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Aerobatic Contest: Apple Valley, CA

Gash

Well Known Member
I'm at the Duel in the Desert aerobatic contest at the Apple Valley, CA airport. I'm competing in the Sportsman category with my RV-8. We were only able to fly once today before the winds went out of limits. We should be able to get in one flight tomorrow morning before it gets too windy again.

I'm the only RV competing here. A couple RV-4 pilots stopped in yesterday during the practice day to check out all the activity. It was nice to see other RV pilots here, if only to say howdy.

This is a ton of fun folks! I'll be glad to help anybody who has questions about how to get started with IAC and organized aerobatics. As you can see by the scores, the RV is a capable aircraft in this competition category. We need more RVs here!

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Nice results, Karl!

I probably have more landings at Apple Valley than anywhere else...I'm based at Cable and the high desert was my Phase 1 practice area. Many fond memories of flying up that bumpy Cajon Pass!

I'd join you but I only do aileron rolls when passing through wake turbulence of commercial jets. :eek: Have fun! I hope the winds calm down for you.
 
Great job Karl! It was good meeting you. You guys looked great in practice yesterday. It's going to take a lot of practice for me to get even half-decent enough to start competing. =) Good luck tomorrow!

Edit: If you get a chance to post the results of Primary, can you do that? Just wondering how the other guys did.
 
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Brian, great meeting you too! Get your fuel figured out and then do some aerobatic training for Primary. You can definitely do it! I'll take pics of all the posted results tomorrow and get them on here.
 
Keep it up, Karl. It's RV pilots like you who inspire others.

Jerry Esquenazi is competing this weekend at the Sebring contest and doing quite well.

Good luck to both of you.
 
keep having fun

Gash, that's a fantastic score, and super showing for an RV. Ditto on Ron's reply too, and wishing you and Jerry a good day to bring home some bling.:D
Bill McLean
RV-4 slider
lower AL
 
Thanks guys. I just got home. We ended up cancelling the contest due to high winds this morning, so the Sportsman folks only got in one flight yesterday. I'm pretty sure that even with just one flight, this still counts as a valid contest (at least I think I heard one of the organizers saying that).

Brian, I forgot to take a photo of yesterday's Primary results (sorry!) but it will be posted on IAC after they upload the results.

...now to keep up the training until the Coalinga, CA contest in a month. I'm going to try to attend an aerobatics camp between now and then if I can swing it.
 
Thanks guys. I just got home. We ended up cancelling the contest due to high winds this morning, so the Sportsman folks only got in one flight yesterday. I'm pretty sure that even with just one flight, this still counts as a valid contest (at least I think I heard one of the organizers saying that).

Brian, I forgot to take a photo of yesterday's Primary results (sorry!) but it will be posted on IAC after they upload the results.

...now to keep up the training until the Coalinga, CA contest in a month. I'm going to try to attend an aerobatics camp between now and then if I can swing it.

Way to go Karl!!! 82.57% is huge! Very impressive! It stinks that the other flights got cancelled, but at least you finished on top!

So as to not to hijack your thread, I'm going to comment on Sebring 75! on a separate post. I hope that someday we can meet in the middle of the country somewhere.
 
RV gathering

Congratulations Karl, and I think the best place for you and Jerry to meet would be at the Nationals. That's the best way to advertise and recruit RVs to the fun in the blue.
Bill McLean
RV-4 slider
lower AL
 
Thanks Jerry! And Bill, I agree--nationals would be a good place to get as many RVs competing as possible. I'm planning on it. Two trips to Oshkosh in one year! :)
 
I didn't realize just how dominant Karl was at the Duel in the Desert aerobatic contest until I saw the scores posted on the IAC web site. Karl didn't just win, he crushed the competition! Keep an eye on this guy. Congratulations Karl.

Sportsman Power
Pilot ...................Airplane............Points.....Percent....Place
Karl Gashler ... Vans RV-8 N555KG 1147.67 82.57% (1)
Mignon Gery ... Pitts S2A N49BR 1046.67 75.30% (2)
Victor Birtalan ... Pitts S2A N49BR 1044.83 75.17% (3)
Madoka Takano ... Pitts S2A N49BR 1024.67 73.72% (4)
Peter Gillcrist ... Great Lakes N5762B 945.17 68.00% (5)
Roger Miller ... Christen Eagle N23TS 915.33 65.85% (6)
Mark King ... Decatholon N132PA 486.33 34.99% (7)
 
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