R9 Sports winners are …
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A couple of hours ago I got back from the awards hangar dinner for R9 Sports. It was a wonderful event, with happy and cheerful people, and most of all rested. I guess taking a day off from flying was good after all, if I judge by the relaxed faces there. In the evening the dust did calm down, but a t-storm was building during dinner and if my hearing is not tricking me I think is raining outside.
The Sports class winners were announced and congratulated by everybody present and it gives me great pleasure to post their names and picture here (from left to right) – LB – Louis McIntire in 2nd place, 3C – Ryan Charlie in 1st place, V2 – Randy Hollenberg in 3rd place. Congratulations to all of you for safe flying and performance!
The enchiladas with beans and tortilla were delicious, everybody loved it, as they went for seconds and thirds. I would like to thank again the SSA staff for taking such great care of us in their free time, for their dedication and hard work so that we all can have a contest and be happy!
The Air Force team that flew in the Sports class attended the dinner, to our delight. I think all the pilots share my opinion when I say that these young men and woman were a delightful company, so young and fresh, especially out of their team uniforms and hats. :) I am looking forward to sharing with you all I’ve learned about their flying program and how much they work for this, but I will do this in a future separate post, with more info and pictures, once I get home.
Do keep an eye on the Nationals that will continue through next week. Karin (HW team) will write the reports.
Safe flying! and Good night to all from Hobbs!
MD
Afternoon update
As I am writing these lines from my hotel room, I am looking outside and not much has changed in the way the sky looks and the sand being blown everywhere.
Do not be tricked, this is not a sunset at the airport, it is the way the grid looked around 11 am after the pilots meeting. As we headed for the meeting it all looked normal, we had our weather brief (which was not great, but we were still hoping to fly), congratulated the winners from yesterday and went outside to get ready.
Rather than heading for brunch, we headed for the airport to secure the glider, as gusts of dust were blowing everywhere. This continued as we decided to put it in the trailer and in the end the CD decided to cancel the day, as the winds and dust continued.
We are still having our dinner tonight (Denise is making enchiladas :)) and give the awards for the Sports class, that ended today.
This is going to be my last day posting for Hobbs, as we are heading home tomorrow. Karin Weissenbuehler is going to report on the SSA website – thank you Karin for agreeing to do this for all of us to continue enjoying the contest from a distance.
I will make my last post tonight after the dinner and awards.
MD
Good morning!
Yesterday’s weather was better than expected and all pilots came home happy. I think the CD called a good task allowing them to go where they choose after the first turn point, this way everybody could make their pick as clouds and stay away from any possible T-storms. It was another nice day in Hobbs, with only one land out, close and safe. The wait for the launch to start has paid off. :)
The results for yesterday are: Open – Ron Tabery, Dick Butler, Steve Leonard; it’s interesting to see that after yesterday the difference between DB in first overall and SS second is of only 8 points, so a very interesting race going on here; 15 m – Mark Keene, Dave Mockler and Eric Nelson; R9 Sports – Charlie Ryan, Louis McIntire and Randy Hollenberg, keeping the same order also for the overall ranking.
Yesterday was actually that good that some of the Sports class guys wished they could fly with water.
Getting ready for the pilots meeting now, soon I will follow up with the weather for today and tasks.
MD
