Notes

In this competition the weather was hot most of the time. Certainly much hotter than Sebnits will be.

The conditions were, at times, difficult. In my opinion pilot experience played a large part in the success of the teams. I was surprised to see in the photos I took how many times Tom Fluker was looking at the traffic while flying. Pilots of the three selected teams held their handles high and were able to (just) avoid the nearly unrecoverable situation of getting behind the aircraft.

All of this underscores the benefits of having other contests in the U.S. It is not clear to me what other class can prepare one for F2C. Lambert/Fluker's victory argues to go to the F2D circles to recruit pilots. However any F2C contest can be a significant help in the US. I hope a Fly-in such as the 2000 fly-in at the narrows can be held again to complement Cabin Fever earlier in Tucson.

The photo to the left was taken at the first pit in a Sunday race. Ascher stays well ahead of his airplane on takeoff.

The Aschers, who routinely practice in these conditions, were at least a half second off the normal ten lap time they achieve with their best airplanes, but clearly consistent. Only the slightly slower Ryan/Whitney team managed to turn in 6 times in 6 heats.

With a new engine to fly in the Champs in 2002 one expects the half second will appear.