Day #6 Worlds Semi-finals

FYI I have added some additional pictures to the team gallery and one day will get a chance to caption them :-)

Up at our usual time for a team breakfast at the Guest House dinning room. Michi and Colin are packing up airplanes this morning before we all head out the flying site for Chad's first flight. Winds are very gusty at the house so it should be a real test for the pilots on this day.

I had hoped to use my I-phone for blog updates but you really need 3G to make it work well. The Edge service I received just didn't cut it... sorry.

We went to site #1 to see C.P.L.R. and Gerhard Mayer start off the round in the blow out conditions. They flew well but two entirely different styles to be sure. CPLR was more the usual use of the box and Gerhard a much smaller and slower style of flight. His snap presentation was "interesting" for lack of a better word. The rotation was not axial at all, almost to the extreme opposite in fact.

The crowd gathers for start of Round 1.

Start box for flightline 1

As Chad was flying at the other line we headed out before seeing any others fly at site #1. You can't see everyone :-)  We arrived early and Chad set up his planes while we watched some of the US guys go through the F-13 schedule. The winds made for a good challenge for the pilots.

Chad finally got airborne and had a pretty good round all in all. We debrief by the van and, as Chad was last in the morning session, it was time to head over to the main site and get scores and some lunch. He scored a 456. One thing I did notice was the plethora of signs announcing the Team Managers meeting 15 minutes after the announcement of the placings in the semi's. These were everywhere :-)

Bryan & Mark

The next flight was on site #1 and the flying got under way right on time. The flight line staff did a great job and had things running very smoothly throughout the day. Chad once again had a good round although he felt his first flight was better. After the final round of F-13 everyone headed to the main building for the announcement of the finalists. Only 10 pilots go forward to the finals and a clean slate for scores. Chad scored a 488.1 and waited, like the rest of us, for word on placings.

Flight Line #1

Wolfgang Matt prepares for his flight at #2 site.

Burt's booming voice echoed through the building as they announced the placings. They are listed in order below.

Final roster after the Semi-Finals.

Chad came in 16th for the third time in a row... that has to be a record! We had a celebratory beverage and enjoyed the camaraderie of our fellow flyers and teams.

We went back to the Village Manor House and got cleaned up for our dinner at the Henley Arms. Some plane packing was also started but eventually food took precedence. We had a great meal and enjoyed the ambiance of the fireplace and the warm, cozy atmosphere. 

Mmmm.. where to put the jumper cables?

Colin packs the planes while Ethan supervises .

Back home I finished up the blog. Tomorrow it's "Finals" & "Unknowns" day and then the closing ceremonies and banquet that evening. I was going to post the unknowns but I have only found the Aresti diagrams so far. I hope for the written version soon:-) The flying starts at 8 am Saturday.

We would like to congratulate all the teams, their pilots, managers & helpers/supporters that made the semi's and are now into the finals. Good luck and smooth skies.. er well that might be asking for a bit much here :-)

Stolen via cyberspace from Mark Atwood :-)

The folks at the Village Guest House dropped this banner off today for us. It was a bit too windy at the field so we hung it up in the Manor House.... looks good!  Great people here!

Team USA after the Semi's. Jason was the most happy :-)

Nothing like flying for your country.