2006 Electric Texaco Postal Results

The 2006 SAM 27 Electric Texaco Postal competition was open for team flying on any designated day up till the end of October. This year a re-fly was allowed should the team decied they could improve their times. Also the rules were changed from the current SAM Electric Texaco rules to open the event to a wider spectrum of models and battery chemistries.

1st Place
SAM 76, The Propstoppers, Delaware County Pennsylvania.

Weather 72 degrees, calm, partial cloud

1 Dave Harding   96" Stardust Special 14 x 1500 mAh NiCd    116m 20s
2 Dave Bevan      72" Trenton Terror       7 x 2400 mAh NiCd      38m 5s
3 DicK Bartowski 72" Record Hound      7 x 1800 mAh NiMH     32m 10s
4 Al Basualdo       40' Trenton Terror      7 x 650 mAh NiMH       26m 44s
5 Mike Harris                Rambler              7 x 1500 mAh NiCd     25m 15s

Team score (top three) = 3hr 6m 35s

The weather was funny for our area. First it was clear then a front brought moderate-altitude 9/10 overcast, but soon some dark clouds formed under the overcast. Buddies Dick and Mick caught just a little lift and I took off towards the end of their flights and caught lift almost immediately. I shut down and flew to the limits of visibility and hung into the cloud going downwind. Then I managed to move over to the next one up wind and so on for over an hour. Then the lower clouds began to change and there was lift but not the boomer type, just buoyant air. I began to worry about the Tx battery as I had not charged it and it was only a 600 mah Nicad pack. Anyway, the flight lasted just less than two hours, a personal best. Dave Harding

2nd Place
SAM 27, Northern California

75 degrees, cloudless, wind increased to 15 mph

1 Andrew Tickle       350 sq in EE Wren    2 x 1050 mAh LiPo      69m 56s
2 Dick Irwin           470 sq in Airborn       7 x 1500 mAh NiCd     60m 36s
3 Nick Kelez              470 sq in Airborn      7 x 1000 mAh NiCd    36m 54s
4 Loren Kramer         650 sq in Playboy     7 x 1500 mAh NiCd     32m 33s

Team score (top three) = 2hr 47m 26s

This year SAM 27 decided to practice flying as a team to make thermal hunting more efficient. Thermal flyers typically fly well separated. In ground tests we were unable to find any interference from close proximity transmitters. So we got into a (UK style) huddle to make communication easier while flying.
Because of the high wind we (SAM 27) decided to schedule a refly, as allowed by the 2006 rules. The Northern California weather on the refly day was even worse than before. We averaged about 40 minutes each, all landing within minutes of each other. We were joined for the refly by two offsite team members: Gianfranco Lusso (Gianco) in Switzerland, and Mike Kilmer in Northern Louisiana. Gianco flew an Italian KL61, and made 62m 12s while recovering from pneumonia. Mike flew an Airborn for 97m 15s but would not submit the result for the postal contest because his timer never showed up to make it official. So our original time was unbeaten. Andrew Tickle

General Banter overheard during the Contest - "This is more akin to slope soaring than thermal hunting!" and "Who picked this day? The only thermals around here are being restricted by our trouser belts!"

1 Stan Clifton - 25m 45s
2 Dave Whitcombe - 22m 37s
3 Lou Amadio - 19m 24s
4 Geoff Burling - 15m 18s
Team score (top three) = 1hr 7m 46s

Looking forward to improved results next year - shouldn't be too hard. Geoff Burling

Putting faces to names we have Left to Right - Stan the WOO (The Wise Old One), Lou the MOO (The Moustached Old One), Geoff the _OO (The Persistent Old One) and Davey-DOO (The Diligent Old One).

Model Data

According to the E-Tex Postal rules the winners; the Propstoppers, will run the event for 2007. Watch this space for the announcement.