Sleepyc
08-17-2008, 10:58 AM
Saturday is the big day. As I woke up this morning on Saturday, I knew it was going to be something incredible. I had experienced it 2 years ago, and couldn't’t wait to be back in the thick of IRCHA for its largest attended day. Saturday brought cool, beautiful weather with a smattering of cumulus clouds, and almost no humidity. Killer.! The field as we showed up was abuzz. We pulled in early to try and get a good parking space which by this point @ 9:00 AM was impossible. Oh well, a little walking is good for ya right ?
The demos that started @ noon began with a really cool event that was setup by Futaba, and the XFC organizers. It was a chance for some non-sponsored hot sticks to show everyone their stuff, and win a chance to fly in the XFC. These guys laid the smack ! They were all to be applauded for laying it out, and all had some really great flights. Its very cool to see these guys get a chance to pick up some sponsorships, and get their faces out and known.
After the ams finished up doin their thing, the big guns stepped up and put on a show like no other. There were so many awesome flights, I can’t recall all, but the ones that stick out were Curtis, and ITO not once but twice. Curtis’ first demo was with the VIBE 50 flying triple with 2 other Vibe 50’s. They were awesome, coordinated, and rehearsed. As I was looking down for a minute the sound of crackling carbon fiber echoed like thunder over the IRCHA grounds. A mid air had occurred at high speed and ended up pretty much being dead nuts perfect to cause destruction to both in the air. After the dust settled only one was left (unknown pilot) to circle over the carcasses doing piro’ing pogos over the top of them both. Unbelievable !. Shortly after the vibe 50 demo ended Curtis ended up grabbing the NEW vibe 90, and proceeded to put on a stellar show as always. But as Curtis does in Curtis style, proceed out to a sponsor sign that was 200 yards out front. He went behind the sign, and than proceed to get wrapped up in it thus putting a topper on a routine that was hot.
Further demos from team ALIGN pilots were absolutely killer. Lukas Riva…. I predict will win the XFC next year. This guy is awesome ! Absolutely zero room for error in his routine. On the deck, and completely sick ! He absolutely is by far one of the best pilots I’ve ever seen. What is it with the Swiss? Great watches and sick heli pilots. Brandon Updike brought his A game with the AVANT AURORA team. He put on a hell of a demo that was killer. Team Mikado again killin’ it. Nick Maxwell, Daniel Jetschen, So many others. All were on fire.
Night flying: Saturday night brought the Full moon out, and associated lunacy ensued. We decided to throw a little social hour together, which provided an intro to the new site. This set the stage for the night event that was unbelievable. These guys flying in this contest were absolutely awesome. The event had a purse of thousand dollars up for grabs. The top 3 pilots split the pot 3 ways. The winners were Nick Maxwell in first place, Bobby Watts in Second, and Colin Bell in 3rd. All 3 of these guys were awesome ! They flew flawlessly, and Nick Maxwell did it without any night blades as he knocked the LED’s off his home made night blades by bringing the heli in So low inverted that he was cutting grass. This is hard enough to do in the day much less the night. He was left with nothing other than an illuminated boom, and canopy. Bobby Watts was consistant and smooth as always. Colin Stole the show at the end by flying on the edge, but topped it off with a COMPLETE blade stop auto from about 2000 feet. To bad it ended in a fatal plunge due to losing a link somewhere thus rendering his machine uncontrollable. The after hours partys were a blast. This is one event that is a must attend if you are a heli nut. Don’t miss it next year.
The demos that started @ noon began with a really cool event that was setup by Futaba, and the XFC organizers. It was a chance for some non-sponsored hot sticks to show everyone their stuff, and win a chance to fly in the XFC. These guys laid the smack ! They were all to be applauded for laying it out, and all had some really great flights. Its very cool to see these guys get a chance to pick up some sponsorships, and get their faces out and known.
After the ams finished up doin their thing, the big guns stepped up and put on a show like no other. There were so many awesome flights, I can’t recall all, but the ones that stick out were Curtis, and ITO not once but twice. Curtis’ first demo was with the VIBE 50 flying triple with 2 other Vibe 50’s. They were awesome, coordinated, and rehearsed. As I was looking down for a minute the sound of crackling carbon fiber echoed like thunder over the IRCHA grounds. A mid air had occurred at high speed and ended up pretty much being dead nuts perfect to cause destruction to both in the air. After the dust settled only one was left (unknown pilot) to circle over the carcasses doing piro’ing pogos over the top of them both. Unbelievable !. Shortly after the vibe 50 demo ended Curtis ended up grabbing the NEW vibe 90, and proceeded to put on a stellar show as always. But as Curtis does in Curtis style, proceed out to a sponsor sign that was 200 yards out front. He went behind the sign, and than proceed to get wrapped up in it thus putting a topper on a routine that was hot.
Further demos from team ALIGN pilots were absolutely killer. Lukas Riva…. I predict will win the XFC next year. This guy is awesome ! Absolutely zero room for error in his routine. On the deck, and completely sick ! He absolutely is by far one of the best pilots I’ve ever seen. What is it with the Swiss? Great watches and sick heli pilots. Brandon Updike brought his A game with the AVANT AURORA team. He put on a hell of a demo that was killer. Team Mikado again killin’ it. Nick Maxwell, Daniel Jetschen, So many others. All were on fire.
Night flying: Saturday night brought the Full moon out, and associated lunacy ensued. We decided to throw a little social hour together, which provided an intro to the new site. This set the stage for the night event that was unbelievable. These guys flying in this contest were absolutely awesome. The event had a purse of thousand dollars up for grabs. The top 3 pilots split the pot 3 ways. The winners were Nick Maxwell in first place, Bobby Watts in Second, and Colin Bell in 3rd. All 3 of these guys were awesome ! They flew flawlessly, and Nick Maxwell did it without any night blades as he knocked the LED’s off his home made night blades by bringing the heli in So low inverted that he was cutting grass. This is hard enough to do in the day much less the night. He was left with nothing other than an illuminated boom, and canopy. Bobby Watts was consistant and smooth as always. Colin Stole the show at the end by flying on the edge, but topped it off with a COMPLETE blade stop auto from about 2000 feet. To bad it ended in a fatal plunge due to losing a link somewhere thus rendering his machine uncontrollable. The after hours partys were a blast. This is one event that is a must attend if you are a heli nut. Don’t miss it next year.