Apple Valley Gold Cup Contest 2010: “Duel in The Desert”

If aviation had holy sites the Mojave high desert of California would surely be one. This is the site of many great aviation achievements, not uncommonly done in a manner that to the superficial observer would appear understated and almost casual. The names of legendary pilots, engineers and airplanes like Wiley Post, X-1, X-15, Chuck Yeager, Rutan, SR-71, Voyager, SpaceShipOne, Global Flyer, Robert Harris, Proteus and Scott Crossfield to cite a few are intrinsically tied to this place. There is no pilot with love of his or her craft that doesn’t feel the appeal of the brilliant blue Mojave sky and its nature-given dry lake runways. The Apple Valley Gold Cup annual aerobatic contest a.k.a. this year as “Duel in the Desert” benefited from this magnificent setting in early May. Recent spring storms had left snow-capped mountains around and cool blustery conditions. On arrival we saw the “Duel in the Desert” trophies written in gold-type over black shiny surfaces. Oh, it was powerful! It was inevitable to think of old-west gunslingers squinting against the sun but this time not acquiring their target, but checking their competitor’s precision. They were not trying a fast draw and aim, but to keep their airplanes in position in the aerobatic box despite the 35 knot wind that was squarely across it. Not easy! The California aerobatic community has suffered irreparable losses and the effect of that weighs on all of us. The location, setting and organization theme helped a great deal in bringing that fighting spirit back to competition. It was a stroke of genius from the organizers!

The winds calmed down some for the next day. Beautiful sunshine and cooler temperatures helped to mitigate the high density altitude somewhat. Still, with the runway above 3000 ft MSL the air is not the same as at sea level, and we could feel it and see it. Chelsea commented rightfully “aerobatics with little air”.

As we had expected this was not a contest with a large number of competitors. However, there were still several primary entries and the smallest category –unlimited- had 4 competitors. We saw some rewarding flight in Great Lakes and Decathlon. It was nice to see beautifully flown figures in competitors that had coaching by USAAAT members. I think that USAAAT coaching had something to do with the improved quality of that flying. Unfortunately, disorientation in the box prevented one of these pilots to transform the quality of those figures into a top final standing. So Cyrus showed his right stuff in Sportsman and went home very happy.

There were several very good flights in Intermediate. It appears this group as a whole is progressing rapidly and becoming very competitive, particularly the ladies. Jim Ward’s experience showed. It was hard for the judges to pick a winner; the counting of points was necessary. Steve’s blue and yellow little Pitts showed us how a Pitts can position itself to really show what it can do. He clearly had the attention of the judges during his flight: we saw all of his good flying, but also showed all of the points to deduct!

Unlimited was fun to watch. You could see pilots trying their best. Jim in his superb, immaculate CAP flew just beautiful snaps to our eyes. Tim in his blue and yellow Extra did not fly a regular free: he made an airshow out of it in the best sense. All heads in the airport turned to him during his flight. If he captivated the audience no doubt he had the even closer sitting judges entranced.

The contest ended with the 4-min-freestyles. Airplanes with smoke trails, moving in synch to music, bright blue skies with a horizon lined by snow-tipped mountains. Oh yeah! It was fun. Thanks to Patrick and Tim.

And what about us in the USAAATeam? Well, sufficient to say the Team pilots present wore their uniforms with new caps and flight-jackets. We did get a suggestion to offer our images to GQ and several “look at you guys” comments. Oh yeah, we flew too, that’s what we were there to do. We took home ALL the legally available trophies in the category: 1st place, 2nd place and 3rd place by our Team Mechanic Tommy, and the No-Zero No-Outs trophy highest percent. None too shabby!

Thanks to the organizers. Casey and Jacky deserve special thanks for a classy, respectful, and thoughtful preparation and direction. The whole crew of 49 did a wonderful job.

Ben & Reinaldo