EMC06

Eastern Mass Championships

NEIL SIMPSON, JEFF VADER,

JOE FUSTOLO & PAUL KUBEK

ARE TOP FOUR IN GX

F2D TROPHIES GO TO NEIL SIMPSON,

MARK RUDNER AND BRIAN STAS

AUGUST 12&13, 2006-– MIDDLEBORO, MA - Nine contestants participated in this year’s Eastern Mass Championships. The weather was warm, not hot, with low humidity. This was a two-day event, first up was Formula GX combat.

In round one action Neil Simpson set the pace with 725 points, however, Brian Stas, Matt Stas and Rick Clark were all in close pursuit. Round two saw Neil and Brian mid-air and the field tightened. Jeff Vader and Joe Fustolo both moved into contention with good round two wins. In round three Neil and Jeff used one cut wins over Joe and Brian , respectively, to earn the contest lead.

Going into round four it was Neil with 1545 points followed by Jeff (1340pts), Matt (1120pts), Paul Kubek (1110pts) and Joe (1020pts). This contest would come down to the final three flights. In the first of these Rick and Paul flew to a draw. In the next match Joe got an airtime win over Matt. In the finals Neil and and Jeff battled hard and tight for several minutes. Neil had a one cut lead when a mid-air ended the proceedings. When the dust had settled Neil had enough points for the contest win with Jeff and Joe tied for second. In the subsequent fly-ff Jeff earned a second place finish out dueling Joe two cuts to one. Paul Kubek flew steady all day and finished in fourth place.

On Sunday we were back to fly F2D Combat. There were seven competitors. After two rounds of action only Rick Clark remained undefeated, one pilot was eliminated with five guys tied at one win and one loss. In round three Brian Stas gave Rick his first loss and two other competitors were sent home with their second loss. In round four Neil Simpson gave Rick his second loss while Mark Rudner did likewise to Brian Stas. The match between Mark and Brian was a real tight action filled battle with both guys flying really well. In a fly off for third place Brian got past Rick Clark. In the finals Mark Rudner and Neil Simpson flew to a one cut apiece draw. This necessitated a re-fly. Mark cut the first cut, however, it was on the string. Neil got the next one, everything but the knot. In the final minute there was wild action as Neil tried to get the string cut he needed for the win. During a line wrap, in the closing seconds, he got lucky, got the cut and took home the “gold”.

Thank You to Rick Clark, who cd’ed this event, and Thank You to the Wingbuster Model Airplane Club for allowing us to use their fine facility.

Eastern Mass Championships

Formula GX Combat

7 Contestants (6 from MA) (1 from NH)

14 matches - 2 mid airs

(E) Neil Simpson-East Brookfield, MA