Okay, I'll keep my eye on this thread to see if anyone else is coming tomorrow.

Hi Mike

I am going to be out there tomorrow, probably by 2:00.

Jeff

352-231-6529

Good luck to all of the pilots this week end! If I don't get a chance to be out there, I Hope you all Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Originally Posted by J_D

Hi Mike

I am going to be out there tomorrow, probably by 2:00.

Jeff

352-231-6529

Okay, good to know, thanks.

You transposed two digits of your phone number but don't worry, I already have the right number.

1- Dan Johns 2.4
2- Paul Mittendorff 2.4
3- Mike Naylor 2.4
4- Jody Miller 2.4
5- Jeff DuVal 2.4
6- Dillon Graves 2.4
7- Jamie Mercado 2.4
8- David Forbes (Sunday) 2.4
9- Gordon Buckland
10- John Kennedy
11- Rick Eckel
12- David Veatch (one or both days)
13- Raed Elazzawi 2.4
14- Jim MacLean 08 (Saturday)
15- Lewis Grey 33

So far only two pilots came forward on other than 2.4mhz, please let me before the morning so I can arrange with Rocket City.
In my earlier post with directions I corrected the distance east of the 520 exit on hwy 50 and it is 2.7 not 4.7 miles.

Thanks
Raed

Raed,

Sorry I missed the inaugural event at the OCFRC field today.. I'm down with some flu or something.

Hope you all had a great time.

Rick

Originally Posted by ThermalBuster

Raed,

Sorry I missed the inaugural event at the OCFRC field today.. I'm down with some flu or something.

Hope you all had a great time.

Rick

Hope you feel better quick Rick, we had a really good time, watch for the Gordon report!
Raed

Was one of the nicest December flying days I can remember. We arrived to a low ceiling which was fine because a little extra time was spent setting up on the new field. What a wonderful flying site this new field is for the Buzzards. Not only is access fantastic with drive on and off the field from Highway 50 very easy but we were excited by the large number of visitors that dropped in on us during the day. Some showed a clear interest in our hobby and recounted the days long ago when they tried RC flying etc. There is no doubt that being in this extremely visible location is going to enhance the Buzzards membership and grow the participation of the other clubs in FSS events as well.
CD Tom Galloway started us off with an 8 minute task and 100 point landing tapes. We would be flying Open winch with honors callup. The honors callup had a twist though as the top 3 placing pilots would lead us off rather than the winners of the previous round.
The air was consistently good all day though at times the lift was soft and our models needed careful coaxing to actually gain height. In some rounds a lot of patience following the lift for 3 or 4 minutes was required before it finally grew in strength sufficiently to see significant gains. It wasn't all up air every round as I can attest because my round #3 flight ended prematurely as I was unable to make soft lift work for the full 10 minute task.
The group of 13 pilots were made up of visitors from elsewhere in the state as well as the Buzzards and a great contingent from Pompano Beach, our new star pilot Jeff Duval from Gainesville, Jim MacLean and the Graves from the IRKS club made a good friendly group. It was also terrific to welcome Davd Veatch back to Central Florida after being away from the area for a decade or so but now living in Winter Park and flying once again with the Buzzards.
After 3 rounds of the contest completed we had Mike Naylor leading the Sportsman class with Dillon Graves in front in the expert class. He was closely pursued by Jody Miller and Jeff Duval in 3rd.
During lunch the pilots gathered around the Toys for Tots donations for some photos. The concept of a donating toys to this charity was suggested by Buzzards president and was a great success as a couple of dozen really nice toys were brought along by the pilots.
With the sun beating down more like an October day we continued the contest after lunch with 10 minute maxes set by CD Raed. For most pilots it was fairly easy air until the final round when the honors group of Jody, Dillon and Jeff all launched into air with few signs of lift. Jody went right and Jeff went left while Dillon went forward to the right. With all three aircraft descending Jody used the indication from his transmitter streamer to fly further to the right and further downwind to intercept the lift indicated by the streamer. He hooked up at about twice tree top height and began to slowly claw his way out of trouble. Dillon saw his model making progress and broke immediately downwind to join Jody but arrived at tree top height and in line with the trees. He found the air but for him it was a real struggle as he courageously made turns eeking out less than 5 feet at a time as his model was constantly drifting further and further downwind. He was flying one of the best saves of his short career and with out help from his usual mentors. It was nail biting stuff as he finally decided to make a break for the field when it was apparent that he wasn't buying his ride. He made it back for a scoring landing but had to pick his way around the trees to do so. I have watched hundreds of Dillons flights and although this one didn't yield a max it was in my mind the best example so far of Dillon displaying true soaring skills without his coaches advising him. Meanwhile Jeff had also bombed out to the left and landed early so it was just Jody who made a max from this honors callup in round seven to be only one of two pilots t complete the day with a clean slate. Jamie Mercado was the other pilot and he finished the contest in second place. By virtue of Jeff and Dillons low final score I jumped from 5th to 3rd.
1st place Sportsman for the day was Mike Naylor, with Lewis Gray 2nd and David Veatch 3rd. Davids old school "Dodgson" Lovesong was truly a pretty sight and his model was one of the best examples of the early 80's era of RC sailplanes I have seen.
The first day at this new field was a tremendous success and it is so exciting to have such a fantastic facility. With a steady stream of visitors to develop new members from the club is truly blessed by Raed's persistence and dedication to get this site established for us. We also must thank the Larry who visited the field today. Larry is the guy who did all the hard work with the county officials to procure the field.
Looking forward to another wonderful soaring day tomorrow.
If you are in Central Florida come out and join us.
You won;t be disappointed.
Gordon

A great time was had by all, collected 37 toys total, not bad for 13 pilots Saturday, and 12 today! Many brought extra toys for the cause.
Thanks everybody for participating, a great way to "break ground" at the new field, the best part of the weekend was all the visitors that stopped by, there had to be atleast a dozen! Hopefully they got bit by the "Soaring Bug"
Raed

I tried the Field Friday Afternoon with Miami Mike and Jeff Duval, I did a one 15 minute flight and had a blast. Was able to escape from work for a few hours until I had to hit it back again. Anyway, today hoping everything was smooth sailing, I took of to the fields driving on I -95 (shortest route to the new Xmas field) and still 1 hour drive. 45 minutes into it, I was called from work and had to turn around. Oh well, that's life, not always lets us play and have fun!

Hope you had a great time, great field to fly from!

Enrico

With the sun shining through as we set up at the new field it was clear we were going to be treated to a beautiful sunny winters day. Yesterday's fog and really low cloud had blown away and the forecast saw a little light rain and a wind from the south to be all we would have to contend with. Raed the CD called the first round at 6 minutes with the remaining rounds for the day to be 8 minutes. Lewis Grey brought out his beautiful Sailaire and it was truly magic to see that huge bird lumbering around in the lifty early air. We also had David join us from Gainesville and some time was spent before the contest helping him set up his launch mode for a better result.

The contest got underway a little late as a shower passed over and it was evident after the first round that with such perfect thermal conditions the day may well be a landing contest.
Once again Jody Miller set the standard in early rounds with precision landings as he and Dillon opened up a small lead over myself, Paul Mittendorf and Jeff DuVal. The Pompano crew including Jamie Mercado and Dan Johns flew consistently good times but didn't quite match the landing scores of the top group. Clearly with some concerted landing practice these guys would be very hard to beat.It was great to have old mate John Kennedy visit us for both days and he was so kind to donate his fabulous 20 foot high streamer pole for us to use at the Buzzards. Thanks a bunch John. We will use it to death - trust me. Once again the new location saw a bunch of visitors arrive to observe the contest and one very interested onlooker is also on the verge of purchasing a sailplane to join us. The proximity to highway 50 is definitely a great advantage for the Buzzards club.

By round 5 the clouds had congregated to create a little precipitation and as we launched in light rain the remainder of the group began lunch. The shower soon passed and round 5 was completed. Round 6 saw a change at the top as I found the damp conditions a little soft and scratching to make time, fell 15 seconds short and missed the LZ with a rookie error. Mike Naylor also had a small mishap in the LZ and failed to score landing points.With conditions still perfect for soaring round 7 was completed with Jody retaining the top spot and Dillon in second with Jeff DuVal in 3rd. It was great to see Raed fly his new 4M Xplorer into 4th place.
The sportsman class was won by Mike with David in 2nd and Lewis 3rd.

The contest was over early to allow our visitors plenty of time to return to their homes in Sth Fl and Gainesville but everyone who attended this inaugural contest at the Christmas field agreed that it was one if the best FSS TD events ever.
That is the final contest for 2012. Thanks for a great year. See you all in 2013.
Gordon
PS. Thank you Lewis for taking some of the photos.

The Marines stopped by my house and picked up the toys...what a great sight!
Thanks again everybody!

Great job Raed, I had a blast flying the old Eraser and getting it dialed in better. The new field is great, loads more room than the old Buzzard's field off Red Ember.

Just hope for a new year in which collecting toys for tots is the Marines main job.

Dave
PS, we need to figure out when to do another FSS at San Felasco next year

Originally Posted by David Forbes

Great job Raed, I had a blast flying the old Eraser and getting it dialed in better. The new field is great, loads more room than the old Buzzard's field off Red Ember.

Just hope for a new year in which collecting toys for tots is the Marines main job.

Dave
PS, we need to figure out when to do another FSS at San Felasco next year

Thanks for the kind words Dave, Rick is working on a contest schedule for next year.
Raed