Articles
South Texas Club 40 Race
August 11, 2007
SAPB field, San Antonio
by Chuck Waller
This race started on a bad note! After
Registration, and while Ken was making
the Matrix, "Novice" Lee Moore had
Radio problems and Pete Dubree crashed
and could not get his engine to run the
rest of the day.
During a practice lap, Greg Vincent and
Bob Petrenic had a major mid air. Ken
Hopson also had an "emergency landing"
in the pond. . Terry Large loaned his plane
to Bob Petrinec and Greg Vincent, in need
of a new wing, sat out the day. Craig
Barnes decided to act as a cut judge.
Those who signed up:
Novice: David
Gresens, Spring, TX; Gary Sustalla,
SAPB; Lee Moore, SAPB; Pete Dubree,
ARCS
Advanced: Craig Barnes, GAMA;
Ken Hopson, ARCA; Eddie Flesher,
claimed SAPB; Tim Purcell, ARCA; Chuck
Waller, CLAMS; Bob Petrinec, GAMA;
Terry Large, GAMA; Greg Vincent, SAPB;
Richard Storm, SAPB; Ray Allen, River
City RC; Chris Campbell, CLAMS; Jim
Agnew, ARCS, Stan Lattrell, GAMA;
William Wuest, Southlake Club; and Steve
Young, SAPB.
Out of 19 pilots registered,
we only had 14 available for the first
heats! The Matrix had to be redone!
Heat winners in advanced were:
1. B. Petrinec
2. R. Allen
3. C. Waller
4. T. Purcell
5. . C. Waller
6. R. Allen
7. R. Allen
8. J. Agnew
9. Campbell
10. R. Storm
11. J. Agnew
12. R. Allen
David Gresens won all 4 Novice heats!
He flew the smoothest course I have seen
and had a faster time than many of the
advanced planes using much faster
engines!
Fast times were:
1. Ray Allen – 1:36.70
2. 2. Bob Petrinec – 1:37.09
3. Chuck Waller – 1:39.03
4. Jim Agnew – 1:39.97
5. Ken Hopson – 1:41.31
In round 1, Eddie Flesher lost his plane to
the "raider eating tree" at turn 1. He forgot
to turn on low rates! In round 4, Ken
Hopson had his wing fold around #2. His
plane had a soft landing in the pond and
was retrieved by Richard Storm in his
rubber dinghy!
Novice Main : David Gresens, Gary
Sustala and Pete Dubree. Gresens
won and advanced to the Advanced C
Main.
Advanced C Main: David Gresens,
(NOVICE CLASS) 2:05.10, Stan latrell,
2:07.66, Richard Storm 2:08.20, Steve
Young DNF
Advanced B Main: Tim Purcel, 1:45.50,
Chris Campbell 1:49.19, David Gresens
1:58.37, Jim Agnew, DQ
Advanced A Main: A malfunctioning stop
watch left us in the dark whether Chuck
1:44.40 or Ray won. Not able to re-run ,
as Chuck landed on a fence post and
could not continue. Bob Petrinec 3rd
1:45.15, Tim Purcell 4th 146.94. From my
view, Ray won as I had a cut and never
caught up.
All in all, a very good day, although I
think several pilots were suffering from the
oppressive heat. I look forward to seeing
every one at the next race Sept. 1st at the
GAMA in Georgetown.