By JAVIER VERA
Cold light rain, experienced pilots, a variety of planes, and a lot of crawfish marked the first stop for the 2023 National STOL Series.
The new season kicked off March 17 at the third annual Swamp STOL Competition & Fly-In held at Jennings Airport (3R7) in Louisiana.
Even though it was cold and rainy, many people flew in or drove in to watch the STOL pilots compete.
The first competition of the 2023 season marked the beginning of a series of changes to the series.
To begin with, organizers added three new locations to the series:
- The Wayne America Fly-In, slated for May 26-28 at Wayne Municipal Airport (KLCG) in Nebraska
- Isle Fly-In July 7-9 at the Isle Airport (MY72) in Minnesota
- Music City STOL Sept. 1-2 at Music City Executive Airport (KXNX) in Gallatin, Tennessee, near Nashville.
Also new for the 2023 series was the addition of two new categories: Rookie Class and Unlimited Class.
The goal of the Rookie class is to educate newcomers to the series and to encourage them to grow as pilots, according to organizers.
While pilots should be experienced aviators in their aircraft type, this will help them learn the National STOL competition format and standards in a fun, low-stress environment, they explained.
On the other end of the spectrum is the new Unlimited Class, where pilots compete with higher performing STOL aircraft and are eligible to win the prizes.
Also new this year was a new airplane for legendary STOL pilot Steve Henry. Based at Nampa Municipal Airport (KMAN) in Idaho, Steve competed in his new WildWest Highlander XL, which served him well. He won first place in the Unlimited category, managing to combine both takeoff and landing in just 35 feet.
“I have a lot of time, effort, and money invested in building this plane, so it was very rewarding for it to work so well,” Steve said. “I guess the highlight for me was having Dan Reynolds here to compete with because he is very tough to beat.”
Dan took second place in the category flying an experimental Chinook Valdez Special.
First place winners in the other categories include:
- Bush: Jeff Pohl
- Adventure: Brian Steck
- Touring: Brandon Corn
- Sport: Rick Boardman
- Rookie: Kelly Qualls
Other stops on the series include Somerton Airport (54AZ) in Arizona on April 21-22, which will be broadcast live on the National STOL social media and YouTube Channel.
You can watch it live as well as see recordings of all the competitions on the National STOL YouTube channel.
In May, the series debuts in Wayne, Nebraska, where officials say it will make STOL history as the only event to host both National STOL and STOL Drag competitions at a single event.
Next on the calendar: Sodbusters STOL will be held at Hartford Municipal Airport (KHXF) in Wisconsin, July 22-23, the weekend before EAA AirVenture Oshkosh.
Rocky Mountain STOL, hosted at Ralph Wenz Field Airport (KPNA) in Pinedale, Wyoming, takes off Aug. 11-13, followed by the debut of the competition in Nashville in September.
The Lonestar STOL, the series’ founding event, will be held Oct 27-28, but officials still haven’t confirmed its location.
For the past three years, Lonestar STOL also doubled as the series national championships. For the first time since its inception, the series will host its season championships as a stand-alone event in December, with the date and location still to be announced.
Find out more, including the current season standings for each pilot, at NationalSTOL.com.
More Photos From The Competition
