Sept. 14th, 2002.
1st Annual Aeroworks at Mile Hi Fun-Fly
It was a beautiful day, although there was a steady wind from the north which
seemed to diminish as the day went on. The NS runway was used all day. There
were 23 pilots who competed, most of whom entered in the "fun class"
competition. The 3D class competition was cancelled due to having only 4 pilots
signed up, the wind, and the fact that it got late in the day by the time we got
to it.
The competitions for the fun-class were 1) Most loops in 30 seconds. 2) Spot
Landing. 3) Timed take-off and landing. There were three pilots who tied for 1st
place in the fun class so there was a spot landing fly-off to determine who
would be 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Rob Kelly, who I understand had ranked #1 in the
nation for acrobat flying, took 1st place with a SIG "Somethin Extra".
Ely Corliss took 2nd place with a Great Planes Big Stick 40, and Jim Eide took
3rd who also flew the Somethin Extra. At the awards ceremony the three winners
were awarded trophies. Aeroworks
presented the 1st place winner Rob Kelly with the $50 cash prize. Rob then
turned around and gave it to 2nd place winner Ely Corliss.
Unbelievable.
The most notable happening of the event was the beautiful Aeroworks Jet
prototype which had 30+ flights on it and had been dialed in. (A video of the
jets last takeoff can be viewed on the website). It flew and sounded beautiful,
demonstrating a stall, slow flight, loops, rolls and inverted flight. And then
the unthinkable happened. The plane started to loop inverted uncontrolled over
the spectators. The wind thankfully pushed it south and on its third inverted
loop it narrowly missed Dave Teich's Airstream and the shed. It smashed into the
ground on the north side of Quincy and most of the aircraft scattered over the
road and settled on
the south side of Quincy. The gas tank was found 200 feet from the point of
impact. The crowd was hushed and astonished but thankfully no one was hurt and
no harm was done... except to this expensive aircraft which was in a thousand or
more pieces. Radio failure was to blame and it has not been determined why.
Every pilot was given back a multiple of their $10 entry fee in prizes which
were given away throughout the day. Dave Buston won the 60/90 540T Edge donated
by Aeroworks. Mile Hi member Bill Sorrells one a Topcat 40 donated by Action
Hobbies.
Phil and Elaine Kenny did marvelous job with the BBQ, and members all pitched in
with plane inspections, impound, raffles and prizes. It was a great
day.
John Corliss
