AMA Glider

For those who were not present, on Tuesday, July 31, the Second Annual Beat the Vartanian Fun Fly was held at AMA Flying site. After the scheduled Nats events were completed, after 6 PM, Art Ellis, our esteemed Event Director took down the names of 24 stalwart folk who were there with 12 inch wingspan CLGs to try to 'Beat the Vart'. Priorly, I, had flown my two Vartanian gliders on a calm, liftless
morning at the AMA site. I recorded flights of 62 & 64 seconds. The best one was the time to beat. Anyone who did so was given a prize of an 18 inch piece of good grey rubber, suitable for CLG launcher. It was a very nice evening for the event, with only moderate drift & no real lift observed. This helped keep them in sight, as these little birds can grab lots of height on climbs! Art & I seeded the fliers into 4 groups of 5 & one of 4. Each group then mass-launched, with the three longest fliers going on to the next round. The 15 semifinalists then flew in three heats of 5 fliers with the top two flying in a six-up final heat.

My Red Mo glider was last one down, just pipping Stan Buddenbohm & Tim Batiuk to win the prestigious 'Beat the Vart' perpetual trophy. Several fliers had flights higher than the 'Beat the Vart' time. They were: Gene Wicks, Stan B, Tim B, and myself.