Chapter 52 came from all corners -- Connecticut, Long Island, New Jersey top to bottom, the Hudson Valley, and Eastern Pennsylvania. The Long Island rabble couldn't out-dazzle the Jersey crowd, but made a good show trying.
Regrettably, I Wasn't paying a lot of attention at the end but I do remember 1st place for the gold team was returning favorite Denny in his newly dubbed mount, the Phoenix.
1st place for the silver team because both their ages and hair color properly reflected the category they flew were Chris Getz and Stephen Seidel in the model 12. A Total shocker. Chris modestly rationalized, "Big Plane, Big Scores." I now love round engines and get to place a 4th cup on office shelf.
John Fellenger flew well in his speedy bird but suffered from lack of moral support from his new airplane partner.
Gus Fraser didn't scare us this year although Jay did. Gus's restraint near the ground was well received and his torque roll with an inverted freefall and flyaway were a big hit.
Jay Tesauro flew the best I've seen so far. Crisp, on heading and controlled with a nice in your face fly by.
Dave Windmiller put on a fantastic air show with stuff we haven't seen before. He got bonus points for his landing. Truly amazing.
Jason Staloff flew for the first time in front of a his supportive father, Marcus and a crowd of judges. With Scotty's help, he performed Loops, turns, spins and some of them close enough for us to see them. Welcome to the world of competitive aerobatics where some of us fly, Now YOU, but all of us watch and have something to say.
Denny and Mike surprised us all with a Y box entry from behind and startled quite a few of us that weren't paying attention.
Hans Bok and his attractive Lady friend flew all the way from up North, came early, judged and stayed late.
Lots of Marti's friends including some bandaged Canines showed up for the air show and enjoyed it thoroughly.
2nd Place Silver went to a young regular from LI that flew the best performance I've ever seen in super D. He did pushes to and from the vertical as well perfect opposing point rolls and rolling turns.
Aaron Ham from POU with a blue feathered eagle did a decent job with a nice smoke system. I saw a longing look from Mark as he took to the air.
New member Chuck Cohen from Connecticut in the Crayola paint schemed Extra tried his best to keep it in the box but we had to give him vectors back to the field when he got lost half way to Sullivan and almost out of radio range. He took the kidding like a good sport and was receptive to our advice on situational awareness and box positioning.
Scott "On Time, On Target" Jordan and his RV repeated a medal winning performance for his second showing at the Blue bowl. Ok, we won't call it a Lancer again.
Scott Kirk wowed us with tumble after tumble in the until now only pampered Extra. Denny flew safety and no doubt encouraged Scott to push the envelope for us.
Scotty Gerber flew his routine but not before our starter gave the inside of the Extra a sharp once over to make sure no wayward GPS would make its way to the tail cone. Wink, wink, nod, nod.
Trusty ferry or is it fairy pilots, Nick Stolley and Mark Mattioli flew up from the W heavily laden with the trophies, stopping along the way at Blairstown to pick up a hapless, flightless me on their way. Thanks guys! I owe you.
Alex orated the shortest briefing in IAC history, ( Greg take note ;-) while his dutiful wife Marina kept up the Belov tradition of compiling scores on her laptop.
The food was tasty, hot and plentiful and made for a welcome half time to our Bowl.
Lastly, Our "Resident Hottie" Laurie, scorched the northern skies arriving in her Super-Commuter and proceeded to snap hundreds of quality photos soon to grace web pages the covers of IAC magazines lying on and end table nearest you. Oh, btw, XX's and OO's were liberal dispensed. Don't ya love acro babes?
All in all, it was the best blue bowl in a series of great ones. Thanks goes to our host Marti, organizers the Belovs, trophy master Mark Mattioli, and all the members and guests that help make this event a success.
Stephen Seidel, Director