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	Steve and Hutch relaxing between rounds. Mike Wade did third for the MSL contest and first for our club. I think Steve was about sixth in MSL and second in our club, then the rest of us. Hutch almost beat me today 10 points made the difference.
	Mike Stump running the retriever and timing for Martin Doney. Both are very good sticks and did well at the contest.
	Not a good position for landing. Not sure who's plane.
	All around good guy, Norm Sorenson from MISS. One of the two Sorenson boy's that hold this contest. It was my favorite kind of contest, "fly what you brung" all planes are unlimited.
	The Robinson boy's Brent and Bob (Brent holding) with Mike Wade in the background observing for style points.
	The other Sorenson, Al, getting ready to get ready.
	Dave Shaw with an Astro-Jeff (I think). Dave can kill you with this Nostalgia bird under the right conditions. He flies this thing in all kinds of wind and weather and holds his own.
	Jim Pates (I think) on a launch. One of the MISS good guy's.

	This is a shot of old flying buddy Ray DiNoble in his dragster that he campaigned as a younger man. Some guys just know how to have fun. I am sure this toy cost a little more than a "moldie". Ray has been a GDS&HS member for many years, sorry he moved to LV as we miss the competition and friendship.
	Another shot being pushed to the starting line. Notice where the engine is, looks kind of strange in today's world.

	Our fearless electron pusher with his battery charge station. You just clip onto the rails and you are in business. We really needed a strong battery to supply all the chargers going at once.
	This picture is really about the rain in the background, we huddled under the tent Saturday until noon or so then I called it off for the day. Shown is myself in the foreground and Hutch and Dennis Kozak in the background
	Who belongs to these boots? Guess correctly and Hutch will give you the grand prize.
	Ray Milio wearing his formal mouseware. Could this be a symbol of his flying ability? Inquiring minds want to know.
	The teacher must have done something to deserve the dunce cap. Nah, not Hutch!
	Must be Sunday, we are flying. Looks like the Speed 400 event. Typical Man-on-Man group launch. We could launch and land six at a time because that is the number of landing tapes we had.
	Believe it or not, John Ferguson won the Unlimited class with a wing. In the no lift air for the day he just out climbed everyone and glided long enough to beat the field. Steve Martinez was timing. In F5J, climb speed is important and the wing was at altitude in half the time as anyone else.
	Sunday lunch. Pizza and pop for the tribe of hungry pilots. It is fantastic how pizza brings out man in you.
	You really need a timer that pays close attention and guides you to good air. Someday I will have one.

F3B Team Select Contest Report	In case you are wondering why this is in our club web site it is because I was the CD and Hutch was the Chief Jurist for this prestigious contest. We worked hard for four days to help select the three flyers that will represent the USA at the World Championships next year in Lucerne. It was an honor to do this and because I am the webmaster took the liberty to show our TD club how it looks at the most grueling contest format in sailplane competition. This is not your normal club contest.
	The lineup of the thirteen competitors that started on Thursday and flew until Sunday afternoon (24-27AU06)
	"Special Assistant" and "Chief Jurist" getting the paperwork completed from Aaron Valdez from CA.
	Typical F3B winch. It breaks down into a small package for shipping. Each team will have three winches and the winches must be placed in a 2M long line, the amount of real estate each team is given. At the worlds there will be 80 to 90 teams each with three winches. Makes a long line of hardware. I think this particular winch is in the $1300 to $1500 range and some winches go for as much as $3000.
	See the piles of mono? A picture replicated many times each day, once it breaks (and that is often) it is discarded. Mono goes for about $40 a spool and you need three different diameters of line during the day. Mono is stored under water until needed and continuously sprayed with silicone while winding under load to keep it from welding to adjacent winds on the drum.
	Running a laptop outdoors is not easy and Robin Meek made his own tent to cut down ambient light. Either that or he did not want Hutch to see the show. Robin was one tireless worker and did a lot of multi-tasking all four days.
	This is Base A, Base B looks the same with three or four people pushing buttons as the plane passes through the Base plane. F3B is labor intensive. This is a distance run and requires the most labor, setup and skill to officiate. The hoop on a tripod is the official Base Plane sighting devise, you sight through both sides of the wire hoop to determine the plane the sailplane must pass through to get a button. All the buttons go to the timing computer to track time and laps for both the Distance Task and Speed Task. Duration is timed on the computer also but button pushers are not needed, the CD handles the timing in Duration. Shown are Tim Foster and Randy Chronic from GA and Marlene Valdes of CA. Tim and Randy are pilots who pitched in to help due to lack of volunteers.
	In distance, each pilot has his own sighting devise that is lined up to the master devise. So the four pilots and their timer/helpers sight the plane with one devise and the "officials" use the master devise.
	Prep time for the Duration Task, you can tell from the lack of equipment. The three planes on the ground are up in this heat. You can also tell from the plastic sheeting, we had a lot of rain Saturday and Sunday.
	Rarely do you see the pilot launch his own plane but in Duration only, some of the pilots do. In this case Mike Smith (foreground) and Rich Burnoski are both loading up the line to toss. You can see from the strain on the pilots that they pull until the winch is "almost" stalled then they throw. Line breaks at this point take a lot of footwork from the launcher not to land on his can and break a plane. You can see the winch operator (pilot does not pedal) running the winch and spraying on the silicone.
	Mike Lachowski doing the launch for Don Barker for the Speed Task (pilot is 40 feet away at the sighting devise). Tom Kiesling is running the winch. Mike flew his own design and built Supra, the only home brew there. Mike made his own molds and tooling to produce the plane.
	The Winners standing from Left to Right. Mike Lachowski- first alternate, Mike Smith- third place, Aaron Valdes- second place and Tom Kiesling- First place. This is TEAM USA. Hutch and I holding Mike Smith's plane for the photo op. Look for some of these shots in an upcoming Model Aviation.