Monday, September 20

8:00 a.m.
It was raining at daybreak but the skies have cleared enough to send some loads up. Here we go...

...one hour later we're going like gangbusters here, I've got files flying up to the server and a plate of untouched donuts sitting here...no time to drink coffee, someone start me an IV please...

...okay the go juice is kicking in. Problem here is the circuit breaker keeps popping for the trailer and we have to reboot all the computers, and it takes me ten minutes to get all this software up and running again. But the teams are still going up and down and everyone's having a ball.

11:00 a.m.
The teams are learning the hard way that they have to SHOW IT TO THE JUDGES! I'm watching some of the scores out of the corner of my eye and there are LOTS of red I's and O's all over a lot of score sheets.

Hmmm...after two rounds, there is a three-way tie on top of the Advanced class leaderboard, but they are all guest teams. Euphoric and Cruise-O-Matic are tied as the medal leaders...at 11:30 we are on a weather hold again, we were able to get well into round 3 this morning.

Omni Picks:

• The four weekend/pickup teams that entered in the Open class and are competing against the pros. Especially Ranch Air Traffic, a weekend team that would be leading the Advanced class by 3 points after two rounds.
• The mobile chef serving chicken and fish for dinner near the tiki bar. Yummy.
• The judges who are once again sacrificing their time and money for their sport (they are getting paid a small amount, but it's little more than a token payment).
• Andy & Co. for the best first-time-nationals effort since Perris in 1997.
• The pilots for doing their darndest to get these competitors in the air.

Omni Pans:

• The teams whining about their scores. Shut up and show it to the judges.
• The Florida weather. Yuck. And you be quiet, Billy Richards, we sat through your monsoons in 1996 (at least we have a new 10-way event to show for it).
• After two rounds, the top three Advanced class teams are all guest teams. If you're not eligible to win a medal, why not compete in the open class?
• Tropical storm Harvey:

Tropical Storm Harvey is threatening to make a wash  of the 1999 US Nationals. It's on a NE track  towards northern Florida.

6:00 p.m.
Well, they managed to squeeze up a couple of plane loads before the rains returned and we be done for the day. Early impressions --

4-Way Open: Barring a major collapse, Airspeed will pull away from the pack, albeit with their 8-way teamies Purple right behind them. They look sharp and smooth.
4-Way Advanced: There are at least 7 or 8 teams capable of winning this category, excluding of course the guest teams (teams with foreign or non-citizen members). It's anyone's game.
4-Way Intermediate: There are five teams with a double-digit average in this category. If Tonic can avoid the bust bug, I pick them to win.

The forecast for tomorrow is in a word, sucky. See you in the morning.

~ PREVIOUS DAY ~ NEXT DAY ~