Ed Southwick Memorial 2008

A note and picture from Eric Rule

Rickii Pyatt sent me this picture taken at the Ed Southwick Memorial Contest in Avondale, AZ Feb 16-17th. The shot shows the presentation of the Ed & Helen Southwick Award to Mr. LeRoy Black, Jr. On the stage with Mr. Black are the previous winners from left to right Robin Sizemore, Eric Rule, LeRoy Black, Ken Gulliford and Mark Smith. The Southwick Award is presented annually at the memorial contest to an individual who by his or her actions best exemplifies the values of Ed & Helen Southwick. Mr. Black's long history of selfless work on behalf of control line activities in central AZ combined with his readiness to extend his hand in friendship to everyone he meets and his willingness to help every modeler certainly qualify him for this award. If you think that you can use this picture in your publications please feel free to do so.

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Report from John Wright
The Southwick 2008

(Western music, drum roll). They come outa the west, the Knights, Renger, Rule, Wright, Taube, to fly the Southwick, OTS, P-40, PScale, Intermediate, Advanced even Expert. Descending on Avondale like a swarm with their McCoy’s, AP Wasp’s and electrics buzzing, screaming and whirring. The locals were awed. They had never seen such raw talent, determination and guts. (Read: They had never seen such an assembledge of junk even get engines started, much less get in the air to fly.)

We arrived Friday in cold and drizzle. Some practiced, but Rudy and I weenied due to the cold.

Saturday dawned crisp, cloudy but calm, and cold but dry. After a brief pilots meeting, Classic got started on the paved circle, OTS and P-40 on grass. Eric and Larry campaigned the Mackey Bluebird in Classic, but without success. PScale filled the gap between the Classic rounds.

I flew my still unfinished profile Corsair/K&B 40, to 1st. Jim Hoffman had a nice Lockheed Electra twin, 1/2A type with electronic throttle. But a broken throttle lever spoiled his run and he had to run out the tank on one engine, about 20 min.

Ted Kraver had a 4 engine (Wasp 09s?) on a British Fleet Shadow, a two story high wing with a stub lower wing for the landing gear. As usual, getting four small glow engines with throttles to stay running was more of a challenge than Ted could manage. My score was not that much higher than the two who had incomplete flights, which leads me to believe that my static score was much lower than theirs. But the Corsair handles well both on the ground and in the air, and my flight score carried the day.

Sunday brought out the big guns. In expert, Bob Whitely his Hawker Hunter Shark ,Jim Hoffman flew his USA 1, and Keith Trostle his Bearcats final contest. The VSC crew, Robin Sizemore and Lou Wolgast filled in the expert field, along with myself, John Wright bringing up the rear with my overweight Sig Chipmunk. I found that my RSM 11-6 was just too much prop and power so I switched to a Tornado 10-6 3B. It was adequate despite the 55 0z weight. I’m hoping that this plane will perform better at sea level. But of more interest to the Knights was wins by Larry Renger in P-40 Advanced and Rudy Taube in Intermediate. Larry flew his latest 1/2A design, and Rudy his electric Brodak P-40. Obviously, both the Renger ½ A and the Taube electric are getting dialed in pretty well. Rudy also judged OTS, thanks Rudy.

Sorry for the late report. I got a nastygram from the boss saying I’m not supposed to be doing personal business on the company computer, so I’ve had to do most of it at home, and I try to reserve that time for building and cleaning the garage. There is a full report on the contect on the CACLC website for those interested.

Happy Landings John Wright

Report from Ken Gulliford

Ed Southwick Memorial Stunt 8th Annual Avondale (Phoenix), AZ Feb 16- 17, 2008 Friendship Park Stunt, B-Bust

First, let’s thank those folks without whom this contest would not be nearly as much fun, or even remotely successful. Monica Iverson and Linda Black for the thankless task of tallying up the scores, deciphering the Judges cryptic handwriting, and interpreting “what the Judge really means” in legible and logical sequence. Not to mention, along with Expert Stunt Judge Rickii Pyatt, the baked goods and bringing a “Lady’s Touch” to the burly southwestern crowd. Thank You, Please come back next year. Nick Lemak for flawless registration and money tracking duties, and for working miracles with the computer to produce score sheets, flight orders, and generally a calming effect on the anxious crowd of impatient pilots. Thank You for the countless hours before the event, in addition to the frenzied registration duties. LeRoy Black for thinking enough ahead as Stunt Event Director to make my job as Contest Director easy, and for helping untie the knots on game days to allow for smooth interfacing when competitors are also used as judges. Thank You for taking the time to really make the difference. Judges as follows:

Judges as follows: Profile Scale – Mark Smith and Ivan Murphy. Thank You both for picking up the slack whenever asked or needed. Expert Stunt – Rickii Pyatt and Mark Smith. Thank You for keeping those Experts in line. Judging Experts is the toughest of the Judging jobs, there’s not much difference between maneuvers at that level. 18 points between 1st and 3rd Place. Advanced Stunt – Lou Wolgast and Robin Sizemore. Thank You for making the trip from control line heaven in Tucson, then agreeing to judge as well. It makes for a busy day, but we could not succeed without your volunteer time. Intermediate Stunt and Beginner Stunt – Gary Gingerich and Tom McClain. Thank You for braving the smoothest grass in the west, the random doggie presents, and squinting into the sun to score. Old Time Stunt – LeRoy Black and Rudy Taube. Thank You for Judging a category that you would have really rather flown in. Taking the time to serve has really allowed us to put on a quality event. Classic Stunt – Rickii Pyatt and Ken Gulliford. Thank You (Rickii) for helping us keep the quality and integrity of this event. A keen eye and a great sense of humor helped us grade and rate and judge these beauties from the past. We could not have done it without you. Profile Stunt – Nick Lemak and Jim Hoffman. Thank You for taking the time to Judge this broadest of events. Not only is it a category, but with the divisions in it, it can be four-times the work. Your work did not go unappreciated. Balloon Bust – Jeff Hanauer and Sergio Garza. Thank You for the fanciest set up in the west with the bullet-proof support trailer, and for providing the much needed relief from the sometimes too serious Stunt flying. Thanks also to Ted Kraver for running score sheets when he wasn’t trying to keep four engines running at the same time, and a very special thanks to Jim Hoffman for transforming himself into Squeegeeman and nearly single-handedly drying off our paved area after the morning downpour. If I’ve forgotten anyone, Please forgive me, I was just a little busy too…..

Selected by his peers to receive the Annual Ed and Helen Southwick Friendship Award, the 2008 honoree was LeRoy Black. You can’t earn this award through competition, rather only through Friendship and a life well led. Thanks LeRoy. See you all next year at the 10th Annual… Happy Trails, Ken