Competition Starts Cookin' for 2023

The National STOL's Swamp STOL competition results are in, letting loose the smack talking as spring ignites some fighting spirit for the 2023 season.

A field of high-wing bush planes descended on Jennings, Louisiana, for a wet, muddy time enjoying a few updates to the format to kick off the year. New branding, rules, and classes allow a greater variety of competitors to test their mettle against one another, from brand new first-timers to highly customized pilots at the top of their game.

Overall, most of those in the running include a solid variety of makes and models, with the Adventure Class led by Brian Steck in his American Legend Cub, the Bush Class by Jeff Pohl and his stalwart 1955 Cessna 170B, the Sport Class to Rick Boardman in his Carbon Cub, and the Touring Class to Brandon Corn and his 1963 Cessna 205. The Rookies were led by Kelly Qualls in an '07 Carbon Cub, with the Unlimited topped by a Wild West Highlander. Steve Henry took his Yee Haw 8 to an impressive 35-foot landing.

It didn't take long for some lighthearted smack talk to ferment, with Zenith Aircraft's newsletter passing along some tidbits gleaned throughout the event. The brand was mostly represented by fun fliers getting a taste of the STOL game, like the 2nd place finisher in the Rookie Class. Zenith didn't miss a chance to point out the value add of their affordable kits, though. They passed along the notes from one first time attendee, Scott Hooker. He found it interesting to note just how much STOL performance he got for his dollar, saying 

"There were a lot of really cool planes there. I know I am biased but I was amazed at how well Chris Jamison did in his Zenith STOL CH 701." He was happy to reinforce the purchase decision of his own Heintz-designed aircraft after seeing what Jamison could do with his 701. "I'm guessing the CarbonCubs are roughly $300k, but one lost (Nick Ardillo at 253 ft) to Chris and one won 229-feet vs Chris's 233-feet. Roughly 2% better performance but you have to pay about 800-1000% more. It even gets better though: The 701 does it with 100-hp Rotax 912ULS running on auto fuel at maybe 4 gallons an hour."

The season is just getting started, so plenty more ribbing will be on the way shortly.

FMI: www.nationalstol.com