Author: Bruce Markielewski

Sixteen competitors participating in our eleventh annual Colorado Aerial Rocket Circus were greeted with two days of very calm weather, unusual for March, but greatly appreciated. Newcomer Luke Short, the only B Division entrant, had to compete with the A Division and seasoned competitors Ariana Williams and Randy Chambers. Three other A Division participants, Ryan and Daniel Anthony-Ceres and Sam Toland were also competing in their first contest.
Ahead were four tough events, two of which were altitude events, and the familiar spot landing event, usually included to encourage non-competitors to join the fun. Everyone who participated entered this event, and Ryan Anthony-Ceres won the A/B Division by a wide margin with his first and only flight of the contest. Luke edged Ariana by just a meter for second place. Steve Clapp had an outstanding flight of three meters to win the event in C Division. Bruce Markielewski was a distant second at 12 meters, followed by Russ Anthony in third and Nathan Coit in fourth. The Paranoid Androids defeated Dave and Dave easily in the Team Division.
“D” Streamer Duration was more difficult than it looked, as six of the sixteen attempts resulted in disqualifications, mostly due to separation of the streamer from the model. Ariana won in A/B Division easily with a single flight over two minutes. The next three places were very closely contested as all three had only one qualified flight out of two. Luke took second place over Randy by just one second, followed by Sam in fourth place. C Division followed a similar pattern, as both Steve and Nathan had second flight problems. Bruce took first by getting two qualified flights, with Steve in second place. Team Dave and Dave had the best flight of the contest, just over three minutes, after a first flight separation. The Paranoid Androids team settled for second place with a single short qualifying flight.
“C” Flexi-Wing Duration is deceptively harder than it appears. Building a glider of this type is relatively easy when you learn the techniques involved, however flying and recovery are where the event becomes a challenge. In A/B Division, Only Randy and Ariana attempted the event, and each had short but qualified and returned first flights. But Randy’s second flight of over three minutes proved to be the winner. C Division was very closely contested, as Steve’s first flight of over 10 minutes appeared to be the winner. But he needed a returned qualified flight to secure the win. Both Nathan and Bruce each had two very nice flights, but with totals below Steve’s score. Unfortunately, Steve’s model never deployed from the booster, resulting in a disqualified second flight, resulting in a first place for Nathan and second for Bruce. In the Team Division, Paranoid Androids’ only flight was enough to win over Dave and Dave’s two flight total.
“C” Super-roc Altitude was a popular event, as ten participants entered. All four entries in A/B Division flew well, with Randy coming out on top. Ariana was second, followed closely by Sam in third. C Division was also close, as Bruce took first, setting a NAR national record. Steve’s two flights were almost identical, being within 8 meters of each other, and were good enough for second place. Nathan was a close third, as Russ Anthony had a lost track and a CATO, resulting in only flight points for the event. The Team Division flights were very close, as Dave and Dave barely edged Paranoid Androids.
“E” Dual Eggloft Altitude was perhaps the toughest event, as half of the attempts resulted in broken eggs! Luke had the only successful flight in A/B Division to place first. In C Division, Bruce rebounded after a first flight disqualification by recovering both eggs intact on a 652 meter flight, just two meters short of the national record. Steve had two successful flights, and took second at 540 meters. Dave and Dave had one good flight, more than enough to win the event over Paranoid Androids.
The final results were very close in A/B Division, with Luke winning over Randy by only a small margin. Ariana followed closely in third. In C Division. Bruce won by a wide margin, placing first in three events and second in two. Steve and Nathan battled for second and third places, with Steve scoring slightly better. Dave and Dave won the team division easily with consistent flying throughout the contest.
This was one of our more competitive contests, and with the cooperative weather, more enjoyable. Hopefully, future contests will be as exciting and competitive!

“D” Streamer Duration (WF 11)
Pl. Contestant Flight 1 Flight 2 Total Place NAR Points
A/B Division
1 Ariana Williams 149 —- 149 10 330
2 Luke Short 65 DQ 65 6 198
3 Randy Chambers DQ 64 64 4 132
4 Sam Toland 62 DQ 62 2 66
C Division
1 Bruce Markielewski 123 158 281 10 330
2 Steven Clapp 172 DQ 172 6 198
3 Nathan Coit 144 DQ 144 4 132
Team Division
1 Dave and Dave DQ 181 181 10 330
2 Paranoid Androids 9 —- 9 6 198
“E” Dual Eggloft Altitude (WF 29)
Pl. Contestant Flight 1 Flight 2 Total Place NAR Points
A/B Division
1 Luke Short DQ 164 164 10 870
– Ariana Williams DQ DQ DQ 0 0
– Randy Chambers DQ DQ DQ 0 0
C Division
1 Bruce Markielewski DQ 652 652 10 870
2 Steven Clapp 540 400 540 6 522
3 Nathan Coit 268 64 268 4 348
Team Division
1 Dave and Dave DQ 381 381 10 870
2 Paranoid Androids 48 DQ 48 6 522
Open Spot Landing (WF 4)
Pl. Contestant Flight 1 Score Open PP NAR PP Open Points NAR Points
A/B Division
1 Ryan Anthony Ceres 13 13 0 10 —- 120
2 Luke Short 29 29 10 6 120 72
3 Ariana Williams 30 30 6 4 72 48
4 Sam Toland 46 46 4 2 48 24
– Randy Chambers 50+ FP 1 1 12 12
– Daniel A. Ceres 50+ FP 1 1 12 12
C Division
1 Steven Clapp 3 3 10 120
2 Bruce Markielewski 12 12 6 72
3 Russ Anthony 16 16 4 48
4 Nathan Coit 23 23 2 24
5 Ian McDonald 47 47 1 12
FP John Fernandez 50+ FP 1 12
Team Division
1 Paranoid Androids 25 25 10 120
FP Dave and Dave 50+ FP 1 12
“C” Flexi-Wing Duration (WF 20)
Pl. Contestant Flight 1 Flight 2 Total Place NAR Points
A Division
1 Randy Chambers 33 205(NR) 238 10 600
2 Ariana Williams 20 135 155 6 360
C Division
1 Nathan Coit 163(NR) 201 364 10 600
2 Bruce Markielewski 142 136 278 6 360
FP Steven Clapp 650(NR) DQ FP(NR) 1 60
Team Division
1 Paranoid Androids 66 —- 66 10 600
2 Dave and Dave 6 38 44 6 360
“C” Super-roc Altitude (WF 16)
Pl. Contestant Flight 1 Flight 2 Best Place NAR Points
A/B Division
1 Randy Chambers 54131 49951 54131 10 480
2 Ariana Williams 42834 —- 42834 6 288
3 Sam Toland 40248 —- 40248 4 192
4 Luke Short 23079 —- 23079 2 96
C Division
1 Bruce Markielewski 95000 —- 95000 10 480
2 Steven Clapp 66924 68796 68796 6 288
3 Nathan Coit 61750 DQ 61750 4 192
FP Russ Anthony CATO —- 0 1 48
Team Division
1 Dave and Dave 49770 51903 51903 10 480
2 Paranoid Androids 48500 —- 48500 6 288
Overall Points
Pl. Contestant E DEL C SRA D SD C FW OSL(N) OSL(O) NAR Points Open Points
A/B Division
1 Luke Short 870 96 198 —- 120 72 1284 1236
2 Randy Chambers 0 480 132 600 12 12 1224 1224
3 Ariana Williams 0 288 330 360 72 48 1050 1026
4 Sam Toland —- 192 66 —- 48 24 306 282
5 Ryan Anthony Ceres —- —- —- —- —- 120 —- 120
6 Daniel A. Ceres —- —- —- —- —- 12 —- 12
C Division
1 Bruce Markielewski 870 480 330 360 72 2112
2 Nathan Coit 348 192 132 600 24 1296
3 Steven Clapp 522 288 198 60 120 1188
4 Russ Anthony —- 48 —- —- 48 96
5 Ian McDonald —- —- —- —- 12 12
5 John Fernandez —- —- —- —- 12 12
Team Division
1 Dave and Dave 870 480 330 360 12 2052
2 Paranoid Androids 522 288 198 600 120 1728
Section Points
Pl. Section NAR Points
1 C.R.A.S.H. 11934
2 Independent 426