District X

District X

Arizona, California, Guam, Hawaii, Nevada, Utah

I had an opportunity to spend the day at the Lost Hills Free Flight (FF) site near Bakersfield, California, for a day of AMA and FAI events. The venue features a series of events throughout many days, including the Isaacson Winder Classic, AMA events, the Kiwi Cup World, and America’s Cup Events.

Ittai Kohavi standing at a free-flight event — Ittai Kohavi is the F1B Junior World Champion.

Roger Morrell was the contest director (CD) for the Kiwi World Cup events and is a dual citizen from New Zealand and an F1B flier. Many thanks to Event Director (ED) Glenn Schneider for taking me around to meet so many who were there from around the globe. There was quite an array of FF aircraft, from hand-launched aircraft to rubber-, electric- and gas-powered gliders.

Glenn Schneider and Roger Morrell standing at the event site — (L-R): ED Glenn Schneider and CD Roger Morrell. Special thanks to the local family that brings the taco truck shown in the background.

When you are flying FF with thermals and wind, you need a very large site. The flightline stretches quite a distance, and the overall site extends until you have difficulty seeing the gliders. With the recent extensive rains in California, the site, which is normally brown, was a nice shade of green for as far as you could see.

Ed Skorepa holding an aircraft at the event site — Ed Skorepa competed in E-36 class.

There were many classes of AMA events, along with a number of FAI events.

Daniel Guo with his parents and a model aircraft — Daniel Guo (center) is with his parents during the Isaacson F1A competition. With a much smaller airplane, he won first place in the flight event at the Orange County Regional Science Olympiad competition.

Walt Ghio standing with a model aircraft and bicycle — Walt Ghio is a previous Nats champion in F1G.

Feel free to reach out with any questions, comments, recommendations, or issues. There is much to share throughout the district. Enjoy everything that you build and fly.