Bob Baron

LAST EDITED ON Dec-16-03 AT 03:47 PM (CST)
 
Windy sent a few videos from the 1996 Nats. I was mostly interested in the Bob Baron footage. I must say I think my memory of that Nats served me very well. I always remeembered that Mr. Baron was clearly one of the best fliers I had ever seen.

Video tape can be difficult to use as a judging tool, but I would say (at least compared to other fliers on video) that Baron was DEFINATELY one of the best fliers I have ever seen. His first qualification flight is simply one of the best, most accurate, aggressive, smooth, precise patterns I have ever seen flown. I suggest everyone get this video and watch that flight.

All this with a plain old ST 60 and a 70 OZ Patternmaster. His corner, in particular, was very, very, impressive. The best on the tape. I was very impressed how deeply into his bottoms he turned the airplane.

...and he did it all with no pipe, low pitch carbon props, ultra light airplane, or anything like that. Just an old ST 60, wood prop, and a big fat Patternmaster. Very cool...

Not the rifle that's scary, its the guy on the trigger...

BTW Keiffer was definately flying a V-Max...

Godzilla,

While there are many and varied comments concerning Bob Baron and his contributions/conduct/attitudes when it came to CL Stunt, I do not believe sloppy flying of any sort will be heard when his name comes up.

Even people who with good reason have some negative memories praise his flying abilities.

>...and he did it all with no pipe, low pitch carbon props,
>ultra light airplane, or anything like that. Just an old ST
>60, wood prop, and a big fat Patternmaster. Very cool...
>
>Not the rifle that's scary, its the guy on the trigger...

Well, sort of. There was no doubt at any time that Bob was "on" in 96, as much as he was at the 81 Team Trials. No one doubted that he could win, and he flew one really good flight and another average flight after the wind came up, and that was enough.

One of his problems seemed to be that he wasn't able to recognize when he was "on", or more importantly, recognize when he was "off" - so lower scores or placings were someone else's fault. But there's no doubt that he could be close to untouchable at times.

It's just my personal opinion, but he may also have suffered from some sort of autism or some autistic spectrum disorder. Much more so than do I.

>BTW Keiffer was definately flying a V-Max...

Point previously conceded.

>> It's just my personal opinion, but he may also have suffered from some sort of autism or some autistic spectrum disorder.<<

Hmm, that's an interesting comment.

No
>one doubted that he could win, and he flew one really good
>flight and another average flight after the wind came up,
>and that was enough.

Every time I mention Bob Baron's flying at the 1996 Nats, everyone wants to talk about his personality profile...

I am really more shocked by the fact that his flying and airplane combination were clearly superior (to me) in terms of tracking and corner. Especially compared to other flyers that were flying significantly lower wing loadings, low RPMS, and tuned pipes (the magic means to success at the time).

My point was that too much emphasis is ultimately placed on trends in equipment. The flyer can make 90% of the difference.

LAST EDITED ON Dec-17-03 AT 08:44 AM (CST)
 
I agree with the pilot being the important factor. Given a trimmed plane, a talented flier can fly any set-up!

We watched Bob all week, I even loaned him a glow plug battery during practice. He WAS *on*, flying wise.

After talking to many top level fliers, my considered opinion is that any of the power train systems will do a great job under ideal conditions, but the pipe system seems to have the hand in the wind.
Now that fliers here (in the USA) are using the 4 strokes more and more, it will be interesting to see how those opinions hold up.

The move to the pipe was during the ST 60 hey day, and pipes did outperform them in the wind. Case in point: the '96 Open fly off that we both saw. Bob Baron's scores went slowly down after the winds came up, and the others' scores remained about the same. Of course, it could have been Bob's health issues and fatigue.

Either way, I think it is GREAT that we have the choices of which system we want to use!

Bill <><

I think familiarity with a set up makes a big difference too. If you know what to do in the way of adjustments with a certain setup under different conditions or know how to adjust your flying or approach, it easier to maintain a presentation regardless of conditions.

One of the things that makes PW such a great flyer is that he knows his setup very, very well. Knows how to get the most out of it and exactly what to do based on conditions. Well, that and the 55 gallons of fuel he burns.

Case in point: the '96
>Open fly off that we both saw. Bob Baron's scores went
>slowly down after the winds came up, and the others' scores
>remained about the same.

From what I saw Bob could go down. No one else could go up.

>No
>>one doubted that he could win, and he flew one really good
>>flight and another average flight after the wind came up,
>>and that was enough.
>
>Every time I mention Bob Baron's flying at the 1996 Nats,
>everyone wants to talk about his personality profile...

The quoted passage has nothing to do with personality. It has to do with observed (and recorded by the judges) performance.

You will not find anyone (well maybe a few, but no one who really knows anything about the event) that takes anything away from, or in any way "runs down" Bob's performance at the 96 NATs. He won decisively and had looked like he was going to all week. His first Walker flyoff flight was as clean a flight as anyone's. His second and third Walker flyoff flights were probably the two worst flights he did all week, and even then it remained good enough.

Neither the equipment, nor the objective performance of Bob Baron, is the important story and lesson of the 96 NATs.

> Neither the equipment, nor the objective performance of
>Bob Baron, is the important story and lesson of the 96 NATs.

Huh?????

With all due respect what was the lesson ?

Leon99;)