NEIL SIMPSON, BRIAN STAS,
GLENN SIMPSON
& MATT STAS ARE TOP FOUR
SPORTSMAN TO MATT STAS
SEPTEMBER 29, 2002 – COLCHESTER, CT – Seven contestants were on hand for this year’s Colchester Combat Classic. This was a beautiful New England day; temperatures in the sixties, sunny, low humidity with almost no wind. For the second time, this season, the New England combat group experimented with the clean match scoring system used by our friends in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Round one saw Neil Simpson and Matt Stas get off to the best starts posting three cut and two cut wins respectively. In round two Neil just got past Matt with a one cut win while Glenn Simpson jumped into contention with a three cut win over Len Minick. At the halfway point it was Neil and Glenn with 1400 points each followed by Matt with 1200 points. Brian Stas and Len Minick had 1100 points, while Ken Hargreaves was just 100 points off that mark, very much in contention. The first match of round three saw Neil Simpson sneak past Glenn Simpson with a one cut win. The next match saw Matt Stas get past Brian Stas by the same score. Ken Hargreaves also stayed in the hunt with a one cut win over Len Minick. Going into round four Neil had 2000 points, followed by Glenn (1900pts) and Matt (1800pts). Brian and Ken were also close with 1600 points apiece. Early in round four Ken posted a one cut win over Dana Lord. In the next match Glenn Simpson and Matt Stas flew to a low scoring draw. This was followed by a one-cut apiece draw between Brian Stas and Neil Simpson. The four flyers who would advance to the fly off rounds were Neil (2600 points), Glenn (2400pts), Matt (2300pts) and Brian (2200pts). Brian, who actually was tied with Ken, advanced by virtue of a coin flip. In the first fly-off match Glenn and Matt mid-aired hurting both, with regard to their final finishing positions. In the next match Neil earned a one cut win over Brian in a well flown match. When everything was sorted out the final order of finsh was Neil (3200pts), Brian (2700pts), Glenn (2600pts) and Matt (2500pts). Matt Stas, who flew very well all day long, was also the Sportsman Division winner.
The top four used similar equipment. Neil Simpson used his “Carbon Coyote” with an OS32sx on a GRW tank. Like Neil, Brian and Matt Stas also use “Yankee Nipper” hybrids. They use GRW tanks with both OS Max 32sx’s and Magnum 32xl’s for power. Glenn Simpson’s airplane of choice is a Yankee Nipper, GRW tank and an OS32sx for power.
This was another good contest that came about due to Dana Lord’s willingness to spend time securing a permit to use the facilities at the Bacon Academy in Colchester. Thank You Dana !
The Colchester Combat Challenge
Formula GX Combat
7 contestants (5 from MA) (2 from CT)
16 matches – 1 mid air
Rd 4 Rd 5
(E) Neil Simpson-East Brookfield, MA 2600pts 3200pts
(A) Brian Stas-Kingston, MA 2200pts 2700pts
(E) Glenn Simpson-Worcester, MA 2400pts 2600pts
(S) Matt Stas-Kingston, MA 2300pts 2500pts
(A) Ken Hargreaves-Worcester, MA 2200pts
(A) Len Minick-Clinton, CT 2000pts
(A) Dana Lord-Colchester, CT 1700pts