This was the "shop" I used to do the installs on this plane. It had 9 work surfaces.



In between the last two contests I moved to a new house. The 3rd garage bay will be my future shop after I can figure out what to do with all this stuff.



Time for a backup plane?

Originally Posted by Dean Bird

There was a nasty cold front that moved through Southern California last weekend. That didn't stop about 24 crazy pilots from attending the Hemet Model Masters IMAC contest.

I hadn't flown since the Hemet contest back on the May 6th weekend. Bill Vargas was promoting his contest in Hesperia, California, the weekend of September 23rd. I wanted to meet Bill and get back to doing some flying. The conditions were beautiful all weekend.

We welcomed Kevin Duncan to the class. This was his first IMAC contest. He is a Masters class Pattern pilot.

The competition is always very close in the Advanced class. My flying buddy Jim McCall is a really consistent pilot and he won both sequences in the first round. It seems like I'm always flying from behind this year. It's actually more relaxing to be pursuing the leader. It's fairly nervous to be flying while you're defending a lead.

At the end of the day Saturday we were only 7 points apart out of 3,000 possible.



It would be a duel in the Unknown on Sunday morning. Jim and I both had our Unknown called by our flying buddy, and expert caller, Jacques "flyracer" Telles. He did a perfect job and I was able to hold on to the lead and win 1st place in this contest. Thanks JT!!



I was glad I got the plane out and flew with Bill Vargas in Hesperia. It's a nice field and the Saturday BBQ was excellent!!

Had a fun week at the Tucson Aerobatic Shootout. It has been several years since I was there judging. It was great to see everyone.

The Advanced class was a lot of fun. As pilots we had a great experience competing with each other.

- Kevin Duncan was flying a plane he bought three weeks earlier and he won our first Unknown. Very cool!!
- Dale Arnold sheared his prop bolts before our second Unknown. He borrowed a plane and won the Unknown with a plane he'd never flown before. Awesome!!
- I was calling for Jim McCall in our third Unknown. He had just called for me and watched me zero the simplest maneuver in our Unknown. We had a good laugh and I told him he saw the example of what NOT to do. He managed to find a different way to zero that same maneuver but still won our third Unknown. Good times!!
- Brian Strachan (pronounced "Strawn") was flying his backup Freestyle plane. It was a pleasure meeting this young man and getting a chance to talk with him.

I didn't win any of the Unknown rounds. Winning a majority of the Known rounds and staying close in the Unknowns was enough to take the top spot on the podium. Jim McCall took 2nd place and Dale Arnold took 3rd place. Yes, we're a bunch of old guys.





Congratulations to all the pilots for a great competition. We had a lot of fun flying and calling for each other. It was a pleasure hanging with all you guys for the week.

HUGE "Thanks" to Dave Johnson, the Desert Aircraft employees, Kevin Garland (the CD), the invited judges, the TIMPA club member volunteers, and all the sponsors for making this TAS possible. It is an incredibly special event for the IMAC class pilots.

Congratulations to all these guys on their Tucson Shootout success with their Extra 330SCs.

- Spencer Nordquist won 2nd place in the Invitational class with his Romanian Scheme
- I won the Advanced class
- Jacob Campbell was on the podium (3rd place) in the Intermediate class with Dave Hargrove's Yellow Chequer Scheme
- Cayden Bruce won the Sportsman class with his Yellow Chequer Scheme
- Ryon Owens made the finals (5th place) in the Sportsman class with his custom color swapped Skydancer Scheme

Craig Guest (Advanced) and Dave Hargrove (Intermediate) also flew in the TAS with their Extra 330SCs.

It was awesome to see so many of this great flying, beautiful, plane at this special event.

Alex Dreiling won the Intermediate class with his at the 2015 Tucson Shootout.
Spencer Nordquist won the Unlimited class with his at the 2015 Tucson Shootout.

50% of the IMAC class wins at the last two Tucson Shootouts with four different pilots. Good stuff!!

The last three months have been a very unexpected whirlwind of activity. I had flown some local contests this spring and made a trip over to Hemet, CA, in early May to fly with Randy Dreyer. He beat me. I was in 2nd place for the year and didn't have plans to fly any more contests this year.

On August 14th I received an email from Kevin Garland, the CD for the Tucson Shootout, asking, "Would you be interested in flying? We need Advanced Pilots.". Since I hadn't flown in over 3 months I responded with, "How desperate are you?". He said, "Thanks. If you are able to do both judging Invitational and compete that would also help out.". I'm flying the Shootout. Woohoo. I was actually pumped up about flying this time instead of just judging.

I got a handful of practice flights and flew the Hesperia, CA, contest to get some contest nerves and some real Unknown nerves right before the Shootout. It felt good to be flying again. That contest was a success.

I had a great time at The Shootout seeing everyone that I only see when I'm judging the TAS, IMAC Nats, or IMAC Worlds. That contest turned out well.

I was already scheduled to judge at the IMAC World Championships next year. Heck, if I have to fly Unlimited next year I might as well try to qualify for the team and use that Unlimited practice as preparation. I convinced my wife to let me skip the Bruno Mars concert we had bought tickets to back in January so I could attend the World Qualifier contest. It did cost me tickets to Trans-Siberian Orchestra in December and Pink in March.

We had three pilots competing to qualify for one spot on Team USA. Jim McCall, David White, and myself all flew great. Jim and I split the two Known sequences in the first round and Jim had the lead. David and I split the two Known sequences in the second round. After two rounds we drop a sequence and I was slightly in the lead.

For the WC Qualifier we had an extra Unknown that was flown at the end of the day Saturday. David won that Unknown that was for the WC Qualifier but not part of the IMAC contest. I was last place for this Unknown but we were all very close (1000, 981, 978). At the end of the day Saturday the three of us were less than 22 points apart out of a possible 3,750. It was great competition between friends. We were having a lot of fun flying together in the perfect weather.



Day Two was more typical "contest" conditions... windy. Jim McCall and I were calling for each other. He was keeping a close eye on the classes flying before us to see what the wind was doing to the planes. There were getting blown all over the place. He was trying to decide which way to snap to do the cross box humpty for positioning after getting blown off line.

The CARF-Models Extra 330SC was better than my competition in these "contest" conditions. It was easy to keep my geometry. I didn't really pay much attention to the wind because it wasn't having a significant impact while I was flying my second Unknown. This airframe's ability to better handle these "contest" conditions gave me a strong win in the Sunday morning Unknown, a win for the IMAC portion, and a win for the World Qualifier.





My personal "Thanks" to Jim McCall for the great calling at the TAS and the World Qualifier, and to Jim and David for the great camaraderie and friendly competition. It was an absolute blast.

Wow!! After an email in August I had gone from no plans to fly this fall to flying three events in a six-week span, winning at the Tucson Aerobatic Shootout, and qualifying for the IMAC World Championships. Needless to say, this has made a big change to next year's plans.

Everyone have an awesome holiday season!! See you next year.

Congratulations to Spencer Nordquist. He won our WC Qualifier in the Unlimited class flying his Romanian Scheme and will represent Team USA at next year's IMAC World Championships.

Cayden Bruce will be on Team USA in the Sportsman class. He earned his spot on the team by winning 3rd place at the IMAC Nats flying his Yellow Chequer Scheme.

Congratulations guys!!

What a beautiful flying day today. The Weather Channel app calls it "Abundant sunshine" with 76 degrees and calm winds.

Here's Cayden Bruce in a t-shirt taking his Yellow Chequer Scheme out for a practice flight getting ready for the Intermediate class.



Rusty Fried brought a crock pot of chili with all the toppings.



Kirt Campbell brought the leftover honey ham and Hawaiian rolls for some great sliders.



Thanks guys!!

Originally Posted by Dean Bird

Wow!! After an email in August I had gone from no plans to fly this fall to flying three events in a six-week span, winning at the Tucson Aerobatic Shootout, and qualifying for the IMAC World Championships. Needless to say, this has made a big change to next year's plans.

I moved up to Unlimited to try and gain flying skills in preparation for the IMAC World Championships in September. I had 15 practice flights for a total of 30 sequences before the Supersition Challenge last weekend. On practice flight 15 I had finally gotten through both sequences in a flight with no zeroes. I was ready.

We had an absolute blast at the contest with abundant sunshine, temps in the mid to high 70s, and calm winds all weekend. Couldn't ask for more.

We had six pilots in our Unlimited class. I had lots of friends judging and calling my flights so we were making jokes and cracking up at the bad stuff. Over-rotate the 1 1/4 snap to knife edge and only have 30 degrees left to fit in a 2 of 8... "Nice 2 of 32!!" We were celebrating any success. Hit a double positive snap on the downline... "Boom!!"

I ended up 2nd place... in the competition for 2nd to last place.



I did get several scores of 10... on Sound.

It is interesting to see the total "percentage of perfection" on your Final Score. I averaged a score of 6.76 per maneuver. Bryant Mack averaged 8.89 per maneuver for the contest and 9.25 in the Unknown round. I am not now, or will ever be, competitive in the Unlimited class. For sure I am gaining skills to compete in the Advanced class at the World Championships, though.

I hope to see everyone at the Winter Roundup at Felix Ranch on February 17th for some more entertaining flights, hooting, hollering, and good times.

Originally Posted by Dean Bird

I moved up to Unlimited to try and gain flying skills in preparation for the IMAC World Championships in September. I had 15 practice flights for a total of 30 sequences before the Supersition Challenge last weekend (1/13/2018). On practice flight 15 I had finally gotten through both sequences in a flight with no zeroes. I was ready.

I ended up 2nd place... in the competition for 2nd to last place.

I did get several scores of 10... on Sound.

It is interesting to see the total "percentage of perfection" on your Final Score. I averaged a score of 6.76 per maneuver. Bryant Mack averaged 8.89 per maneuver for the contest and 9.25 in the Unknown round. I am not now, or will ever be, competitive in the Unlimited class. For sure I am gaining skills to compete in the Advanced class at the World Championships, though.

We had great weather and great competition last weekend at the Winter Roundup at Felix Ranch. Temps in the low 70s and calm winds both days.

It was also an Alternate Sequence contest. That was a LOT more fun not dealing with a rolling circle seven times on the weekend.

Without the rollers my average score per maneuver increased from 6.76 to 7.64.

I finished 1st place... in the competition for 2nd to last place.



The contest report said, "The tightest competition was for 3rd place in the Unlimited class, with only 12.159 points difference between Alex Dreiling and Dean Bird." Close competition with friends is what makes IMAC fun. It was a great weekend!!

Originally Posted by Dean Bird

I moved up to Unlimited to try and gain flying skills in preparation for the IMAC World Championships in September. I had 15 practice flights for a total of 30 sequences before the Supersition Challenge last weekend. On practice flight 15 I had finally gotten through both sequences in a flight with no zeroes. I was ready.

I ended up 2nd place... in the competition for 2nd to last place.

I did get several scores of 10... on Sound.

It is interesting to see the total "percentage of perfection" on your Final Score. I averaged a score of 6.76 per maneuver. Bryant Mack averaged 8.89 per maneuver for the contest and 9.25 in the Unknown round. I am not now, or will ever be, competitive in the Unlimited class. For sure I am gaining skills to compete in the Advanced class at the World Championships, though.

My third contest in the Unlimited class was last weekend at the Tucson IMAC. I hadn't done a roller in almost 2 months so I spent one flight on Friday trying to get safe flying it again.

We had 7 pilots in the class. In my afternoon round on Saturday I got the inputs crossed up during the outside portion of the roller and started turning the other way. I had to bail out, bring the plane back to show center, and resume the sequence. I've been told rollers are your friend. Not mine yet.

At the end of the day Saturday I was having a great competition for 2nd to last place with a pilot that was borrowing a plane he had never flown. I was leading by 4 points.



On Sunday morning I was totally overwhelmed by the Unknown. Lots of snaps starting and stopping in all kinds of odd places. I ended up 2nd place... in the competition for 2nd to last place.



This was my second contest including the Unlimited rollers. My percentage of perfection increased from 6.76 my first contest to 7.08 for this contest. A positive trend.

Cayden Bruce won the Intermediate class with his Yellow Chequer Scheme Extra 330SC. Congratulations Cayden!!

Craig Guest won the four Known Rounds in the Advanced class on Saturday flying his CARF Scheme Blue-White Extra 330SC. He had to withdraw due to an engine problem and didn't get to fly the Unknown. Craig, sorry about your troubles. I hope you get that engine straightened out.

Originally Posted by Dean Bird

Wow!! After an email in August I had gone from no plans to fly this fall to flying three events in a six-week span, winning at the Tucson Aerobatic Shootout, and qualifying for the IMAC World Championships. Needless to say, this has made a big change to next year's plans.

Last weekend was the 2018 Cactus Classic. It's a contest with decades of history. Last year's class winners are awarded their Cactus Classic jacket at the contest. I was the winner for the Advanced class last year and received my CC jacket. The Advanced class seems like a lifetime ago.

This was a VERY special contest for me. My wife, Nicola, has agreed to be my caller for the World Championships in September. The final day of competition is her birthday. I know she could think of many other vacation spots for her birthday, but she is going to be in Muncie, Indiana, calling for me.

This was her first contest to give it a shot. She knew nothing about Aresti and had never even scribed at a contest. She was jumping right into the deep ending attempting to call for an Unlimited sequence. We did a crash course on Aresti and she made "a few" notes on the Known Aresti. Notice her legend in the lower right corner.



It was a Known so I called it during the first flight so she could watch and hear the timing compared to the plane's spot in the sequence. She took over on the second flight. She did great.



She was ready for the Unknown. On Saturday evening she walked me through it telling me what the maneuvers and elements were and asking me what to call. She made "a few" notes and we ran through it twice on Saturday evening.



I arrived early on Sunday morning to put the plane together. I had to get a clean Aresti for the Unknown so I could run through it before she arrived. I couldn't actually see the Aresti on her call sheet. We flew the Unknown and she was incredible. So calm, so relaxed, and a smooth delivery. It was the coolest flight ever for me.

There's a saying that it's all the caller. I've been competing hard for 2nd to last place this year. Ignoring the 11th place pilot since he didn't fly Sunday, I finished in 3rd to last place out of 10 pilots.



My best finish this year. I let her know it was all because of her awesome calling. Thank you Nicola!!

Originally Posted by Dean Bird

Wow!! After an email in August I had gone from no plans to fly this fall to flying three events in a six-week span, winning at the Tucson Aerobatic Shootout, and qualifying for the IMAC World Championships. Needless to say, this has made a big change to next year's plans.

My fifth contest in the Unlimited class this year happened last weekend in Hemet, California. We only had a 3 pilot class. The total count didn't matter. It was still me and one other pilot in a fierce competition for 2nd to last place.

I flew two of the best Knowns I could on Saturday. I had a slight lead for 2nd to last place. We had a very windy round on Saturday afternoon (Round 2). I could tell by the scoring that I still had the superior hardware. My plane handled the "contest" conditions easily and my scores weren't impacted. I was still scoring an average around 7.5 per maneuver. Both the other pilots had planes that didn't handle the conditions as well and their scores showed it. This plane is fun to fly.

I was happy to see our Unknown for Sunday morning. It looked like a slightly tougher than usual Advanced Unknown that we might see at the World Championships in September. This would be good test to see if all this Unlimited flying had added new skills to prepare for the Worlds. I flopped. I overcooked the 1 1/4 snap on the downline on one maneuver and overcooked the single positive snap going into the Split-S. Two zeroes. Ugh. Once again I finished in 2nd place... in the competition for 2nd to last place.



I was given the 3rd place trophy for participation.

This was my last contest until the World Championships in September. My five Unlimited finishes have been:

Last out of 6
2nd to last out of 5
Last out of 7
3rd to last out of 10
Last out of 3

Flying in the Advanced Class feels like a lifetime ago. My confidence as a pilot has never been lower. That doesn't really matter. We're having fun at the contests. I will fly the World Championships to enjoy the experience and camaraderie with pilots from around the world.

Everyone have a fun summer!!

Dean,
I read that you are using a 6" spinner, reading through the CARF instructions it calls for a 5.5".
I've seen your plane and the spinner matches up very nice.
I pulled the trigger on a new one and if all goes right I should have in a week or so.
I'm starting to buy stuff for it and would like to get a couple of spinners ordered.
Thanks

Originally Posted by highonthai

Dean,
I read that you are using a 6" spinner, reading through the CARF instructions it calls for a 5.5".
I've seen your plane and the spinner matches up very nice.
I pulled the trigger on a new one and if all goes right I should have in a week or so.
I'm starting to buy stuff for it and would like to get a couple of spinners ordered.
Thanks

Congrats!! It is so much fun to unpack one of these and enjoy how beautiful they are.

The Instruction Manual does indeed mention a 5.5" spinner on page 6.

It does need a 6" spinner. I used a carbon spinner cone and a Dave Brown lightened backplate.

Thanks Dean, just wanted conformation on the spinner.
yep looking forward to unpacking it. The Dalton is getting ready to be stripped down and go up for sale. So at the Bakersfield contest I'll be flying a 100cc plane, at least it will make the judges think I'm flying higher and farther out...