The Fall contest segment started with balsa splinters. A few of us had to tenderize the flying circle before the contest began. Once that was done there were many good flights and lots of laughter.

Contest flying began on a cool Saturday morning with one lone competitor in Old Time Stunt. It ended much warmer with Profile Stunt.  Sunday began similar to Saturday. One lone competitor in PA Beginner and one lonely judge. As the air warmed, Intermediate and Advanced were flown. With the skies clearing the Experts took to the sky. The top three fought it out over two rounds of competition. While we left the score keeper alone to tally the scores more discussions and laughter ensued. Once the printer issued the proper paper we found that Chris Cox had edged Howard Rush out by 0.5 points. Tim Just followed Howard by 2 points. What a close event. 

Carrier enjoyed several good flights but was limited by the sparse turnout. They still had a good time with lots of discussion and stories told.

Sport Scale was a new event for this contest. This was more of a fly-in. There were no points awarded. The pilot and plane earned a trophy by how the pilots watching the event voted.

I would like to thank Gem Glover for sponsoring the R.F. Stevenson Memorial Crock pot award. Gem is R.F. Stevenson’s niece and has sponsored this event for many years. A competitor wins this award by collecting points for each event they fly in during the weekend. At the end of the contest the competitor with the most points wins the contents of the crock. This year’s winner is Bob Welch; he edged Mike Haverly out of this award by one point.

I would like to thank our judges, Steve Helmick and Paul Walker, for spending the weekend watching all of us do our best flying the patterns. Some of the flights had interesting interpretations of what a square or a loop was. Howard Rush, our score keeper, for tabulating the scores. Tom Sadler for helping Howard and me. Mike Potter for gathering lunch on Saturday. Everyone who flew or was a spectator.

Thank You to Matt McCartney for providing the portable toilet for the event. Matt has sponsored the Sani can service for many years at each of the Northwest Skyraiders contests.

Finally Thank You to the Auburn Municipal Airport for allowing us to use the south tie down area for our contest.

Here are the results. Northwest standings points in parentheses.

OLD-TIME STUNT (1 entry)
1. Bob Welch, Federal Way, Wash. — 270 (1)
Judge: Steve Helmick

CLASSIC STUNT (6 entries)
1. Mike Haverly, Aurburn, Wash. — 497.5 (6)
2. Bob Welch — 493.5 (5)
3. John Leidle, Kirkland, Wash. — 481 (4)
4. Rod Claus, Kent, Wash. — 461 (3)
5. Randy Ling, Kent, Wash. — 456
6. Jim Schneider, Olympia, Wash. — 398
Judges: Steve Helmick, Paul Walker

PROFILE STUNT (4 entries)
1. Mike Haverly — 514 (4)
2. John Leidle — 476 (3)
3. Randy Ling — 466 (2)
4. Jim Schneider — 402 (1)
Judges: Steve Helmick, Paul Walker

EXPERT PRECISION AEROBATICS (6 entries)
1. Chris Cox, Delta, B.C. — 577 (10)
2. Howard Rush, Olympia, Wash. — 576.5 (9)
3. Tim Just, Victorville, Calif. — 574.5 (8)
4. Bob Welch — 526.5 (7)
5. Mike Haverly — 517.5
6. John Leidle — 513.5
Judges: Steve Helmick, Paul Walker

ADVANCED PRECISION AEROBATICS (2 entries)
1. Randy Ling — 473 (4)
2. Rod Claus — 461.5 (3)
Judges: Steve Helmick, Paul Walker

INTERMEDIATE PRECISION AEROBATICS (1 entry)
1. Jim Schneider — 424 (2)
Judge: Steve Helmick

BEGINNER PRECISION AEROBATICS (1 entry)  
1. Jim McCartney, Lake Tapps, Wash. — 189 (1)
Judge: Steve Helmick

PROFILE CARRIER (1 entry)
1. Jim Schneider  — 221.2 (1)

NORTHWEST SPORT 40 CARRIER (3 entries)
1. Kris Millard, Puyallup, Wash. — 208.7 (3) (Northwest record, eclipsing Jim Schneider's 208.3 at Auburn on Sept. 17, 2023)
2. Jim Schneider — 196.9 (2)
3. Jim McCartney — 86.4 (1)

SPORT SCALE FLY-IN (3 entries)
1. Jim Schneider, J3 Cub
2. Rod Claus, PT19
3. Jim McCartney, Gee Bee

R.F. Stevenson Crock Pot Award: Bob Welch

Raider Roundup photo gallery

Sunday fliers at the Roundup pose for a group photo. Randy Ling photo.

Bob Welch won the Crock Pot cash award for his performance in multiple events. Randy Ling photo.

Lineup of Navy Carrier planes. Randy Ling photo.

At far right, Paul Walker (left) and Steve Helmick judge a flight. Randy Ling photo.

Stunt judges Walker and Helmick. Randy Ling photo.

 
Rod Claus pilots his PT-19 in the Scale fly-in. Randy Ling photo.

Mike Haverly's JD Falcon for Classic Stunt. Randy Ling photo.

Bob Welch shows his Caprice for Classic Stunt. Randy Ling photo.

 
Pull-testing is part of the CL contest ritual.  Here, Rod Claus tests Bob Welch's Caprice. Randy Ling photo.

Score tabulator Howard Rush (left) and Expert flier Tim Just. Randy Ling photo.

 
Appearance judging. Randy Ling photo.

Steve Ashmore's Bearcat. Randy Ling photo.

Canopy detail on Rod Claus' Talon. Randy Ling photo.

Jim Schneider's Super Pow Wow. Randy Ling photo.

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