and Hiking Society
July Club Contest
W. (Foam Boy) Hutchings-Contest Director
It was the best of times; Really!!! It was the third day of just gorgeous summer weather. Very light winds, high 70’s and the beginning of a great Michigan summer-finally.
Mike Wade was at the field early, to sort out some retriever issues and tune up his monster winch. Remember, Mike helps make the GDSHS world go round. As flyers showed up, however, and trim flights were being considered, it appeared the prevailing Westerly wind was shifting to the SE. After a few down-wind launches, which by the way are always good practice, we had to change to a shorter, SW launch direction.
The real significant flyers at today’s club contest were Mike Jones, Rodger Van Eslander, and Joe Schnur JR. Why these three you ask, when the big winner today with his new DUCK, was Dennis Kozak?
Well, simply put, it was their first contest, and in the case of Mike and Joe, winch launching on their own. Kudos to you guys, and we all hope you will enjoy our monthly contests in the future. Club contests are F-U-N. So be there, and enjoy.
Eleven Flyers participated officially in the event. Many supporters showed up to help make it a worthwhile event. Personally, I enjoy having Bruce Thomes stand in to time and help out where necessary. Each flight group was given about 45 minutes to complete their task, and 4 flights was the goal. Times for succeeding flight groups would be determined based on the air available in the previous groups results. It turned out to be a 6/8/10/10 day, with 100-point landings. Flyers are to be complemented on their attention to the day, and their help to make it work.
I must have been too loud when I showed up, because I got elected to make a call on the contest format. Watch the caffeine! With the LSF/AMA NATS in late July, I thought a precision event would be best: Launch - Fly - and Land
Dennis Kozak has a new DUCK. Not only did it, and him, do well, but also he was very, very helpful with the newbie’s. He actually did so well with Mike Jones, who launched his plane for the first time, and competed in his first sailplane contest, that many seasoned flyers were starting to watch his moves: He maxed a ten minute flight. Finished a respectable 8th place. WOW!
Rodger also has been a “man-on-a-mission”. With under one minute flights for the first two rounds, he began building times that some seasoned flyers wanted. He had a 50-point landing with a beer cooler.
Speaking of beer coolers, John “I want to bend the wing rod a lot on launch” Ferguson placed seventh. Ferguson actually had two landings over 80, and a total of three landings. Joe Schnur, still tuning his Cooler, had some very nice flights and hopefully is motivated to see us in August.
Gerry Marcicki was a sleeper, and I don’t mean his work ethic at Ford! (Cheap Shot) His very ugly unlimited plane, a Mantis, made a great showing, obviously with great sticks from Gerry. Gerry is the only guy to get all his landings. It really helped compensate for two close-but-not-maxes flights. At the end of the day, you really have to keep an eye on Team Marcicki. Jim finished third, with his Edge, and had three landings over 88. Landings like that are worth almost 5 minutes of flight time. Great results from Team Marcicki. Good to see them flying together as a team.
Mike Wade has a new Artimus, an older design he just purchased from Rick Waitulionis. A molded plane, still being tweaked, flying today with ballast, and the landings were treacherous. Man, can a clean molded plane carry momentum in a down wind landings?
Dave Corven had the right ship, a large AVA, but luck and timing had a lot to do with results today. There were times when the wind changed 360 degrees twice in a 15-minute cycle. Dick Stratton is still tuning his new plane, but what a beautiful piece. Eventually, it will be a contender.
Eleven flyers, three new to contest’s, all planes and pilots in tack: It is a day to remember.
1. Dennis Kozak 1994
2. Gerry Marcicki 1920
3. James Marcicki 1918
4. W. Hutchings 1735
5. Dave Corven 1716
6. Mike Wade 1565
7. John Ferguson 1479
8. Mike Jones 1290
9. Richard Stratton 927
10. Joe Schnur 719
11. Rodger Van Elslander
572
Post Script: Our condolences go to Bud Manning who lost his wife Ann this week to a long illness. Our best wishes go out to Bud, who cared for Ann for many years.
Many of us do not know him, because of this memorable care given to Ann over these last years, so a maybe a reintroduction of Bud is in order:
Bud Manning is one of our most senior club members and a professional photographer of some fame. He was one of those guys, who in WW II, flew recon over bombing runs to confirm the results.
Prior to WWII, he and his dad experimented with Flying Wings, he was a friend of Joe Dallaire, Otto Heidecker, and the VanderDunk Brothers, who helped start our club (Please excuse the spellings).
Bud has been a long time Editor, and Co-Editor of our Newsletter, and coined the name “Tangled Lines” for us as well as our “Sailplane in a shoe-sole graphic”.
Bud was a mentor to Chris Roberts when Chris was just a teenager and I am looking forward to him getting out to the field flying again. He stated that he is anxious to get a flock of new birds into the air. Bud is also a member of the Cloud Busters; so weekly lunches on Woodward Ave are also one of his goals.