Chapter 59's first ever Southwest Regional Wild Blue Wonders Competition
June 5th, 2004
TSTC Aerospace Center

The first Southwest Regional Wild Blue Wonders Competition held on June 5th, 2004, and sponsored by EAA Chapter 59, turned out to be a resounding success in spite of the fact that only two of the expected nine groups were in attendance. This Southwest Regional WBW Competition will eventually encompase a seven state area including Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Lousiana, Arkansas, Arizona, and Oklahoma.

From what we heard in the reports by the teachers and coordinators of the other groups everything from spring vacation, relocation out of the area, to their parents taking vacations and other commitments at the wrong time prevented the other groups from maintaining the schedule. Too bad, we really missed them.

But the lack of group and regional participation did not deter these kids that did manage to attend from putting up a fierce competition.
Talk about intense, I'm just glad I didn't have to compete against either of these groups myself. These kids really wanted to win and both groups deserve a load of credit for all their hard work and efforts.

However as is the nature of any competition, there invariably has to be a winner, and that means there also has to be a looser. At least in terms of the final score. But believe me, there were no loosers in attendance on this day.

Scoring on each of the five individual events was so close that the judges tabulating the results had to check their calculations at least three times to be sure of the accuracy. There was no clear cut or obvious winner in any catagory or seperate event. No one was sure which group was in the lead or who had won until all the final results had been tabulated. With a final score in the 1800 point range the difference between first and second place was only 80 points.

(You may also read our Chaptr 59 President's report in the "Prez Sez" section of this web site)

Here is the list of the five individual events along with the team scores for each.

Team #2 won the competition by 80 points. Team name PROJECT PHOENIX

Team #2 going to AirVenture Wild Blue Wonders Competition at Oshkosh, WI.

Here are the team names and the members roster.

For those who would like to have a copy of all the photos I took during the event I have several archive Win.Zip files. Each of these zip files contains approximately 15 photos to conserve download capability. A link to the archive zip files is located at the bottom of this page.

Click on any photo to see a larger view.

Team #1 The Altidudes from McGregor
Team leader Jennifer Milsap
Tim Tabor
Christi Lenmon
Ruston Thompson
Elmer Solis
Dayton Fisk
Jenna Foster and Stephanie Sincox

Team leader Belinda Smith
Rayan Dyer
Ethan Tang
Shelby Michael
Brdad Wilson
Tyler Cummins
Stephen Smith

Mr. Elton Stuckly, Jr. President of TSTC Technical College gave the students a brief but welcomed talk about what the Waco Texas area holds in store for them once they enter the job market.

Hopefully these bright kids will chose to stay in Texas and work in the Waco area.

The CAP Honor Guard provided the Opening Ceremonies

Team #1 photo op

Team #2 photo op

ACT-1 provided the hanger space required for the free flight event.

Log Book Check for Team #1

Log Book Check Team #2

Figuring out the flight plan, Team 2.

Figuring out the flight plan, Team 1.

The winning team in each catagory recieved a medal for the specific event.

These medals were large enough to look like they meant something.

The final winning team also recieved a plaque to display in their school hallway or other selected space.

Each group was presented their awards by the Chapter 59 judges who helped administer the events.

A group photo with Chapter President Emmett Craver.
The Prez looks like a proud father with all his kids wearing medals.

Ms. Marsha Willis from Region 12 attended
and congratulated the students and Chapter prez Emmett Craver on a great event.

The Winning team posed for a photo op with TSTC President Mr. Elton Stuckly, Jr.

And we must not forget our CAP drill team.
Here I managed to capture them in practice prior to the opening ceremonies.
We have other photos of the ceremony that will be available in the archive section.