Here is Mark Keene's final report from Texas: Howdy, First things first today. Good news came that Vern Hutchison is OK. X-Rays showed no damage, but he is sore and stiff. He's on his way home. We go into day 7 with three contestants racing for the top spot. Dan Mockler and Mark Keene are within striking distance of leader Pat Tuckey. The weather is a bit uncertain, but certainly good enough for a contest day. Charlie calls a 2 1/2 hour post. As the gate opens, the sky looks strangely like the day before when the course blew up like a mushroom cloud and most contestants start within 10 minutes of the gate opening. It looks like a parade, but the gate works flawlessly, not missing a single one. The first group on course goes 12 miles without circling. Unfortunately, this great run is under building storms that soon shade the middle of the task area. Most run south and west to better weather, including 7kt lift to 7500agl., but it's inconsistant. Pat Tuckey shows why he deserves to be Champion again this year, wtih a fast 46 mph speed. Conservative just isn't in his vocabulary. Second for the day is Dan Mockler with 44mph. Bob Von Hellens is third with 40.8, Mark Keene is fourth at 38.7 and Kevin Ford is fifth for the day at 38.24mph. Final scores for the contest show a Texas Soaring Association sweep with Pat Tuckey first, Mark Keene second, Dan Mockler third. Rounding out the top five are Bob Von Hellens in fourth and Kevin Ford in fifth. In the other award catagories, the Jack Green Award to the highest scoring contestant under thirty years of age, Kevin Ford takes the honor. The Dave Johnson trophy for the highest average score by a first time contestant goes to TSAer John Wrona. The Old Toad Trophy for the top pilot over the age of 70 goes to Jim Walker. The President's Trophy for the fastest speed goes to who else but Pat Tuckey for his blistering 47.64 mph speed on the 90 mile, first day task. The Virginia Schweizer award for the highest scoring female pilot is not awarded this year since there were no women entered. This year the team trophy was renamed The Mc Neill/Cuny Team Trophy in honor of Fred Cuny. Fred and Bob Mc Neill flew as a team for several years, before Bob's death. Fred was killed more recently while providing humanitarian assistance in Chechnya. The trophy was presented to the team of Jousma and Schwartz by Fred's parents Mr. and Mrs Gene Cuny. The Spiffy Award was another hotly contested catagory this year, with four ships in the running. Bob Von Hellens with his beautiful restoration of 244, Jim Walker with "Blue Eagle" 357, John Wrona with a new "Gee Bee" style, scalloped paint scheme on 432, and Jerry Beaty with a factory original 655. In talking with the judges, it was obvious that minute details made the difference in the outcome. All four were fantastic! This years "Spiffy" award goes to Jerry Beaty for his beautiful restoration work on 655, an E model. The restored ship looks like it just rolled out of the factory, complete with an original exterior paint scheme and original plackards. The instrument panel is beautiful too. Believe it or not, this ship was a wreck one year ago. The tail, the fuselage and one wing were badly damaged. The contest was a great success. We had 7 days of outstanding weather that was challenging. No two days were the same. We had great task calling by the master of all CDs, Charlie Spratt. Above all, the organization at TSA, led by Marvin Willis and administered by Bick Humphries, was second to none. There are always lots of behind the scenes people that make it work. All were honored by the many comments about this being the most fun contest ever. Congratulations everyone. See you in Elmira, New York next year. Mark Keene Final standings and scores after 7 contest days: Place Speed, Day 7 Cumulative Scores (Tuesday) (7 contest days) 1. TUCKEY 46.03 6727 Points 2. KEENE 38.05 6317 3. MOCKLER 43.53 6245 4. VON HELLENS 40.80 6080 5. FORD 38.24 5760 6. JOUSMA / 33.48 5645 SCHWARTZ 7. WRONA 38.17 5510 8. VICKLAND 30.68 5471 9. QUAS 33.92 5387 10. GRAVANCE 31.31 5271 11. BEATTY 26.73 5250 12. CULLIS 37.92 5010 13. CULWELL 28.87 4980 14. BIRD 28.18 4690 15. WILLIS 24.75 4590 16. HOLLORAN / XXXX 4520 DENAPLES 17. CLAYBORNE / 26.19 4300 MICHALAK 18. HURNI 25.46 4260 19. PETERKA 34.29 4250 20. WALKER 21.06 4245 21. KULESZA / 33.76 4178 SPT'SCK 22. HUTCHINSON XXXX 3833 23. BARNETT / 30.42 3813 WYNN 24. WESTBROOK 30.26 3690 25. BLOMQUIST 24.50 3622 26. VREDERNBURG 15.80 2143 27. HAVELAAR 16.68 1961 Please note: these results are unofficial. ---------------------------------------------------- Access provided by: Guenther Eichhorn | gei@cfa.harvard.edu Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA CPL,ASMELS,IA,Glider,CFI | Pitts S-2A: N1GE DC-3 type rating | Flying is the Pitts See: http://acro.harvard.edu/IAC and: http://acro.harvard.edu/SSA