EAA Chapter 691 2010 Spot Landing

EAA Chapter 691
Annual Spot Landing Contest 2010

Part 1 - The referees.

With a one way airport, the flight path is interesting.

Chief organizer Will Fox pointing towards the sky where we are supposed to be flying.

Head judge Blaine Asay.

The Air Boss, Bruce Hudspeth keeps the pilots in line.

And the Style Judges. You can still be a winner for style even if you can't hit the spot.

The other photographer. Mouser, that's all you get for wings until you earn them. :o)

Part 2 - The players

Dane Spearing in his Cherokee Six a.k.a. "The Flying Rock."

Lloyd Hunt in his Cessna 182.

Momo Vuyisich ready to land his Skylane for a winning distance.

Randy Edwards Cessna 172.

James Shinas in his 7ECA Citabria.

Skip's last flight in his Taylorcraft. He had a mechanical problem following this flight, so didn't get a second
shot at the spot landing. The wings were removed for rebuild the following week.

Jeff Scott demonstrates floating in ground effect in his KR-2S.

Kerry Habiger in his Mooney 201.

Wayne Bongianni in his Grumman Tiger.

Will Fox hot dogging on his way outbound.

Saturday (Aug 21) was an absolutely beautiful day for the LAM 2010 Spot Landing Contest. Mother Nature provided few excuses for the contestants to not hit the landing spot. Ten pilots took advantage of the weather and competed in the contest this year. One of the newest pilots on the field, Momo Vuyisich, won the contest with a landing distance of 67 feet. Momo flew a C-182 that he is a part owner in and took his family along for the ride during the contest. It was a good day for C-182s, as Lloyd Hunt took second place in his, with a distance of 100' even. Lloyd is a returning competitor from last year when he and bombardier, Doug Balzley took first in the flour bombing contest. James Shinas admirably demonstrated his taildragger skills, and took third place in his Citabria, with a distance of 179'. The competition was tough this year with the average landing distance coming in at 225'. Not bad for a power off approach, at 1000' AGL, on downwind!!!

One of the reasons the local EAA Chapter 691 organizes the competition, besides the camaraderie and Delicious Food (thanks to Lloyd and Skip), is to encourage pilots to practice and improve their flying skills. This years results seem to indicate that this may be happening, since the average spot landing distance this year of 225' is better than last year, and only slightly longer than last year's winning distance of 170'. Stall/spin accidents are all too common following an engine failure, as pilots attempt to maneuver their aircraft without power. Descent rates with power off, are higher than most normal landing approaches, and often the pilot misjudges the approach to the landing spot and ends up maneuvering aggressively at low altitude, or trying to stretch the glide, or both. This is a situation that can easily lead to a stall, or if the stall occurs when the aircraft is not coordinated, a spin. Practicing power off approaches reminds us of how quickly these airplanes come down without power and how to adjust our descent path to touchdown at a desired point. Power off approaches to landing are maneuvers that ever pilot should practice periodically.

Not only do you want to hit the landing spot, but you also want to do it with grace and style. To this end, landing style was also judged during the competition, and honors went to Skip Egdorf, James Shinas, Lloyd Hunt, Wayne Bongianni, and WIll Fox. Thanks to all the judges at this years competition and their leader Blaine Asay.

For more pictures of the spot landing contest, courtesy of Mouser Williams, go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/mouser-nerdbot/sets/72157624776687578/

Will

Part 3 - The Party

Lloyd and Skip cooked up burgers and brats.

Will announces the winners.

Barb pins on Momo's blue ribbon for first place.

Lloyd had to leave before getting his second place award. Here Barb pins James with his third place ribbon.

James is pretty pleased with his prizes.

After some controversy about the style points (something about the Romanian and Russian Judges), Will
graciously awarded the #1 ribbon for Style poitns to Skip after Skip demonstrated a beautiful slip all the
way down final in his Taylorcraft. Skip Egdorf, James Shinas, Lloyd Hunt, Wayne Bongianni, and WIll Fox
all won awards for style points

Wayne Bongionni proudly displays his yellow ribbon.

James Shimas admires the book he received for his style award.

Sit back and relax guys. Job well done! Note: Next year we will be adding a STOL class to the competition.
Notice the special STOL Class plane under construction just for this competition in the background.

Part 4 - Additional Photos