By Pete Ferguson

In summary, the two day contest enjoyed beautiful weather although the light and variable wind conditions were sometimes a challenge for the flyers and a workout for the judges. Saturday attendance for OTS, Classis and Northwest Profile was down from prior years but Sunday attendance for Precision Aerobatic was up, with 10 entries in the Expert class. NW Sport 40 carrier seems to be holding its own with the help of several dedicated flyers. All events were flown cleanly with no airplanes lost. Awards were handed out for the top three places for all classes. It was another successful event for the Northwest Skyraiders.

The site was open for practice flying Friday 9 a.m. Traffic cones were placed around the perimeter of the site. Both circles were available for practice. Friday was a warm day for us in the NW with temps in the mid 80s. Fortunately the humidity was low and the winds light and variable. Several flyers showed and flying started in the late afternoon.

Saturday turned out to be a beautiful day for flying with overcast and variable light winds in the morning and temps in the mid 70s. By afternoon the clouds cleared and the winds were steadier.

As was the case last year, Circle One was dedicated to the NWSport 40 Carrier class. The carrier deck was set up and that event was run by Mike Potter. He had 5 entries in the class and they flew until they were worn out.

Seven flyers showed up for OTS, Classic stunt and NWProfile which was down two from last year. Pete Ferguson was the contest CD and Howard Rush kept the flight order and scorekeeping flowing with his excellent scoring program. Pull testing and pit order was kept by Ben Jones and Dave Gardner, NWSkyraider volunteers.

OTS had three with Pete Peterson taking the honors with his Jamison over Dave Gardner and his Chief and Rex Abbott with his All American Sr.

Classic Stunt had three entries. Rex Abotts practice finally paid off with him taking top honors with his Strathmore Stunter over Dave Gardner with his Nakke and Marc Winz with his Smoothie.

There were five entries in NW Profile. Mike Haverly flew his profile Starfinder to a first place finish with Tom Strom and his Pathfinder and Tim Wescott and Sister Jenny Twister taking third.

With the flying wrapped up by 4 p.m., most of the contestants headed over to Mike Haverly’s house for a BBQ feast. Everybody got to critique Mike’s latest project, trade stories, and sample Mike's talent at the grill and incredible selection of homemade side dishes. Mike did a great job and nobody left hungry.

Sunday was the same as Saturday with overcast skies in the morning and blue skies in the afternoon. Winds were 5 – 10 mph and very variable. This kept the flyers guessing and the judges moving all day. Temps were moderate in the high 70s. No one was complaining about the weather.

With only two Beginners we flew both rounds back to back. Daniel Johnson flew his Oriental to his first contest victory over Colton Lutz who flew his electric Ring Rat impressively until the tarmac jumped up and broke his prop sending him back to the pits. Colton was later seen re-enacting the unusual event to his fellow competitors with a broken prop in his hand.

Three entries flew Intermediate class with a much improved Tim Westcott taking top honors with his Sister Jenny Profile Twister over Marc Winz and his Profile Pathfinder and Rex Abbott and his Legacy. The contest CD yours truly with Jack Mulinex a NWSkyraider volunteer and Colton Lutz assumed the pit duties and put in a full day of herding, pull testing and score sheet running PA Intermediate, Advanced and Expert classes were not flown back to back but instead round after round. Advanced had four entries Tom Strom and his electric Impact took the honors for Advanced flying , Rick Cochrun and his Impact and yours truly and my E-Staris Shock Therapy took third.

The expert class had 10 entries this year, two more than last year. Paul Walker showed us how he won the NATS by putting up commanding scores. Howard Rush took the second place honors with his Impact and Canadian Chris Cox placing third with his beautiful Crossfire. Flying wrapped up around 3pm which gave everyone some time to get home.

Many thanks to Dave Gardner, Mike Haverly, Steve Helmick, Pete Peterson, Bruce Hunt, Paul Walker, John Leidle who took on most of the Judging duties and to Howard Rush who worked behind a laptop both days to keep things in order. I owe him a lot of thanks as I do the judges and Steve Helmick who helped me with the setup and cleanup.

Most everyone had positive comments on the site and the pace of the contest, it went smooth no arguments or mishaps. Just a good time and it was nice to have spectators coming around to see what was going on.

Here are the results. Northwest standings points in parentheses.