Snohomish has always been one of my favorite IMAC venues and this year it did not disappoint. Warm, sunny weather prevailed with some early morning fog/clouds on the Sunday. Everyone had a great time and the flying was superb.

I could elaborate but I’d rather let you read the Event CD’s Flying Giants post.

***Well, I've finally recovered enough to post. First I'd like to say thank you all for all the positive feedback and great comments regarding the Cascade contest. It was certainly our pleasure to host everyone. Although a lot of work, it's also a lot of fun. I'd like to mention that we welcome ALL feedback, especially the negative. If we do this again next year, we want to ensure it is better, so if there was something you didn't like, please let me know so we can fix it.
I'd like to thank several people one more time. As you all know, contests don't happen without a lot of support. If you look at all the contests that run well, you'll always see a group of people working hard to bring it all together, I certainly had a ton of help.

- Chris and Galen, again, Wouldn't have done it without you!
- Jennifer and the Young Life Crew for taking care of all the concessions.

- Jeff Phillips and Brian DeVerter for all the help with the trophies and the field!

- my wonderful wife LeAlyce who's support was amazing for literally months leading up to the contest, helping build trophies, registration, running scores, and giving Peter someone to pick on other than me!

- my father-in-law Gary who framed up all the trophy bases.

- Steve, Jim, and Brian, who showed up to the field early and got put to work.

- John E, for donating the DA, again, you're generosity is amazing, thank you so much!

Thank you guys so much for pitching in, while it certainly was not expected, it was very appreciated! A special mention for Steve and Peter, you guys are amazing, the professionalism in which you guys run the scoring is fantastic, and it appears you have fun doing it. I hope that is the case. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Of course, our sponsors, who I'd like to make a special mention. This year, with the economy in the toilet, we made a special point not to ask for donations. All the sponsors who contributed volunteered without being asked! Simply amazing! Smart Fly, Winged Stitches, Rockchipkits.com, Seacraft (nice new logo by the way), Valley View RC, Coyote Hobbies and Carden Aircraft.
And most importantly to all of you, the guys who;

- practice, build and maintain airplanes,

- pack for the weekend trips, drive in Seattle Traffic, sleep in shady motels, tents and RV's,

- spend money to register, eat, buy raffle tickets, sit in the sun for hours judging sportsman,

- make the return trip home running on caffeine and residual adrenaline,

- all the while are true competitors and demonstrating unparalleled sportsmanship.

You guys are the greatest and certainly the number one reason we fly IMAC! Your generosity will send some kids to camp this summer, your comaraderie will keep us all coming back, and your antics will keep us guessing “what next”! You are the greatest, thank you all.***
I could not have expressed these sentiments as eloquently as Kevin did. Thanks Kevin for a well run contest indeed!

Pete Butschek.

 

Official Contest Results

Overall, there were 36 pilots flying in the 07102010 Cascade, Snohomish contest. In no particular order they were: Jerry Ruscheinski, Bill Burgad, Jeff Merritt, Brian DeVerter, Cheri Kuhn, Michael Raines, Azhar Osmanbhoy, David Easley, Bill Newman, Michael Williams, Dan Lurvey, Keith Bodeau, Darren Kuhn, Bill Fong, Stephen Lenz, Henry Piorun, Greg Zettler, Geoffrey Dryer, Chris Elliott, Thomas Landry, Matt Strasbourg, Warren Wilson, Roni Taipale, Jim Spurlock, Bill Goldspink, Brian Keith, Ron Ash, Robert Hoover, Harvey Dhiman, Gale Vasquez, Kevin Miller, Darin Miller, Garrett Hansen, Keith Leifsen, Brian Webb and John Wondra. These pilots flew a grand total of 513 judged sequences.

This contest was flown according to modified rules.

Chris Elliott won the Basic class. There were 7 pilots in Basic. The winning order was: (1) Chris Elliott, (2) Brian DeVerter, (3) Garrett Hansen, (4) Cheri Kuhn, (5) Stephen Lenz, (6) Thomas Landry and (7) Gale Vasquez. They flew 7 known sequences (4 rounds). The scores ranged from a low of 3,719.8 to a high of 5,000 (a range of 1,280.2 points).

Robert Hoover won the Sportsman class. There were 14 pilots in Sportsman. The winning order was: (1) Robert Hoover, (2) Ron Ash, (3) Michael Williams, (4) Dan Lurvey, (5) Azhar Osmanbhoy, (6) David Easley, (7) Jeff Merritt, (8) Geoffrey Dryer, (9) Bill Newman, (10) Bill Fong, (11) Brian Keith, (12) Greg Zettler, (13) Bill Goldspink and (14) Keith Leifsen. They flew 6 known sequences (3 rounds) and 1 unknown round. The scores ranged from a low of 3,554.4 to a high of 5,000 (a range of 1,445.6 points).

Henry Piorun won the Intermediate class. There were 7 pilots in Intermediate. The winning order was: (1) Henry Piorun, (2) Roni Taipale, (3) Matt Strasbourg, (4) Jim Spurlock, (5) Brian Webb, (6) Michael Raines and (7) Warren Wilson. They flew 6 known sequences (3 rounds) and 1 unknown round. The scores ranged from a low of 4,382.7 to a high of 4,993.1 (a range of 610.3 points).

Harvey Dhiman won the Advanced class. There were 3 pilots in Advanced. The winning order was: (1) Harvey Dhiman, (2) Bill Burgad and (3) Jerry Ruscheinski. They flew 6 known sequences (3 rounds) and 1 unknown round. The scores ranged from a low of 4,341.4 to a high of 4,838.6 (a range of 497.2 points).

Darin Miller won the Unlimited class. There were 5 pilots in Unlimited. The winning order was: (1) Darin Miller, (2) Keith Bodeau, (3) Darren Kuhn, (4) John Wondra and (5) Kevin Miller. They flew 6 known sequences (3 rounds) and 1 unknown round. The scores ranged from a low of 4,822.4 to a high of 4,907.5 (a range of 85.1 points).

In addition to the standard classes, there was 1 special class: Seniors.

Dan Lurvey won the Seniors class. There were 8 pilots in Seniors. The winning order was: (1) Dan Lurvey, (2) Jim Spurlock, (3) Michael Raines, (4) David Easley, (5) Bill Newman, (6) Bill Burgad, (7) Greg Zettler and (8) Bill Goldspink. They flew 6 known sequences (3 rounds) and 1 unknown round. The scores ranged from a low of 0.640 to a high of 0.781 (a range of 0.141 points).

Harvey Dhiman won the Freestyle class. There were 3 pilots in Freestyle. The winning order was: (1) Harvey Dhiman, (2) Darren Kuhn and (3) Michael Raines. They flew 1 freestyle round. The scores ranged from a low of 589.9 to a high of 1,000 (a range of 410.1 points).

The tightest competition was for 4th place in the Unlimited class, with only 3 points difference between John Wondra and Kevin Miller.