USRA President’s Report
November 2003

Parker

Boy… did we go out of the 2003 season with a bang!

What a great event we had in Parker, AZ.  Barb and Denny Baker along with all of their race workers did a fantastic job of putting on a smooth running and well-attended event.  With 63 total entries, it was the best-attended event in recent years. The airport was perfect for racing and the Bluewater Resort & Casino was an oasis in the Arizona desert. The rooms were beautiful and restaurants were all top notch. On top of that, the resort was only a mile from the airport. There were 63 total entries: 18 F1, 13 F1-GT, 12 Unlimited, 5 T-6, 5 Experimental, 5 Bipes, and 10 Dominators. The Gold trophy round winners were, John Lockwood in Dominator, Johnny Westerbrook in Biplane, Diego Lopez in F1-GT, Archie Snider in T-6 (also flew a new world record), Ken McSpadden in F1, Dave Smith in Unlimited and Fred Sattler in Experimental. I want to congratulate all the winners. What a good time and something to look forward to next year. Great Job!

We also crowned the 2003 USRA champions at the Parker race. They are…

Terry Williams is the 2003 Biplane Champion. Terry was the class of the field again this year. With a fast airplane and attending all of the events was able to remain your Biplane Champion. Unfortunately, Terry lost his Bipe at Parker. I know he will be back out there tearing up the skies!

Archie Snider is the 2003 AT-6 Champion. Archie came out of the gate in Kansas kickin’ butt and never looked back! He won 9 out of 14 heat races and took the Gold at all three events. I hear Archie is going to add a F1-GT to the stable for next year. GT guys look out!

Fred French is the 2003 F-1 Champion. Fast Freddie lived up to his name this year. Racing in one of the most competitive classes Fred won the Championship with his impressive flying and steady consistenty. With his wife Linda as his caller, Fred will be tough to beat in the 2004 season!

Archie Snider is the 2003 Unlimited Champion. Archie and his NA-50 are a tough combination to beat. With a super fast airplane and smooth flying, Archie scored the second of two Championships this year.

Fred Sattler is the 2003 Experimental Champion. One of the nicest and knowledgeable guys in the organization is also one of it’s most competitive. Fred makes flying the 240 mph Lancair look easy and exciting. The title of USRA Champion, perfectly describes this gentleman ambassador of Giant Scale racing.

Congratulations to all of our 2003 USRA Champions!

New Board Elected

As many of you know, the USRA has voted in a new board. The new board consists of the following:

West Coast Rep = Scott Baker

West Coast Promoter = Denny Baker

Central Rep = Julius Miller

Central Promoter = Loren Tregellas

East Coast Rep =  Tom Keating

East Coast Promoter = Tony Husak

We are extremely lucky to retain the services of Kevan Avery as Treasurer and Stacy Hanbury as our Secretary. We owe them both a great deal of thanks for all they do in these thankless jobs. The new USRA Vice President is Fred Sargent and the new USRA President is Scott Hanbury. It is important to express your views and ideas to your district reps.

I would like to thank all of the outgoing board members for their dedication and hard work. It is through their determination and guidance that the USRA is seeing it’s current growth.

As a whole, the 2003 Race Season was a big success! We saw our entry numbers grow with each race starting with the Wings Over El Dorado, followed by North Coast Challenge and ending with the Blue Water River Run with a whopping 63 Entries. With the help of major sponsors such as Pete Bergstrom with Zenoah and Tom Easterday with CRT, we as an organization were able to draw more entries in the 2003 season and the 2004 racing season looks even better.

Upcoming Events / 2004 Season Sponsors

Remember that the USRA will have a booth at the IMS Show in Ontario, CA January 9-11. At last years show our booth was a big hit and we were able to inform a lot of people as to what we do. So join us if you can. You can contact me for info.

Pete Bergstrom informed me that Zenoah will be back next year as the title sponsor of our race series and again will be handing out over $14,800 in prizes! If you get a chance to talk to Pete, please thank him for his continued support of our organization.

Tom Easterday has once again stepped up to the plate and agreed to sponsor the Formula 1 class. This year Tom and California Research Tabulations have pledged $3,000 per event for the Formula1 class. New this year is the “Rookie of the Year” award. Tom and CRT, along with Diego Lopez and Lopez Construction have introduced the $1,500 prize to be awarded to the top finishing rookie at the end of the year.   A rookie is defined as: 1) someone that has flown in three or fewer Giant Scale races.2) Competes in at least 2 events in 2004 and 3) Must fly in a scale class i.e., not in Dominator class. As if this was not enough, Tom is putting up $500 for each F1 class (F1 & F1-GT) as a year-end contingency bonus for the highest championship series point earner flying a Team Extra/Kelly F-1D. This to be awarded at the end of the year. Ed Rankin has also put in $500 for the highest finishing rookie flying an Ed Rankin Design F-1 (Polecat, Proudbird or Shoestring) this is also an end of the year award.

I hope that you guys are excited about the up coming racing season as I am. As an organization, we are growing and with the help of our very generous sponsors will continue to do so! Take the time to tell a friend about all the great things going on in the USRA . Direct them to the Kit Manufactures page at the USRA web site so they can get an idea of prices and what’s out there.

Membership Renewals

We will be sending out the membership renewals before the end of the year. The deadline for the renewals is March 1, 2004. Getting your money in early is important so we can have a good idea of the resources we have to work with for the coming year.