2014 U.S. National Championship
Longview, TX USA
July 27- August 3, 2014
Reported by Chase Donner and Joe Zvada
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Sunday Morning - August 2, 2014
After days of rain and cancellations, the final day of competition dawned with yet another rain shower directly over the Gregg County airport. Luckily, the single cell dissipated as pilots arrived for briefing and Event Director, Jim Birk, put the field on a 30 minute hold to wait for any visibility issues to develop, which did not. At 6:30, pilots were released with a four part task, FIN, MDD, JDG, JDG. Winds were generally from north to south with a left on the surface and hard right turn as you climbed. Ceilings around 3,500 ft kept pilots from really testing the high altitude winds. The FIN and MDD (Minimum Distance Double Drop) were both set at the airport, making it extremely important to not miss the field. The MDD required pilots to get a marker in two corresponding triangles with the best result being the shortest distance between a competitor's baggies. Of those at the top of the standings Joe and Rhett Heartsill were first to arrive. Joe managed to score on both the MDD and FIN, while Rhett passed the target high with balloons underneath and only managed a score on the FIN. Joe started the day some 800pts behind first, but with this strong start he announced his charge to the front. Johnny Petrehn followed shortly behind the Heartsills, improving on their approach and closing it out with excellent throws for two solid scores on the FIN and MDD. The rest of the top 5, Joe Zvada and Chase Donner, had nothing for them on this day. Each achieved middle of the road scores on the FIN and missed the MDD. Johnny would hold the lead through the first two targets of the morning. The third target of the day was a JDG placed just over a kilometer away from the FIN and MDD and required pilots to climb to about 2000ft to catch enough right wind to get to it. There was speed at that altitude and pilots only leveled off briefly before they had to start descending again into the target. Despite the tough maneuver, 33 pilots got a baggie in the field on this task, with Nationals Rookie Steve Mitchell winning the task with a 0.9m result! Among those in the top 5, Joe Zvada and Chase Donner continued to falter at the JDG, achieving subpar results. Joe Heartsill continued his charge with a 900pt score. But Johnny Petrehn quickly closed the door on anyone's ideas of gaining ground scoring a 5m 959pt result. Johnny held the lead through the first three targets. The final JDG was placed 5km down wind and required pilots to again ride the higher right wind to get there. Early balloons found more right turn and were able to make good approaches on the final target of the Championship. Joe Heartsill finished his charge strong with an 11m 953pt result. Johnny Petrehn followed behind but was losing the right turn. Pilots searched for more right, but it was not there. Half the pack, including Petrehn, had to settle for a gps result on the final JDG. The final results would show that Joe Heartsill climbed past everyone in the standings except for Johnny Petrehn. Petrehn slammed the door on the field to close out the Championship and claim his second BFA National Championship Christine Bertsch claimed the Women's Championship, beating out Susan Stamats and Meg Skelton. Rookie of the Year honors went to Steve Mitchell, placing 19th overall in the Championship. Longview pilot, Bruce Bussey, won the GTBR event that was held in conjunction with the Nationals. And Jason Buckner (flying his new Zing 70 Racer) snagged the $5000 pole. Congrats to all! |
Results
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Thursday, Friday, and Saturday flights were all cancelled.
Wednesday Morning - July 30, 2014
After a 45 minute hold to start the morning briefing pilots were given two tasks (five and six of the Championship) to complete, a Hesitation Waltz and Judge Declared Goal. Winds were strong and out of the Southeast and it seemed like steerage may be limited from the first couple of pibals. Pilots were sent in the direction of Kilgore, Texas, a small town to the South of Longview, for the annual midweek flight over the city.
Many pilots took off as much as five kilometers from the first set of goals so they could allow themselves enough time to steer their way into the goal at a reasonable altitude. The quick winds at roughly 1,500 ft AGL made it a bit tricky. In the end a nice left developed on the surface and scores seemed to be tight on the first goal.
The Judge Declared Goal was located just a couple of kilometers down wind from the Hesitation Waltz targets and also proved to be tough for pilots as many recorded good scores. It will take some really close throws to win these tasks for sure. Check back as the results from this morning's flight become available.
After a 45 minute hold to start the morning briefing pilots were given two tasks (five and six of the Championship) to complete, a Hesitation Waltz and Judge Declared Goal. Winds were strong and out of the Southeast and it seemed like steerage may be limited from the first couple of pibals. Pilots were sent in the direction of Kilgore, Texas, a small town to the South of Longview, for the annual midweek flight over the city.
Many pilots took off as much as five kilometers from the first set of goals so they could allow themselves enough time to steer their way into the goal at a reasonable altitude. The quick winds at roughly 1,500 ft AGL made it a bit tricky. In the end a nice left developed on the surface and scores seemed to be tight on the first goal.
The Judge Declared Goal was located just a couple of kilometers down wind from the Hesitation Waltz targets and also proved to be tough for pilots as many recorded good scores. It will take some really close throws to win these tasks for sure. Check back as the results from this morning's flight become available.
Tuesday Morning - July 29, 2014
Four tasks greeted competitors this morning as the 2014 U.S. National Championship got underway from Longview, Texas. The tasks were a Hesitation Waltz, Fly-On, Hesitation Waltz, and Maximum Distance. General conditions were for winds from the Northeast and cooler weather than typical for this time of year.
The winds proved difficult in even getting to the first targets. The low level left was unstable at best and many pilots went to 4,000 ft. MSL on the way to the first set of targets to get enough left to get baggies in the scoring areas. In the end it looks like Todd Isley was able to best navigate the winds and won the task was a 1.03m result. Complicating this task was a declaration for the Fly-On task and most crews were on-site changing their pilot's declaration as only 18 of 55 pilots were able to get a baggie on the ground within the MMA and declare for themselves.
The Fly-On flushed out a number of strategies and sent teams across a wide swath of the competition map. Pilots were allowed to declare any grid reference that met the minimum distance requirement from tasks 1 and 3. As it turned out it appears that it was important to pick the goal far enough to the East to allow yourself time to get up and down for both the Fly-On task and for the Hesitation Waltz in task 3. Results for Task 2 aren't out yet but I would guess good scores won't be very numerous.
Task 3 gave pilots two goals to choose from and the approach to the third target depended on where the fly-on was placed. Because many pilots placed their Fly-On goal so far West they had a difficult time making it back South to achieve a result within the MMA on Task 3. Again a trip to 4,000 ft. MSL was essential in order to make this target. Joe Heartsill and Gary Heavin both scored 1,000 points for the win on this task.
Finally, pilots flew a Maximum Distance task. Steerage seemed to hold up well for this task but varied results on task 3 will give some pilots an advantage on distance depending on their location for crossing the 2600 grid line. Again these results have yet to be published so be sure to check back.
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