2005 Competition Results
Congratulations to those who competed. We’ll look forward to seeing you next year! To see prior year rankings, go up one level and select the appropriate year.
Rank | Pilot Name | National Points | Convntn April | Chicago July | Am Flyer ABQ |
1 | Eric Dufour | 1400 | 701 | 0 | 699 |
2 | Jeff Goin | 1173 | 673 | 500 | 0 |
3 | Stan Kasica | 1062 | 381 | 0 | 681 |
4 | Phil Russman | 889 | 479 | 0 | 410 |
5 | Mo Sheldon | 793 | 552 | 0 | 241 |
6 | Tim Kaiser | 756 | 246 | 296 | 460 |
7 | Dell Schanze | 641 | 0 | 0 | 641 |
8 | Max Ladouceur | 620 | 0 | 0 | 620 |
9 | Igor Potapkin | 575 | 575 | 0 | 0 |
10 | David Sigier | 492 | 0 | 0 | 492 |
11 | Stefan Obenauer | 351 | 0 | 0 | 351 |
12 | Leon Massa | 343 | 343 | 0 | 0 |
13 | Mike Cannella | 284 | 0 | 284 | 0 |
14 | Dave Rogers | 223 | 223 | 0 | 0 |
15 | Rich Morris | 221 | 0 | 221 | 0 |
16 | Steve Tustison | 69 | 0 | 69 | 0 |
Individual Events
Note: “Towards National” means that is the number of points that go into the current standings. It is based on the number of competitors.
Albuquerque Scoring Complete
Nov 29, 2005
Congratulations to the winners of the Albuquerque competition! The results have been verified by George Hawkins and the spreadsheet is included here. This was the last competition of the year and an impressive showing of very capable pilots.
A total of 9 competitors came to see how they compared (11 actually, but 2 were unable to start). Thanks to Mike Thompson and CC Moissant for running things and keeping it fair.
Anyone planning their own competition can download the USPPA scoring system using the blank Excel scoresheet. This can be useful for “gaming” various scenarios to better know where your efforts should be concentrated.
Download: Albuquerque | Blank ScoreSheet.
Note that these sheets incorporate all rule changes that were made just prior to the 2005 convention competition.
# | Pilot | Total | TkOff | Spot L | T&Go | Bomb | Clovlf | Effic | FtDrg | Sl/Fast | Nat’l |
1 | Eric Dufour | 1773 | 300 | 48 | 350 | 30 | 500 | 69 | 276 | 200 | 700 |
2 | Stan Kaisca | 1724 | 300 | 185 | 290 | 150 | 262 | 129 | 282 | 126 | 681 |
3 | Dell Shantze | 1624 | 300 | 350 | 149 | 282 | 114 | 392 | 37 | 641 | |
4 | Max Ladouceur | 1571 | 300 | 66 | 330 | 103 | 160 | 89 | 366 | 157 | 620 |
5 | David Sigier | 1247 | 300 | 350 | 32 | 484 | 81 | 492 | |||
6 | Tim Kaiser | 1164 | 300 | 88 | 330 | 34 | 160 | 92 | 160 | 0 | 460 |
7 | Phil Russman | 1039 | 300 | 330 | 146 | 160 | 103 | 410 | |||
8 | Stefan Obenauer | 890 | 300 | 112 | 43 | 360 | 75 | 351 | |||
9 | Mo Sheldon | 610 | 300 | 310 | 241 |
Harryport Competition Completes
July 10, 2005
The flight-friendly farm of Harry Rosset enjoyed its first USPPA sanctioned competition with enough pilots to make it count towards national standings. The grass and beans made for a perfect location to set up the cloverleaf and a large round grass circle worked well for all the other tasks.
New pilot Rick Morris showed enormous promise. With only 65 flights, he showed up expertly doing various maneuvers demanding skill. Since we were looking for more competitors, he was a natural. Another up and comer, Tim Kaiser, who has competed several times now but only has 110 flights, nailed two of the spot landings – a high scoring accomplishment that netted him 2nd place.
This event was worth a total of 500 points towards the national standings. Our next competition is in Albuquerque during the 2005 Balloon Fiesta Fly-In.
Congrats to the competitors who braved the heat and bumps. As always, great fun, sore muscles and much flying (in short spurts!) was accomplished. Interestingly, and as usual, there was no damage until free-flying ensued AFTER the competition.
Scores from this July Harryport event are below:
Pilot | Points | Towards National |
1. Jeff Goin | 2,170 | 500 |
2. Tim Kaiser | 1,285 | 296 |
3. Mike Cannella | 1,233 | 284 |
4. Rich Morris | 959 | 221 |
5. Steve Tustison | 300 | 69 |
Thanks to Harry Rosset who’s property we used and for being the Lead Judge, Also Jay Reynolds, Nick Cannella, Paul Paulikas, and Alex Varv for helping with judging.
2005 National Convention Competition
Scores from this April Convention are below:
Pilot | Points | Towards National |
Eric Dufour | 1,925 | 700 |
Jeff Goin | 1,850 | 673 |
Igor Potapkin | 1,581 | 575 |
Mo Sheldon | 1,518 | 552 |
Phil Russman | 1,317 | 479 |
Stan Kasica | 1,047 | 381 |
Leon Massa | 944 | 343 |
Tim Kaiser | 676 | 246 |
Dave Rogers | 612 | 223 |
- Published in Competition
2004 Competition Results
Back to competition
Final National Ranking
Updated Nov 27, 2004
Rank | Pilot Name | National Points | Paratoys Salton | Parastars Fly-By | Am Flyer ABQ | Nationals Fly-By | 1st Hi Value | 2nd Hi Value | |
1 | Jeff Goin | 1554 | 894 | 553 | 500 | 660 | 894 | 660 | |
2 | Eric Dufour | 1450 | 0 | 750 | 377 | 700 | 750 | 700 | |
3 | Bob Ryan | 1239 | 864 | 0 | 375 | 0 | 864 | 375 | |
4 | Marty Hathaway | 1120 | 0 | 516 | 0 | 604 | 604 | 516 | |
5 | Richard Good | 1114 | 0 | 605 | 0 | 509 | 605 | 509 | |
6 | Arnon Lufi | 1000 | 1000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1000 | 0 | |
7 | Mike Ralph | 919 | 0 | 327 | 0 | 592 | 592 | 327 | |
8 | Andy McAvin | 820 | 556 | 0 | 0 | 264 | 556 | 264 | |
9 | Dell Schanze | 793 | 793 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 793 | 0 | |
9 | Nick Scholtes | 793 | 793 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 793 | 0 | |
10 | Mike Masterson | 756 | 756 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 756 | 0 | |
11 | Eric Steele | 754 | 754 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 754 | 0 | |
12 | Bill Heaner | 700 | 700 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 700 | 0 | |
13 | Phil Russman | 688 | 460 | 228 | 0 | 0 | 460 | 228 | |
14 | Francesco Desantis | 671 | 671 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 671 | 0 | |
15 | Paul Bailey | 630 | 0 | 630 | 0 | 0 | 630 | 0 | |
16 | Abe Christenson | 616 | 616 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 616 | 0 | |
17 | Terry Latimer | 516 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 516 | 516 | 0 | |
18 | Alan Chuculate | 513 | 513 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 513 | 0 | |
19 | Mo Sheldon | 471 | 471 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 471 | 0 | |
20 | Dan Kriseler | 455 | 0 | 455 | 0 | 0 | 455 | 0 | |
21 | Ron Hultin | 405 | 0 | 405 | 0 | 0 | 405 | 0 | |
22 | James Coblentz | 393 | 0 | 393 | 0 | 0 | 393 | 0 | |
23 | Mike McGuirk | 392 | 0 | 0 | 392 | 0 | 392 | 0 | |
24 | Stanley Kasica | 372 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 372 | 372 | 0 | |
25 | Casey Cadwell | 282 | 282 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 282 | 0 | |
26 | Tim Kaiser | 195 | 0 | 0 | 195 | 0 | 195 | 0 | |
27 | Dave Rogers | 157 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 493 | 493 | 0 |
Fall Fly-By (Ocala, FL)
Nov 19-20, 2004.
Round 1
Pilot Name | Takeoff | Spot Landing | Touch and Go | Bomb Drop | Cloverleaf | Kiting War | Foot Drag | Slow /Fast |
Session 1 Total |
Eric Dufour | 300 | 450 | 350 | 65 | 350 | 400 | 190 | 2105 | |
Jeff Goin | 300 | 258 | 350 | 74 | 344 | 110* | 381 | 200 | 2017 |
Marty Hathaway | 300 | 97 | 350 | 130 | 284 | 357 | 162 | 1680 | |
Mike Ralph | 300 | 350 | 275 | 35 | 396 | 143 | 1499 | ||
Terry Latimer | 300 | 204 | 195 | 94 | 326 | 363 | 138 | 1620 | |
Richard Good | 300 | 145 | 275 | 200 | 328 | 280 | 68 | 1596 | |
Stanley Kasica | 300 | 31 | 0 | 30 | 259 | 313 | 117 | 1050 | |
Dave Rogers | 300 | 0 | 143 | 50 | 0 | 493 | |||
Andy McAvin | 300 | 0 | 0 | 300 |
Round 2
Pilot Name | Takeoff | Spot Landing | Touch and Go | Bomb Drop | Cloverleaf | Kiting War | Foot Drag | Slow /Fast |
Session 1 Total |
Eric Dufour | 300 | 449 | 275 | 134 | 350 | 110* | 378 | 200 | 2196 |
Jeff Goin | 300 | 350 | 350 | 150 | 335 | 60* | 358 | 167 | 2070 |
Marty Hathaway | 300 | 370 | 350 | 104 | 300 | 331 | 139 | 1894 | |
Mike Ralph | 300 | 214 | 350 | 114 | 335 | 400 | 144 | 1857 | |
Richard Good | 200 | 320 | 275 | 30 | 323 | 325 | 56 | 1529 | |
Terry Latimer | 300 | 19 | 350 | 50 | 326 | 392 | 47 | 1484 | |
Stanley Kasica | 300 | 102 | 70 | 61 | 250 | 347 | 37 | 1167 | |
Andy McAvin | 203 | 0 | 128 | 298 | 200 | 0 | 829 | ||
Dave Rogers Did Not Compete This Round |
*Kiting war requires a pilot to keep his wing up for 2 minutes in order to earn any points.
Fly By Final Standings |
||||
Place | Pilot | Motor | Wing | Points |
1 | Eric Dufour | Paratour SD 100, | Fresh Breeze Silex, Small | 2,196 |
2 | Jeff Goin | Paralite Sky Cruiser Snap 100 | Fresh Breeze Silex, Small | 2,070 |
3 | Marty Hathaway | Paratour SD 100 | Turbo | 1,894 |
4 | Mike Ralph | Paratour SD 100 | Turbo | 1,857 |
5 | Terry Latimer | Adventure R3 | Adventure Speedoo | 1,620 |
6 | Richard Good | Paratour SD 100 | Gin Gangsta | 1,596 |
7 | Stanley Kasica | Paratour SD 100 | ? | 1,167 |
8 | Andy McAvin | Paralite Sky Cruiser 100, Muse | MacPara Muse | 829 |
9 | Dave Rogers | Fly Products Powerjet Top 80 | Apco Thrust | 493 |
American Flyer (Albuquerque, NM)
Oct 3, 2004.
Rank | Pilot Name/ Equipement |
Wing/Motor | Takeoff | Spot Landing | Touch and Go | Bomb Drop | Cloverleaf | Foot Drag | Slow/ Fast |
Score |
1 | Jeff Goin | Silex SC Snap 100 |
200 | 0 | 350 | 0 | 500 | 220 | 225 | 1495 |
2 | Mike McGuirk | MacPara Eden SD Simonini |
300 | DQ | 175 | 127 | 400 | 0 | 171 | 1173 |
3 | Eric Dufour | EZ Glider SD RDM |
300 | 236 | 290 | 0 | DQ | 0 | 300 | 1126 |
4 | Bob Ryan | Sigma 5 SC Black Devil |
300 | 375 | 250 | 92 | DNC | 105 | 0 | 1122 |
5 | Tim Kaiser | FB Silex SC Top 80 |
300 | DQ | 120 | 0 | DNC | DNC | 164 | 584 |
Parastars (Fly-By Ranch)
Apr 7,8 2004; revised Apr 15, 2004.
Pilots | Kiting | Foot drag | Efficiency | Slow/ Fast |
Takeoff | Pwr Off Land | Bomb Drop | Touch & Go | Thur Culum | Wed Cumul | Highest Cumul | % of highest score | Natl Points | Plc |
Eric Dufour | 110 | 169 | 159 | 215 | 300 | 231 | 100 | 330 | 1615 | 1828 | 1828 | 100.00% | 750 | 1 |
Paul Bailey | 10 | 90 | 120 | 300 | 300 | 350 | 15 | 350 | 1535 | 1327 | 1535 | 83.98% | 630 | 2 |
Richard Good | 0 | 0 | 367 | 216 | 300 | 290 | 26 | 275 | 1474 | 1453 | 1474 | 80.66% | 605 | 3 |
Jeff Goin | 35 | 0 | 93 | 246 | 300 | 367 | 59 | 250 | 1349 | 1182 | 1349 | 73.82% | 554 | 4 |
Marty Hathaway | 0 | 150 | 0 | 203 | 300 | 156 | 100 | 350 | 1258 | 1206 | 1258 | 68.86% | 516 | 5 |
Dan Kriseler | 60 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 60 | 1108 | 1108 | 60.64% | 455 | 6 |
Ron Hultin | 0 | 70 | 32 | 0 | 300 | 162 | 93 | 330 | 987 | 858 | 987 | 53.99% | 405 | 7 |
James Coblentz | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 957 | 957 | 52.38% | 393 | 8 |
Mike Ralph | 10 | 167 | 0 | 0 | 300 | 0 | 66 | 255 | 798 | 790 | 798 | 43.64% | 327 | 9 |
Phil Russman | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 400 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 410 | 556 | 556 | 30.42% | 228 | 10 |
MinPilots: 5, MaxPilots: 15, competitors: 10, Competition Worth: 750 |
Highest Score: | 1828 | 1828 |
Paratoys 2004
Feb 7, 2004
Pilots | # | Foot drag | Takeoff | Pwr Off Landing | Bomb Drop | Kicking Sticks (Slalom) | Touch & Go | Cumul | % of highest score | National Points | place |
Arnon Lufi | 2 | 355 | 300 | 370 | 134 | 550 | 350 | 2058 | 100.00% | 1000 | 1 |
Jeff Goin | 1 | 272 | 300 | 375 | 78 | 540 | 275 | 1840 | 89.40% | 894 | 2 |
Bob Ryan | 9 | 350 | 280 | 156 | 106 | 535 | 350 | 1777 | 86.36% | 864 | 3 |
Nick Scholtes | 7 | 345 | 300 | 151 | DQ | 486 | 350 | 1633 | 79.32% | 793 | 4 |
Dell Schanze | 4 | 345 | 300 | DQ | 149 | 488 | 350 | 1631 | 79.27% | 793 | 5 |
Mike Masterson | 8 | 150 | 300 | 368 | DQ | 464 | 275 | 1557 | 75.63% | 756 | 6 |
Eric Steele | 11 | 297 | 300 | 0 | 146 | 460 | 350 | 1552 | 75.41% | 754 | 7 |
Bill Heaner | 15 | 353 | 300 | DQ | DQ | 438 | 350 | 1441 | 70.00% | 700 | 8 |
Francesco Desantis | 12 | 0 | 300 | 234 | 111 | 481 | 255 | 1382 | 67.12% | 671 | 9 |
Abe Christenson | 10 | 218 | 180 | 97 | 74 | 522 | 175 | 1267 | 61.55% | 616 | 10 |
Andy McAvin | 5 | 0 | 300 | 169 | DQ | 400 | 275 | 1144 | 55.60% | 556 | 11 |
Alan Chuculate | 3 | 0 | 0 | 236 | DQ | 509 | 310 | 1055 | 51.27% | 513 | 12 |
Mo Sheldon | 6 | 250 | 180 | 0 | DQ | 410 | 130 | 970 | 47.12% | 471 | 13 |
Phil Russman | 13 | 380 | 60 | DQ | DQ | 467 | 40 | 947 | 46.02% | 460 | 14 |
Casey Cadwell | 14 | 400 | 180 | DNC | DNC | DNC | 0 | 580 | 28.18% | 282 | 15 |
Highest Score: | 2058 | ||||||||||
MinPilots: | 5 | # of Competitors: | 15 | ||||||||
MaxPilots: | 15 | Competition Worth: | 1000 |
2004 Standings Finalized
Nov 27, 2004
After five events spanning the entire country, the cumulative scores have been totalled. And the verdict is… (click here for National Standings.)
Finals Completed
Nov 21, 2004
The final USPPA competition for 2004 is behind us. Cooperative Florida weather gave contestants warm blues skies for two days of practicing and competing. On Sunday the pilots relaxed to a cross country about the surrounding area.
Congratulations to Eric Dufour who took the victory after two rounds, Jeff Goin garnered 2nd place and Marty Hathaway stepped up to 3rd.
It was a very enjoyable time for the 9 pilots who competed and built friendships even in the face of a strong desire to do well. The results are included under “National Rankings“.
Pictured Left is Terry Latimer, new to competition, who is stretching for a spot landing. Above right is the gold “Paramotor Man” Necklace, given to each of the top 3 winners.
Saturday afternoon included two rounds of the kiting war and, in spite of light conditions for much of it, both rounds had the necessary minimum kiting time (2 minutes) to count.
The National Standings will be updated shortly to reflect these scores. Schedules for the 2005 competitions have not been set but there will be one in April and another in November, again at Fly-By Ranch.
Here are just a few bits of the many memories captured in the brief time together.
- The Judges are recovering a a humorous moment.
2. Marty Hathaway enjoys a Sunday cruise. Elisabeth is flying the trike beyond him.
3. Eight of Nine competitors meet the camera, it was the shots that FOLLOWED these that were memorable. We’ll have those eventually!
4. There is a free ride.
High Attitude, High Altitude
Oct 8, 2004
by Jeff Goin
Just launching from 5200′ above sea level is a challenge. Results are under National Rankings.
We had the requisite five competitors including a new pilot who had never flown one. Second place was earned by another new-to-competition pilot Mike McGuirk.
As with all these events it was fun just to get together with like-minded fellow flyers. And it’s always a learning curve. There will be two rule changes to make judging more objective. They are:
- The bomb drop minimum altitude will be dropped. You can come in as low as you want as long as nothing touches except the bomb. Where it stops determines your distance. So if it touches the cone and bounces off, that is still where it is measured from.
- The touch and go now has a maximum distance. Stepping outside of that distance zero’s the step score (but not the target portion of the score).
Petroleum To Airspeed:
The Ultralight Nationals Completes
Sept 24, 2004
by Jeff Goin
The scores are posted. Congratulations to David Sigier of Canada who earned the most total points and the victory.
Details are forthcoming but the order is David Sigier, Jeff Goin and Dave Rogers, a new pilot who came to Scottsburg with only 20 flights and a desire to learn. We’ve not heard the last of this up and coming pilot!
The last swoop of David Sigier’s “Japanese Slalom” ended two days of the most perfect weather served up to light fliers. Conditions were such that it was possible to fly all day on both days allowing completion of every planned task.
The last Task was quite the crowd pleaser – a low level course involving 4 sticks where contestants rounded corners and kicked sticks in precise fashion within feet of the ground.
We certainly both wanted to win but didn’t let that interfere with tank fulls of fun along the way. Returning from the “Outlanding” field we flew together and David hammed it up a bit with “Big Ears” as seen on the top picture. |
A most unique task consumed the entire morning airborne. It involved getting maps, directions, a sealed envelope and orders to “fetch” certain turnpoints. Once identified, straight lines were drawn on the map (while in flight) connecting the points. If done correctly, their intersection gives the new destination – where you should go land. An awaiting marshal recorded the landing time and took your map for scoring. It was like a road rally in the air. Afterward, pilots were free to fly back to the comp field or ride back in a vehicle. Of course we flew back.
A buffet style banquet and awards ceremony with live music completed the evening. Several awards were given by USUA’s Dale Hooper and Tom Gunnarson including one that went to PPG pilot David Rogers for flying accomplishment in his pre-ppg craft, a Quicksilver MX.
The amount of planning and time that went into this became apparent – it was enormous. And it was designed to make it fun for the pilots.
The people who made this happen gave unprecedented levels of participation including publicity and participation by the city of Scottsburg. It was very, very clear they wanted us there and made us (the PPG pilots) feel welcome in what has been primarily a fixed-wing event.
Any pilot that has enough skill to consistently launch and land can compete in these events. Most of the event does not include the low-level work that some fear and even what’s there can be flown up high just for practice. Next time we can hopefully have more participate – it is a LOT of work to organize and my hat is off to Tom Gunnarson of USUA and all the other folks who have made this possible.
Contestants were David Sigier (Top 80 Miniplane & Nervures Wing), Dave Rogers (Fly Products Top 80 Powerjet & Apco Thrust wing) and Jeff Goin (Top 80 Paralite Sky Cruiser with Silex wing).
Flying navigation tasks are fun – it’s like a rally, you’re given these incredibly accurate maps and instructed to “go fetch”. Flying within 500′ of the point scores a hit which will be read later by the scoring people through your GPS (sealed so you can’t read it).
National Geographic videotaped a feature on two ultralight pilots and was present for much of the proceedings. We plaud the USUA for going to the effort of putting this on.
Friday Day 2
- Dave Rogers and David Sigier get their gear ready on the launch “Deck”. Getting airborne proved challenging in the hot, humid conditions.
- After flying around and “S” shaped course and marking points for a line, I wound up missing one and had to revert to the “Secret Envelope” – it showed the destination to be this beautiful airport snuggled up to the Ohio River.
- Reading maps is a completely different skill than the low level maneuvering required for “flight precision”; but it is just another skill to master where getting there is indeed much of the fun.
- Epic Helmut Head.
- David Sigier shows up a few minutes after I did. He found all the points but drew the lines wrong and landed out. I was following my one line (in hopes to find the landing site) when I saw him land and circled down to see if that was the site (or if he had problems). He was fine and I figured this wasn’t the site so I climbed back up, opened my “secret letter” and followed its directions to the outlanding site. He corrected his error and relaunched to head there himself.
- The Marshall, Rick, had driven to the airport to collect our maps and GPS’s.
- Larry Beckley, the nicest guy you’d ever want to meet. You’d like him even if he didn’t open up his beautiful airport for this insanity. He is also a commercial airplane pilot and ultralight instructor seen here by his trainer.
- We ate, the band played and –
- A few took the opportunity for fancy footwork.
The banquet beckons. Many Chickens gave themselves up to the growth of human girth.- Dale Hooper, USUA president played MC for most of the festivities and gave away a number of USUA awards.
- Tom Gunnarson, competition director, pulled himself away from scoring long enough to present a few awards himself.
Thursday Day 1
A color guard marched to attention in the opening ceremony with a performance of the National Anthem and prayer. This was a very nice touch given what goes on around us and helps put the freedom we enjoy in perspective. It was moving.- The three PPG contestants L to R: David Sigier with his brother Chris, Jeff Goin and David Rogers
David Rogers returning from a navigation task.- Jeff Goin reading the map.
- One of the waypoints turns out to be a “VOR” which is used by overflying jets. I hope this didn’t disturb their signal!
- Sunshine pours over a dewey blanket of ultralights parked on the flight line.
Wednesday 09/22/2004
Pilots measure out each other’s fuel with Marshal’s supervision. The first task: take a limited amount of fuel on a triangle, do a touch and go on the “deck” then go hunt for other check points.- The City of Scottsburg is providing a web cam atop this pole and Larry, the airport owner is providing wireless internet for pilots.
- David Rodgers, PPGer from the Tallahassee area, refuels his fly. All competition pilots are flying top 80 motors.
- We’re being nice to this group: the Marshals.
Big Win For Four
July 14, 2004
by Kevin Tayler
Four strokes that is. The relatively new Bailey 4-Stroke motor made a big competitive splash this year in Europe when Michel Carnet (four times British Paramotor Champion) and Paul Bailey, its creator took consecutive winning titles. Michel garnered the highest score in the French Nationals and then two weeks later was beaten into second place in the British Nationals by Paul Bailey. They were flying Bailey Aviation 4-Stroke motors and Paramania Action wings.
Pictured right is Paul Bailey, the 2004 British Champion.
Photo by Pascall Campbell Jones.
The British Championships, held in rural Norfolk, were concentrated into two days’ flying with 20 finishers (including two Belgium entrants). Bailey and Carnet were in a league of their own throughout and one or other was always going to take the title. Their strengths and weaknesses balance each other out and it was impossible to say who would gain the upper hand until the final scores were calculated. Paul Bailey is cool and determined, giving little away and always performing consistently, especially on those notorious forward launches in nil-wind or shifting-wind which he nailed every time. Michel, with more to lose, made some uncharacteristic launch and landing errors but was true to his free-flying background with a great thermalling task, airborne on two litres for an hour longer than most other pilots.
A complex low moved across the area, making it difficult to judge the weather. Conditions allowed two days of competitive flying, but not without drama. At a crucial moment in the middle of a fuel-economy task a huge cunim produced a rush of cold air and dragged the wind dramatically from SW to N, meaning that pilots who’d flown their into-wind legs at the beginning were also battling the wind on the way back, with the result that many landed out. On another occasion the whole field was laid out ready to launch into seemingly flat conditions to fly a 62km circuit when a deafening rumble of thunder and flashes of lightning ripped through the sky, directly upwind. Task aborted. Ten minutes later it deluged.
Competition Director Mike Campbell-Jones responded with some multi-tasking, an innovation in paramotoring which involves cramming as many challenges as possible into the same flight. We launched in pairs, raced flat-out for 10km, descended to ground level for measured fast/slow runs, moved over to the kicking-stick slalom, then powered up to 500 feet for a timed accuracy landing. In the evening we did the same thing all over again.
The best task was the ‘cat’s cradle’, a complex piece of navigation and route-planning on limited fuel. Numerous turnpoints were specified in different sectors and the trick was to fly the largest possible distance between points while optionally collecting bonus scores by returning to the field to kick a stick after every three strikes: all on 6 litres within a time window. This required detailed preparation as well as masterful flying and a thorough knowledge of one’s equipment, and it was notable that the two competition leaders planned and flew exactly the same route as each other (clearly the optimal one), without any cross-referring.
We are grateful to those who supported this year’s Nationals, including Sky Systems, the BMAA, FFPLUM, Bailey Aviation and Paramania.
Pos. | Name |
Wing |
Engine |
1. | BAILEY Paul | Paramania Action | Bailey 4-stroke 150 |
2. | CARNET Michel | Paramania Action | Bailey 4-stroke 150 |
3. | PARKINSON Julian | Paramania Action | PAP Top 80 1400 |
4. | CAMPBELL-JONES Pascal | Paramania Action | Vortex |
5. | GLASSE Henry | Paramania Action | Fly 115 |
6. | HINZER Karl | Hathor Symphony | Bailey JPX 320 |
7. | CREHAN Simon | Paramania Action | PAP Top 80 1300 |
8. | KELLY Robbie | Paramania Action | Bailey JPX 320 |
9. | CASTON John | Paramania Action | Bailey JPX 320 |
10. | PUSHMAN Brian | Hathor Legato | DK Whisper GT |
11. | KEMP John | Hathor Legato | Bailey Solo 210 |
12. | TAYLOR Kevin | Paramania Action | Fresh Breeze Airboss 122 |
13. | KELLY Jansy | Paramania Action | PAP Top 80 1100 |
14. | BEVERIDGE Brian | Sky Lift | DK Whisper GT |
15. | DENT Piers | Silex | Fresh Breeze Airboss 122 |
16. | HALLATT Paul | Paramania Action | Fresh Breeze Airboss 122 |
17. | KEENE Tom | Paramania Action | H&E Zyclone |
18. | HAIRS Dave | Paramania Action | Adventure F4 |
Guest | Johan Bossuyt (BEL) | Paramania Action | PAP Top 80 1400 TD |
Guest | Stefaan Michils (BEL) | Paramania Action | PAP 1400 AS |
First Dedicated Competition Completes
Fly-By Ranch, NW of Orlando, Florida
Photo at right by Bud Johnson – Competitors L to R Ron Hultin, Dan Kriseler, Paul Bailey, Mike Ralph, Jeff Goin, Marty Hathaway, Richard Good and Eric Dufour holding “Tiny”. Phil Russman, an excellent pilot, competed but slipped away from the photo (“I’m not gonna be in that thing after my performance!”)
This is the way to run a competition! Starting April 8th we flew two days of very challenging conditions without as much as a broken propeller.
A new task has been added that mirrors the FAI’s “Slow/Fast”. This has you fly between to gates as slow as possible the first time and then as fast as possible the second time. Scoring favors the greatest DIFFERENCE between the two.
The event, held at Fly-By Ranch near Ocala, FL was a complete success. Ten pilots put their skills to the test, braving gusty Florida winds and thermals, and did an outstanding job. Unfortunately, high winds precluded running the “cloverleaf”, a high point task where the pilot kicks a center stick and flies around the four corners of the course.
Judging was excellent. With the practice day on Wednesday we were able to work out most bugs by both pilots and judges. Art Runzo was the Competition Director, David Friedrich the Lead judge and George Hawkins did the scoring. Four teams of judges watched over the tasks and kept impeccable records.
No mercy was shown to anyone as task DQ’s were handed out to all when the judges felt they were necessary. Preliminary scoring is complete thanks to George Hawkins. There were 10 excellent pilots flying in the very challenging conditions. Facilities at Fly-By make it easy to coordinate with a large briefing room at the edge of the field (far right Phil & Elisabeth let me interrupt).
The pictured judges formed their favored expression, “DQ”. George Hawkins, Christianne Moisan (CC), Art Runzo, David Friedrich, John Broda and Ed Chikitani made this the best judged event ever. CC earned her reputation as “Miss DQ” when Jeff Goin landed after a 4-second flight in the endurance competition due to a fuel line problem. She DQ’d his next effort since the rules have no allowance for a “second attempt”. Appropriate but still painful!
First Event
Our first competition is “in the bag”. Running of the tasks went very well at the Paratoys fly-in as each pilot got to fly his routine without significant waiting. There were no injuries and the most serious occurrence was related to a non-participant.
Due to the challenge of running these events during big fly-ins, they will be held primarily as as dedicated events with only very limited other flying allowed. This makes it safer for the competitors and non-competitors and improves the ability of judges and pilots to better acclimate to the rules.
Recent Changes
A new Pilot Reference has been added under “Rules”.
As the competition evolves the primary means to that evolution is through rules changes. The most recent revision attempts make it both safer and more fair.
One attempt to improve fairness changes the efficiency competition to reflect the innate ability of smaller motors to fly longer on less fuel. They will still confer some advantage but it will be greatly reduced. This scoring was applied to the Toledo competition and, as a result, a pilot flying a 184 cc motor tied with a pilot flying a 80 cc motor.
Kicking Sticks has been modified so that pilots have only one try but can kick either of the first two sticks to make their run count. Before this the pilot could have up to three tries but that caused pilots to be doing low altitude circles while other competitors had to overfly the task. This also makes it far easier to judge
- Published in Competition
2014 Competition Results
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As of June 4, 2014,. The Two Highest Scores are Additive for “National Points”
Here is the approved spreadsheet with all tasks.Thanks to George Hawkins and Glen Boyd for validating the scoresheets. Their resulting spreadsheet is available below. There was only one small change that did not effect the standings.
Final Standings | |||
Place | Pilot | Points | Towards National |
1 | Jeff Goin | 2,173 | 650 |
2 | Chad Bastian | 2,141 | 640 |
3 | Ryan Shaw | 2,010 | 601 |
4 | Bryan West | 1,604 | 480 |
5 | Alex Donaghy | 1,588 | 475 |
6 | Chad Vermilion | 1,546 | 462 |
7 | Jiri Sindler | 1,410 | 422 |
8 | Shane Denherder | 1,267 | 379 |
- Published in Competition
2003 National Competition
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These scores reflect all competitions run in 2003. For pilots competing in multiple events, their highest two scores are retained. The 2003 overall winner was Eric Dufour.
2003 National Standings – Final |
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As of Oct 10, 2003 | The Two Highest Scores are Additive for “National Points” | ||||||||
Rank | Pilot Name | National Points | Parastars FL | PPGer Detroit | Harryport IL | FlyOhio Toledo | Am Flyer ABQ | 1st Hi Value | 2nd Hi Value |
1 | Eric Dufour | 1936 | 1000 | 0 | 936 | 1000.0 | 936 | ||
2 | Jeff Goin | 1800 | 500 | 633 | 800 | 700 | 1000 | 1000.0 | 800 |
3 | Mo Sheldon | 1629 | 788 | 0 | 841 | 841.1 | 788 | ||
4 | Nick Sholtes | 1605 | 715 | 0 | 292 | 890 | 889.6 | 715 | |
5 | Dan Krisler | 1421 | 771 | 650 | 585 | 771.0 | 650 | ||
6 | Wally Shilts | 1298 | 700 | 146 | 598 | 243 | 700.0 | 598 | |
7 | Bill Heaner | 912 | 0 | 0 | 912 | 912.0 | 0 | ||
8 | David Sigier | 809 | 809 | 0 | 809.0 | 0 | |||
9 | Fernandez | 756 | 756 | 0 | 756.0 | 0 | |||
10 | Jack Kimble | 746 | 0 | 474 | 224 | 272 | 474.0 | 272 | |
11 | Dell Schanze | 699 | 0 | 0 | 699 | 699.0 | 0 | ||
12 | Justin Elliot | 600 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 600 | 600.0 | 0 | |
13 | Stefan Obenauer | 581 | 0 | 250 | 331 | 124 | 331.0 | 250 | |
14 | Steve Mayer | 556 | 556 | 0 | 556.0 | 0 | |||
15 | Gary Shoaf | 467 | 0 | 332 | 135 | 332.0 | 135 | ||
16 | Ricky Guerra | 362 | 362 | 0 | 362.0 | 0 | |||
17 | Mike Cannella | 345 | 0 | 345 | 345.0 | 0 | |||
18 | Phil Adkison | 329 | 0 | 128 | 201 | 201.0 | 128 | ||
19 | Kermit Weeks | 324 | 324 | 0 | 324.0 | 0 | |||
20 | Phil Russman | 323 | 0 | 0 | 323 | 323.0 | 0 | ||
21 | Wayne Mitchler | 319 | 0 | 319 | 319.0 | 0 | |||
22 | Eric Rys | 297 | 0 | 297 | 297.0 | 0 | |||
23 | Eric Braun | 283 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 283 | 283.0 | 0 | |
24 | Mike Brown | 260 | 0 | 0 | 260 | 260.0 | 0 | ||
25 | Bruce Brown | 241 | 0 | 241 | 241.0 | 0 | |||
26 | Tim Doughty | 239 | 0 | 0 | 239 | 239.0 | 0 | ||
27 | Bob Peters | 228 | 0 | 0 | 228 | 228.0 | 0 | ||
28 | Christine Doughty | 197 | 0 | 0 | 197 | 197.0 | 0 | ||
29 | Harry Rossett | 132 | 0 | 132 | 132.0 | 0 | |||
30 | Andy McAvin | 125 | 0 | 0 | 125.0 | 0 | |||
31 | Don Jordan | 103 | 15 | 0 | 88 | 88.0 | 15 | ||
32 | David Davidson | 99 | 0 | 0 | 99 | 99.0 | 0 | ||
33 | Ron Estrada | 82 | 0 | 44 | 38 | 44.0 | 38 | ||
34 | Manfred Hornig | 59 | 59 | 0 | 59.0 | 0 |
2003 ABQ Competition
2003 FlyOhio Toledo Competition
2003 Harryport Competition
2003 PowerdParaglider.com
- Published in Competition
2015 USPPA Competition Results
Endless Footdrag, May 2015
Final, approved, Scoring Spreadsheet Standard, Novice.
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2015 USPPA Competition (Standard)
2015 USPPA Competition Scoring (Novice)
Final Standings | |||
Place | Pilot | Points | Towards National |
1 | RYAN SHAW | 1,560 | 550 |
2 | BRANDON FEREBEE | 1,330 | 469 |
3 | JIRI SINDLER | 1,318 | 465 |
4 | WIL BROWN | 1,315 | 464 |
5 | BRYAN WEST | 1,281 | 452 |
6 | JOHNSON QU | 1,030 | 363 |
- Published in Competition
2016 National Competition Results
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Congratulations to those who competed in the Endless Footdrag competition near Fort Smith, AR.
Final Standings | |||
Place | Pilot | Points | Towards National |
1 | ADRIEL MARTIN | 2,081 | 1,050 |
2 | CHAD BASTIAN | 2,027 | 1,023 |
3 | JIRI SINDLER | 2,016 | 1,017 |
4 | DORAN MARTIN | 1,984 | 1,001 |
5 | DELVIN MARTIN | 1,924 | 971 |
6 | PAUL LUNDQUIST | 1,902 | 960 |
7 | ETHAN MARTIN | 1,866 | 942 |
8 | SCOTT MAGES | 1,699 | 857 |
9 | MIKE TIFFEE | 1,641 | 828 |
10 | AARON BUTLER | 1,452 | 733 |
11 | BRITTON SHAW | 1,256 | 634 |
12 | IAN KNIGHT | 1,133 | 572 |
13 | CHRISTIAN GORDON | 710 | 358 |
- Published in Competition
Endless Foot Drag / USPPA Nat. Comp.
This year’s Endless Foot Drag and USPPA National Competition has finished with 13 competitors. Scores are in the competition section.
Date: May 28-29, 2016
Location: https://goo.gl/maps/2QqdnhEQNXt
Link: http://rvppg.com/html/fly-in.html
- Published in Updates, USPPA Events
Featured Imagery Update
The featured images on the home page are clickable and appear inside a frame now. Please keep sending in your photo submissions! You can send them to the webmaster.
Thanks for your support,
The USPPA
- Published in Updates
USPPA Instructor’s Clinic at the 2016 Endless Footdrag Fly-In
Chad Bastian will be offering a USPPA Instructor’s Clinic at the 2016 Endless Footdrag Fly-In on May 25-27, Wed-Fri. Candidates should have a PPG3 rating and have done at least 8-20 hours of Apprentice work with a USPPA Certified Instructor prior to the Clinic. A PPG3 rating can be administered concurrently with the Clinic for those who have the skills and requirements. For more information and registration, please look here: http://www.americanparagliding.com/instructor
- Published in Training Updates, Updates, USPPA Events
New Accident Investigation Team
A new Accident Investigation Team has been formed to help the PPG community learn from accidents
The team, put together by Christopher Pine, is Chaired by Dr. Ed Lowder who will be attending accident investigation training at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. While he has only been paramotoring since 2012, his credentials in forensics and accident investigation make him particularly suited for the job. He will be assisted by Chris Santacroce, Phil Russman, Chad Bastian, and Eric Dufour. Others will be asked to contribute their input as needed.
- Published in Organizational, Updates