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Here is an article from Mike Gosson, CD for the ARCS, Marcellus Pattern Contest of 7/25/20.
D1 |Salvatore Piu spiurc@comcast.net CT•ME•MA•NH•NJ•NY•PA•RI•VT
D1 contest seasons seems to have stabilized from Covid-19 impact. Remaining contests continue to be held as originally scheduled. As of September 1st, only one remaining as-scheduled contest in D1 is planned for September 12th at the AFRCF site. Please remember to pre-register for events! I’ve been meaning to re-cycle some old sets of batteries. The first challenge I encountered is finding a facility that would accept Lipos. I found one, verified by phone they accepted batteries, only to find out upon arrival, they meant car batteries, not lipos. They suggested another site, which did end up accepting batteries. So, now to prep these batteries to be turned in. First, separate packs taped together that operated as a set. Next, cut each wire and apply electrical tape. While cutting one of the individual cell wires, I got to close to another and witnessed a puff of smoke. The startled me a little. While still concerned about this issue, I heard a popping sound, then got startled big time, in fear of a fire possibly starting. As it turns out, the popping sound was the plastic wrapping, that came with the battery pack, had let go and the individual cells puffed and expanded out like an accordion. Great, this raised the stakes on the need to unload these batteries to a recycling center! I added electrical tape to ensure the pack didn’t expand out of control, and ended up turning them into the local recycling center.
This was our third consecutive year to host a one day pattern contest in Marcellus NY on July 25, 2020. Although the turnout was not what I would have enjoyed, the event went on as expected. What Makes a Great Contest? For me, what makes the event a joy is the level of participation I receive from my fellow club members. Without their generous support they give, our event simply wouldn’t take place, or if it did the results would be a mixed bag. Everyone has a job to perform and they need only be reminded once in the morning of the procedures and protocols that transpires throughout the day. I have a small, yet very dedicated group of club members that make running an event a pleasure. A much as I tried this year as in years past to promote our “One Day Pattern Contest”, the numbers are in decline, and I’m certain everyone is aware of this down spiral. With that said, our contest drew eight contestants within a three hour driving distance, which appears to be the break point for a one day event. 1 – Sportsman, 3 – Intermediate, 4 – Advanced. Sportsman 1 -David Conklin Intermediate 1 - William Birkett 2 - John McMakin 3 - Tom Avedisian Advanced 1 - Steve Miller 2 -Matt Kloss 3 - Ronald Lawrence 99999 - Ken Velez
Now I know you’re wondering how 9999 Ken Velez, aka: “BPR” ended up in the advanced class.Well, there is a story to that. Ken (BPR) chose to drive 5.5 hours from Delaware to our contest, for that I was grateful and honored he made the journey for our one day event. As it turned out, Ken was the only pilot entered in FAI, and chose to fly masters for which we had no other master’s pilots in that class as well. I asked the other pilots in the advanced class if they objected to Ken (BPR) to fly along with them, with the stipulation we would not enter his scores. They were all in agreement. For those that are not familiar with the BPR, it stands for “Big Puerto Rican” to that Ken calls me SSP “Syracuse Skinny Pilot”. Thou I am not skinny, I am smaller than Ken. This year, I took a little change in direction, due to the unknown number of contestants. We chose four weeks before the contest to forgo plaques as we have provided beautiful mirrored glass plaques in the past. Instead, we lowered the entry fee to a flat $25.00 per person and supplied the contestants and the volunteers with food and drinks throughout the entire day. This also allowed us not to stop for a lunch break. I believe in the end everyone enjoyed than change and most agreed it worked out well. Our contest usually commences at 10:30 am due to the position of the sun, and my goal is to fly four rounds. My crew is fast, very fast. Results are posted within five minutes of the conclusion of each round and pilot’s flight order rotates just as quickly. It is a very smooth process with the right people. The flying weather was absolutely perfect, a sunny day with virtually zero wind. In the end, we did fly four rounds with time to spare. The last round concluded at 3:45pm with the concluding ceremonies at about 4:15. After a two day post break, I asked my club volunteers if they are on onboard for a 2021 event and the consensus was a unanimous YES.
September 2020 K-Factor | 9
