2005 Combat Nationals- Thank You

This is the big one ladies and gents, the AMA Nats

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Feathers
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2005 Combat Nationals- Thank You

Post by Feathers »

We pulled out as quick as we could load the trailer and head for home. Drove straight through only stopping for fuel and drive-through food. Got home around 1:00 AM and I've just finished unloading all the Nats stuff and am now loading up all the stuff for a week at Scout camp. Whew!

Got to take a minute to thank everyone who worked so hard to make the Nats another great event. Rick Fraley for standing out in the drizzle, heat, rain, sun, whatever came by to keep everything running smoothly. To Ed for all the work in getting things set-up and organized. To Don for working the tech inspections in the trailer. To Lou for helping with everything and amusing the North with how frequently he could rearrange the spreadsheet to enable the South another victory (by the way- our trained actuaries and lawyers are still running scenarios: don't engrave the thing yet![:D])

Also thanks to everyone who flew and showed the kind of sportsmanship and "let's have some fun" attitude that makes combat fun. It was great to meet some more people that were only names on the forum before. The quality of the flying was incredible and it was quite a show. There were a lot of talented folks there- Brian Gilkey was amazing in how he just dogged a streamer until he had it (don't tell him I said that- I don't want him to think I think he's any good).

I have some photos but they'll have to wait for at least a week. It's time to get the tent packed. Great Nats. Thanks again.

Forgot to thank Rick's wife for being the "voice of combat" on the CD. It worked very well and this was the best contest I've attended as far as keeping stress down before start engines. Andy and his wife for bringing pie to the pizza party. David M. for sharing his muffler secrets with us while we spent several hours under the shelters waiting for the rain to stop. The Bohlmans and Bill Geipel for keeping us laughing during all the rain delays. Ah, I really have to finish packing...
sgilkey
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Post by sgilkey »

I would like to add my thanks to Rick Fraley, Ed Kettler, Lou Melancon, and Don Pruitt for all the incredible hard work they put in, keeping this contest rolling throughout the whole four days. They did a great job keeping things on schedule and things went smoothly, and safely. The CD that Rick prepared (with his wife Pam's very pleasing voice, even at 110 dB) worked great to keep things rolling. Most of all, I had a lot of FUN at this NATS. Every time we go, we say that it was the most fun NATS we've been to, but this year we had another new high for fun and enjoyment at the NATS. We also really enjoyed the opportunity to try the 2548 class and found it fun.

Once more, great job to the contest organizers and a big THANK YOU for organizing and running the event!
Don Pruitt
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Post by Don Pruitt »

What a blast! My thanks to all that participated and helped out with the grunt work. Rick and Ed kept things running smooth and safely on the line. I don’t think that we had to reach for the Band Aid box once. Rick’s wife had made the recording for calling the time marks on each round and some of the onlookers were heard to remark that it was amazing how she said exactly the same thing the exact same way every time. They were looking around trying to find the lady with the microphone. At the end of each flying session Lou had the scores out within 20 minutes. Now that boys got some quick hands and along with that smooth voice I would have never let him date one of my daughters.

The rain slowed us down a bit and Wednesday and Thursday and 2610 and Open B guys got in their rounds with the Forestry Tape. After a little rain on Friday morning the weather cleared and we flew 7 rounds of SSC and 3 rounds of 2548 with Dennacrepe. On Saturday we had a rain delay until after lunch and then finished up 3 more rounds of 2548 and 3 rounds of SSC.

My flying bud from GA, Dave “Dawg“ McGinnis commented that this was nothing like he had expected. He had figured that the Nationals would be very structured and formal and this was not like that at all.
Everybody was whooping, hollering, laughing and having a good time just like all the other combat contest that we go to.

It was great to see a lot of old friends and get the opportunity to fly with the best in the country. On the 12 hr. drive home, Lou and I kept ourselves awake by reliving all the high points of the week and agreeing that it was a shame that we had to stop and go back home.
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Ed Kettler
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Post by Ed Kettler »

I'd like to add my thanks to the great people who made the 2005 NATS very special and enjoyable for me:

Rick Fraley, our awesome CD, who did an outstanding job on organizing, planning and executing this event under difficult weather conditions. His initiative on developing the "Voice of Pam" CD is only a small part of his many talents. He dealt with a lot of tough decisions relating to pilots, the AMA, the weather with skill and aplomb.
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The Feathers family PA system was awesome! The officials were able to communicate with all pilots and spectators and run a safe and controlled event. Tim, thanks for stepping forward and volunteering its use!

Lou Melancon and Don Pruitt volunteered to take care of technical inspection, matrix building and heat cards, and score keeping. Lou and Don ran a very well oiled operation, and rapidly accomodated some changes to the matrix to make sure everybody flew on time. Lou and Don flew SSC in addition to helping Rick run the line, and the threat of another of Lou's "Judges speeches" kept the the competitors well stocked with skilled judges all throughout the event.
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I'd like to thank all of the pilots, judges, support crews, family and friends that made the long drives and braved the weather and high gas prices to make the NATS a very special event. It is the one opportunity each year I have an opportunity to see many of you, to meet new people and make great friends. If you did not get a chance to go, or decided not to make the trek, then you missed an outstanding contest and you need to put NATS 2006 on your calendar now so you can be there next year!
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Here are some photos by event to go with the scores Lou posted earlier. First up is 2610, which flew two heats of five pilots each.
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<i>2610 pilots: (front) Kirk Adams, Bob Loescher, Don Veres, Viat Gaidamakov. (Standing) Keith Jones, Brian Gilkey, Chris Handegard, Wynn Hone, Lee Liddle and Bret Anderson</i>

The weather was pretty iffy all day for 2610, and the visibility was poor, making flying difficult and scoring down right challenging. Here's what the typical pilot saw from the ground:
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Viat and Serg had their fleet of Russian fighters up for 2610 and Open B, and these are very fast planes:
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VP Bob 'Long Haul' Loescher had a drive of less than two hours, so the Boilermobile was full of planes for all four events. Bob campaigned a Japanese <i>Kate</i> torpedo bomber in 2610.
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Wynn Hone had some absolutely gorgeous fighters with him, including this Checkertail P-47D
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Bret Anderson from Utah probably has the lowest active RCCA number, and brought a squadron of very nicely constructed and colorful Japanese planes, including this Ki-61 <i>Tony</i>.
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And, yes, it was that dark during the contest, but these guys handled it extremely well! Fourth place went to Chris Handegard, all the way from West Palm Beach, FL, flying some immaculate Ki-64s:
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Lee Liddle took 3rd Place flying his awesome white Skyraiders, wracking up an impressive score of 2548 (hmmm, something sounds familiar about that number ...)
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Brian Gilkey flew Fairey Fulmars and Battles to achieve 2704 points (another coincidence, 704 and scale?)
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Top dawg in 2610 was Kirk Adams, flying Blackburn Firebrand attack planes, with 3024 points, making it a very tight race under some very tough flying conditions.
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Well done guys! A very tough contest well flown!

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Open B was up next. We had 24 pilots in three heats of 8 planes.
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<i>Front: Bret Anderson, Viat Gaidamakov, Alex Fulk, Ryan Feathers, Eric Wenger, Bob Loescher, Tim Feathers and Kirk Adams. Standing: Keith 'Lightning' Jones, Wynn Hone, Sean Ingerson, Mike Bohlman, Rick Bohlman, Don Veres, Pat Willcox, Mark Cippolone, Mike Fredricks, Tom Neff, William Drumm, Chris 'Grasshopper' Hadegard, Lee Liddle, Mark 'Roid' Schofield, and Brian Gilkey</i>

Fourth place went to a man I will always look up to, Mike 'Dr. Evil' Fredricks, with 3580 points:
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The silly grin in my face was from Don Veres telling me to stand up.

Third place went to the Mile High Man, Tom Neff, with 3826 points:
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Second place winner Eric Wenger had to leave early to go to a wedding, and ran up a score of 4231, narrowly gettting edged out by the incredible flying skills of Brian Gilkey with 4480.
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Brian was also eligible for "Top Junior Award", but declared it wasn't fair for him to be considered a Junior, and he stated that the awrd should go to fellow competitor Ryan Feathers instead. We fixed him right up with "Top Senior" plaque that we just happened to have [:D]

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The largest participation wa in SSC, with 25 pilots, just down a few pilots from last year's 27. Not bad considering that gas prices are 60% higher and we were under the remanants of hurricane Dennis the entire contest.
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<i>Front Row: Tom Neff, Pat Willcox, Mark Cipplolone, Eric Wenger, Bob Loescher, Kirk Adams, Chris Handegard, Tim Feathers, Ryan Feathers, Jay 'The Combat Emperor' Fromm and Lou Melancon. Standing: Brian Gilkey, Rick Bohlman, Ed Kettler, David McGinnis, Don Pruitt, Mark Schofield, Don Veres, Larry King, Lee Liddle, Darin Stevens, Dana Foreman, Mike Fredricks, William Drumm, Bill Geipel and Mike Bohlman.</i>

The weather cleared and brightened during Saturday afternoon, allowing for some impressive scores to be run up in the much improved visibility. Fifth place went to the third man to join the "Ten Cut Club", Mark Schofield, who had 3800 points.
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Fourth place went to Tim Feathers with 3860. Tim was pretty consistent throughout the contest, with multiple 4 and five cut heats. Lee Liddle had pretty impressive contest, scoring 4400 points to earn third place:
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The battle for the top spot is as close as I can remember for any single contest: a mere 20 points separated the top two contenders. Brian Gilkey took second place with 4780 points
Image and Kirk Adams had 4800. A very tight and exciting race, with Kirk having a nine cut round and Brian an 8 cut in the final heats.
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Scale 2548 had twelve pilots, and we flew 2 heats in 6 rounds. ON Friday, we made the decision to fly 7 rounds of SSC followed by 3 rounds of 2548 so that the larger number of pilots flying SSC would have a lower risk due to weather. Unfortunately, our luck with avoiding the brunt of Dennis ran out, and it rained steadily all Saturday morning. as soon as the weather broke, the 2548 pilots were on the line and ready to go, completing the truncated schedule of 6 rounds.
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<i>2548 Pilots, Front: Bob Loescher, Mark Cippolone, Kirk Adams. Standing: Keith Jones, Brian Gilkey, Ed Kettler, Mike Fredricks, Lee Liddle, Don Veres, Chris Handegard, Serg Gaidamakov and Viat Gaidamakov.</i>
2548 differs form other classes in that we have a simplified scale judging process to help assign points for scale authenticity of the planes. Unlike 2610, there are no 10% deviations allowed, you have to try and get it very close to the original plane. There were some outstanding planes and all of the ones I saw in the air flew well. Because this is new, and the large number of planes involved, judging took some time as I talked through and demonstrated the process with the pilots. Once we got going, it speeded up considerably
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One of our design goals was to try to set the criteria so that planes could not 'furball' very well, and instead promote more pursuit flying, and in this we seem to have succeeded. We were on flagging tape the entire time, and cuts were earned in almost every case. My most memorable heat of the contest was round 5, when Brian latched onto my 6 after picking up several cuts, and we went all over the field, up and down and all around for the most exciting four minutes of combat I had all week. I had a very minor speed advantage but he could out turn me with his grandfathered Fulmar's larger wing area, so it was a chase and evade. If I got a little breathing room I would line up someone else and make a pass, hopeful that Brian would get tired of chasing me and go after my target, but I was 'locked in' for the rest of the rest of the heat. Hearing all of the cheering and smack talk was very fun, especially Brian asking me to fly straight and level so he could put me out of my misery. Very fun, and a lot of great flying.

Kirk Adams took 5th place with 1288 points:
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Chris Handegard's Ki-64s were very sleek and fast, netting him 1340 points and 4th position.
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Mike Fredricks' Zero and Mustang chewed up 1408 points worth of streamer to secure a podium position at 3rd place
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Lee Liddle's potent Skyraiders were still dangerous, even with a stock muffler. Lee scored 1952 points and achieved second place.
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Lee did a sales job on Brian to get him interested in trying 2548, maybe too good of a job, as Brian edged him out with 2296 points to take first place.
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Lou continued the annual award ceremony for the North-South Combat Cup. Despite be out manned by the local forces, the gallant Southerners maintained control of the cup. Tom Neff was selected to hold the cup for the South until the 2006 NATS.
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The awards ceremony was wrapped up by Tom Morgan of the AMA staff who presented Rick with a certificate of appreciate for all of his hard work and dedication to make the RC Combat NATS 2005 a major success.
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Everything was wrapped up, cleaned up and ready to turn over to the pattern contestants at the scheduled 5:00 PM time. I hope everybody had a safe and uneventful trip home. Lee and I rolled into Dallas around 1100 today after taking turns driving over night. I have a lot of respect for my VP, Bob 'Long Haul' Loescher; I don't know how he does it on his own!

Thanks everybody! I hope you all had a great time and enjoyed the NATS as much if not more than I did.
Lou Melancon
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Post by Lou Melancon »

Great report Ed, you must be exhausted about right now.
Hat Trick
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Post by Hat Trick »

Ditto on the Thanks to all who put in a lot of effort to make the event a great success!

Rick did a superb job of keeping the show on the road! The best run Nats yet!

Had a great time and enjoyed seeing everyone again!
Dawg
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Post by Dawg »

Now that I have had a day to catch my breath and get some sleep, I first want to say WOW to my first NATS experience. I told Darin on the way home that pictures can't capture what is so great about the NATS. It is the people and the personal interactions that make this what it is.

The best part for me was meeting all the people I had heard about and getting to put faces with names. Secondly, getting the opportunity to fly with and against the greatest Combat Pilots in the world.

My Dad, who got me started flying CL at the age of 7, talked often about his dream of he and I flying at the NATS. Now that dream has come true cause he was my co-pilot on every flight.

Just like the previous posts have said, thanks to all that made the event go as smoothly as it did. Congrats to all the winners and especially to Ten Cut Mark S.
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Bill Geipel
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Post by Bill Geipel »

I would also like to thank Rick, Ed, Lou, Don, and all the rest of the people that made the Nats a success. It was run very professionally with much preparation evident and lots of effort for 4 or 5 days. Even if the weather was not perfect, the camaraderie more than made up for it. It was a lot of fun. To me, thats what rc combat is all about. Bill Geipel
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Post by watchyerback »

What a great time! Even Mother Nature couldn't quelch the fire inside of the competitors. A big THANKS to Rick, Ed, Don and D'Lou for all of their hard work! And to think that DAWG and I were thinking of not coming. I look forward to next year.
Pat_Willcox
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Post by Pat_Willcox »

Good times, with good friends.....It was awesome!
montague
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Post by montague »

A huge Thanks to Rick, Ed, Don, and Lou and everyone else who helped make Nats run as well as it did. A great contest by any measure.
mark s
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Post by mark s »

“Pilots…begin combat!â€
cipoll717
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Post by cipoll717 »

Mark-
Glad you made it to the Nats! Enjoyed flying with you and really appreciate you loaning me an engine to fly with!

And congrats on the 10-cut round- simply incredible, especially following that up with an 8-cut round!!!!!

I assume your nickname 'Roid' is some derivation of an unenviable case of the Hem-Roid? I suggest we now change your nickname to Ten-Roid!![:D][:D]

Mark C
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boiler
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Post by boiler »

Cippollini, I already showed the other Mark what I could use as sticky stiff when I flew with him. A tube of preparation H. Actually he may have exactly the right handle since my one daughter suggested I name any plane which might be an original Hemroid because it would be a pain on your ass all day. Mark was exactly that. What a pilot! Congratulations Roid.
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lightning
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Post by lightning »

Hi All. Just need to echo what everyone else has already said - great Nats, even though I didn't do as well as last year I still had a blast!!
As for the weather, don't lose sight of the fact we flew 36 of the scheduled 40 rounds. Only losing 4 rounds to Dennis was pretty impressive!!
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