Well, just got home from a great time.
What a trip.
Ivan and Ernie ran a great, well planned contest. Not an easy feat when you consider 44 pilots are registered!
Not only did Ivan run the contest, but he also flew extremely well.
Us 'short term snowbirds' (Rick, Gaston, Brendan, Lee and I) were treated to some very good hospitality from Ivan and Diane, as well as the Ocala Flying club and the Dunellon Flying club.
Made some new friends and reacquainted with some others.
It was just great that the Sudbury guys drove all that way. Man have we got stories to tell!!
The challenge for me was to get the new plane in trim and get used to it. Super pleased with how the new 124 Pro is running. Our rental house was just the ticket for working on the planes in the evenings as it had an attached garage.
When the contest weekend came around, we had been thru the sequences quite a few times, but were still not totally comfortable with them. They are well written and flow well, but will take some time to get 'right'.
For me it was really something to meet up with and fly against the likes of Jason Shulman, Ivan (of course!), Kevin Wilson, John Schroeder (Mr. Clover Creek!), Zach Bloomquist, and the rest. These guys are unbelievably good (and easy to talk to) and it's a great experience to be there and participate. Shulman wasn't even trying and he still gave us a proper butt-kicking.
We've got to get more Canadians to join us and go down there again...
Here's some pics.
One of the first days that Rick and I were there, Ivan brought us to the Dunellon Airport. We were treated to a huge, deserted corner of the airport, with all kinds of room and perfect weather. Here we were able to sort out all kinds of things with the airplanes and get some practice with the new sequences.
Don't wear open sandals around here...
This pic is the second day that we were at the Dunellon airport, and the first day of flying for the bleary-eyed, long travelled Sudbury crew. Met Ivan at 8am for breakfast and flying at 9! Chop-chop he says!
The lineup at the Dunellon airport.
PlaneWrappers are a must down here!
More of the lineup.
