Biplane Race Coverage
Here is my chance to convey the excitement and competition of VARO. You will be getting a weekly recap of races and practices, along with any other breaking news. S

Starting with Saturday nights action, we were slightly concerned over a small turnout. Our newest member to show was Xasher(pronounced THRASHER) and he was flying real well. His practice laps and first heat was all this writer got to see, but it looked impressive. His first race with VARO was Heat 1B and he won! Great flying, buddy! Sryth got the lead at the start but seemed to be having a handling or trim problem in the squirrly Pitts and was passed by Xasher and War X in turn 2. It remained in that order, with Xasher stretching his lead. Back to Heat 1A, GriffonJET and myself had a heck of a race with Crash Murdock having a scenery issue. Tough racing with no pylons! Give a holler and we can get ya set up, Crash. Easy stuff. I had early handling issues and got a bad start. So, GriffonJET was leading most of the heat, with GOferBROKE slowly reeling him in. A pass was made and with the lack of visibility and the aggressive style of that GOferBROKE guy, I just hope it was somewhat clean! So, Heat 1A was a GREAT race with close competition between GriffonJET and myself. The fun is VARO on Saturday night, folks.

With 6 total pilots showing up, everyone was assured a place in the Gold Race. We had fierce crosswinds and this pilot has no rudder axis on his joystick(just the facts, no excuses!). The line-up had GOferBROKE and Xasher in row 1. At the start, your reporter really blew it and crashed, taking out Xasher. I was ready to take my medicine, but asked Sryth to restart the race due to the unfairness of Xasher being involved in my screw-up. I was ready to count laps, when asked if I was going to race. After botching the first attempt, I was glad just to start from the back of the pack! This put GriffonJET and Xasher on the front row for the restart. When the flag fell, GriffonJET took the lead and I saw noone else as a clear lane behind GriffonJET stayed available. We raced for 10 laps in the Gold and GJ flew an excellent final heat. He was running some fine laps as this pilot can attest as I had front row seats to his performance. Xasher finished third and War X fourth. Yes, the racing is close and did I mention exciting? During hot laps, before the racing began, GriffonJET expressed a lack of confidence in his ability to fly the Pitts on a competitive level. I asked him if he could elaborate further and got this reply......"Early Saturday morning, I flew 15-20 practice laps in the Pitts, and was very disgusted with my personal performance. I felt my lap speeds/times could have been a lot better. I was having a lot of trouble keeping the little hot rod under control, and my landings we're a bit bouncy. I did not feel that I had a chance to perform well in the big race." Regarding Sat. nights laps, "I feel all pilots that I've raced with at VARO so far are excellent. It's hard to compare myself with them. At the start of the event, a few of us flew some more practice laps. Still, I did not feel comfortable with the aircraft. Watching Xasher practice, he really looked fast." GriffonJET further pondered his impending Gold Race, "Although I finished 2nd in the first heat, I still didn't think I had a shot at taking the gold." Now, with the last couple days to unwind and reflect, GriffonJET offers his perspective of the Gold Race for Biplanes. He offered this great pilots view. " When the gold race started, I really concentrated on getting a good first lap. I think I did. By the second lap, I had my mixture settings just where I wanted them, and looking behind me, I could count all 5 pilots. Each lap, I would look back, and to my amazement, they we're still behind me. I just tried as hard as I could, and was worried about my fuel supply. One of the last laps for me was real bad. I nearly cut the home pylon. At the end of the race, I realized I may have actually won, yet I was not out of trouble yet. I remembered that on the 4th-5th lap, I bumped my left landing gear, and I thought It was probably damaged. On landing, My left wing seemed to drop, giving me the impression that I had no gear there. After bouncing on my right gear about 7 times, and nearly stalling at about 50kts, I yelled "go around, repeat go around", and I added throttle, and pulled off the runway. On my second landing attempt, I found that my gears we're fine, and after again a few bounces, I made it!" Quite a gripping account from our newest Gold winner. I beleive it was his first Gold win, and gotta think it won't be his last as he seems a little faster every week!

We held a practice race for the Mustangs as a nightcap to the biplane action. It was determined we would run 12 laps and(typing meekly) I crashed taking off AGAIN in the darn crosswind! DOH!!! Baron was pacing the pack and I was able to restart and catch up to the field. Rotorhead had also arrived after the Bipe Gold in time for the Mustang event. Being a small crowd, Baron was asked to race also. With Sryth, Baron, GriffonJET, Rotorhead and (I think Crash Murdock, too) GOferBROKE all flying, we rounded the scatter pylon. The start went smoothly when a plane flashed right in front of me going into turn 2. It was Sryth and he had the lead! I was hot on his tail, hoping for an opening and none came as Sryth flew a great race. Rotorhead was pressing me hard, forcing me to focus on staying tight and smooth. Suddenly, at the end of lap 11, Sryth ran out of fuel and called,"Mayday!" He was able to land without incident. Rotorhead and myself were real close together, and the pilots watching from the tarmac commented on how very tight it was! Rotorhead's a top pilot and can always be counted on to be in the front of the pack!
Hope to see more and more racers as VARO grows. The more, the merrier!

Congradulations to GriffonJET for his Gold event and Xasher for his heat win! Good to see War X and Crash Murdock, too!

More news soon, Saturday is the Unlimited race at Mohave. Should have a good turnout for the Mustangs!
As a real treat for all of us will be pix from all future events. Please send any you have to me in Jpeg format and I'll post them.
Your Race Reporter, signing out!
Gary
#19 GOferBROKE