NERCCA newsletter
Issue 7 - 12/4/1994
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Oxford MA contest gets good turnout and weather

The Oxford MA Gremlin contest on December 3rd was greeted with the promise of
warm, unseasonable temperatures. Even though the field was covered with a haze
of white frost at 8:15, by the 10am start time we had 10 entrants and 
sweatshirt weather. Since only 2 contestants brought open class ships and they
had stock planes as well, it was decided to maximize the number of rounds flown
and just have stock class. The rules were modified slightly in that we had 3 
points for a cut and a 2 and 1 point landing task. The initial round was flown
with the landing section for 2 points being 3' radius circle and 1 point being
within 6' but after the first round we decided that the 6' circle would be the
2 point bonus and if nobody got that, the closest person would get a single 
point. We also extended the round/heat to 4 minutes from the usual 3. We had 
tried 5 minutes in the past but people couldn't concentrate that long. 4 
minutes seems to work well and we had several cuts in that "overtime" minute.

With up to 5 points available to people per round, since we allowed the landing
task even on "cut" rounds, The contest was always at stake and the point spread
seemed better than previous contest. We were also lucky enough to have NO 
frequency conflicts among our 10 fliers. Out of 29 heats flown, we had 7 cuts,
2 midairs, a crash, a spin in, and two deadstick landings. All the contestants
were able to fly in the following rounds after the crashes and midairs through
the use of spare wings and fuselages and backup planes. Our only concern of the
day was when Dan Snow tried to feed his finger to his engine and needed to get
three stitches to his index knuckle. A big thanks go to all the first aid kits
that showed up and Gary Guidi and friend that drove Dan to the hospital to get
checked out. Another big thanks goes to Ray for setting the event up and Ron
Gagner for hosting it as well as taking pictures for us.

Dan also had a bit more bad luck when he was involved in the first mid-air 
with Charlie Watt in the second round. Dan has been really mixing it up since 
he's had midairs the last four contests he's attended. Glad to see the damage 
was light enough that he was back in the next round. Charlie spent a bit more 
time swapping out and engine and wing but made the call in the third round as 
well. The third round opened with Steve Smith and Ray tangling in a midair
with Ray coming down in multiple pieces. His backup plane proved to be flying
better than his primary in the following rounds. It looked like Steve just 
had some prop strikes that were covered with tape for the following rounds.
It seems Steve's plane liked that little tast of blood since he went on to 
have a string of three successive cuts in the following three rounds. Evil 
Eric Henderson (the designer) showed how the new scoring system can really 
let you come back from behind when he had a perfect landing after a cut in 
round 5 for 5 points.

The final standings were:
	1st - Steve Smith with 14 points
	2nd - "Evil" Eric Henderson with 10 points
	3rd - Jack Zimmanck with 8 points (in his first contest)
	4th - Charlie Hochstrasser with 6 points

Thanks to all the contestants for the dedication to keep repairing and flying
for all six rounds. The spectators really seemed to enjoy it!

The seven plane Gremlin Gaggle at the end with people chasing streamers and 
making balloon runs was a great sight even though a few people got a little 
too involved and damaged planes. I can wait to see the pictures!

As we were leaving the field, Ron Gagner was heard to mention that we might 
have another one next year AND he might get his Gremlin back out of mothballs 
for it! Sounds like a plan to me.

Jim

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