Kibbie vs Johnson City - My Perspective

From: wleppard1 <moservices1_at_qwest.net>
Date: Sat, 22 Jul 2006 18:04:03 -0000

This year I was fortunately able to attend both Johnson City and the Kibbie. Here is my
perspective by model for those models that I flew at both:

35 cm: JC time 23:40 (practice) - Kibbie time 25:46. I used the same rubber size, but was
able to wind to a higher torque level. This torque level would have put me into the rafters
at JC.

Intermediate stick: JC time 31:33 - Kibbie time 32:38. The Kibbie time was with my
never-flown backup as I broke a bracing wire on my primary plane. Again I used the same
rubber size at Kibbie but had to adjust the VP to do the above time.

Unlimited Penny Plane: JC time 16:45 - Kibbie time 16:23. Again used same rubber size
but had to adjust VP at Kibbie. Would have had a 17+ flight at Kibbie, but the motor
broke at 13 minutes with about 100 feet of altitude.

Limited Penny Plane: JC time 13:54 - Kibbie time 13:29. Again same rubber size at
Kibbie. Last year I did a 14:31 at Kibbie (practice) with the same rubber size. Would have
had a similar time this year, but a know hung the prop and I lost about 50 feet before it
broke free.

In general my impression was that I needed more torque and turns at Kibbie to get about
the same times. I don't know whether it was temperature, altirude, and/or humidity
(much drier at Kibbie).

For those of you who have never been to Kibbie, you're missing the premier non-blimp-
hangar flying site in the country. The contest is very laid back and you can fly what you
want when you want. The usable high-ceiling flying area is easily twice that of JC and you
don't have JC's scoreboard to worry about. This year we flew light planes (F1D,
Intermediate stick, and 35 cm at one end and the heavier duration stuff at the other end.
At the same time the FAC scale guys were flying in the center section where there is also a
scoreboard but it's sheathed in plastic to eliminate hang-ups.

I strongly encourage all indoor flyers to seriously consider going to Kibbie next year. The
dates are July 6 - 10. As I understand it, the entry fees this year may not have covered the
expense of renting the dome. If this continues, then we indoor flyers will loose a fantastic
flying site.

Finally a special thanks to Rob Romash and crew for running JC and Andrew Tagliafico for
running Kibbie - GREAT JOB GUYS!!!
Received on Sat Jul 22 2006 - 11:04:12 CEST