EMC09

Eastern Mass Championships

F2D Combat

MATT STAS, GREG WORNELL & BRIAN STAS

ARE TOP THREE

AUGUST 9, 2009 – MIDDLEBORO, MA - Six Contestants were on hand for the Eastern Massachusetts F2D Championships held at Wingbuster’s MAC in Middleboro, MA. Weather was clear and sunny for start of the contest, and became overcast in the final rounds.

Round 1 began with Matt Stas earning a 2 cut win over Paul Kubek. The second match was between Mark Rudner and Jeff Vader. Mark took the airtime win over Jeff, with no cuts given up by either pilot. Next up were Greg Wornell and Brian Stas, who flew to a 1 cut each tie in the first attempt. The match was then reflown, with lots of excitement ending in a mid-air and a 1 cut victory for Greg.

Round 2 started with a father and son match up for Brian and Matt. Matt put the hurt on Brian early, but the ground came up on him shortly thereafter. Restarting difficulties for Matt led to Brian getting the win on airtime points.

Jeff and Greg were matched up next. They had a promising start, but after 30 seconds Greg’s ship went down. It appeared to be shutoff related, and led to an airtime win for Jeff.

The final match of the round was between Mark and Paul. Mark took an early 2-cut lead on Paul, but then went down when his shutoff triggered. Mark diligently worked to restart his engine but his fuel system problems snowballed. Paul overcame the 2 cut deficit with airtime points to secure the win.

Round three began with all six contestants having one win and one loss. The round began with a match between Matt and Mark. Unfortunately, Mark’s shutoff problems continued to thwart his best efforts. Matt took the airtime win, eliminating Mark.

Jeff and Brian flew next. It was a brief, yet exciting match. The match lasted about 30 seconds, with some intense maneuvering that ended in a mid-air. Jeff’s ship was unable to continue, and Brian’s ship was only able to stay up for another few seconds. In the initial action, Brian had gotten a cut to secure the match and eliminate Jeff.

The final match of the round was between Greg and Paul. Good efforts were put forth by both pilots, but a line tangle sent Paul’s ship into the ground. Greg managed to stay airborne and get untangled. Paul was unable to restart his engine, which gave Greg the airtime win and eliminated Paul.

Brian, Greg, and Matt all survived to move on to the final round. Greg and Matt were matched up first, as they had not flown against each other yet. Greg and Matt started well, with good maneuvering by both pilots. Matt showed some exciting low altitude moves. Each pilot earned a cut on the other, but then they had a mid-air collision. Greg had some non-fatal damage to his ship, but was unable to restart. Matt achieved the win by racking up some airtime points, and moved on to face Brian.

Brian and Matt prepared for the father-son rematch. Things looked good with Mark pitting for Brian, and Jeff pitting for Matt. Jeff fired up Matt’s ship quickly to get off to a fast start. Brian’s engine was another matter. Mark put in a heroic effort to get the engine started but time just kept ticking by. Brian and Mark finally got the engine started with much less than a minute to go. Matt took the airtime win and first place in the contest.

Greg and Brian were now tied for 2nd place, necessitating a fly-off. Both pilots got started quickly. There was some good fly by both pilots, but then Brian clipped Greg’s elevator. Greg lost about one half of the control surface, but stayed airborne and in control. Brian’s ship went into the ground, but was intact save for needing a new prop. Brian was able to get started and airborne again, but time was against him. There were no cuts, so Greg took 2nd place through airtime points and pushed Brian back to 3rd.

Most pilots were using swing arm shut-offs, with one pilot using the line tension spring-type. Each shut-off, either swing arm or spring, had to be fine tuned by the pilot and yielded differing levels of success.

Thanks go out to the Wingbuster Model Airplane Club for allowing us to use their fine facility.