Saturday promised to be a near perfect day to be out flying at Cain Field…..
……….and it was !

Just ask any of the six pilots who showed up to fly in the 11th Annual, All-Up-Last-Down Event.

The sky had broken cumulus clouds, the sun was shinning brightly, and the breeze was barely noticeable, as the six entrants lined up along the Flight Line.

The first air-horn blast started the customary “Ten-Second-Safety-Start” window, and by the second blast, all six airplanes were safely off the ground……see this video of the start, provided by prospective new member, Richard Jones: https://youtu.be/YwiRUjs9u5M

Unlike previous years, where some flyers were back on the ground shortly after launch because of some overlooked technical problem….this year, everyone stayed aloft for over a half-hour…till John Sennott became the first to give up the sky @ 35 minutes, 26 seconds.

Ten minutes later, at 45 minutes, 18 seconds, Rich Blatterberger’s ‘Easy Glider Pro’ came to earth…..out of juice.

Then in pretty rapid order, Jim Donohoe’s ‘Mysteque’ came to rest at 53 minutes, 37 seconds, followed closely by Jim Troxell’s ‘Sailaire’, with a time of 54 minutes, 44 seconds.

Now here’s where it got really interesting ! The last two still in the air, Bill Jones and Dave Reynolds….were both flying Foamies ! Yup….both almost identical ARF Foamies….Bill flying a ‘Wild Hawk’ and Dave an ‘Easy Star’.

With both Foamies still in the air, and both carrying about the same battery, it was all up for grabs.

At around an hour and twenty minutes, Bill Jones began his slow “unpowered” decent to earth, landing at 1 hour, 23 minutes and 7 seconds…..Bill’s longest flight, ever, with this airplane.

With everyone now on the ground, Dave Reynolds decided he needed to sit back down, and so, he landed @ 1 hour, 24 minutes and 22 seconds, proving that, “Even an ‘Old Stand-By’ can be a winner……..”

By the comments and the smiles, comments and laughter, it was pretty safe to assume everyone had a great time……and Dave Reynolds now has bragging rights for “Being able to keep it up the longest……….”

Peace
Duie Matenkosky
Event Director / All-Up-Last-Down Event