SEN 3439

1. 2026 SCAT ANNUAL
2. 2026  NYAA Americas Cup Annual

 

2026 SCAT ANNUAL 

The history of the SCAT Annual has included national record-breaking days and days we had trouble just getting onto the field through the mud.   There was no problem getting to the field this year and we had bright sunshine all day both days.  We had 26 flyers sign up which was a few more than expected.  It did get a bit breezy in the afternoon on Saturday, but overall, we had very good weather.  Picking air however, was a bit of a challenge.  We only had flyoffs in two events, F1A and F1B.

A couple weeks prior to the meet, we added F1E to the event list by popular demand.  Daryl Perkins stepped up and ably CD’d that event on Friday.  It was nice to see Fred Terzian who took the top spot followed by Brian Van Nest & Mike Richardson.

The F1A guys opted to flyoff on Saturday afternoon.  John Kim of the NYAA Junior group had a pretty big over-bunt that cost him a lot of altitude, but he held on very well to only come up a few seconds short of the winner Shlomi Rosensweig.   Neither made the 6-minute max and fortunately neither made it to the trees in the breeze.  Congratulations to John for making his first flyoff!!   Aarna Appajappa, another NYAA Junior took third.   The F1B guys opted to flyoff early Sunday.   Larry Norvall took home the gold while Marty Schroedter and Jerry Fitch were both victims of model gremlins.   Brian Van Nest had the only clean score F1Q followed by Jack Murphy & Kiana Lin…..another NYAA Junior.   Walt Ghio was the only flyer in F1C.   Other than a failure to completely unfold in round 2, his other flights were clean.   There were no flyers in F1P.

A good group stuck around for the mini events on Sunday.   Everyone took a pretty laid-back approach and by opening the “next” round after all scores were recorded from the previous round we were able to shorten the contest duration.   With no flyoffs in any of the mini events, awards were presented and everyone was on the road home by 12:30 or so.

Walt Ghio hung on for first in F1G followed by Mike Richardson & Jerry Fitch.  In F1S Jack Murphy took first, Jana Van Nest was second and Larry Norvall was third.  There were no flyers in F1H or F1J.

On a side note, we were finally able to present a perpetual trophy for F1Q and F1S.  In addition thanks to input from a lot of folks, we were able to retrace history and get almost all the way up to date with all the name plates….missing and otherwise…..for the other perpetual trophies.  One more round with the engraver and we should be 100% up to date for 2027.

SCAT Annual             March 13 through March 15, 2026

F1E
Terzian, Fred      086.67  087.78  100.00  094.67 100.00   469.12
Van Nest, Brian    100.00  100.00  080.56  066.67  94.61   441.84
Richardson, Mike   100. 00 09      045.00  100.0  074.25   411.47
McKeever            075.33 071.    070.00  100.00 094.61   411.05
Perkins, Daryl      100.00 100.00  058.33    7.78 067.00   403.11

F1A
Rosenszeig, Shlo  240  240  180  180  180  180  180  237    1617
Kim, John         240  240  180  180  180  180  180  218    1598
Appajappa, Aarna  240  240  180  180  135  180  180         1335
Gersting, Jason   240  240  180  180   97  180  148         1265
Goldstein, Guy    240  240  180  180  180   83  146         1249
Barron, Andrew    240  240    0  180  164   31  180         1035
Puhakka, Risto    240  153  120   74  180  108    0          875

F1B
Norvall, Larry    240  240  180  180  180  180  180  310    1690
Schroedter, Mart  240  240  180  180  180  180  180  240    1620
Fitch, Jerry      240  240  180  180  180  180  180  200    1580
Kruse, Matt       240  223  180  180  180  180  180         1363
Mah-Gersting, Jo  240  240  180  180  147  180  180         1347
Lin, Aurelius     172  240  180  180  180  180  180         1312
Raymond, Aimee    240  240  180  108  180  180  178         1306
Bharadwaj, Reema  240  169  180  104  180  180  180         1233
Ghio, Walt        240  240  180  145    0    0    0          805

F1Q
Van Nest, Brian   240  240  180  180  180  180  180         1380
Murphy, Jack      240  240  135  180  180  180  180         1335
Lin, Kiana        181  188  180  180  180  180  180         1269
Park, Leah        220  106  180  135  180  180  180         1181
Pykelny, Mike     160  202  180   80  180  180  180         1162
Richardson, Mike  240  240  180  115  180   91   51         1097
Alagiri, Aarav    188  138  180    0    0    0    0          506

F1C
Ghio, Walt        240   67  180  180  180  180  180         1207

F1S
Murphy, Jack      120  120  120  105  120       585
Van Nest, Janna   120   86  120  120  120       566
Norvall, Larry    120  120   91   62  120       513

F1G
Ghio, Walt        120  120  120  114  120       586
Richardson, Mike  120  107  120  120  120       587
Fitch, Jerry      120  120  120  106  120       587
Pykelny, Mike     120  120  120   84  120       564

F1P                       No Entries

F1J                       No entries

F1H                       No Entries

……………………………

2026  NYAA Americas Cup Annual
Perris, CA   02/28 & 3/1, 2026

For 20 years + the Perris field (Sal Taibi Field) has been a Saturday/Sunday morning testing field usually followed by a group breakfast at a local restaurant.  There have been small monthly AMA & FAC meets & informal events, but we have always wondered about the field’s ability to contain a full scale FAI contest.  Wind direction & speed can be critical issues.  5 or 6 MPH can be a challenge if blowing in a less desirable direction.  It turns out we were very fortunate that neither the wind speed or the direction was a problem either day.
On Saturday, neither of the first two rounds (240 seconds) were gimmes and there were many drops.  In round 5 of day 1, the models were getting pretty close to the main road north of the site so I cut the max to 2 minutes for round 6…and the wind promptly changed 90 degrees…..which is the long dimension of the field.   Thermals were very tricky & we did not have a single clean score in any of the events on Saturday.  Matt Kruse who won F1B had a model climb extremely high in what was an obvious boomer, only to be spit out.  He made the max, but with very little altitude to spare.   Brain Van Nest looked very comfortable with his new F1Q and came close to a clean score.   Junior Aarna Appajappa hung on for the win in F1A and we had no entries in F1C, which was not a big surprise.   Both John Kim (winner) and Reema Bharadwaj, experienced F1A & F1B Junior flyers respectively were trying their hand at F1P and while a bit uncomfortable early, seemed to be picking it up pretty quickly with some much better flights in the later rounds.
The mini events on Sunday only had a few entries, but Randy Secor in F1J and Stan Buddenbohm in F1S did manage clean scores and the tie-breaker scores were not needed.  Mike Pykelny did not have a perfect score but was close to take the winner’s medal in F1G.  We did not have any entries in F1H, which like F1C was not a big surprise.
This contest was arranged on short notice to be a last chance for Juniors to improve their World Champs Team Selection scores.   Neither the date or the advertising was what we would have preferred, but we accomplished the goal and the enthusiasm with all the NYAA folks is definitely there.  We will do this again in 2027 when we will likely choose a better date & provide more advance notice.
2026  NYAA Americas Cup Annual February 28 & March 1, 2026
F1A
Appajappa, Aarna          205  219  169  180  180    0  176    1129
Mah-Gersting, John        180  188  178  180  180    8    0     914
Gersting, Jason           124   87  180    0  105    0  140     636

F1B
Kruse, Matt               240  240  180  180  180  120  163    1303
Lin, Aurelius             240  240  180   67  160  120  180    1187
Mah-Gersting, John        236  240  180  180  144  120    0    1100
Bharadwaj, Reema          232   70  180  180  110  120    0     892
Alagiri, Adith            240  240    0  180  180    0    0     840
Booth, Bill               196    0    0    0    0    0    0     196

F1C                          No Entries

F1P
Kim, John                 212  100  155  180  180  120  180    1127
Bharadwaj, Reema          169  167  160  117  130  120  180    1043

F1Q
Van Nest, Brian           240  187  180  180  180  120  177    1264
Alagiri, Aarav            189  144  180  167   90  120  180    1070
Lin, Kiana                125  160  100  180   80  120  100     865

F1S
Buddenbohm, Stan          120  120  120  120  120       600
Van Nest, Janna           120  100  120  114  120       574

F1G
Pykelny, Mike             120  120  104  115  120       579

F1J
Secor, Randy              120  120  120  120  120       600

F1H                          No Entries

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…………..
Roger Morrell