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Well the day was a overcast with the threat of showers but spirits were high buoyed by the presence of our interstate competitors. Plenty of warm food was planned for the weekend to keep out any autumn chills and the circles looked in great condition after Pete had tickled them with the mower
The calendar of events to be flown at KMAC for Saturday was F2B Stunt Rounds 1 and 2 followed by Vintage Stunt which was the best of 2 rounds plus a static score. The winner of F2B would be the best of 2 flights flown on Saturday + the best of two flights to be flown on the following day.
The programme stepped up a peg or two on Sunday with the final flights for F2B to be flown, followed by the Classic Stunt competition. Like Vintage the Classic was decided on the best of two flights. On Circle 2 team race and speed were conducted concurrently with stunt and Vintage combat flown on Circle 3.
Despite rain intervening during Saturday the programme was able to be completed.
F2B
There was no doubt Dougie Grinham had his feathers fluffed up this weekend fielding models in all the Stunt events. To keep him and his Starcraft honest was Reg Towell with his 4 Stroke Miss America Mustang, Yatsenko's of Frank Battam and Mark Ellins, a Bob Hunt Saturn being campaigned by Don Keyssecker and Mark Gordon's Cardinal Profile . It was a tight tussle from the beginning. Dougie would have felt confident going into day two having posted a great round two score of 1032, a score that would not be beaten over the whole event. However Reg found something extra in round 3 that meant that Dougie had to dig deep only to find there were no more rabbits in the hat. Frank was never far from the mix but was unable to match the other boys this time. Despite the fight back from Reg on day two Dougs 32 point lead from day 1 may have proved a bridge too far.
There never seems to be a competition without some drama and in this case it was about the boy who could not manage the sums. On Sunday we lost our computer to old age (something some of us can relate to) and needed to manually calculate the K factors and total the score sheets. It was not until after the event and the winner declared that errors were discovered. The issue was referred to the CD and a decision made.
Our apologies for the confusion, and yes the computer has been fixed. The following is a statement from the CD.
"At the recent Vic State Champs, it was noted that a small error in scoring the F2B stunt competition had occurred. It has only affected the two top flyers namely Reg Towell and Doug Grinham. After recounting the two scores there was a difference of 2.25 points! It is too close to call, so Reg and Doug have been declared joint winners. Congratulations to both, and maybe next year a little unofficial fly off to secure bragging rights? As Contest Director for the event I do apologise for any inconvenience and misunderstanding this may have caused."
Peter Koch.
VINTAGE STUNT
Hat's off to the venerable Mr Nobes with his refurbished Guided Whistle. Fresh from his win at the Nationals his first round score was good enough to hold out the opposition but only just with Dougie snapping at his heels in the air. Round 2 was a disappointment for both Dougie and David. David's Atwood went off song while the Fox sandcast just flatly refused to start. Ken was the winner in this round not having any reliability issues. Mark and the Senior Monitor posted remarkably consistent scores for both rounds and would probably close the gap on Ken if he had a bit more time in the air leading up to the event. Dave Lacy although a little behind the others none the less looked to be enjoying himself before a line broke nearing the end of round 2. The Jamieson came off considerably worse for ware. Speaking with Don after the meet he advised that he was fighting the flu and did not have the best weekend in the circle all round. Still it was good to catch up again and we very much appreciated his effort in travelling down from Orchard Hills in NSW.
CLASSIC STUNT
There were two withdrawals from the event being Dave Lacy and Don Keyssecker. It might have been a small line up but the top 3 all posted 500+ scores from both judges. We have all seen these models before and there is no doubt they lived up to their heritage on the day. Flying one of his favourite designs Dougie bolted out of the blocks with a good break on his competitors and repeated the score in round 2 to show it was no fluke and you would have thought it was in the bag. Frank was the last flight and he knew what he had to do to rest the title from Doug. I don't think I have seen a more determined and focussed bit of flying in Classic. It was a delight to witness and something I didn't think his Bearcat was capable of. Commiserations Dougie but you have to take your hat off to Frank's last flight. What a scorcher!
TEAM RACE and SPEED
I can only say that when the speed boys started in the afternoon everyone ducked for cover. Here are the results courtesy of John Hallowell for the events flown at Knox. See ACLN Issue 186 for the full Team Race and Speed results.
Super Sunday at Knox began with Vintage A. The overcast conditions were good to fly in. At least the rain had cleared for a while. The first heat saw Andrew Nugent and John Hallowell post a 3.20.38 to just pip the Cosmic Ray’s on 3.22.53. Both teams were disappointed as they knew a time in the teens was necessary to have any chance of making it to the top three. So John and Andrew finished in forth place and Colin and Jim made 5th.
The second heat proved that point as Murray Wilson and Neil Baker did a 3.14.59 and Trent McDermott and Mark Ellins recorded a 3.15.44. This team backed up in the second round with a 3.15.01. That’s top consistency!
Highlight of the day was no doubt the eyebrow raising effort of Harry Bailey and Ken Hunting. The Olympian was going fast and sounding great with the R250 swinging a Graupner 7x7 Speed prop. A stunning 3.12 FTD was the result.
Perennial finalists Rob Fitzgerald and Paul Stein had a DNF 44 in the first round and withdrew with equipment problems. This left the door open for another team to be one of the three fastest qualifiers. A lot was expected from the multi talented team of Grant Potter and Ray Harvey. A fuel feed problem saw them retire without troubling the timekeepers for a full heat.
The final was a beauty and any of the three teams could have been declared the winner. All were evenly matched for airspeed. Last year’s winners Wilson/Baker missed a kangaroo catch with the Olympian and lost time while both McDermott/Ellins and Bailey ran out of fuel with only a few laps to go and had to do an extra pit stop! In the end, a two stop final strategy and the slipped catch cost less time than the extra pit stop. Murray and Neil were home first again in 7.00.40 ahead of McDermott/Ellins in 7.05.09 and Bailey/Hunting on 7.07.69.
Ken Hunting pitted the "Olympian" to the fastest time of the day
Next up at Knox was Classic B. Just six teams fronted for the race under the watchful eye of CD Keith Baddock. Last years winner Queenslander Trent McDermott again had the 2010 World Champion pitman Mark Ellins at the oily end of the lines. However, after some promising practice flights, their day started badly when a plug blew late in the warm up. A second round 3.12 was never going to be fast enough at the Vic State Champs. Last year with the same model they did a best heat of 3.00.00.
Harry Bailey and Ken Hunting were, as usual, right in the mix to take the title. The Irvine 25/Galaxie combination surprised no one with a smart 2.59.85 heat. Jim and Colin Ray missed out on the final last year by 7/100th of a second… The practice form was good with the Crescendo and OS 25FX circulating fast with plenty of laps. But when the time came to race, the quick re-starts suddenly disappeared. Could it be next year for the Cosmic Rays? Grant Potter was flying Steve Walton’s great looking racer, but there were still a few things that needed sort-ing before posting a time of under three minutes for the 70 lap heat.
Ric Justic was on the handle for Paul Stein. The grey OS FX Rocket has amazing airspeed and this was reflected in their first round time of 2.51.28 which is the second fastest heat time ever behind their 2.50.60 in South Australia last month. John Hallowell and Murray Wilson did a 3.00.46 heat that was good enough to put them into the top three.
John and Murray’s race plan went like clockwork with Murray’s mighty flick and with Andrew Nugent on battery, they made two slick stops in the 140 lap final. Ric and Paul had ground handling issues and one slow stop. Harry and Ken had to make an extra stop with the Irvine and that put them squarely behind the 8 ball. In the end, it was a relatively easy victory with John and Murray finishing on 6.02.44 almost half a minute ahead of the other two teams.
VINTAGE COMBAT
After years of trying, Ken Maier finally won a combat competition at the State Champs. Congratulations Ken.
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