[NSRCA-dist8] Treasure Valley Pattern Contest Report

[astropuppy]

This (below) is written with a BARKS newsletter slant. Nonetheless I thought
I would share it with the D8 list and my friend Mike in Chicago. We (BARKS)
thank you all for your time and support. I still can't believe you all came
to Boise. Thank you so much. Mike Riggs

****

The “Treasure Valley Pattern Contest” quietly began with NSRCA District VIII
members arriving Friday to coach new pattern fliers in the art of flying the
AMA Sportsman pattern sequence. It was great to see so many people using the
BARKS facilities on a beautiful Friday afternoon. As day wore into evening
other District VIII members arrived from far away northwest places.

 Saturday morning contestants where greeted with moderately strong cool
winds from the north and a very bright sun in the right – eastern – corner
of “The Box”. Everybody mulled around munching “Finney” donuts as the
temperature rose and the sun rotated out of “The Box”. Visiting Contest
Director (CD) Rex Lesher called a pilots meeting explaining the task at
hand. Shortly afterward, the wheels of Mike Riggs Sword left the ground
marking the beginning of round one.

 Nathan Wingert, Robert Sox, Jerry Kent and Mike Riggs battled the sportsman
pattern more than each other for five rounds Saturday. Shaking their heads
the entire time about the difficulty of performing seemingly easy maneuvers
on a straight line, parallel to the runway, under the watchful eye of D8
judges. Jerry flew his retract equipped Sky Tiger to a speedy fourth place.
Robert Sox epitomized the pattern fledgling, flying his Avistar to third
place. Mike bounced his electrified Sword around the box to second place.
Topping everybody, Nathan sucked up the gear on his Killer Chaos and flew to
a lean mean first place finish.

 All total five – NSRCA District VIII – contestants participated from out of
town:

Gordon Anderson (Shinden) topped Rex Lesher (Twister) flying FAI(P9, I
think). Jim Hiller (Option 120) flew Masters. Steve Sterling (Focus) flew
Advanced and Craig Christensen (Integral) flew Intermediate.

 Linda Sterling not only called for her husband Steve; but, spent a fair
amount of the day in the judges chair. Meri Anderson spent the afternoon
keeping score, instructing BARKS rookies on logistics and answering
questions from an endless stream of spectators. In addition to their hard
work, both Linda and Meri insisted on buying their own Lynn Street – World
Famous – BARKS lunch.

 A great time under great – flying – conditions with great people and
without great mishap... Pattern is great!
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