The arrival of winter in Vancouver is signalled by our first snowfall. The city is transformed by a layer of greyish, slushy snow that threatens to turn into rain without warning.

As I trudged home today, I passed the neighbour's kid playing in the front yard. He heaved a beachball-sized snowball onto his shoulders, and I heard him chortle quietly, "Hehehe. Dynamite."

Ah, for the carefree winters of childhood, when playtime meant plotting to use explosives on friends, family, neighbours.

The results are in! After 7 long hours of deliberation, the judges have cast their votes. Jillian Callahan's clever voting system made the voting process so very smooth this year, but the actual choosing was made difficult by the quality of the entries. We had several truly excellent designs this year, but we managed to narrow it down to a handful of candidates.

And so, here are the winners of Abbott's Aerodromes 2006 2nd Annual Design Competition.

In first place, with a very realistic looking lander module, was JC Hill.



In second place, a very convincing lander designed by someone who used to design landers for a living, Moebius Overdrive.



And finally in third place, with an open-cockpit, personal-size lander, Jimbo Perhaps.



Thanks to everyone who participated in this event! It was a real blast.

Has it been eleven months already? In December 2005, Abbotts Aerodrome hosted the first annual design competition, in which dozens aircraft builders from all over Second Life -- the very best and the brightest -- competed to create the most intriguing airplane designs (link). The prizes last year were taken by Salen Walesa, Kamatz Kuhr, and Trina Strauss.

This year, the challenge is a bit different. In keeping with our new futuristic architecture, Abbotts Aerodrome challenges you to design a lunar lander. If the nations of earth return to the moon, what will be the next generation lander?



START BUILDING NOW, AND HAVE YOUR LUNAR LANDER READY BY THE DEADLINE AT NOON ON SATURDAY NOVEMBER 25, 2006. Winners will be announced at the award ceremony at 7:00pm (SL time) at Abbotts Aerodrome.

RULES

* MOST IMPORTANT RULE: Your design must be your original creation and yours alone. Please don't buy a space ship, paint it green, and call it yours.

* You can use any textures in the Library folder in your Inventory OR any of your own custom textures.

* Maximum 30 prims.

* No scripts. This is a design contest, not a scripting contest.

* 1 entry per person, no exceptions, no alt accounts.

* DEADLINE: You must submit your lunar lander for judging by parking it in one of the contestant spots at Abbotts Aerodrome by noon on Saturday November 25, 2006. Late entries will be disqualified. No changes to your lander are permitted after the deadline.

* Due to prim limits, there is a limit to the number of vehicles that can be rezzed at once in Abbotts. It's probably a good idea to place your lunar lander early on Saturday to ensure that you get a spot before all the prims are used up!

PRIZES

Judging begins on Saturday November 25, 2006, at noon (SL time). Winners will be announced at the awards ceremony 7:00pm. Music, dancing, and beverages.

1ST PRIZE
L$3000, a AH-6j helicopter by Jillian Callahan, and the 1st place trophy.

2ND PRIZE
L$1500, a Huey helicopter by Jillian Callahan, and the 2nd place trophy.

3RD PRIZE
L$500, a Gazelle helicopter by Jillian Callahan, and the 3rd place trophy.

To the moon, Abbotts. To the moon!

For as long as I can remember, since I was a small child, I have wanted to be mentioned on ABC News. And now, it's almost happened. They mentioned the name of my avatar!

"ABC News: A World Where Anything Is Possible"