Clover Creek Aerodrome 1st Annual IMAC Challenge
Dan Baker and Gil Major make their debut...
Dan Baker (Contest Director) and Gil Major (Co-CD) recently held the first annual Clover Creek Aerodrome IMAC Challenge. This event took place September 4, 5, and 6 and attracted 36 pilots from three different regions. Attendance was particularly strong in the primary classes with Basic having 7 pilots, Sportsman 8, and 11 in Intermediate. Advanced and Unlimited rounded out the event with 3 and 7 pilots respectively.
Each day of the contest included two full Known rounds as well as an Unknown for the Sportsman through Unlimited classes. Sunday wrapped up with a final Unknown, which provided a bit of unplanned excitement, and a final round of Known flights. Upon conclusion of precision flights, the sound system was ramped up and the judges took their seats to score pilots in two classes of freestyle: Basic – Intermediate, and Advanced / Unlimited. Three pilots in each class pushed the limits of fixed wing flight with some very creative and entertaining interpretations of their music. Six up and down successfully, and it’s a wrap.
While the smoke cleared and the scores were being tallied, John Schroder tractored his 50% Cub out to the flight line and he, along with David Moser, treated everyone to a flight demonstration with the half scale Piper! What an impressive aircraft!
Overall, the contest went smoothly without any organizational hiccups, kudos to our first-time CDs! We did, unfortunately, have a couple of aircraft run upon their expiration dates. One incident reminds us all to stick to an assembly routine and double-checking everything prior to flight. The pilot certainly wishes he could reverse time and prevent this mishap as it seems the plane is a little more difficult to control without the aileron servos being plugged in. The second mishap was a mid-air collision. Joe Cutright, borrowing Dan Baker’s Carden Yak 54, and Michael Abraria, flying a Carden Extra 330, unfortunately attempted to concurrently occupy the same airspace. Luckily, both aircraft flew away from the point of impact and were able to be landed safely due to some outstanding skills and cool demeanor displayed by both pilots. A cursory damage investigation revealed that Dan Baker’s plane could be repaired. The same was thought of Michael’s, until he took the hatch off of his Extra and discovered that the fuel tank had ruptured on impact. Unfortunately, fuel had soaked into the phenolic wing tubes and dissolved the foam within the wing as well as devouring the foam on the bottom of the plane.
All in all, we had fantastic weather for three days! Despite the ever-present threat of thunderstorms, the weather gods smiled upon us and allowed flying to commence without a drop of a rain all weekend! The predicted storm-front went totally around us, and at times you could actually see the rain off in the distance as it passed us by! We also had breakfast and lunch everyday that was served to us by the local community, their enthusiasm for what John has brought to the local area is really nice to see. When Saturday night fell upon us, we were introduced to some very good food and fellowship. Everything from laughing, to golfing, to riding on Johns new 'toy' was an absolute blast! We also would like to mention that there were enough donations from our sponsors to give all pilots something to go home with - a BIG 'Thanks!!' goes out to all of our sponsors for their generous donations and continued support to the IMAC community!
Below are the standings for the top three positions in each class, but you can see all the final standings HERE . Also, please take time to visit some of the links provided to see more photos and event coverage. See everybody next time!!!
Greg Boswell's photo blog - HERE
Flying Giants thread - article #1 and article #2
BASIC
1 - Michael Abraira 10,957.8
2 - Luis Verdiales 10,907.9
3 - Marie Batson 10,329.0
SPORTSMAN
1 - Wes Batson 8,671.0
2 - Michael Gabbard 8,617.1
3 - Terry Hickey 8,388.4
INTERMEDIATE
1 - Tony Gorgone 8,714.6
2 - Curtis Cozier 8,637.7
3 - Sergio Schinoff 8,276.8
ADVANCED
1 - Pedro Jordan Jr 8,672.4
2 - Louis A. Matustik 8,661.1
3 - Joe Utasi 8,031.3
UNLIMITED
1 Kurt Koelling 8,728.9
2 David Moser 8,605.2
3 Ty Lyman 8,121.5
Each day of the contest included two full Known rounds as well as an Unknown for the Sportsman through Unlimited classes. Sunday wrapped up with a final Unknown, which provided a bit of unplanned excitement, and a final round of Known flights. Upon conclusion of precision flights, the sound system was ramped up and the judges took their seats to score pilots in two classes of freestyle: Basic – Intermediate, and Advanced / Unlimited. Three pilots in each class pushed the limits of fixed wing flight with some very creative and entertaining interpretations of their music. Six up and down successfully, and it’s a wrap.
While the smoke cleared and the scores were being tallied, John Schroder tractored his 50% Cub out to the flight line and he, along with David Moser, treated everyone to a flight demonstration with the half scale Piper! What an impressive aircraft!
Overall, the contest went smoothly without any organizational hiccups, kudos to our first-time CDs! We did, unfortunately, have a couple of aircraft run upon their expiration dates. One incident reminds us all to stick to an assembly routine and double-checking everything prior to flight. The pilot certainly wishes he could reverse time and prevent this mishap as it seems the plane is a little more difficult to control without the aileron servos being plugged in. The second mishap was a mid-air collision. Joe Cutright, borrowing Dan Baker’s Carden Yak 54, and Michael Abraria, flying a Carden Extra 330, unfortunately attempted to concurrently occupy the same airspace. Luckily, both aircraft flew away from the point of impact and were able to be landed safely due to some outstanding skills and cool demeanor displayed by both pilots. A cursory damage investigation revealed that Dan Baker’s plane could be repaired. The same was thought of Michael’s, until he took the hatch off of his Extra and discovered that the fuel tank had ruptured on impact. Unfortunately, fuel had soaked into the phenolic wing tubes and dissolved the foam within the wing as well as devouring the foam on the bottom of the plane.
All in all, we had fantastic weather for three days! Despite the ever-present threat of thunderstorms, the weather gods smiled upon us and allowed flying to commence without a drop of a rain all weekend! The predicted storm-front went totally around us, and at times you could actually see the rain off in the distance as it passed us by! We also had breakfast and lunch everyday that was served to us by the local community, their enthusiasm for what John has brought to the local area is really nice to see. When Saturday night fell upon us, we were introduced to some very good food and fellowship. Everything from laughing, to golfing, to riding on Johns new 'toy' was an absolute blast! We also would like to mention that there were enough donations from our sponsors to give all pilots something to go home with - a BIG 'Thanks!!' goes out to all of our sponsors for their generous donations and continued support to the IMAC community!
Below are the standings for the top three positions in each class, but you can see all the final standings HERE . Also, please take time to visit some of the links provided to see more photos and event coverage. See everybody next time!!!
Greg Boswell's photo blog - HERE
Flying Giants thread - article #1 and article #2
BASIC
1 - Michael Abraira 10,957.8
2 - Luis Verdiales 10,907.9
3 - Marie Batson 10,329.0
SPORTSMAN
1 - Wes Batson 8,671.0
2 - Michael Gabbard 8,617.1
3 - Terry Hickey 8,388.4
INTERMEDIATE
1 - Tony Gorgone 8,714.6
2 - Curtis Cozier 8,637.7
3 - Sergio Schinoff 8,276.8
ADVANCED
1 - Pedro Jordan Jr 8,672.4
2 - Louis A. Matustik 8,661.1
3 - Joe Utasi 8,031.3
UNLIMITED
1 Kurt Koelling 8,728.9
2 David Moser 8,605.2
3 Ty Lyman 8,121.5