Carolina Classic at Huntersville, NC---same thread, better title

[Kim]

So, I hit out for Huntersville this morning, on a day that would have been right at home in a Missouri November or December.

Got rained on pretty consistently from the front yard, down through Nashville, and out across Tennessee.  Hitting Nashville about mid-afternoon did nothing to lessen the pace of everyone jockeying for positions, trying to hit their exit ramps across seven or eight lanes of traffic, with me trying to maneuver out of the way in my big, slow target.

Several times, out in the hills of eastern Tennessee, I got boxed in by semi trucks, and ran at about 45 mph in rain that was doing a good job of imitating dense fog.

Decided to call it quits at a Cracker Barrel Restaurant a few miles west of Knoxville...not as far as I would have liked, but am assured by my fancy GPS that I am only 253.0 miles/4hr & 9min away from my destination.  Of course, my fancy GPS has no appreciation or concern for water covered pavement, and semi trucks that apparently want to hitch a ride on the back of my camper....

Couldn't post any photos---don't know what's up with that---so just imagine depressing images of a gray, rain-swept four lane, fog-shrouded mountains, and that funky damp feeling you get when you underwear starts sticking to you.

Going on 9pm EST, and so bed time behind Cracker Barrel.  I must love this crap awfully bad!

Hydroplane Kim

[fit90]

JUst drive safely and everything else will be ok. Looking forward to the rest of the story and the sun shiney, happy ending.

[Cribbs74]

It's ok to be passionate, just leave some room for the man looking down on you and keeping you safe!

It will be worth the drive, besides the drive back has to be better right?

[RknRusty]

In the unlikely event you arrive at Waymer Field before it's unlocked, call me.
El Presidente Will Davis is on standby 24/7 and he'll come open it up.

Good day, got my oil changed, cleaned out the aircraft carrier, and filled up the tank. I had everything sorted and neatly organized, ready to pick up and go. Rock and Roll! All I had to do was toss the gear into Big Red and roll.

Then I decided to swap to a more dependable fuel tank and change to a colder running muffler on the Tutor's sweet TT-Pro .39. Of course, I ran into problems caused by shortcuts taken by a past owner. Like tapping my replacement muffler's m2.5(or thereabouts) mounting holes to a loose 4-40 that were apparently good for only one tightening of the screws... don't ask how I re-engineered that. And then I found it had become occupied by dirt daubers while on the shelf. Then I found a broken nylon clamp on the landing gear and have yet to scavenge one from the boneyard room. My brand new pack of tank mounting zipties from Lowes are defective and can not hold their position without letting go. Now my tools and the shop looks like it was nuked... what a maroon. I should have pre-flighted the plane days ago. Oh yeah, the battery in my drill died just as I finished the tank mount holes. Ain't life fun! . Just now as I write this, it occurrs to me that I might have some 6-32s long enough. I'll jump on that first thing before I repack all this junk tomorrow afternoon before I load up.

Nevertheless, as always, We'll get there. Fuel up, get the needle set and clock a run time on the engine, and hopefully fly a pattern in the 15mph wind Friday afternoon. Yaaaazzoo! I'll be so happy to get to Stuntersville. See you there Kim. Be Careful and do not rush.
Rusty

Ah shoot servimg.com is down, I was going to post the latest weather report. But it looks fine. Any rain forecast is outside of flying hours.

[Kim]

Yeah, I was just tired and whiney...need to remember to stay off the computer when I'm whipped! Got fresh coffee and breakfast going now, so everything is wonderful again!

Got the land ship prepped and ready to head out.

Yeah Rusty...GOT to love those eleventh hour tech glitches!

Whoa! The photo thing works!

[rsv1cox]

I'm going to miss you guys, but the siren call of the MG for me is hard to ignore. With good intentions of being there instead my weekend will be consumed by engine, brakes, and clutch.

Yesterday:


Today:


If anyone has the desire to take a 4 hour jaunt north, I could use a good body man.

Bob

[Kim]

Know all about them siren calls!!! Good luck with the MG!

[RknRusty]

It all seemed better in the daylight to me too. A simple thing that I tried to do nine and a half times last night, went together like nothin' today. The car is almost packed. One plane and enough gear to support a fleet. Finish off my suitcase and we're outta here.
Y'all hold down the fort!
Rusty

[roddie]

That's a great-looking road-rig man! I'd run "shot-gun" with you, any day! Best of luck and safe-home.

[Kim]

Thanks Roddie!

I rolled onto the field late yesterday, followed shortly by Rusty and Hollie.  After a visit and walk around the field, I took off and got myself a spot at a KOA a few miles north, so am ready for the fun to start.

Caught a little of the 1/2A Combat action yesterday...the things are faster than light sabres!  Started a video, and am gonna add to it as today goes along.  Here are some frames from yesterday.

[Ken Cook]

I would've loved to be there. I hope to make it in October. Did Mike take a 1st in 1/2A?  Were certainly  going to have to do something about that. Looks like someone took a bite out of the Lil Buzzard's trailing edge. Appears to be 2 Jeff Dawson planes  in 1-2 place?  Ken

[Kim]

I would've loved to be there. Did Mike take a 1st in 1/2A?   Appears to be 2 Jeff Dawson planes  in 1-2 place?  Ken

Think so. I was still catching up connecting faces with names. The wind was pretty bad today, and then seemed to back off as the contests were winding down. I got a little burned out and bailed about an hour ago, but the combat guys were still goinng strong.

[RknRusty]

Mike won speed limit today in a wild full 5 minute match, streamer cuts everywhere, even traded paint and kept flying. Sam won 1st place in basic, really hitting his maneuvers nicely.

I flew 1st round in profile in a swinging tree wind. Birds were tripping and falling trying to land on moving limbs. I had the smallest plane in the lineup, and the big ones were flopping around like doves over a baited corn field. It was a miracle I landed my plane... Everyone didn't. I scratched my name off second round lineup, I just didn't want to destroy it. Only one of all 9 pilots got pattern points. Mike waldron, Don Ogren, and Tom Weedman won. Tom got the pattern points.

But I'm happy Kim got to watch me fly, and I think he got some good pics too. It was an ugly flight, but I still have a plane for tomorrow. No neck trouble either.
To be continued...
Rusty

[Kim]

Some photos of Rusty's flight:

[xplaneguy]

It looks like a heck of good time guys. Great photos...thanks for sharing Kim!

[Cribbs74]

Looking good out there Rusty. I am so happy for you!

[RknRusty]

That's Al, my son, pitting for me.

Mike(Londke3) and I battle for lntermediate PAMPA bragging rights in the morning. Dueling at sunrise. WX is forecast to be calmer, 8-10 mph wind, whew. Today was not for sissies lol.
TBC...

Rusty and Kim reporting.

[Cribbs74]

That's Al, my son, pitting for me.

Mike(Londke3) and I battle for lntermediate PAMPA bragging rights in the morning. Dueling at sunrise. WX is forecast to be calmer, 8-10 mph wind, whew. Today was not for sissies lol.
TBC...

Rusty and Kim reporting.

I recognized Al. Good luck in the AM. you will do just fine. Have a good time and say hi to Kim for me!

[getback]

Congrats Mike on the first place combat! Good to hear you got a flight in Rusty and Kim there without a problem. Thanks for the pics ! ... I never got a response from my PO so i figure the answer was NO but there is / will be another time ,, Really galls me and will let Her Know on Tuesday .. Well thought at least we could go down the road to the new flight field for the Julian Air Races spring event this weekend , headed out and when we got there there were a few older guys shooting the news but No fliers ?? They said it got blown out from the way to much wind the air sock was straight out and flapping . Next event FAll Oct . 14-15 said would bee a big one so thats the plan for now . I really hate i have missed this Hunterville event again

[RknRusty]

I started writing a story, and I'll come back and finish it Later. This'll hold you over:

[RknRusty]

This is a BIG story... for me, and I think Kim too. I'll start my own co-report, but I'll do it tomorrow night. Kim probably has a motherlode of thoughts, pictures, and video clips. Right now, I feel like I’ve been chained and dragged behind a Harley Davidson down a gravel road… in the best way ever, Lol. I’m stoked, and ready to get back to flying again! Especially after a winter of thinking I'd never fly competitively again... and all my miserable whining about it.

Mike and Sam are an awesome couple of dudes, and I'm proud to have them as friends. That goes for Kim too, he's a genuine guy, no bother with pretenses, he's the exact same character you know from the forum... except he's a foot taller in real life, Lol.

Still Rockin' Rusty!


EDIT: Look at the Advanced scores. Mike would have come in 2nd, a half point behind first. Damn good wind flying.

[fit90]

Rusty,

Great job on the flying!! It is so cool to see your name on that score board! It had to be even better having your son and Kim there!! I hope you are feeling good and that we will be getting more flying reports in the future. Is Kim really that tall? Keep having fun!!

[RknRusty]

Rusty,

Great job on the flying!! It is so cool to see your name on that score board! It had to be even better having your son and Kim there!! I hope you are feeling good and that we will be getting more flying reports in the future. Is Kim really that tall? Keep having fun!!

Thanks, Bob.
He damn sure is. Check out the edit about the scores that I appended to my above post.

[Kim]

'The After Party' begins !  

Yep, got a load of more or less organized photos and video footage, and the first priority was to copy back-ups of all this stuff to calm my general distrust of computers.  I have officially designated Rusty and Mike to tag names and events, as I'm still catching up with the identity of the players.

They may not be totally correct order-wise, but I tried to get close.  Still got a bunch more and am working on editing some video.

This was a fantastic deal for me.  Having guys like Mike and Rusty explain these events  was REALLY educating.  I can read contest rules forever and only get a rough idea of how it's done, but having these guys translate it all into real-world language really caused some lights to go on.

Got more on the way and, on Rusty's advice, have opened a Dropbox Account where I'll send the full-size, unedited photos once I figure that new thing out.

Leaving for Kill Devil Hills in a couple hours, and will check in again here in a bit.

Once again, thanks to Rusty and Mike for the camaraderie and education and outright fun this past three days!

On the Road Kim

































                                            -----------------------------

[RknRusty]

I can fill in some names, so please stand by while I regain my creative energy, the ol' wing tanks are still a little low right now. Hmmm, I know I have some inspiration around here somewhere. I also want to start my own thread where I can storify it in my version so Kim and I can compare memorable moments. Tell you what though, I look pretty shabby on some of these windblown pics Lol. I don't look like the same young stud y'all used to watch building and flying Baby Streaks.

Here's another pic of the Winners' Circle, I'm kinda partial to this angle:

Carl Lindler of Columbia's Congaree club, flying his Time Machine, Mike Londke of Nashville and CEF, flying a P-40 extremely well, and me with my Tutor... I'm the one on the right. The Tutor is surprisingly photogenic.


I'm looking for a particular one of my son. His arrival Friday night was a complete surprise, and I was thrilled to have him come and pit for me on Saturday. He pitted for Tom Weedman too, with a huge Twister 60. I'll find it. I still have the usual Huntersville warm fuzzy dancing in my mind.
Rusty

Here's Al, I forgot it was already in this thread.

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