District IX
Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming
The Rocky Mountain Free Flight Championships (RMFFC) is a Colorado event hosted by the Magnificent Mountain Men (MMM) that dates back more than 50 years. Here are a few words from Contest Directors (CDs) Don DeLoach and Chuck Etherington, and the participants.
We pulled it off in the face of COVID-19 and the weather. We had people who came from California, Georgia, Texas, and Utah because they believed that the MMM team could pull off a great contest in the face of daunting obstacles. It was clear that they were glad they made the trip, as the event lived up to their expectations.
Weather—yes, we had some, ranging from wind to some of the strongest thermals in memory. The weather challenged us but also offered us opportunities. The wildfire smoke was not a serious problem, as models were visible thanks to the Category III shorter maxes.
Highlights were many. The glider events are always fun to watch. The 5 x 5 and miss-and-out Mass Launch are a blast. The Mulvihill contest was a real hoot with seven fliers braving the turbulence and high wind on Saturday.
The Finn family, with their two boys, were all over the field with their airplanes. The Boyd
family came out to help Grandpa Ray fly. Frank Menanno was everywhere flying, chasing, and cooking lunch on the grill that he built out of scrap parts.
The contest operations were great. The way scoring and recording were done showed a lot of thought and worked well. The CDs did a great job. Throughout the day, there were many comments about how much fun was had from the out-of-towners, despite the weather conditions.
David Kelley has been campaigning his magnificent Memphis Belle B-17 for the last five years. He sent this update: “I just wanted to drop a line to all District IX fliers who assisted my efforts to showcase this one-of-a-kind artifact. I traveled to so many events and made so many friends during that time that I can hardly count them but, as we all know, campaigns must end.
“She will now reside with Michael Fetyko and Warbirds West. In their capable hands, she will be completely refurbished as all flying warbirds must be after many hours of flight. I look forward to seeing her grace the sky again, and I would be honored to take the controls once more—hopefully at her new home at the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum in Hawaii.
“My next project is a 1/6-scale B-26B, done in my father’s group colors, in his honor.”
Here is Teresa Major, daughter of Ray Boyd, after retrieving the Gollywock #3. The airplane flew into a boomer thermal and disappeared roughly 6 minutes into the flight. Using radio tracking techniques, Teresa followed the airplane to its landing site more than 5 miles from the launch site. They were able to drive in the general direction, but it still took 2 miles of walking in the desert to get to its final landing place.
