New Page 0



07JL08
	Mike Wade's really big cross country ship. This is a handful at the winch but launches and flies just great. It is a max weight plane for the AMA CC event, 5 kg or about 11 lbs.		The Launch. Dennis Kozak doing the honors.
	Up she goes!		Getting ready. Probably had a dozen guy's out today. Not bad for a week day.
	Lunch Break	It is really nice to have a place to fly and meet OFB's. We can not thank Addison Oaks and the Oakland County Parks Department enough for the field and help they give us.
17JL08
	Ed Cenkner came out to the field for the first time in a couple of years. He has fought some real health problems and it was good to see him again and I think he had a good time just being with the guy's again. Welcome back ED!!!		Rich, the guy in the back, brought Ed to the field and did a little flying himself. He is a new flyer but has the basics down fairly well. Not sure what Rick is looking at because I do not take notes.
	Joe Schnur is also back from some medical problems but he was doing well enough to fly two different planes today. Nice to see a smile on his face after a successful flight.		"Tree Top Tom" (Tom LaClave)with one of his little $10 specials. He gets such a kick out of flying these little planes and will mod them until they fly just right. When they are done, he puts the guts into an original. A true modeler.
	Rick Waitulionis hand launching an EZG. These DHL guy's never give up. It is a blast to see him and John doing MOM handlaunch with these things.		Dennis Kozak calling it quits for the day. It was a long day in the 90 degree weather and we all left really wiped out from a hard day of play.

	Dave Corven showing off the new club jackets he is spear heading. Most of the guy's signed up for one. If you were not there and want one, call Dave and give him your size.		Bruce Thom with his new baby wing. It is just cute and he almost lost it a couple of time with guys wanting to walk out with it.
	Roger with his new "Balancing Rig". If you have not figured it out it is double duty for his transmitter tray. It works!		Barney with his own design wing. It is an electric with a Komodo single motor and really flies quite well. The motor is out for a rewind but it goes in the front (the end pointing down).
	Belger and Barney with the twin Dallaire's, Belger's is brand new and Barney's is a 20+ year old remodel to an electric motor.		Barney has a geared unit in his plane where Bob has a big ol' outrunner.

	Hutch and Mike observing and getting ready for the contest to get underway. Hutch kept his "Foam Boy" rep up as he flew the EZG in UNL and 2M with a lot of ballast taped on and in the plane. It was amazing that the wings did not explode on launch but they sure did bend a lot. It was WINDY today and the carnage was great, Mike lost his Std Duck on launch when the wind whipped it on its side as soon as he let go.		Caroline Storie getting ready to time hubby Larry. Larry flies a Supra in UNL and a special Duck in 2M. Bad luck in 2M as the tail flew off the Duck on launch but with flaps deployed in the inverted position, it went in without too much damage. More Carnage
	Chris Corven and his Supra. Chris took first in UNL today with some good flying and even some landings which were very difficult to obtain due to the winds. Nice to have Chris back from AZ to play with the club once again.		Jim Glenicki is always a threat with his 2 Meter ships. This one got blown down wind and had to retrieved from the trees. Jim is always at the top of the ranks at the end of the year.
	Barb and Bob Robinson from "Up North" have been around soaring since the beginning. Bob is getting his Supra ready for battle. I did get to toss it for him on one of his flights.		Dennis Hoyle (LT), all around nice guy doing winch duty. The happy guy on the right is Martin Doney our CD for the day and he called a great contest considering the weather. I think that is Allen Dolly in the middle.
	Cal and Ed getting ready for the wheelchair races. These two are exceptional people being able to fly very well with problems most of us would consider insurmountable, but they just fly with the rest of us and ask or receive no special quarter.		A shot showing the tree line that surrounds three sides of this field. The landing tapes are to the right of the winches and coming in over the trees and diving for the spot is not for sissy's in these high winds. It was brutal but fair because we all flew in the same conditions.

It was a day of no wind, no sun, periods of light rain and then periods of heavy rain but we did manage to get three rounds in, a 4,6,8 in any order. I have never flown in such calm air, it was a day to really test glide slope and slow flying capabilities of your sailplane. GLASS was trying out a new system where the pilots signed in themselves into a laptop to feed a database powered scoring program. Also the pilots had to input their own scores after each flight. Maybe a good idea in theory. The system that really is impressive is the new retrievers, really smooth and quiet and worked really well in the no wind conditions. Not sure what happens in high winds but I am sure the old "finger on the drum" trick would make them work just fine. Our club may want to look into one of these as the pilot can do his own retrieving so flying with a couple of guys does not hamper you by keeping one person tied up running the retriever.
	Rich putting his "PINK" BOT together. He is just one happy modeler and always has a smile on his face. Note the really surprising new landscape at the GLASS field. A big portion of the field has been converted from sod to corn. Looks like bio-fuels is gaining in profit margin.		Dave Corven aiming the AVA at the spot, Good landing for Dave. Mike Wade doing the timing. Dave and Mike teamed up and Hutch and I teamed up for the day.
	Jim Lipowitz was the CD for the day. It was a hard day to be the CD because of the inclement weather.		Corven's T-shirt tells it all. A lot of Supra's there today and they did well. Mike Wade flew his for the first time in a contest and came in tied for second. He just loves the new big yellow bird.
	Gordy Stahl (aka. Gordy Soar) taking a sip of gin (he swore it was water but I know different). Gordy was king today taking first in UNL and RES both. He did not fly 2M which is probably good for those that did.		Tom Gates, long time Paragon flyer and all around nice guy. Tom loves to fly and stick it to the moldies with his Nostalgia planes.
	Dennis and Jean Hoyle waiting out the rain. It was about an hour delay before we could get the last two rounds in. Dennis is a really great guy and does a lot for the modeling community.		Dennis and Ken Bates. Ken is one of the originals and still one of the best sticks in TD. It is always fun flying with him and entering into discussions about our modeling history.