July 30 Free Flight Brothers Andrew and Steven Hooke are the picture of Free Flight inspiration. They really enjoyed themselves flying Catapult Glider on Wednesday, putting up flights right up until the closing horn. Don DeLoach photo. Free Flight Edition
Free Flight Wednesday, July 29, at the Free Flight Nats dawned clear, calm, and damp. Fliers enjoyed approximately three hours of sunny skies and light and variable winds. Thermals were fairly well marked and many early maxes were recorded. At about 11 a.m., the wind picked up to 5-10 mph and clouds began to roll in. We were fortunate to not get rained on (the forecast had predicted a 60% chance starting around noon), but it was pretty windy the rest of the day. To make matters worse, the wind swung from the southwest to the west, resulting in chases toward the dreaded RV park and cemetery. The day s flying kicked off with a fine three-man F1H flyoff. Ken Bauer (CA) was the only one to make the 180-second max and finished first, followed by Kyle Jones (OH), and Bob Sifleet (PA). F1B is one of the Nats most prestigious events, and the field of approximately 20 did not have an easy day. Only five made it through seven rounds of variable conditions, and many top names dropped one or two flights. Five fliers, including two teenagers, made it to the flyoff, scheduled for early Thursday morning. The Flying Aces events kicked off Photos by the author. in grand style with a huge 18-entrant turnout (10 flew) in Old-Timer Stick. Free Flight Hall of Famer and manytime Indoor Free Flight champion, Larry Coslick, won easily and was the only competitor to max out. There were also very strong turnouts in FAC Jimmie Allen (11 fliers) and FAC Dime Scale (10 fliers). Let s hope this trend continues. F1J had a good turnout of 11 fliers. Only two maxed out. John Lorbiecki (WI) and Faust Parker (TX) will duke it out tomorrow in an early morning flyoff. Only three of the 10 entries showed up in AMA Cargo, Rudy Kluiber (OH) took the win with a score of 1,890. AMA Catapult Glider is always a fierce battle, and this year was no exception. The undisputed small glider master, Stan Buddenbohm (CA), won once again, scoring five perfect maxes but losing all three models in the process. (Remember the wind? These little gliders get small in two minutes.) In Junior Catapult there were 10 fliers, and they had a ball! Kyle Gerspacher (OH) placed second by a mere five seconds, to Wyatt Riddle, also of Ohio. At the awards ceremony, every Junior flier was given a Buddenbohm glider kit. The widow of the late Craig Stout very generously donated the kits as prizes, through Tim Batuik. AMA B Gas was a real battle. Past National Champions Dan Berry, Bob Hanford, and Ronnie Thompson could not catch the old master, Charlie Caton, who is back after a 10-year layoff, flying his now iconic Humminbird bunter. Charlie scored nine perfect maxes for another Nats win. The event of day, hands down, was E-36. Forty-seven fliers entered, making it the Nats most popular event. Only two made it past the second 5-second flyoff max in the trying conditions. Dale Elder (FL) earned the win, followed by Jim Jennings (TN) in second place. Third place went to Hall of Famer and Californian, Ralph Ray. Stay tuned to NatsNews for more exciting action from the Free Flight line. On Thursday, two FAC Mass Launches will be held, as well as premier events Hand-Launched Glider, F1G, A Gas, and C Nostalgia. And it all gets started with the ethereal Dawn Unlimited Rubber event, bright and early at 6:15 a.m. Thermals! Don DeLoach F1B climbout.
View of the Free Flight flightline on Wednesday.
Jace Pivonka (CO) is attending his first Outdoor Nats. He did well in F1B, finishing with six of seven maxes. Tom Ioerger (NV) with his F1B featuring an innovative variablediameter front end. It was made by Victor Strukov of Ukraine. F1B fliers Sevak Malkhasyan (L, CA) and Charlie Jones (OH) spot a distant model. Old-Timer ABC Cabin winners. Hayden Ashworth (L, IN) won Junior 1/2A Classic over second-place finisher Jazmyn Oakins (WI). Nostalgia B Gas winners. 4 NatsNews 2015
142 Catapult Glider 1 STAN BUDDENBOHM BOULEVARD, CA 600 2 KURT KREMPETZ BARTLETT, IL 418 3 KENNETH A BAUER GILROY, CA 345 4 TIM A BATIUK VALLEJO, CA 323 5 FRANK H PERKINS JR TUSCALOOSA, AL 292 6 MIKE MCKEEVER FAIR OAKS, CA 280 7 JACK MURPHY SALT LAKE CITY, UT 244 8 KIT BAYS WINTERVILLE, NC 240 9 PHIL SULLIVAN ANDERSON, IN 173 10 DAVID A GERSPACHER CLARKSVILLE, OH 171 11 DAVE EDMONSON EAGAN, MN 162 12 FRANCES K MASTERMAN VALLEJO, CA 161 13 RANDALL J KRYSTOSEK EVANSVILLE, IN 141 13 BILL R REUTER NORTH OLMSTED, OH 141 14 JAN W LANGELIUS HASLET, TX 137 14 DAVID P JONES RICHMOND, VA 137 15 DAROLD JONES MANITOU SPRINGS, CO 111 16 JAMES P LEWIS GARY, SD 110 17 DAVID A HOOKE LAKE FOREST, IL 102 18 W A LOOMIS RIDGEFIELD, CT 83 19 JENNIFER F JONES FREDERICK, MD 71 20 GERALYN JONES AVON LAKE, OH 52 21 DEBRA HALE WILMINGTON, OH 50 103 B Gas 1 GERALD S BROWN HENDERSON, TX 1100 2 RONNIE C THOMPSON HARVEST, AL 1048 3 JIM S PARKER HOUSTON, TX 741 4 JAMES R HACK DOWAGIAC, MI 688 5 ROBERT M HANFORD BROKEN ARROW, OK 580 6 JAMES BOCCKINFUSO HARDY, VA 476 7 HANK SPERZEL BELLEVUE, NE 448 8 DICK V BERTRAND WEST OLIVE, MI 347 OTCABI OT ABC Cabin 1 BUD ROMAK LINCOLN, CA 600 2 WILLIAM H VANDERBEEK LOS ALTOS HILLS, CA 326 3 ROBERT N EDELSTEIN GRAND LEDGE, MI 312 4 JOHN R OLIVER PIERCETON, IN 171 SNR SMALL NOS RUBBER 1 JOSEPH M WILLIAMS BROOKVILLE, PA 780 2 EDWARD J HARDIN KINGSTON, TN 540 3 DON A DELOACH COLORADO SPRINGS, CO 529 4 ROBERT E MARIER ROSWELL, GA 497 5 CHUCK E POWELL BENTON, KS 489 6 JAMES FERWERDA KENOSHA, WI 475 7 EDWARD KONEFES WAUCONDA, IL 460 9 DAVID MILLS ATLANTA, GA 412 10 PAUL S MASTERMAN VALLEJO, CA 365 11 JIM OREILLY BEL AIRE, KS 287 12 ROBERT M BENNETT HAMPTON, VA 260 13 LAWRENCE D COSLICK SAINT LOUIS, MO 247 14 GERALD S BROWN HENDERSON, TX 209 15 ED SNEED COLUMBUS, OH 183 16 WILLIAM G CARSON GAINESVILLE, TX 87 BNGAS B Nos Gas 1 LARRY DAVIDSON MONETA, VA 840 2 DENNY L DOCK STEVENSVILLE, MI 792 3 GENE R SMITH STILLWATER, OK 720 4 BOB SOWDER TROUTVILLE, VA 479 5 HANK SPERZEL BELLEVUE, NE 450 5 ROY SMITH KINGSTON, CANADA 450 6 DAVE EDMONSON EAGAN, MN 360 7 SCOTT J LAPRAIK PORTLAND, TN 335 8 KEITH FULMER MISHAWAKA, IN 324 9 ROBERT E MATTES SAINT CHARLES, MO 215 10 DOUGLAS K MARSH GRANGER, IN 210 11 RICHARD KACMARSKY LANSING, MI 188 12 P JACK MARSH SOUTH BEND, IN 169 13 ROGER W ERRIDGE SARANAC, MI 59 108 101C 1/2A Classic Gas 1 DANIEL B BERRY BENTON, AR 714 2 JAMES BOCCKINFUSO HARDY, VA 682 3 GERALD S BROWN HENDERSON, TX 676 4 ROBERT M HANFORD BROKEN ARROW, OK 544 5 RONNIE C THOMPSON HARVEST, AL 355 6 P JACK MARSH SOUTH BEND, IN 314 7 GARY OAKINS SAINT PAUL, MN 270 8 J G PAILET LADY LAKE, FL 254 9 GLENN D SCHNEIDER DIABLO, CA 240 10 CHARLES R HARPER BLANCHESTER, OH 103 107 Cargo 1 RUDY J KLUIBER LAKEWOOD, OH 1890 2 ROBERT D STALICK ALBANY, OR 1731 3 BILL R REUTER NORTH OLMSTED, OH 501 142J Catapult Glider 1 WYATT RIDDLE WILMINGTON, OH 145 2 KYLE D GERSPACHER CLARKSVILLE, OH 140 3 HAILEY MATTSON NORTH OLMSTED, OH 104 4 WILLIAM E REUTER NORTH OLMSTED, OH 100 5 IAN WICKS NORMAL, IL 71 6 STEVEN T HOOKE LAKE FOREST, IL 68 7 EMMA R RIDDLE WILMINGTON, OH 62 8 WILLIAM WICKS NORMAL, IL 57 9 ANDREW C HOOKE LAKE FOREST, IL 52 10 LOGAN MILLER WILMINGTON, OH 12 154SO F1H 1 KENNETH A BAUER GILROY, CA 780 2 KYLE T JONES AVON LAKE, OH 768 3 ROBERT SIFLEET GLEN ROCK, PA 697 4 MIKE MCKEEVER FAIR OAKS, CA 589 5 J G PAILET LADY LAKE, FL 387 108J 101C 1/2A Classic Gas 1 HAYDEN G ASHWORTH INDIANAPOLIS, IN 312 2 JAZMYN E OAKINS RIVER FALLS, WI 260 155J F1J 1 JAZMYN E OAKINS RIVER FALLS, NatsNews WI 2015 268 5
National Free Flight Society President John Lorbiecki (WI) enjoyed flying F1J on Wednesday. He is in his final year of his NFFS presidency. Thanks, John, for your service! Don DeLoach photo. 6 NatsNews 2015