With the event listed as the first in the FAI World Cup for F3B we expected to see a lot of participation from the European pilots but in the end we were a little late to get a date fixed and it was difficult for our European counterparts to fit in their schedule. Next year will be an improvement with the date decided well in advance to allow pilots to plan to attend the Gator. It was great to have Helmut Edenhofer come and join us and if it weren’t for a last minute broken leg his friend Armin Hortitz would have been there also. The final pilot roster for the 2012 event saw just 18 pilots enter the contest. Jody Miller once again made some great Gator Head trophies for the event and we had a special 1st Place trophy provided by the World Cup Organizers and kindly delivered by Helmut from Germany.
The entire USA F3B Team was in attendance again with Mike Lachowski providing the all important timing equipment.
We flew Roman Voijech in to CD the event as he has a great ability to keep it moving along at a god pace while also ensuring everybody is having fun. It was a huge commitment for all the pilots who traveled and we thank you once again for supporting US F3B by attending the contest. I know everybody had a great time at the event and some world class times were laid down particularly by Tom Kiesling and his Fosas. 8 rounds of F3B were flown which was amazing considering the weather was slightly uncooperative.
The finishing order for the 2012 contest was as follows:
1st – Tom Keisling – CA – TEAM 2 – Expert
2nd – David Klien – CA – TEAM 2 – Expert
3rd – Mike Lachowski – MD TEAM 4 – Expert
4th – Kyle Paulson – CA – TEAM 2 – Expert
5th – Reto Fiolka – VA – TEAM 4 – Expert
6th – Rich Burnoski – IL – TEAM 4 – Expert
7th – Tom Watson – CA – TEAM 3 – Expert
8th – Tim Traver – CA – TEAM 2 – Sportsman
9th – Glauco Lago – MO – TEAM 3 – Sportsman
10th – Helmut Edenhofer – Team 3 – Expert
11th – Kris Van Nostran – TEAM 1 – Local FL – Sportsman
12th – Dillon Graves – TEAM 1 – Local FL – Sportsman
13th – Gordon Buckland – TEAM 1 – Local FL – Sportsman
14th – Jody Miller – TEAM 1 – Local FL – Sportsman
Thanks to all who participated in another amazing event. To have such a high quality event in Florida is simply a dream come true. I need to say thank you to a special group of individuals who actually made this happen.
Thank you Jody Miller….. Once again you came through to help make this happen in spite of many other pressures on your time. Thanks again for making some great trophies and for supporting me when it all looked hopeless. Thanks mate.
Thank you Sheralyn. Once again you have stepped up to the plate to entertain pilots and CD’s and assist with scoring and a million other things while still being my loving wife. Thank you.
While we are talking about CD’s we must thank Roman for making the trip here from the Czech Republic to manage our event. It might not have been a big event by his standards but Roman did a magnificent job of helping create the pilot matrix and running it.
We could not have done this event once again without the support of local Kris Van Nostran. Kris in spite of not the best health was always there to help get the event done. His encouragement of others in the IRKS club and support getting helpers rostered was terrific.
The most important people on the field were the Base A and B helpers and we were most fortunate to have Phil Rieger from Tampa come across and stay all weekend to head up the helper team. We also had Chuck McCann come down from Jacksonville to work with us for two days and with these two as the backbone of the team we would have been lost. Once again the IRKS club members and control -line guys and others were there to help us man the bases and we thank them for their excellent work in very windy conditions. Thanks also to Rick and the other Buzzards who came over to help on the weekend.
Sorry if I missed anybody.
Gordon Buckland
Click here for 2012 Gator F3B Final Results