2000 New England Aerobatic Championships Summary

Orange, MA
8 - 10 September, 2000

The rescheduling resulted in fewer competitors flying than in recent years. Less pilots means more flying for everyone, and fly we did. We extended practice on Friday to give everyone a chance to get at least a flight or two in the box. Intermediate and Advanced still got in two flights that afternoon, followed by more practice for the Basic and Sportsman folks all the way to sunset. All categories flew at least once on Saturday, with Basic and Sportsman flying twice. Yours truly confirmed the "improvisationally challenged" nature of the judges when I substituted a second hammer for a wedge in the Sportsman Free. I put it in there for symmetry. Honest! Didn't you guys get my Free flimsies? Judges just don't appreciate artistry!

Unlimited had only one competitor, who elected to fly Advanced rather than not fly. Despite flying what amounted to four unknown flights, Craig "Yakboy" Lesinski came away with top honors for the contest. Now there's someone who can think on his feet. Speaking of what he can do on his feet, Craig's new nickname is "Sumo", after his impersonation of Akebono at the banquet. And speaking of top honors, Ron Burns, Bill Matukaitis, and Joe Keenan teamed up with Yakboy for a full Chapter 35 sweep of the #1 spot in every category (gloat, gloat).

Despite the great weather on Friday, we had a minor "weather related" incident, when a certain acro pilot, who will remain nameless, taxied his "other" airplane around in the dirt, kicking up a dust storm that raged through the terminal building and half way to Boston. Since the anonymous but good-humored pilot wasn't there to defend himself on Sunday at the awards ceremony, the choice of who would earn this year's coveted Hammer Head award was obvious.

The "Most Colorful Arrival" award has to go to our friends from Chapter 91 in New York in a tight formation of two Extras led by a Long EZ. A fourth showed up the next day in their Cub. I think all 4 planes started out together...

Overall, the contest was very successful. The smaller number of competitors was made up for by everyone getting in more practice and contest flights than usual (thanks to Mary Harris at IAC for tracking down the IAC Sanctioning Committee in Texas and amending our sanction on the fly), and also by the more relaxed atmosphere (a key factor for a first-time Contest Director). We even had time to discuss the logistics of nude acro... The support of the airport and community were great, as always. Virtually everyone pitched in to help out and they all deserve to be recognized. But a few really stand out for the effort they put in. Particularly Jim Ward (Chief judge), Warren Crossfield (Scorer), and Rob Petit (Registrar), who all took vacation days to work long and largely thankless hours so that the rest of us could fly, despite not flying themselves. Thanks, guys.

Here are the results:

Basic

Rank Pilot             Chapter Knwn1       Knwn2      TBLP        Tot %pp
 1st Joe Keenan           35    391.9200    367.1755    759.0955  84.34
 2nd Curtis Peredina            346.9479    353.5271    700.4750  77.83
 3rd Kent Christman       35    332.5821    334.0591    666.6412  74.07
 4th Mike Ganor           35    290.7548    369.5242    660.2790  73.36
 5th Scott Boucher              246.5649    287.5083    534.0732  59.34
 6th Stephen Till         35    320.3741    114.3424    434.7165  48.30

Sportsman

Rank Pilot             Chapter Known       Free        Knwn2      TBLP        Tot %pp
 1st Bill Matukatis       35    966.6518   1021.8033   1030.1198   3018.5749  82.47
 2nd David Watson         35    991.1150    936.4928   1001.6420   2929.2498  80.03
 3rd Neville Hogan        35    854.7095   1019.9117   1012.7945   2887.4157  78.89
 4th Kevin Hickling             980.3654    978.4734    922.2248   2881.0636  78.72
 5th Greg Dinning         35    870.9094    965.9089    990.6141   2827.4324  77.25
 6th Steve Pennypacker    35    938.8140    863.6513    984.2388   2786.7041  76.14
 7th Karen Greenfield     58    727.5874    926.2404    787.7521   2441.5799  66.71
 8th Bill McGoldrick      35    757.5781    723.9790    705.6166   2187.1737  59.76
 9th Steve McCalmont      35    925.3527    881.5445      0.0000   1806.8972  49.37
10th Stuart Hoffman             576.0420    476.0945    714.2944   1766.4309  48.26
11th Lee Champigny        91    670.5700    806.0915      0.0000   1476.6615  40.35

Intermediate

Rank Pilot             Chapter Known       Free        Unknwn      Prog4      TBLP        Tot %pp
 1st Ron Burns            35   1469.8000   1229.2380   1118.1540   1479.8660   5297.0595  73.37
 2nd Diana Latham         91   1464.7210   1462.0650    892.7600   1457.3390   5276.8874  73.09
 3rd Tony Lore'           91   1025.3180   1119.3710   1048.8490   1112.0460   4305.5858  59.63
 4th Bill Crawford        35   1414.4180   1486.5330      0.0000      0.0000   2900.9518  40.18

Advanced

Rank Pilot             Chapter Known       Free        Unknwn      Prog4      TBLP        Tot %pp
 1st Craig Lesinski       35   1649.9910   2198.8450   1282.6530   1597.5750   6729.0647  72.75
 2nd Larry Willson        52   1395.5610   2273.3580   1297.3430   1476.4070   6442.6718  69.65
 3rd Scott Gerber         91   1308.7000   2088.8690   1320.9360   1402.7100   6121.2167  66.18
 4th Hans Bok             35   1483.0000   1355.0360   1120.7380   1558.4240   5517.1996  59.65