Saturday, August 15, 2015

Worlds Epilogue




Worlds Epilogue (updated August 24th, 2015 by Dave)

Following the World Championships I had some down time and took a great week long trek around Switzerland and some of it’s neighboring countries. You can read all about it if interested here at http://reavilleswiss.blogspot.ca/

Many of the other Canadian Team members also traveled around the area before heading home. In fact Chad and Agnes are still in Poland somewhere as I write this :-)

I will now put into words what I gleaned from this Worlds “experience”. Having been a previous team member in 2007 and the manager in 2011 and 2013, I was really looking forward to getting to flying again and to do better. Ask anyone that posed the question to me about managing versus flying and the answer was always the same…. “I’d rather be flying!”

The Worlds was a roller coaster of emotion for not only me but for my teammates. I am also sure that others felt the same way… at least I believe that to be true.  You arrive with great expectations of yourself and the excitement of the event builds as you put planes together & charge up batteries.  You meet old acquaintances and new, talk shop then head to the first practice field driving in a strange land with your body clock telling you to go to sleep!

For the first time together as a team, you take your turn flying with everyone watching to see what you’re bringing to the table. You take off at a strange field trying to digest your flight, trimming and adjusting to get into the “comfort zone” you’re so accustomed to back home. Then to build on it each time while applying changes and accepting constructive comment from everyone. It’s a fine balance to try and build towards perfection when your asked to critique others and also to accept it at face value. Too much information overloads you and too little, like “That was a great flight”, really adds nothing. Our team was very good at this and we all worked hard to improve the rough edges as much as possible.

At the end of the first day of practice I was feeling good about my flying and made a concerted effort to enjoy the beautiful scenery and overall experience of being at the worlds. The jet lag was being overshadowed by adrenaline as we transitioned into the Swiss time zone. We succumb to one trait that is hard to break and that is eating late. Try as we might, I never really got a lot of sleep as our days started early and our nights seemed to always go long.

The practice flights the next day progressed and then other teams started to arrive. We took note of the flying styles and the speeds. Some are big and fast paced, others slow and methodical. I could fall asleep at the start of the maneuver and wake up to watch the end :-)

The elements are the exact same but the technique to deliver it in front of the judge is the question that we needed, or at least felt we needed to answer. What to do? Change? Stay the same? Contra versus non-contra? We watched numerous other teams fly including the Japanese team members with their big & faster approach compared to us.  Their planes were a mix of monoplanes and biplanes, glow and electric but flew a similar style. The quality was excellent and I felt for the first time, I was clearly way out of my league. I would not call it depression exactly but it was an additional burden in the back of my mind.

Our processing day came and the pressures of getting weighed and measured and then sound checked was evident for some. When you’re not 100% sure of db readings it tends to become a detraction and leads to elevated levels of tension. We did a good job of slowing the pace and it all worked out fine for our entire team. Next was our official flights and for us it was at the end of a long day. We ended up being the last team to fly at site #2 and it was deserted. This was a good thing as we had less pressure on us to put up some magical practice flight. I was just happy to get to fly!

Our flying times were now set and the plan was taking shape for day 1. I was flying opposite Michi at a different flight line and never had a chance to see one of his P-15 flights. As we practice together back home I really wanted to see one. Didn’t happen.

My first official flight came during the end of the day in a rain storm. I have never flown in rain before so I had set up early and took the time to build a protective cover for my TX. Chad had told me that in Europe they fly all weather baring low ceilings and hurricane winds of course. It worked well and even after a short rain delay I took to the skies. I felt I had a good round going but my rudder servo stopped responding during the hourglass. A range of emotions started to arrive in my head as I gave up on the flight and returned for a landing.  This was not what I came here for. Once on the ground I felt a surge of great disappointment, not for me personally but for my team as a whole. Never had a servo fail before but as they say “$hit happens"…. but why did it have to happen now, at the Worlds, during an official flight?  Arghh!

My emotional roller coaster was heading down and fast as I was so pi$$ed at the lost opportunity. We changed out the servo and checked everything to ensure it functioned normally and it did. All my team stayed around while this was completed even though the rains continued and the place was deserted. I had many hands helping to disassemble the planes and I was very appreciative of the support.

The next three official P-15 flights never really came together at all for me. With the scoring system spitting out numbers almost live it was a different dynamic when you walked back from the flight line. Everyone, except you and your caller, knew your score and how you ranked. The silence became deafening as everyone gave you “space”. You immediately knew how you did.

I was personally disappointed that I didn’t reach the potential that I was capable of and in the end, never really contributed to the teams performance. Luckily the other team members had better flights and we did ok finishing 10th overall. Chad came 21st after the semi’s, Michi 46th, Ethan 51st and myself 81st.

The emotional roller coaster took another plunge as I was now finished from competition. Our entire team, with the exception of Chad whom made the semi’s, was in the dumps as we tried to dissect what had just transpired. We all felt we did not live up to our potential and I am certain many teams felt the same way. It was a tough day for many.

The next day the team’s dinner conversation turned to what planes we observed and liked and then to the upcoming team trials… hey they are less than a year away! Who’s going to compete? What plane to get? Contra or no Contra? Electric or glow? The mood swung upwards and we had a great chat about the future. My wife Kelly, who has been with me through the whole RC experience, the good, the bad, and the ugly, turned to me and said “Why do you guys do this to yourselves?”  :-)  I wish I knew!

The Swiss did a masterful job of hosting the Worlds and I congratulate them for the effort. The opening ceremonies and two hour air show set the bar going forward. The flight lines ran smoothly for the most part (it was an active airport) and the online updates helped you plan for your actual flight time. The scoring system coupled with the big screens gave the spectators and competitors an almost instant result and added a new dimension to flight debriefing :-) The banquet was top notch…. yes it was another late dinner but that’s how we roll at the Worlds!

The city and surrounding small towns were all so neat and tidy and the people we met so welcoming. The practice fields all took on an international flavor with different languages and accents piercing the air along with local club members who came out to say hello will not be easily forgotten. 

The biggest take away for me was to simply to not worry about what the other guy has or does. Thinking that you need to have a certain type of plane or power sources is a fool’s game. Simply get the plane that you like, whether it’s a biplane, monoplane, contra, electric or glow and go fly it the way you think it needs to fly.  Make it smooth and graceful and accept and embrace critique from your peers. Practice with others and enjoy the camaraderie and the whole experience!

The second takeaway is to be prepared for the ups and downs that will undoubtedly happen. Managing this aspect at the Worlds or in life in general, will allow you to enjoy the these experiences all the more.

Hope you all enjoyed the team’s blog. It was fun doing it and now becomes a permanent online record of our efforts.

Dave


Last Competition Day - Finals, Closing Ceremonies and Banquet

Last night each of the 10 competitors selected the two "unknown" flight schedules for today's Final. These were checked and approved by the Jury and consist of 17 elements taken from the unknown maneuver schedule in the FAI Rule book.

The competitors are not permitted to fly these schedules and will not see them flown until the two demo flights this morning. They will fly F-15 first followed by Unknown #1, F-15 again and finally Unknown #2. The main purpose of this format is to add separation through difficulty and produce the top pilots. One slip and it could have huge implication so the pilot that can cleanly execute these schedules takes the crown of World Champion.

Here are the links to the unknown schedules and respective aresti (wind direction)

Unknown #1 Description http://www.f3a-wc2015.ch/UK1/listOfManoeuvres.pdf
Unknown #1 Aresti  (left) http://www.f3a-wc2015.ch/UK1/arestiOfManoeuvresLeft.pdf
Unknown #1 Aresti (right) http://www.f3a-wc2015.ch/UK1/arestiOfManoeuvresRight.pdf

Unknown #2 Description http://www.f3a-wc2015.ch/UK2/listOfManoeuvres.pdf
Unknown #2 Aresti (left) http://www.f3a-wc2015.ch/UK2/listOfManoeuvres.pdf
Unknown #2 Aresti (right) http://www.f3a-wc2015.ch/UK2/arestiOfManoeuvresRight.pdf

Almost live scores are presented at http://www.f3a-wc2015.ch/Ranking.aspx?Startlist=True&lang=DE&contid=31&mm=0&sm=31 but you must click on the "FINAL" tab to get to the correct page. Once there, hit refresh at the bottom for the latest scores. You can also click on the published score to get each elements score and by which judge. You can actually see these scores in some cases before the competitor gets to the pit area with his plane.

Now on to more pressing matters... Coffee!

We have a few team errands to run this morning to store our plane boxes, return a rental car and then head out to the main flying site to watch the action. Sadly we also have to start packing as we will all leave tomorrow :-(

Things will start to flesh out after the first two rounds. Check back for updates.

Will Gernot do it? We will have to wait a bit to find out.
Update: 10:30 am Local

We are now at the field having watched the two warmup flights for Unknown #1. Pretty straight forward from what I can see but there is always a chance for mistakes. Lots of participants and spectators watching as well.

Secondary Judging Panel
F-15 has CPLR, Onda and Jesky out front with a large spread between CPLR and Onda. I did not witness the flights but my "judges" say it was much closer than the scores indicate.

Gernot was first up in Unknown #1 and flew much faster than in F-15 yesterday. He is gauging the time I believe as he went directly up top and started immediately. He finished with 12 seconds on the clock.

Remember scores are presented at http://www.f3a-wc2015.ch/Ranking.aspx?Startlist=True&lang=DE&contid=31&mm=0&sm=31 click on the "FINAL"

Update: 11:00 am

Jason just flew and had a solid flight again. No major errors observed and he had 10 left seconds on the clock. He scored a 991.6  The slow Contra guys have to clock watch big time.

Onda flying now but the rains have also started. Clean flight and very smooth... high scores expected... yep 1000 so far with 5 more to fly.

Tetsou Onda after his flight.
The rain has arrived!
Update 11:45 am

Andrew has flown and put in a solid flight scoring a 952. Winds have come up a bit and the rain continues. I would be interested to know how many mah he put back into those packs though :-)

CPLR has just flown a very solid round of Unknowns #1 and is currently in top spot with the silver bullet (1000). Suzuki then Lassi next up.

More judges :-)
Update: 12:15

Lassi just finished his flight as Hartley and I grab a quick lunch. Looked pretty good to me. The judges have all come for the lunch break as the F-104 shoots the place up!

We now have a slight change of plans as we need to leave the field and provide logistic support for Michi. We need to return rental cars and get him sorted with his plane boxes. As we have already done ours so it should speed up the process:-)

I have left Will Gross in charge of reporting so I will get caught up with details once I return. I should be back reporting once the Unkowns #2 start up. CPLR has a commanding hold right now and it will take a perfect flight to catch him.

Jason and Andrew discuss strategy.
Update: 14:05

Back at the flying site after a whirlwind trip back to the hotel, out to the airport with two cars loaded with plane boxes as I lead the way. Boxes and cars dropped off I drove Hartley & Michi back to the hotel and picked up Kelly. We are now ready for continued action in Dubendorf!

Will said that the flying has been strong and the battle continues for top spot. CPLR carries a 1000 for the third round right now and with the other top guys already flown, he looks like a lock to keep his crown as World Champion at this point. The last unknown counts in the score.

A steady moderate rain is falling at this point.... yuk!

Update 14:46  (05:46 am in British Columbia:-)

Stefan Kaiser had a solid round and was leading with 1000 before TBL took him down to a 978 and  back to third position. Ouch must have been some high judges?? Rain continues to fall as we await the two warm up pilots to fly the Unknown #2 flights. Christophe has the 1000 so it is official and he is once again World Champion for the eighth time I believe. Just have to see who is going to bring it for the runner up spots.

Update 15:55 local

CPLR has just finished his final flight and did score very high. BTW the scores for the last round are being held back to add some drama later at the closing ceremonies I suspect. Just a couple more pilots to go and this 2015 Worlds is in the history book.

Galactika

Cristophe after his last flight of unknowns.
Family & friends gather around.
I have taken a bunch of pictures but I am using up my plan at a fast rate due hot spotting so I will have to wait until I get wireless at the hotel to load them.

Everyone is tired :-)
Update: 19:10

Back and the hotel and just about to head out to the Banquet.

Teams: 1) USA 2) Japan 3) France 4) Switzerland

Junior: 1) Joseph Szczur 2) Jan Votava 3)  Andre Bracht

Individual 1) Christophe PLR 2) Tetsou Onda 3) Stefan Kaiser 4) AndrewJesky 5) Jason Shulman 6) Gernot Bruckmann 7) Marco Mazzucchelli 8) Lassi Nurila 9) Koji Suzuki 10) Robin Trumpp


Joseph hoists the Junior Cup
Oxai Yang and CPLR
The banquet was a nice event with good food and wine. They kept the speeches to a minimum and everyone enjoyed a tribute to Wolfgang Matt who is retiring from the World Championships after 25 worlds!!! 
 
Harry Ells, our Canadian Judge on the panel.

The team will split up tomorrow and head our separate ways. I will provide an epilogue of my  thoughts in the coming days as i need some "decompression tim"e as we drive around Europe this last week.


Friday, August 14, 2015

Semi-Finals

Up for breakfast and then hit the road to Site 1 for Chad’s first of two flights today.  The competition ramps up as the 30 pilots vie for a top ten finish and a birth into the finals on Saturday.

The venue has a large roof over it and this will come in handy if rains that are forecast start to appear. We arrived and Chad already had his planes ready. The rest of the team also arrived and we got caught up on travels etc that took place yesterday and the goings on around the flight line.

F-15 started right on time at 08:30 and soon Chad was up. He had a nice looking round going (to my eye) but missed the snap exit on the last element. He scored a normalized 917 and would have to wait until the afternoon session on the other flight line before his second flight.

Chad flies the stick plane through the sequence.
We watched several others fly and then Andrew Jesky was up. The had some sort of scoring delay then he took to the sky. It seemed rushed to me with a more close in compressed style but he scored a 979 to put him in second at that time behind Gernot Bruckman (991). Liechtenstein’s Stefan Kaiser caught them both and he sits at 1000 right at the moment. (10:55 am local)

Andrew Jesky's Proteus Duo
Update 11:00 am Local

The skies opened up and a steady rain is now falling.  This would normally stop me but they are flying through it as I type. Lets hope those esc’s and servos keep working!

Update 11:55

Frenchman Loic Burbaud had esc issues after his spin and landed early. I feel his pain! Jason Schulman just flew and had a solid round in light rain. He missed his snap exit a bit on the last maneuver but still scored 988.

Over on Line 2 it looks like Japan’s Tetsou Onda has taken the top spot from CPLR… for now:-)
It’s lunch break and the jets are ripping up the sky. Internet is spotty so I am having to hotspot off my phone for now. More later….

Scores are here but you need to click on "Semi Finals" to get the correct page http://www.f3a-wc2015.ch/Ranking.aspx?Startlist=True&lang=EN&contid=31&mm=0&sm=31

Lunch Break and Line change for the pilots....

Update 14:50
We are at flight line 2 now in preparation for Chad's 2nd flight.  Bad news from flight line #1 has Joseph Szczur's plane overweight after his 2nd flight. His plane was 5052 grams (Limit is 5050 grams) so his flight was relegated to the dropped bin. Apparently he used back up packs that weigh a bit too much. Bummer as it was a nice flight as well. A hard lesson but it did not effect the outcome as I understand it.

Update 15:30

Chad just flew a very nice round but only received a 900 score. It still needs to be normalized but it is what it is. We will discuss it later during the debrief session. We will now watch Andrew fly as he is next up. The scores have been normalized and TBL applied to ensure accurate scores


Chad readies for flight #2

Ready to start!


Chad's scores appear about 5 seconds after the completion of the maneuver.

Update 15:50

Long time flyer Wolfgang Matt has just flown his last F-15 flight as he is retiring from active competition. He had many people congratulating him and then hounding him for pictures! :-)

Wolfgang takes the bib off for the last time.
Team Lichtenstein
One more picture....
Oh wait... one more picture! :-)
Andrew had a very solid flight and scored a 995 and is currently 3rd. His team should be very happy with the result as both he and Jason will be moving on for sure. Brett still has to fly on line #1 but has a big task ahead to make it. Joseph is on the bubble right now.

Chad's planes are ready with Andrew following a couple spots back.

Update: 16:15

We bolted back to Line 1 to catch the last of the group on that site. Brett had flown and Marc Ruban was up as the last pilot to fly.

Update 16:24

Semi final flights now all completed. The scores have been normalized and TBL applied to ensure accurate scores :-) The top ten will fly off in a new contest featuring two F-15 flights and two separate unknown flights tomorrow.




Team Japan all flew on the same line today.

We headed back to the hotel and then dinner. On our return, Andrew and Kevin were going over the unknown schedules and Mark was hunting down some stick planes.... I think :-)  They obviously enjoyed a delicious dinner as well. We said goodnight, wishing him well in the morning and left them to study into the wee hours.

Dinner and a movie? Maybe not.
 We have a few jobs to do in the morning then we will head out to watch the action.  Looking forward to it!



Thursday, August 13, 2015

Packing, Rest and F-15 Practice

Slept in today as we are on our first full "off" day.... except for Chad & Agnes who left early :-)

I spent the morning getting caught up on the blog, packing up the planes and putting the battery packs into storage mode (Discharging them for travel). I also sorted out the charger/parts box and everything is ready for the trip home.

Hartley and I took a trip out to the airport to make some rental car changes for our week of vacation following the competition. He was paying a huge insurance fee per day so we got rid of that. We also scouted out the storage area as I will be leaving my planes behind. A bit pricy (what isn't here!) but necessary for our travel plans later this week.

We texted with Chad and arranged to meet at Hinwil. He had been to the main flying site but only managed one flight before the throng showed up. Ethan and Colin went down to watch as well. Hinwil was much quieter with only the Japanese team and Lassi Nurila of Finland flying with Chad.

Hinwil flight line.
Ready for practice Japanese style!

 Akiba-san preps while Onda-san flies.
Chad-san also hard at it!
Chad's flights looked very nice with some minor issues that we talked about after the flight. The last flight we saw was very solid and controlled. Good speed and roll rates. He will do well if he continues to fly like this under the microscope of the judging panel.

The Japanese team, always so reserved, made occasional flight assessments with the quiet of the flight line interrupted by loud yelling in Japanese :-) Even woke up Agnes a couple times! They too were sorting things out still :-)

Agnes fades off.
We returned to the hotel to do some baggage organization then headed down to the patio for our daily debrief session. It has become a routine here. Everyone got caught up on the days activities as we all split up. Dinner was next door at the Italian restaurant right next to the patio... as we are tired and didn't want to walk far :-)  Apparently the US team was also tired as well :-)

Dinner: Keeping up good relations with the US team.



Weather looks a bit dreadful for the morning (rain & wind) so it should be interesting for the F-15 flights. We will head out in the morning to watch the pilots do their stuff. Competitive flying starts at 08:30 am here. (11:30 PM on the West Coast of Canada!)

There is internet at the site so I hope to give you some reports throughout the day.


Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Preliminary Flight #4

Up early with the alarm clock and off to the field for an early start to the day. Clear skies so the sun will be in the box for both Michi's and my flight. We have a "sun evader" on the pilot station to help block the sun but depending on position and time of day it may interfere with visibility on the right side of the box. Not to mention the judges not seeing it well :-)

Our team's flight schedule today is: 
Site #2 - Michi at 08:39
Site #1 - Dave at 09:15
Site #1 - Chad at 11:04
Site# 1 - Ethan at 15:56

We arrived at site #1 and started to prepare the planes for my last P-15 flight. Michi and most everyone else had gone down to the other site for his final flight. Pat stayed behind with my number bib just in case things ran long with Michi.

Getting the back up ready.



I was in the ready box when they all arrived and said Michi had a a so-so flight. This is pattern "speak" for a not so good performance:-)  Michi was generally happy but had some in and out issues with the sun casting a silhouette on the plane.  He scored a final TBL score of 384

Cheering section!

I got airborne and had similar results... some good elements mixed in with some not so good ones! Although the winds were a light blow in, they caused some issues with pilots not maintaining the 150m line. I was one of them. I scored a 363 for my final P-15 round.



 Score board as I flew...

I started to dismantle my planes under the huge sun shade and tried to relax and enjoy the moment. It was hard though as I never felt that I really put in a flight that I know I was capable of. I think Michi felt the same way as well. I thanked my team mates for all the help and critique over the past week and also the supporters of the team via social media. We know that our efforts here in Switzerland fell short in our minds but those folks back home rooting us on deserve credit as well. More on this later.

Chad gets read to go for his final P-15 round ever! :-)
 Chad's flight was coming up shortly and the team all gathered around and watched him fly. With the huge scoreboard showing scores for each maneuver we knew he had a good flight going. Some very minor issues but once again he had a solid round with a 441score. This positioned him well into the top 30 fliers that will move on to the Semi-finals on Friday.

During judges breaks the spectators and participants were treated to flying demos by various local flyers. This F-104 shot the place up!



Ethan was up later in the afternoon so Colin, Ethan, Chad, Agnes, Kelly and I all headed to Hinwil field 20 minutes away to practice. Ethan put in some good rounds of P-15 with Colin helping him with positioning etc. He was looking good to me and his plane was presenting very well.

Chad brought out his #2 plane and changed a few setting as a style change for the F sequence was being implemented. He put in several rounds and aside from some initial adjustments looked very comfortable.  The gals had picked up some sandwich makings so we enjoyed a nice lunch while watching Mr Akiba from Japan do his flights.  He brought out an OS belt drive unit for us to look at

OS Belt Drive (Mr Akiba's back up)
Back up for F-15.
 We loaded up the cars and headed back to Site #1 for Ethan's afternoon flight. He was anxious to fly the sequence with the tweaks he had practiced at Hinwil.

Ethan's flight progressed well with some minor errors observed. The judges scores were once again displayed while the flight went on and everyone was doing the "score board head swing" to see the results. He scored a 392 which was pretty good but not really where he wanted to be.

We all gathered around congratulating him and then had a group picture taken to commemorate the team's achievements to date.

Post flight Team picture.

Most everyone headed back to the hotel to shower up and get ready for Nation's Night which featured a dinner, drink and a live band. They had a group photo also planned for tonight with all the competitors.

Back at the official site we enjoyed a good visit with fellow flyers and helpers from the different teams. We had Derek Koopowitz and John Bentley join us and we enjoyed a nice salad & chicken dinner, then they drew the flight order for the semi-finals. Everyone was cheering as the pilots were announced and then they individually pulled their flight order. The US team manager Mark Atwood and Andrew's helper Darin Pierce pulled the US pilot's positions as they did not attend the function. Practicing maybe :-)  Chad managed to pull the #6 position and will fly on Friday at 9:39 on site #1 and 14:59 on site #2.



 The band was good but a tad on the loud side for many as conversation was almost impossible near the stage. Many folks simply moved out to the other areas to converse.

We wrapped up the night with a small social on the hotel's patio area then hit the rack. Chad will be up early to practice, the gals are heading into town and Hartley and I have some rental car business and storage arrangements to make in the a.m.

Packing planes & plane stuff tomorrow....



Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Preliminary Flight #3

A nice sleep in today as we will head out to Site #1 for Ethan's flight later this morning.

Todays flying Schedule is:
Site #1 - Ethan at 11:31
Site #2 - Michi at 15:20
Site #1 - Dave at 16:05
Site #1 - Chad at 17:49

Note: These flying times are always subject to change but the website start list has been updated pretty fast when delays are encountered. (weather, airport traffic etc)

Early reports have the flying stopped due to low cloud at the flying site and... lets see...  looking at the scores it looks like several have stopped mid flight.  They will get to restart the flight with the entire schedule being flown and judged, but only the affected manoeuvre and the unscored manoeuvres that follow will be scored. The combined total is the pilots score for the round.
  
Although there was a short delay, things have started up and flying is underway at both sites. Michi snuck away early this morning to Hinwil and put in 4 practice rounds with the British team. Most everyone else stayed in bed :-)

Ethan was following Ireland's Michael Blake (29) who sadly lost his Oxai Hybird this morning to an electric issue that toasted the receiver.  He had his backup ready to go on the flight line this morning and had a nice flight considering. I heard through the pattern grapevine that Andrew Jesky and some other American team members offered assisted in supplying parts etc to help him out. Great sportsmanship and I am sure he appreciated their offer.  



Wind direction is from ????
Michi arrived in time to see Ethan fly his third round under slight crosswind conditions. Direction of flight was a concern but opted for the right to left approach. He had a good flight again with minor errors and scored a 404.

Jason's Epic is guarded 24/7 :-)

Latest Angels Shadow
Both Chad, Agnes, Kelly and I headed off to practice at Hinwil field and enjoyed the early afternoon watch the Japanese team fly. The Kazakhstan and Korean teams also flew before Ethan and Colin arrived. I managed one flight before packing up and heading back to site #1 for my flight. Chad and Agnes followed after another practice round with Ethan and Colin trailing.

Action at Hinwil... Kazakhstan is up as we await our turn.
Kelly and I assembled the planes early and waited for my start time. Michi was down flying at site #2 just before me so the rest of the team was down there to support him.  Pat stayed behind with my bib just in case.  As time was approaching my "B" team carried the planes & gear out and I prepared to have Pat and Kelly as my helpers. The other members did make it just in time to help out.
I had a decent start but mismanaged the crosswind conditions on several manouvers and that cost me. My top hat spin was poorly positioned as well. Sadly my expectations fell far short of the mark I had set. I scored a 360.

Birthday Boy Kevin Caton and his Oxai Citrin.
After the flight I was brought up to speed on Michi's flight which unfortunately was not his best performance. He scored a 382. We consoled each other after he came over from the other flight line :-) 

Chad relaxes in a nice shady spot awaiting his start time.
Colin and Ethan will be able to see scores as they are punched in to the scoring computer.
 Chad was up next after we watched various flyers handle the windy conditions. He had his best round to date and scored a solid 448. He was happy with the results and gladly took them under the conditions... although it seemed to calm off as he flew... karma?

We headed back for showers and then dinner at the Glotthoff Miami Disco/Restuarant.

Dinner outside tonight.
Tomorrow is Day 4 of Preliminaries = No sleep in!
Site #2 - Michi at 08:39
Site #1 - Dave at 09:15
Site #1 - Chad at 11:04
Site# 1 - Ethan at 15:56

PS Want photos? Spend an hour looking at this link to a fantastic "daily" photo album of the event... http://www.modellflugfotos.ch/fotos-2015/f3a-wm-dienstag-11-8-2015/