Race To Ridgeland

[logansc]

Finally got home, so here are the Race To Ridgeland results. I'll try to get some pix up on the R2R website next week. As a reminder, the R2R course is 127.7 nm long with four on-course turn points requiring a total of seven turns to successfully negotiate. Race aircraft are required to be at or below 1,000' agl at each turn point; racers are allowed to climb between turn points but with some legs less that 30nm in length, climbing usually only pays off if you happen to catch a tailwind at a fairly low level. Climbing above 2,000' is only rarely done, in practice.

Race To Ridgeland

Fastest overall: Greg Goodrich, 350 hp Lanceair IV-P, speed 206.52 knots/Index: 230.0 knots

Winner: John Porter, 100 hp American (Champion) 7-EC, speed 84.60 knots/Index: 86.0 knots
2nd Place: Chris Chiavillo (student pilot!), 140 hp Diamond DA-40, speed 139.23 nm/Index: 142.0 knots
3rd Place: Dennis Argetsinger, 180 hp Cessna 172Q, speed 118.85 knots/Index: 123.0 knots
Fourth Place: Bob Morris, 165 hp Stinson 108-3, speed 102.02 knots/Index: 109.0 knots
Fifth Place: Rollin Stickle, 180 hp Glasair II, speed 180.07 knots/Index: 190.0 knots
Sixth Place: Pierre Smith, 180 hp RV-6A, speed 170.77 knots/Index: 181.0 knots
Seventh Place: Ted Holstein, 180 hp Piper PA-28, speed 115.62 knots/Index: 132.0 knots
Eigth Place: Justin Willness, 160 hp RV-4, speed 159.63 knots/Index: 178.0 knots
Ninth Place: David Pizzo, 180 hp RV-7A, speed 159.90 knots/Index: 181.0 knots
Tenth Place: Scooter Daley, 235 hp Piper PA-28, speed 120.69 knots/Index: 144.0 knots

Spot Landing Contest

First Place: Jim Plumley, CJ-6
Second Place: Lee Logan, RV-4
Third Place: Ray Enslow, Cessna 172

All in all, some excellent flying in the R2R on a beautiful but a bit of a blustery, windy day. A couple of racers cleverly caught a good tailwind on the leg north to Bamberg and ducked under it on the way back south to the finish line, but generally superior airmanship was evident all around. The wind stayed down runway 21 for the Spot Landing contest but was inconsistent making the idle pass (by the rules) from abeam to touchdown a bit of a challenge if you happened to catch it wrong (more than one did!). There was some serious slipping and sliding going on.

Congratulations to all of the trophy winners and a big thanks too to all who participated regardless of their results. We appreciate as well those who took up the challenge to help us figure out the best way to run our "test" balloon busting event. It was a hit and will definitelly be on the agenda for next year.

Regards,

Lee...

[TSwezey]

Thanks again for a good time Lee! Next year though we are both going to race!