SO National Wright Stuff 2002
Posted May 2002
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Pictures and text by Bob Clemens
I was there because Don Steeb and I were event directors for the high school division competition. Don is a long-time friend, fellow modeler and Rochesterian. We have worked together running Wright Stuff high school competitions for many years at the Rochester Regional and also ran the event at the NY State competition at West Point in 1999. In addition, we both have served as mentors to various Rochester area high school and junior high students over the past seven years.
The site at the University of Delaware was a gymnasium with lots of floor area but also with a cluttered ceiling. Two sets of suspended partition curtain rails as well as basketball basket units along both sides were particularly troublesome. The "B" division (middle school) was at one end, the "C" (senior high) at the other. The no-man's land in the center served as a part-time test flight area. Tom Sanders and Roy White ran the "B" competition with John Clapp and his wife helping as timers. We had indoor veteran Ray Harlan volunteer to help with processing, timing, and model retrieval. Despite the ceiling obstacles, a winning flight of 3:42 was recorded to win the high school event (complete results can be found in the Indoor List archives). The very last flight of the day, just over 3:30, took second. At least three four-minute flights were recorded during the pre-contest trimming session, but could not be repeated in competition.




