F5J 2005 Electric Soaring World Challenge Final Results Photos Friday was surely nice, but Saturday was rainy and Sunday had an enduring fog. We completed the 2005 F5J event with just three rounds of flying. Tough conditions, so much so we spent a fair amount of the down time looking at the rest of the calendar for better opportunities. Once again the overall winner took first in both Unlimited and 7 cell. Bruce Twining, who is almost always in the top three did this handily, even overcoming a loss of 60 landing points and a 30 second penalty for going one second over during a round. Lenny Keer repeated as Speed 400 champ. Weather I said this last year: "Usually October is kind to us here in Northern New Mexico, with light winds and lift ranging from light to huge." But for the second year in a row inclement weather has bit us on the proverbial tail, and left us telling tales to fill up down time. We were so hoping for ten rounds, but instead flew three. The forecast looked good early in the week. Friday (warm up day) flying was by all reports spectacular. We started Saturday pretty early, looking at a low cloud deck and expecting it to disappear and reveal towering cumulus clouds. One and a half rounds into the event the rain started, and we waited a reasonable amount of time before calling it a day. On Sunday we found ourselves in dense fog. The top of the fog was low though, so we hoped it would burn off early. Lenny and Steve from Colorado showed no fear of the fog, practice flying along the bottom of the fog as it slowly lifted. When the fog dissipated, we were treated to light cumulus clouds and a bright sunshine. In this we completed one and half more rounds. Honoring the need for some pilots to leave shortly after noon, we finished the event at the scheduled time in very nice conditions with more typical New Mexico weather, including far ranging and high flights. Equipment Not too much has changed in the 7 cell and Unlimited class arenas, with both built-up and molded planes as has been flown in the past. Much talk and examination of the proposed new Outrunner class filled our down time. We had both built-up and bagged wing planes in Speed 400, from 1.5 to 2.2 meter spans, and all seemed good platforms for the proposed new outrunner class, with much lighter little brushless motors and 7 cell or 2S LiPo batteries. The Contest-Day 1 CD Phil Gilbert wanted to get us into the air as quickly as possible, and the Speed 400 group was asked if they would fly under a low cloud deck, especially since scoring was Man-on-Man anyway. A majority agreed to fly, and we lined up to take on the challenge. The launch to 300-400 feet went by pretty quickly, and then we heard the cries that come with a lost plane. Fred's Wind Dancer had made it far enough into the clouds to disappear, and wasn't reacquired visually until 100' off the deck, way downrange and pointed straight down . Fred pulled full elevator, the wings folded, and that ended his Speed 400 run for this year. Everyone else managed to fly for a few minutes, after which we agreed to wait a little while for a bit better conditions. Practicing pilots enticed us back into action, and the Speed 400 crowd agreed to fly again. This time everyone managed to stay out of the clouds, and two thirds found an area of lift, allowing them to max the round. Unlimited and 7 cell each completed a round before the rain started, and for the rest of the day we never made it back into the air. The Contest-Day 2 .....--------oo...oofo..ogg.ghh...h-----........ Yeah, well, what can we say? Through three hours of fog we watched Lenny and Steve play with their smaller Speed 400 craft in the haze, and Aradhana Singh get his new Speed 400 creation trimmed out. The 7 cell and unlimited folks wisely stayed out of the air, since one second of high performance motor run would put a plane out of sight. Those who flew kept their planes close in. Then the fog lifted, revealing a beautiful sky ready for 7 cell and Unlimited pilots to finish the second round. One 7 cell plane got into a cloud, but the pilot was ready for it to come tumbling out, and quickly recovered to fly out the heat. Lift became plentiful, and it was New Mexico again--big skies and pretty clouds just made to fly our RC sailplanes around. But this was Sunday, and a couple pilots could not stay longer so we could squeeze in more rounds. We ended at three rounds, determined to look into a different time of year and to start our promotion nice and early so as many as possible can come. Complete Results Best viewed with Internet Explorer — contains active content The winning pilots: Overall Champion: Bruce Twining Unlimited Bruce Twining Albuquerque, NM 1st Place 7-Cell Philip Brister Patagonia, AZ 2nd Place Don Richmond San Diego, CA 3rd Place   Bruce Twining Albuquerque, New Mexico 1st Place Speed 400 Dale Nutter Albuquerque, New Mexico 2nd Place Fred McClung Albuquerque, New Mexico 3rd Place Lenny Keer Greeley, Colorado 1st Place Dennis Renner Albuquerque, NM 2nd Place     Photo not available     Iain Glithero Mesa, AZ 3rd Place Contest Kudos Thanks to the participants whose kind understanding made the bad weather bearable. To Phil Gilbert, our CD, for running the contest again. To the event directors Richard Shagam, Dan Tandberg , and Bruce Twining for running the flight groups. To Bill McLean and Shari for entering scores. To Aradhana Singh Khalsa for preparing scoring and handling registration. Again to Dennis Renner for his excellent scoring spreadsheets. To Deanna and Buzz Averill for handling the shirts and keeping an eye on everything. To Dan Tandberg for keeping us in treats. Next Year Notes We will examine the calendar options and publish next year's event schedule early. Especially looking at June and September. Considering expanding and coordinating with other venues for a series. Open to ideas -- email Aradhana Singh at ask at compu-quote dot net and Buzz at buzz_averill at yahoo dot com. Let's make 2006 the best year ever for F5J.

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