Airpark Elite Pylon Race, August 16, 2003

 

Our fourth pylon race of the season had a good turn out with three in AMA 424 and nine in AMA 428.  The weather was perfect – clear skies and calm winds.  Most of the local regulars minus a few (and dearly missed) showed up along with Chuck Andraka from Albuquerque.  It was my turn to CD a race and of course Phil the cook couldn’t make it!  I spent most of the night before the race watching the Cooking Channel, hoping to learn something.  What I learned was that it would probably be much safer for all those involved if I just bought a bunch of cold cuts and served up a good old picnic lunch.  I’m pretty sure nobody got sick. 

 

Overall, we had a great day of racing – except for a few of our favorite racers.  Brian Neff should have stayed home in bed.  First his plane served as the no. 3 wire for another’s carrier landing and then he had a spectacular mid-air with Chuck Andraka.  Chuck survived with just a small dent on his wing but Brian’s plane was totaled.  Brian has invited Chuck to stay home next month.  Brian’s dad, Tom Neff, had a minor mishap when he fell victim to a concentrated dose of gravity between #3 and #1.   Oh, and let us not forget Sgt. Hal Garwood and his little incident.  I’ve heard that depth perception is one of the first things to go when entering the “golden years.”  But I digress.  Hal’s “encounter” with pylon #3 was explosive!  The sound was thunderous and the amount of shrapnel was astounding.  Hal, we now know why you arrived at the field with an authentic cast iron army helmet (WARNING: see website for disturbing picture – not of the crash but of Hal).  Hal’s aileron servo almost made it down to pylon #1.  Hal, as usual, demanded a refly – but after realizing that he did not bring a backup, cursed one last time and crawled back under his canopy.  Hal, one suggestion:  move it out a tad.

 

Just for fun, I emailed a few of the local news channels and invited them to our little event.  And believe it or not, three channels actually showed up.  But as you would expect, none of the tragic events described above were caught on tape.  Thanks for nothing Brian, Tom and Hal!  In fact, two channels aired nothing and the third gave us a whopping 15 seconds of fame.  And to think that I wore a suit and tie all day long for nothing.

 

During the pilots meeting, we discussed the lack of participation in 424.  We all agreed that perhaps flying the short course might generate some more interest.  Many of the experienced racers stated that they would enjoy flying 424 on the short course.  Dave Martinelli immediately volunteered and the next thing we know Dave is driving out to stick another #1 pylon in the ground for the short course.  In fact we left both #1 pylons up all day without a problem.  Since we only had a single cut judge at #1, he simply moved to the correct location depending on the length of the course.  Everything worked out great!  I guess I need to find another TT. 40 again.   

 

We completed six rounds of both 424 and 428 with a few rounds of trainers thrown in just of fun.  Here are the results:

 

 

            AMA 424 (3)

            Steve Vaughn        (17 pnts)

            Alan Thovson         (12)

            Bryant Johnson      (4)

 

            AMA 428 (9)

            John Williams        (17 pnts)

            Mike Farnsworth    (14)

            Kurt Bozarth         (11)

            Gary Johnson        (10)

            Chuck Andraka      (7)

            Dave Martinelli     (7)

            Brian Neff            (6)  (fast time 1:17)

            Tom Neff             (6)

            Hal Garwood         (6)

 

Here are the season points accumulated thus far.  The results reflect the throwing out of one race:

 

            AMA 424              Points

            Alan Thovson         35

            Steve Vaughn        30

    Bob Gerner            29

    Gary Johnson         28

    Hank D.                20

    Mike Farnsworth     14

    Bryant Johnson      4

 

            AMA 428              Points

            Brian Neff             43

            Kurt Bozarth         42

            Tom Neff              40

            Mike Farnsworth    36

            John Willams        32

            Chuck Andraka      23

            John Sandusky      19

            Doug Clancy         19

            Hank D.               17

            Craig Farthing       16

            Duane Gall           15

            Hal Garwood         11

            Gary Johnson        10

            Dave Martinelli      7

            Bryant Johnson      5

 

            AMA 422              Points

            Brian Neff             15

            Kurt Bozarth          8

            John Willams         4

            Tom Neff               3         

 

           

See ya next month!!!!!        Kurt Bozarth