The Southeast Season Opener was hosted by the Bay City Fliers again this year in Land O Lakes, FL. Though the rain stayed away, the chill of winter was definitely in the air. Saturday was cold and blustery and we were having flashbacks to Regional's from just a couple of months ago. Greg Baggerly did a great job of keeping the pilots moving with 3 lines going until early afternoon. We finished the day with 2 lines to keep from flying facing the afternoon sun. There were a few “guest judges” who did not fly, but graciously braved the weather and rotated from chair to chair. Thanks to Tony Fandino, Curtis Cozier, and Bruce Ransome for taking a load off the contestants and helping to provide a high level of competent judging. We were able to finish three full rounds Saturday.

Sunday would bring a wonderful winter day of sunshine and cold temps with much lighter winds. Greg wisely chose to delay the start of flying until 10am once the air had a chance to warm a bit. Unknowns, a round of basic, and freestyles were completed and wrapped up shortly after noon.

Awards were presented and the results are as follows:

This contest was flown according to modified rules.

Tom Miskura won the Basic class. There were 6 pilots in Basic. The winning order was: (1) Tom Miskura, (2) John Helper, (3) Paul Rich, (4) Thomas Johnson, (5) Mark Speedy and (6) Don Shulman. They flew 7 known sequences (4 rounds). The scores ranged from a low of 3,386.4 to a high of 5,000 (a range of 1,613.6 points).

Bruce Baltera won the Sportsman class. There were 14 pilots in Sportsman. The winning order was: (1) Bruce Baltera, (2) Luis Bosch, (3) Christopher Keene, (4) Jamie Thomas, (5) Jose Guzman, (6) Forrest Waller Jr., (7) Nob Muraki, (8) Don Gentry, (9) Ryan Keene, (10) Kirby Keene, (11) Thomas Heller, (12) Michael Abraira, (13) Scott Melville and (14) Doug Bracey. They flew 6 known sequences (3 rounds) and 1 unknown round. The scores ranged from a low of 1,720.7 to a high of 4,878.8 (a range of 3,158.1 points).

Alvero Yanguez won the Intermediate class. There were 9 pilots in Intermediate. The winning order was: (1) Alvero Yanguez, (2) Ramon DeZubra, (3) Richard Brink, (4) Gerry Dale, (5) Dave Ortmayer, (6) Tom Reifsnyder, (7) Bill Lairsey, (8) Butch Hall and (9) Gregory C Baggerly. They flew 6 known sequences (3 rounds) and 1 unknown round. The scores ranged from a low of 3,447.4 to a high of 4,934.8 (a range of 1,487.4 points).

Kevin Garland won the Advanced class. There were 3 pilots in Advanced. The winning order was: (1) Kevin Garland, (2) Pedro Jordan and (3) Alex Miller. They flew 6 known sequences (3 rounds) and 1 unknown round. The scores ranged from a low of 2,369.3 to a high of 4,815.5 (a range of 2,446.2 points).

Brian Luckett won the Unlimited class. There were 6 pilots in Unlimited. The winning order was: (1) Brian Luckett, (2) Jason Shulman, (3) Stephen Hamilton, (4) Kevin Wilson, (5) John Schroder and (6) Kenny Willis. They flew 6 known sequences (3 rounds) and 1 unknown round. The scores ranged from a low of 3,126.1 to a high of 4,965.6 (a range of 1,839.5 points).

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

Bruce Baltera won the Seniors class. There were 11 pilots in Seniors. The winning order was: (1) Bruce Baltera, (2) Richard Brink, (3) Gerry Dale, (4) Dave Ortmayer, (5) John Schroder, (6) Bill Lairsey, (7) Butch Hall, (8)Tom Heller, (9) Gregory C Baggerly, (10) Scott Melville and (11) Doug Bracey. They flew 7 known sequences (4 rounds) and 1 unknown round. The scores ranged from a low of 0.218 to a high of 0.719 (a range of 0.501 points).

The tightest competition was for 1st place in the Intermediate class, with only 2.758 points difference between Alvero Yanguez and Ramon DeZubra.

Next on the contest trail is AMPS at the beautiful facility in Miami, FL.

See you there,

Kevin Wilson – ARD, FL