Fayetteville, North Carolina was one of the best places to be this weekend. The Piedmont IMAC was a great success. Pilots traveled from Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia to enjoy a fun filled weekend. Also, our friends deep down in the Southeast Region was the other best place to be. The Southeast had 26.43% of its members competing this weekend! Great, right?
Well, up here in North Carolina 21 pilots competed for the top positions in their class. A pilot meeting was called to order promptly at 0830 and was lead with a word of prayer by our Alabama friend Kurtis Waites. Flight order was established and flying commenced at 0905. We started with the advanced class and move toward Basic utilizing one line at first to aid in flight orientation around the sun. Noticing that getting in the standard three rounds may take till dark we started up the second flight line and split the groups. Advanced and Intermediate / Sportsman and Basic, the rounds began to add up. Lunch was served at 1130 with the help of our South Carolina friends Phyllis and Charles Youngblood. Thanks Phyllis and Charles! Homemade spaghetti and garlic bread was enjoyed by all!
Advanced class started off with Craig Baker winning both sequences. Intermediate’s Joey Hayes shows no mercy to his fellow pilots. Sportsman’s Jeff Whitaker and Basic’s Jerry Hailey also dominate round one. No splits on this round!
Round two; advanced fires up and Alex Porter experiences mechanical damage to his plane before his start. Fellow pilot Matt Balazs steps up and loans Alex his perfectly tune weapon. The Dalton Extra 300 MEL Edition w/ the most powerful DA 200 onboard. Well Craig B and Matt B split the round and Matt draws closer to Alex P. They still have a large gap to fill if they want to catch up with Craig. Intermediate pilots Tony Gorgone and Primo Rivera Split round two and closing the gap on Joey H. Sportsman pilot Tristan Gallimore shows Jeff W. he is on board and wins both sequences of round two. Basic‘s, Jerry Hayes takes his stance and dominates winning both sequences.
Advanced round three Craig and Matt split another round but Craig’s out front by 70 points. Alex P moves to third leaving the outcome based on tomorrows unknown. Intermediate pilot Joey Hayes sharpens his sticks and shows the way in round three. Sportsman’s Jared Esau comes out of nowhere and wins round three. Bill Hardin show fellow basic pilot Jerry H that he can fly winning the first sequence however Jerry H slams the door and completes the day with a perfect 4000.
1645 all contest flying is complete and the pilots meeting was called to decide the flight order for tomorrows unknown. The field was open for flying and the ones that wanted to jet receive their unknown to head off and study. The younger ones gathered in the field to play ball. It sure is great to see all our kids having relations with others from other parts of the region. I can only hope they stay in touch throughout their lives. The grill and fryer was fired and the cooking began. French Fries, Hot Dogs, Chicken breast, Shrimp, Chicken tenders, Chicken wings and Corn on the Cob was dropped into the 375 degree oil and fried to perfection. Yes you heard me right, Corn on the Cob, deep fried and bathed in garlic butter. Mmm mmm good! Our newly joined member Gerald Anderson went grocery shopping and returned with fresh beef and sausage to be grilled. Ms. Phyllis returned with nice thick Rib Eyes. The night grew to an end and everyone turn in to study unknowns and rest up for tomorrow’s battle.
Pilots meeting 0830 and wheels up 0900. As schedule the morning was under way. Our good friend Mr. Kurtis Waites lead us with a Sunday morning devotion. Flying commenced shortly after.
Advanced showed the way with Alex Porter winning the unknown, will it be enough to catch veteran pilot Craig Baker? Intermediates, Tony Gorgone wins the unknown, will it be enough to catch former F3A pilot Joey Hayes? Sportsman pilot James Taylor comes from the back of the pack and wins the unknown upsetting the standing tremendously. Basics, Bill Harden wins round four and will it be enough to intimidate (pun intended) Jerry Hailey?
Now…The Rest of the Story…
Overall, there were 21 pilots flying in the PIEDMONT IMAC 2010 contest. In no particular order they were: James Taylor, Jonathan Gurley, Primo Rivera, Alex Porter, Howard Mathis, Tristan Gallimore, Tony Gorgone, Matt Balazs, William "Bill" Conklin, Charles Youngblood, Jerry Hailey, Joey Hayes, Jeff Whitaker, Craig Baker, Kurtis Waits, Don Martin, Herb Harden, Kevin Dixon, Jerry Holt, Jared Esau and Bill Harden. These pilots flew a grand total of 300 judged sequences.
This contest was flown according to modified rules.
Jerry Hailey won the Basic class. There were 3 pilots in Basic. The winning order was: (1) Jerry Hailey, (2) Bill Harden and (3) William "Bill" Conklin. They flew 8 known sequences (4 rounds). The scores ranged from a low of 5,480.8 to a high of 5,967.1 (a range of 486.3 points).
Jeff Whitaker won the Sportsman class. There were 7 pilots in Sportsman. The winning order was: (1) Jeff Whitaker, (2) Jared Esau, (3) Tristan Gallimore, (4) James Taylor, (5) Charles Youngblood, (6) Herb Harden and (7) Howard Mathis. They flew 6 known sequences (3 rounds) and 1 unknown round. The scores ranged from a low of 4,110.9 to a high of 4,921 (a range of 810.1 points).
Joey Hayes won the Intermediate class. There were 6 pilots in Intermediate. The winning order was: (1) Joey Hayes, (2) Tony Gorgone, (3) Primo Rivera, (4) Jonathan Gurley, (5) Jerry Holt and (6) Don Martin. They flew 6 known sequences (3 rounds) and 1 unknown round. The scores ranged from a low of 3,518.3 to a high of 4,975.6 (a range of 1,457.3 points).
Craig Baker won the Advanced class. There were 5 pilots in Advanced. The winning order was: (1) Craig Baker, (2) Alex Porter, (3) Matt Balazs, (4) Kevin Dixon and (5) Kurtis Waits. They flew 6 known sequences (3 rounds) and 1 unknown round. The scores ranged from a low of 4,204.7 to a high of 4,972 (a range of 767.3 points).
In addition to the standard classes, there was 1 special class: Seniors.
Charles Youngblood won the Seniors class. There were 5 pilots in Seniors. The winning order was: (1) Charles Youngblood, (2) Herb Harden, (3) Howard Mathis, (4) Jerry Holt and (5) Don Martin. They flew 6 known sequences (3 rounds) and 1 unknown round. The scores ranged from a low of 0.519 to a high of 0.659 (a range of 0.139 points).
The tightest competition was for 2nd place in the Sportsman class, with only 45.822 points difference between Jared Esau and Tristan Gallimore.