ace of aces   

Updated 11/22/2010

2010 WBC Report  

 2011 Status: pending December Membership Trial Vote

Joseph Belyeu, AL

2010 Champion

Offsite Links

  

Event History
2004    Bruce Young     48
2005    Richard Irving     33
2006    George Deutsch     33
2007    George Deutsch     41
2008    George Deutsch     29
2009    Richard Irving     32
2010    Joseph Belyeu     49
 Laurels

 Rank Name              From  Last  Total
   1. George Deutsch     MD    08     60
   2. Richard Irving     CA    09     56
   3. Grant LaDue        NY    10     48
   4. Joseph Belyeu      AL    10     26
   5. Bruce Young        SC    07     26
   6. Chris Villeneuve   MI    08     22
   7. Michael Schoose    IL    09     20
   8. Doug Porterfield   VA    10     18
   9. Dan Lawall         WA    06     14
  10. Phil Barcafer      PA    05     12
  11. Ray Stakenas Jr    MI    10     10
  12. Bill Ashbaugh      NY    09     10
  13. William Burch      MD    10      8
  14. Paul Weintraub     MD    04      8
  15. Craig Yope         MI    09      8
  16. Ray Stakenas Sr    MI    05      6
  17. Kevin Brown        GA    06      4
  18. James Pei          TX    04      4
  19. Noah Engelmann     MD    10      2
  20. David Zande        MI    08      2

2010 Laurelists                                             Repeating Laurelists 

Grant LaDue, NY
2nd

William Burch, MD
3rd

Ray Stakenas II, CA
4th

Doug Porterfield, VA
5th

Noah Engelmann, MD
6th


Past Winners

Bruce Young, SC
2004

Richard Irving, CA
2005, 2009

George Deutsch, MD
2006-08

Joseph Belyeu, AL
2010

Leave it to Grant LaDue to find Amelia Earhart.

Joe Belyeu seems to have a height advantage over Noah Engelmann.

Curses! Foiled Again ...

Engines roared again at the WBC aerodrome as a record number of pilots filled the skies over France. The four scheduled circuses - ne heats - provided opportunities for flying against different pilots during the week, while the green AOA buttons supplied by Greg Schmittgens allowed pilots to spot one another between circuses for dogfights of convenience.

Green pilots had a tough year with many aces on the prowl. As the qualification flights came to an end, Bill Burch was at the top of the class with a 3.91 rating. Following the "Red Baron" in order were Doug Porterfield, Grant Ladue, Joe Belyeu, Ray Stakenas II, and Noah Engelmann setting the bar for the target to reach the Final Fly-off at 2.53. This proved to be a tough qualification level as former Champions Bruce Young and Richard Irving missed the cutoff.

Many questions would be answered in the Final Fly-off. Would Grant finally throw away his bridesmaid bouquet after finishing second for three straight years? Would first year laurelist Noah find a way to top the creme of the circus? Will "Yellow Baron", Ray, figure out how to shoot down planes instead of just running away? And most important, who would be the new Champion as there were no returning champs in the final field?

The Final Fly-off is a round robin of six finalists. In Round 1, Grant flew and Noah shared the dreaded head-to-head pass (page 20) twice, before Grant managed a quick kill to win 6-4. Doug drew the Yellow Baron and Ray won 7-5. Bill and Joe finished the Round with the longest dogfight. After many maneuvers, Joe found the right combination to shoot down Bill 6-4.

In Round 2, Bill's luck vanished as Doug found the firing pattern of 2, 1, 1, and 2 to finish off the Red Baron 6-0. Grant continued his page 20 antics against Ray, but this time managed a middle shot for 2 to shoot down the Yellow Baron 6-4. Joe managed a tight 6-4 victory over Noah to end the second round tied with Grant at two victories apiece.

Round 3 found the leaders dueling each other. In the longest fight of the day, the two continued to dodge one another and reached a 6-6 stalemate. No ties are allowed in the Final, so sudden death prevailed as Joe shot down Grant 8-6 in overtime. Bill finally regained his form and shut out Ray in a 6-0 whitewash. Doug and Noah took up the head-to-head excitement with page 20 twice and then its little sister of one point damage (page 114) to reach 5-5. Doug found the next shot to win 6-5.

For Round 4, Doug's reward was to fly against Joe, the current leader. The reward proved short-lived as Joe gave him a 6-0 thrashing. Grant rebounded against Bill with more page 20 meets and tied at 1, 3, and 5, but took the lead on the net pass to win 7-5. These results gave Joe Belyeu the Championship with a Round to go. Joe did not let the glory go to his head though and flew to another victory in Round 5 against Ray, 6-5, to finish the Final Fly-off undefeated while Grant and Doug dueled to determine second place. Grant's great experience with that position, or fate's fondness for handing him bouquets, prevailed - giving Grant a 6-4 win and his fourth straight second-place finish.

Grant Ladue finished second for the fourth straight year.  Still, not bad considering he only learned the game at WBC four years ago.

GM Doug Porterfield and Bill Burch in a dogfight.

Chris Villeneuve and Bill Watkins exchange bursts.

 GM      Doug Porterfield  [5th Year]   NA
   doug.porterfield@auatac.com   703-930-0295

2010 Preview Page | View the Icon Key | Return to main BPA page