Sturbridge Lawn Darts Gremlin Contest, April 13, 2003

 


These pictures are from a contest held at the Sturbridge (MA) Lawn Darts field. This contest featured 6 entrants on both Open and Stock combat.

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The wind was a bit of a challenge.  Rotor effects at the edge of the field ate one Gremlin on landing, and the box was drifting pretty well with the wind. The Lawn Darts frequency board area.  Check out the TWO weather vanes. In the pits before the contest. A Gremlin, a field box, and a chair.  What more do you need? The contestant line-up.  From the left, Eddie Ellis, Jim Reith - CD, Dave Beach, Dick Lempicki, Gerry Lempicki, 
Rene Rusche, George Dainis, Mike Lapierre, Paul Horanzy Contest director Jim Reith getting free from a streamer after launching a contestant. OK, who's going to blink first? My plane after a mid-air with Rene Rusche in Round 2.  I kept flying for about 15 seconds after the impact, then the wing folded.  The real killer was that if I had stayed up for 3 seconds more (and been the last in the air on this round), my point total would have been enough to win the contest!  See the next picture for Rene's plane. Rene's plane after the same mid-air (lucky stiff!).  Note the two slices in his right wing from my prop. Charging in on the other guy!  Both planes have the same wing shape.  The trim on the yellow one is blending the tips into the sky. A Norvel .25 powered Gremlin takes to the air.  The arrival of the Norvel engines on the scene have transformed stock class from lazy circles to raging turn-and-burn. One right-side-up, one inverted, both aiming for the other guy. Kevin Gregory and The Grem Reaper.  Arriving too late to be an official contestant, Kevin volunteered to become the 'target drone' after I was eliminated by the mid-air Up and around, going for the points. In tight and moving.  Check out the exhaust trail on the right-hand Gremlin as it pulls up and hard left after its opponent. Gerry Lempicki's Gremlin self-destructed during a high-G turn.  It had many flights on it, and the general belief was that it came apart after damage on a hard landing on the prior flight Paul Horanzy's Gremlin after another mid-air.  This one occurred about 2 seconds AFTER the match ended. Nose-to-nose and full out.  My Gremlin ended its day during on of these types of passes. Close, but no cut.  There were lots of streamer kisses, one full wrap over a wing (with no cut), but only 2 or 3 solid cuts all day.  Unfortunately, one was against me, between 5 and 10 seconds into the first round.  I didn't even get to complete a turn! A gremlin slides in on an attempt for landing points at the end of the day. This will be remembered as the QUAGMIRE contest.  The road in (and much of the field) was soup from recent rains.  The landfill was particularly odorous as well!


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