JEFF VADER WINS SPORTSMAN

MAY 25, 2002 – HOLDEN, MA– Ten New England pilots were on hand for this year’s running of the Central Mass Championships for Formula GX combat. Weather forecasts for this entire Memorial Day weekend had been rain filled, however, as contest morning approached a window of opportunity presented itself. By early morning the heavy rains were gone, replaced by a very light drizzle. By midday the drizzle was gone and we were left with perfect combat weather; cloud cover, light breeze and temperatures around sixty degrees.

Round one saw Brian Stas and Neil Simpson get off to the best start posting three cut 830 point wins. Dick Sherman and Paul Kubek were just off that pace with scores of 730 and 620 points respectively. In the first match of round two Brian Stas and Neil Simpson had a full five minute action filled war that ended in a two cut apiece draw that left these two pilots tied for the contest lead. In the second match of round two Dick Sherman stayed very close to the leaders with a one cut win over Paul Kubek. Round three started with a very good match between Dick Sherman and Neil Simpson. It went the full five minutes, lots of action and ended in a one cut apiece draw. The next match was between contest co-leader Brian Stas and Glenn Simpson, who after a slow start was beginning to emerge as a contender. This one had lots of action and ended in a one cut apiece draw. In the next match Paul Kubek got past Shaylene Vader with a one cut win. Going into round four Brian and Neil were still tied with 1955 points, Dick had 1860, Paul had 1540 and Glenn had 1430. Matt Stas, Shaylene Vader and Jim Carpenter had also moved within range of the leaders with cumulative at or around 1300 points.

In the final round Jeff Vader and “Lil Sherm” hooked up in a match that ended in a two cut apiece draw. In the next match Jim Carpenter got past Shaylene Vader three cuts to one. This was followed by a battle between Glenn Simpson and Matt Stas that saw Glenn edge out Matt two cuts to one. In the semi finals contest leader Brian Stas encountered some bad luck, when his wing folded early in his match with Dick Sherman, leaving Dick with an airtime win. In the final match Neil Simpson got past Paul Kubek two cuts to one taking home the contest win in the process. When the scores were tabulated the final order of finish was Neil Simpson, Dick Sherman, Glenn Simpson, and Jim Carpenter. In the Sportsman Division Jeff Vader took home the “gold” in a closely contested day long battle between Jeff, Shay and “Lil Sherm”. It’s really great to see these good new pilots go at it in the Sportsman division.

The top four all used Yankee Nippers or Yankee Nipper clones. All four airplanes had OS 32sx engines and used GRW chicken hopper tanks.

Central Mass Championships - Formula GX Combat

10 Contestants (7 from MA) (3 from NH)

20 Matches – 1 mid air

(E) Neil Simpson-E Brookfield,MA 2680pts

(E) Dick Sherman-Andover, MA 2380pts

(E) Glenn Simpson-Worcester, MA 2155pts

(E) Jim Carpenter-Salem, NH 2060pts

(A) Brian Stas-Kingston, MA 2055pts

(A) Paul Kubek-Brockton, MA 1940pts

(A) Matthew Stas-Kingston, MA 1740pts

(S) Jeff Vader-Franklin, NH 1730pts

(S) Shaylene Vader-Franklin, NH 1515pts

(S) Lil Sherm-Andover, MA 1315pts