(First off I apologize for the publishing delay as I finish this day’s report on Monday morning in Monarch Campsite at Kicking Horse Pass. We stopped here last night after leaving Calgary to get a jump on the trip home. Pat & Hartley offered a bunk in their RV :-) No internet/cell service here so if you're reading this then I have found some on the way through Golden, BC and uploaded to the blog)
Another great day in Calgary as day 2 of the Nationals and Team Trials gets underway. Scattered cloud and west winds will be on tap with possible rain forecast for around 4PM. We should be all wrapped up by then.
A group photo was taken for the history books :-)
Lots of good battles in all levels with the exception of Sportsman of course. Intermediate was the closest battle as the top spot spread to second place was only .13 of a point! Bill Hurst narrowly beat out Travis Sayler to take top honours. Third place went to John Maher of Calgary.
Intermediate - John Maher, Bill Hurst and Travis Sayler
Advanced was also a dogfight with Dennis Peperkorn slipping past Danny Gill after swapping bullets most of the contest. Don Sinclair also flew well for someone that doesn’t practice much… a natural I suspect. Dan picked up a new ZNLine Caelestia airframe after the event so look out world! :-)
Advanced - Don Sinclair, Dennis Peperkorn and Danny Gill
The top three Masters pilots fought tooth and nail with Thomas Khunlein edging out Arizonian John Bentley. John came up to Calgary after his teaching ended… and I suspect to avoid the heat in Arizona! Nedim Bek was a close third and flew well considering the practice time available. Nedim’s new dog Zeus dragged him around all weekend :-)
Masters - Nedim Bek, Thomas Khunein and John Bentley
The FAI battle continued with Chad well out in front of course and it was clear that second favoured Michi Akimoto. Third was up for grabs for sure and the pressure was mounting. The winds came up and we had the meter reach 30 kph. Colin zeroed his first stall turn and Michi first F was not his best as he flopped his Center Stall turn. Clean rounds would help immensely :-) True to form I managed to equalize the field with a flopped spin :-( argghhh!
Ethan and Will both had good rounds and beat us all.
Round 2 of F-15 was basically flushed as Chad put in a killer F round that push our scores out of the calculation. (His wife Agnes was calling so he had to fly good or he’d hear about it!!) Will had a solid round and I flew pretty good but my triangle was not my strongest. Colin’s Top Hat snap went the wrong way and it cost him. Been there, done that and Michi finally put together his usual F and he secured his placing.
The awards were presented, helpers thanked and the team was announced by Chad.
FAI - Ethan Chariandy, Chad Northeast and Michi Akimoto (with Kieko)
The Canadian FAI F3A Team for 2015 will be Chad Northeast, Michi Akimoto, Ethan Chariandy as our Junior pilot and myself. Alternate will be Will Gross. We will proudly represent Canada at the 2015 World Championships in Switzerland. Team Manager is TBA at this point but discussions will be underway in the next few days.
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| Team Canada F3A 2015 |
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| Results |
I personally thanked all the judges after my last round as they did a great job over the course of the two days. They all flew as well so I am sure they were exhausted.
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| Judges hard at work! |
Special thanks go out to SCRCMC Club for hosting the event and the folks that did all the work… Chad & Agnes, Nedim & Aleve and the host of club members that cooked and worked behind the scenes. Also a huge “Thank You” to John and Gloria Maher that provide their RV for both Ron Kennedy and myself over the weekend. Great hospitality!!
I was also very fortunate to have my parents and sister out to support me and they enjoyed the experience even though they weren’t quite sure what was what with the manoeuvres :-)
I will be adding a link to the photo album once I get home so check back.
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