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<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Made it home from Argentina this morning, a bit tired from
a long drive yesterday, a long wait at the airport, and a long nite on the
airplane. The WC was completely worth the effort. The posts so far do not begin
to describe the huge amount of work, the superb flying, and awesome
accomplishment of Team USA!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>The Team spent huge amounts of time at the practice field
flying in conditions (wind, sun, dark, cold) most wouldn't even try. Each flight
was generally critiqued by a number of Team members & supporters as these
guys worked together to eliminate every possible flaw. There was total focus and
commitment within and for the Team. Team Manager Al Glenn took care of
administrative details - including leaving the hotel around 5:00am to ensure
transmitters were impounded on time, handling "information just in time"
logistics and essentially doing everything but sleeping. (Don't give him
too much grief when the photos of him sleeping at the banquet
publish.)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>The conditions during the prelims were extremely
difficult. Cross winds in or out each day that approached 30mph at times. It was
amazing how many "unknown" folks flew exceptionally well and that all of the
"know" folks flew even better. Not only were these guys flying in strong
wind - but it was usually quite cold in the morning sessions as well. The semi's
and finals were also windy - but not as bad and it got warmer, downright
hot for the finals. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Bad luck and a great performance by BPLR prevented Team
USA from winning the Team Championship - BPLR flew one flight during the only
calm period (maybe half an hour) of the prelims and did a very good job of
capitalizing upon the opportunity. Jason was up next - but a delay to allow for
an airliner departure was long enough for the wind to return before Jason flew.
This was enough to swing the advantage to the French and give them a well fought
win - Team USA can be proud of second, it was a hard fought battle with great
flying on each side, with the Japanese team always in the mix.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>All of the flying in the finals was exceptional. Quique
was consistently solid, Jason likewise (and winning his first WC round), and
Andrew flying superbly. In hindsight - it may be that the "in-close" style
Andrew flew to good advantage in the prelims / semi's that may not have scored
as well in the finals without the strong crosswind. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>There were a lot of electrics (mostly Hacker) as well as
glow (mostly YS) and neither had an advantage / disadvantage in the strong
winds. Either propulsion is totally viable, Sebastiano even flew a Hacker with
contra-rotating props in the finals - good power and excellent
braking.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>The highlight of the experience occurred while standing
next to Quique when he was announced as the winner (he didn't know he'd won).
I'll remember his emotion forever - he really wanted this! </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>So - second WC Team placing is good, every Team member
making the Finals is outstanding, everyone in the top 8 is exceptional, and a
USA Team member winning the World Championship is more than great! The
accomplishments of 2007 Team USA are HUGE!! Congratulations to Quique, Jason,
and Andrew - we couldn't be more proud or appreciative of your
accomplishments!! Thanks to the callers who worked as hard as the
pilots, the TM's that handled logistics, and everyone who contribute to an
exceptional performance by Team USA.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Earl</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>