Ok now on to the details of our day..... We arrived at line "B" early to support Chad in his push for the finals. We met up the US team along with many of the other competitors that were scheduled to fly on this line. The 27 semi finalists were split between the two flight lines with each group flying in front of 10 judges. The fliers will switch sites during the lunch break.
The winds continued with a moderate blow out condition. These are pretty much the norm for the spring here. As the flight lines are set up on the taxiways they are subject to this crosswind condition.
The planes were put together in preparation for the first on two flights today.
The US guys also gather prior to the start of the flying session. Much discussion about the winds... winds... winds.
The US guys also gather prior to the start of the flying session. Much discussion about the winds... winds... winds.
Mark poses with Chad's Twister.
Marco Mechanic and Chad carry towards the flight line.Interesting things started to happen as the flying started early for some reason. It was scheduled for 08:30 but the first guy was up at about 08:10. 
Chad has his batteries checked while the Swiss competitor ahead of Chad appears to be a no show. He may be going much earlier than originally scheduled. Not a big deal as he is well prepared to fly. The Swiss flyer Marc Rubin casually walked over and asked if Chad was next up as the ready box beside Chad was empty. They said "no your up next." and the Swiss team went into into overdrive as they quickly brought up their plane and equipment.
Chad has his batteries checked while the Swiss competitor ahead of Chad appears to be a no show. He may be going much earlier than originally scheduled. Not a big deal as he is well prepared to fly. The Swiss flyer Marc Rubin casually walked over and asked if Chad was next up as the ready box beside Chad was empty. They said "no your up next." and the Swiss team went into into overdrive as they quickly brought up their plane and equipment.
A further delay ensued as the Transmitter flash card (carrying the model settings) was missing from the TX. mmmm.... interesting no? Another mad dash to the van to retrieve the card and Marc was up and flying.
Chad's plane was once again sound tested (every plane was checked prior to flight) and passed the test.
Chad's plane was once again sound tested (every plane was checked prior to flight) and passed the test.
Jason and some of the US team watch Chad's flight of F-07. Chad was fourth up and had a very good flight (At least I thought so anyway as I have seen him fly a lot this past week.)
We spent the remainder of the morning watching the other competitors flights. Some good, others not so good. All in all we felt Chad had a good flight and would score well against what we observed.
A shot of Quique's Euphorias. Absolutely beautiful aircraft.
While awaiting the results we met up with the Plettenberg family that had just flown in from Germany. They came out to support the various pilots flying their equipment. It was a pleasure meeting then and I made sure they had some Team hats and pins to wear.
The scores..... well I am no expert on this judging thing at this level. Although I have flown in many contests as well as judged many flights over my RC career I must say I, along with Mark, were absolutely mystified at the scores award to some pilots. Flights that were much worse than Chad's scored higher! (?) Now I could go on about the judging but I am Canadian after all, and we are known as friendly, easy going, peace loving people that don't get wrapped up in the semantics of issues. So with some wise words of wisdom I had from my parents as a youth.... If you have nothing nice to say... don't say anything at all. So with that in mind I will remain very, very, quiet.
We headed for lunch at the Airport Terminal... ya try as I might to travel around the world, it's ironic that I and up in an airport cafeteria! Anyhow lunch was fast and then we headed to the "A" Flight line down by the hangers in preparation for Chad's second flight in the afternoon.
Chad prepares for the second flight.
Once flying started a rather large crowd gathered and were treated to some great flying. Once again Chad had a good flight and was very consistant. Both flights had some minor errors but he presented it very well I thought. (Both of these flight today were almost identical.)
Another shot down the pit area prior to the second flight.
Part of the 
Canadian cheering squad enjoying the heat of the afternoon
Canadian cheering squad enjoying the heat of the afternoon
Quique's son gets "pinned" by Team Canada.
As we await the scores, Rosemary Ells, Brian Northeast, Mr Jesky and Mark relax in the shade of the lift gate.
When the dust settled (literally!) Chad was in 22nd position overall. The top 10 pilots will now head to the Holiday Inn (main hotel for the event) and choose their unknown manoeuvres for the finals tomorrow..... it will be a long night for them as they try to figure it all out. We, on the other hand, hosted a nice enjoyable "social" in our hotel room before heading out for dinner .
The finals go tomorrow! Should be good as the entire US, Japanese and French teams all qualified along with one Italian flyer.
Results of Semi Final flights here http://www.argentinaf3a.com/semifinal-flights.aspx
Lots of pictures here: Thanks Xavier!
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