Well, we put another one in the history books today……and, if you missed it, I think you missed another great chance to have some fun.

After having been rained out (an understatement !! ) last Saturday, we got a nice break in the weather for today’s All-Up-Last-Down Event.

Eight guys registered to fly, so fly we did. Pilot’s meeting was at 10:30 AM, followed by individual picture taking of all the participants (and everybody smiled….). Nice to see one of our newest members travel out from the South Hills area to fly with us today. Jeff Little came out to fly his ‘Electron’……a beautiful ship. Very beautiful and efficient airplane. It was particularly good to see Jeff, as he’s now recuperating from some rather nasty surgery. All the best, Jeff, as you continue to get better !! They tell me fresh air and sunshine will do you good, and we have lots of both at Cain Field !!

Launch time was a little after 11:00 AM, with the customary 10 second launch window again……which I have to think keeps us safely separated during what would otherwise be a ‘mass launch’.

Hank Wehrli was the first down…..with a flight of just a couple of seconds……those things happen.

Bill Marron’s ‘Bird’ did well today with a flight of 24:45, followed ten minutes later by John Sennott, landing his ‘Electra’ in 34:41.

Dan Bartolomeo had a few technical issues with his ‘Electra’ this year, but still managed a 5th place with a time of 49:03, followed closely by Jeff Little and his ‘Electron’, with a time of 53:12.

We reached the one hour mark, and every one seemed to be OK…..when Jim Donohoe requested the ‘allowed proxy flyer’ (Gene Boyko) that gave him a stretch break to ease the tension in his neck.

Seven minutes later, Tom Herron’s ‘Electra’ ran out of amps, and he landed with a 1:07:31 showing on the official stop watch.

With two flyers still in the air, it was all speculation as to who would be able to ‘Keep It Up The Longest’ this year. That question was soon answered, as Jim Donohoe’s last few minutes of valiant low-level flying just wasn’t enough, as he finally ran out of juice, and hit Mother Earth with a very respectful time of 1:14:25. Not too shabby for a Multiplex Foamie, Jim !

With no one left in the air to keep him company, this year’s winner ‘Jimmy T’ Troxell decided to just ‘bring her in’, and so he did…….with plenty of reserve still on board, with the winning time of 1:15:50.

The Field was then opened to general flying, as we all congratulated Jim on his win.

I’m attaching a few shots from the day’s activities for all to enjoy, and I’ll follow that with an email to each participant with their individual photos……just in case you want to print ‘em out and stick ‘em up in your workshop or something.

Hope everyone had a good time, whether you flew today, or just came out to watch.

So, start planning for next year………hope to see everybody out again for next year’s All-Up-Last-Down Event.

Peace,

Duie