Sunday pictures from the East Coast HLG contest (DESS), Wilson, NC

Click on any photo to see a larger version
early morning clouds with a few blue spots showing through cotton fields early morning warmup flights early morning warm-ups morning glory? the contest site, as viewed from across a bean field on the way in Don launching Don catching one plane transport solution (that would probably fit into a SportTube) Buddy flying Adam with his new plane Buddy working some lift low over the trees Oleg timing for Denny Buddy's Taboo poly and aileron planes and my Avenger2 (bottom) and XP3 (right) Buddy still got 41 seconds on the flight where the outer panel of his wing delaminated. Root cause was a midair on the previous flight and failure happened during launch. Dick conducts a meeting after the four normal rounds Sunday Adam (Red) launching a gaggle Adam (Red) launching Oleg launch (1/2) Oleg launch (2/2 and it was still going) Denny and Oleg Denny and Oleg Don Vedder launching Red doing a tip catch for a quick relaunch Adam (Red) launching Oleg flying from a crop circle Phil catching probably a Drela airfoil combination the waiting between rounds in the flyoff fixing some errant clumps Oleg runs to get his plane before the round starts Spectators (Al and Buddy from the Atlanta crew on the left) two early launches while the others wait to see if good air is found two early launches while the others wait to see if good air is found Oleg launches Oleg launches a few planes circling in lift note the plane almost clipping the trees Oleg launching a TabooXL it looks like the tail is flexing, but the effect is mostly just lag across the shutter with an exposure of 1/200 second. planes in lift way out over the trees a nice launch if you look closely, you'll see the plane still going vertical at the top of the frame three simultaneous launches lift over the trees milking the last few seconds out of a flight milking the last few seconds out of a flight quick relaunch, but check out the antenna the shutter speed (1/640 second) is high enough here that I suspect I caught a real image of boom flex, although those more familiar with the relative velocities involved are welcome to comment. The current trend in open-class TD contests seems to be moving toward "prospecting" on landing, whereby the contestants each try to better the whole they dig. Luckily, the grass at the site was superb and really gave nice landings. a nice sequence of Adam (Red) doing a very fast and clean turnaround. a nice sequence of Adam (Red) doing a very fast and clean turnaround. a nice sequence of Adam (Red) doing a very fast and clean turnaround. going for the trees Phil and Adam up in a tree Phil with the undamaged model Adam coming down and it still works winner of the TabooXL kit winner of the XP3 kit Buddy Dick congratulates Don most of the pilots from the ECHLG classic (a few with long drives had already left) most of the pilots from the ECHLG classic (a few with long drives had already left) most of the pilots from the ECHLG classic (a few with long drives had already left) gear inside Breck's little wing tail actuation gear layout inside Breck's little wing side view with tail installed the tail assortment of planes going into Buddy's van