Sunday, October 11, 2009

The Bud Garric Pattern Classic - Sunday

Sorry for the short report for Saturday but I was beat!

Ok here we go.....

Frank wasn't kidding as we pulled out at 05:30 for our now standard breakfast meet and greet. Fred Light and Bob Obregon met us at the local Folsom Gold Miner Cafe.

We arrived at the field along with most all competitors and started setting up . The weather was clear but a thin layer of low cloud developed and slowed the start for half an hour or so.... several attempts were made but the planes kept disappearing:-) . Soon the sun worked it's magic and we had clear skies and light winds for most of the day.

The FAI guys got in a fourth round the previous afternoon so all the other classes started first to get caught up. Things ran smoothly and everyone was enjoying the contest. A hot lunch was provided for the judges and available for pilots and spectators alike. Frank made every effort to sell raffle tickets throughout the day as he had a huge array of prizes. He sold lots of red tickets... and a few yellow ones as well :-)

Our only major loss of the contest was Jon Carter's beautiful Oaxi Azurit that suffered a wing failure during his down line 1-1/2 snap. The recovered airframe was inspected and Jon will be in touch with the manufacturer with his findings.

New Sportsman flyer Jerry Hays cleaned up in the Sportsman class. This was his very first event and I suspect your will see him on the circuit next season. Intermediate was won by Dale Olstinske who has just returned after a lengthy hiatus. He has not lost his touch and flew very well. Dave Wick gave chase but couldn't catch him.

Advanced was won by Gary Fontaine who has been flying pattern for the last five years. He looked pretty happy when he received his award. Masters flyer and K-Factor Editor Chris Fitzsimmons won Masters with Jon Carter and Bill Sneed trailing behind. The FAI class was dominated by Troy Newman with Don Atwood a close second. Both Tom Messer, Craig Blogett and myself had close scores going into the last round but things pretty much stayed the same after the final round.

I packed up my plane as Hartley was heading home right after the contest and would take all my gear home to Sechelt.

The awards were presented and the raffle prizes drawn. The Blogett family once again cleaned up but did leave a few items for the rest of us:-) Everyone said their goodbye's and the flying site was soon deserted.

I had a great time and even met up with fellow flyer Andrew Beranek and his wife Char who are on vacation in the area. Also had a short visit with Dave Sullivan who comes up and flies at my RC club's annual charity event each year.

Everyone made us feel welcome and part of the group. Don Atwood, Bob Obregon, Ron Davies and the rest of the local pattern guys were great ambassadors for their club. Both Kelly and I are especially thankful for the kind hospitality of our hosts Frank & Linda Capone. We look forward to many more contests & visits together.

We head back into San Francisco tomorrow morning for some sightseeing and catch a flight home in the evening. Hope everyone enjoyed the contest reports.

More pictures posted at http://picasaweb.google.com/Dave.Reaville/BudGarricPatternClassic#

Saturday, October 10, 2009

The Bud Garric Pattern Classic - Saturday

Up at 5 am for our trip into Folsom for breakfast. Met up with the gang and after stuffing ourselves full, headed to the field for an 8am start... er well we started flying after 9:30 once the BBQ's were set up and the obligatory pilots meeting. A total of 27 competitors arrived for this event and we all enjoyed the spectaular weather... light winds and 70 degrees in the shade.

The lines were kept going steady with every class putting in three rounds with the exception of FAI that managed to squeeze in a forth round. We were treated to an awesome dinner and enjoyed some night flying as well.

We headed home and I am told that the 6a.m. breakfast is on again tomorrow so off to bed!

BTW More pictures posted

Results after Saturdays flying are....
Sportsman









Intermediate:










Advanced:









Masters:









FAI:


Friday, October 9, 2009

The Bud Garric Pattern Classic - Friday

A nice sleep in day for us after a great dinner and evening around the fire last night. This morning we will load up Franks' trailer & truck with a huge load of raffle prizes he has received from various RC suppliers. The garage is full of great stuff!

Hartley will take his rig down as well and set up for the weekend event so we will use it as base camp at the field. Nice to have friends! I will give Frank a hand and get is some practice flights as I have not flown since Mission.

The gals will head off for a trip into Placerville and some wine tasting etc.

BTW: Pictures will be posted at http://picasaweb.google.com/Dave.Reaville/BudGarricPatternClassic# or click on the link on the right side of the page.

More later.......

Ok it's later :-) I drove out with Frank as he towed his trailer full of planes and RC stuff. Hartley followed with his RV and we arrived at the field around 11:30. We set up and joined the lineup for practice rounds. I had not flown in a month so it was nice to get the fingers moving again.









We got reacquainted with some old friends and met some new ones as well. The weather was great with a nice steady blow in to keep the guys honest. The flying I witnessed was very smooth and it will make for a great contest for all those in attendance. Looks like a good crowd for the event. Some of us got registered early and received the highly coveted, commemorative Bud Garric Pattern Classic Peter Grimm Gambler Hat... Frank and I model this years edition below.









We manage to get in three good flights and then started to pack up our gear as the sun was swinging into the box. We flew the last flight offset to make things easy.

After the practice session I joined Hartley and we headed to the local RC store to check things out. Frank was on a mission to get a certain "Kielbasa Sausage" so he left early for a specific Costco outlet in the next county :-)

After buying some small RC items we headed back to Frank's place and met up with the gals and exchanged the days stories & events. Frank says I have to get up early tomorrow (05:25 departure!!!) as we are going for breakfast with some of the regulars in Folsom (near the prison I think :-)


More pictures posted as well.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

The Bud Garric Pattern Classic - Thursday

Up around 8 and headed down for a free breakfast in the hotel. It was surprisingly good! Showered up and now heading back to the airport and the rental car pickup. Should be on the road by 11ish or so. ETA Placerville is ???

Managed to get out of the car rental area at 1050 local with our Nissan Altima. Nice smooth little car with lots of power. Anyway we managed to easily move through SFO via Hwy 101 and on to the Bay Bridge. The east bound lanes are on the bottom so the view was rather limited. Anyway onto Hwy 80 and within an hour I was parked in the Premium Outlet at Vacaville mall (at exit 505 ;-) ) Coach, Tommy Bahamas etc., etc. Kelly was in her glory! I blogged :-)









We arrived at around three at the Capone “estate”… simply beautiful place nestled in the outskirts of Placerville. We had a little social with both the Hughson’s and Capone’s then started putting the plane together.









Even found a nice place to store it:-)

Off to practice tomorrow.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Our Trip to the Bud Garric Pattern Classic

We are now awaiting the departure of our SFO flight from YVR. We will arrive late tonight and grab a hotel close by the airport & rental car pickup. The plan is to pick the car up after our breakfast in the morning and head towards Sacramento.... with stops in SFO etc. then travel up to Placerville where we will stay with the Capone's. Hartley & Pat Hughson departed Sechelt last Friday and have camped thier way down from BC. If everything works out we should be meeting up with them at Frank & Linda's place. Also enroute to the event will be the Beranek's. This will be Andrew's only event of the season and I am looking forward to seeing him back on the flightline again.










Dave blogs away.

Hartley is bringing my plane & packs down so I just needed my TX for the trip. I have to admit it nice to travel so "light" compared to the Muncie trips:-)

Epilogue>>>

Had a nice flight down and only had to wait 30 minutes for the shuttle :-( Anyway all good as our room is pretty nice for the price. That's it for now... will try to update in the am.