The inaugural Deland IMAC Contest is in the books and what an event it was! Pilots started arriving on Friday and were able to get practice rounds in from 4pm until dark. By the time I arrived on Saturday morning the field was full of campers, tents, and giant scale airplanes. The Deland field sits on an abandoned runway of the city’s airport and it was busy. Aviation enthusiasts had many sights to see, from people parachuting, to general aviation aircraft of all types. It was interesting flying with all of the activity in your peripheral.
I’m not sure if anyone mentioned it, but WOW was it hot! The air was still until around 3pm and then a welcome sea breeze finally gave us some relief. We were able to get in 3 full rounds of knowns and finished by 4:30. Unknowns were handed out and the afterhours activities ensued. I had a great time hanging with old friends and meeting new ones. Sunday morning we got started around 9, flew a single flight line of unknowns, basic flew a single sequence, and we were done by noon. The heat wasn’t quite as bad on Sunday, but most folks were worn out and ready to head home by then. Many thanks to Donnie Bryans for CD’ing his first IMAC contest and getting past all of the bumps in the road along the way. Thanks to the Deland Golden Hawks for allowing us to use their field for the weekend and hosting this event. There are already pictures posted on their club site at www.delandrcclub.com Go there and check them out.
Overall, there were 34 pilots flying in the Deland IMAC Contest. In no particular order they were: Jonathan Bryans, Doug Bracey, Luis Verdiales, Don Gentry, Dowd Kieslich, Julian Echavarria, James Brown, Rob Grant, Richard Longfellow, Joe Wedeman, John Wedeman, Peter Jackson, Scott Casey, Kirby Keene, Ryan Keene, Mariano Barrios Jr., J.C. Alvarez, Mike Vascollaro, Keith Joy, Randy Foster, Gregory Baggerly, Jerry Woodrough, Yasunobu Muraki, R.A. Brink, Thomas Heller, Pedro Jordan Jr., Michael Abraira, Jeff Whitaker, Jose Guzman, Robert Hanson, Jeff Edlen, Kevin Wilson, Tom Reifsnyder and Robert Stetson. These pilots flew a grand total of 468 judged sequences.
This contest was flown according to modified rules.
J.C. Alvarez won the Basic class. There were 14 pilots in Basic. The winning order was: (1) J.C. Alvarez, (2) Ryan Keene, (3) Don Gentry, (4) Jonathan Bryans, (5) Scott Casey, (6) Randy Foster, (7) Kirby Keene, (8) Robert Hanson, (9) Doug Bracey, (10) Julian Echavarria, (11) Keith Joy, (12) Richard Longfellow, (13) Jerry Woodrough and (14) James Brown. They flew 7 known sequences (4 rounds). The scores ranged from a low of 1,679.3 to a high of 5,000 (a range of 3,320.7 points).
Michael Abraira won the Sportsman class. There were 11 pilots in Sportsman. The winning order was: (1) Michael Abraira, (2) Jeff Whitaker, (3) Gregory Baggerly, (4) Luis Verdiales, (5) Jeff Edlen, (6) Jose Guzman, (7) Dowd Kieslich, (8) Rob Grant, (9) Yasunobu Muraki, (10) Robert Stetson and (11) Thomas Heller. They flew 6 known sequences (3 rounds) and 1 unknown round. The scores ranged from a low of 2,677.9 to a high of 4,942.8 (a range of 2,264.8 points).
Mariano Barrios Jr. won the Intermediate class. There were 7 pilots in Intermediate. The winning order was: (1) Mariano Barrios Jr., (2) John Wedeman, (3) Tom Reifsnyder, (4) Joe Wedeman, (5) R.A. Brink, (6) Mike Vascollaro and (7) Peter Jackson. They flew 6 known sequences (3 rounds) and 1 unknown round. The scores ranged from a low of 3,598 to a high of 4,975.5 (a range of 1,377.5 points).
Pedro Jordan Jr. won the Advanced class. There were 2 pilots in Advanced. The winning order was: (1) Pedro Jordan Jr. and (2) Kevin Wilson. They flew 6 known sequences (3 rounds) and 1 unknown round. The scores ranged from a low of 4,923.2 to a high of 4,979.6 (a range of 56.4 points).
In addition to the standard classes, there was 1 special class: Seniors.
Gregory Baggerly won the Seniors class. There were 6 pilots in Seniors. The winning order was: (1) Gregory Baggerly, (2) R.A. Brink, (3) Rob Grant, (4) Doug Bracey, (5) Keith Joy and (6) Thomas Heller. They flew 7 known sequences (4 rounds) and 1 unknown round. The scores ranged from a low of 0.418 to a high of 0.754 (a range of 0.336 points).
The tightest competition was for 7th place in the Basic class, with only 3.575 points difference between Kirby Keene and Robert Hanson.
See you in Georgia,
Kevin Wilson – ARD Florida