Oz Report

New Pilot - the picture

(This topic is in: Jun.11 Jun.8 )

Linda's daughter gets her hang 1 (Padgham Hill)

http://www.rochesterareaflyers.com/raf.php?content=sites

http://ozreport.com/11.112#1

Linda Salamone sends this picture of her daughter, the new pilot:

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East Coast Championships, Task 4

The race is not to the swift. (Highland Aerosports, Maryland)

http://ozreport.com/2007ecc.php

The forecast was for westerly winds, around 10 knots.  We were supposed to set temperature records at over 95 degrees with very high humidity.  It looked like it would be better to be in the air than on the ground.

We called a 89 km dogleg task to the southeast, back to a goal, Bunti, that we had used a few days before.  At least some folks would be familiar with it.  We threw in a turn point to add a little more difficulty to the task.

The RUC forecast said that it was likely that there wouldn't be much if any cumulus development.  This, as you know, is a non starter for competition pilots.

The wind technician went up and fell down.  Adam, who towed him up, reported one small bump at 200 fpm.  We had already delayed the task thirty minutes, so I decided to take off and Pete Lehmann was right behind me.  There were no cu's nearby and the haze was thick from so much moisture in the air.

Zack towed me up and while at first there wasn't any lift, the sink was light so I had time to search around.  I found zero sink, then 40 fpm and then a few minutes later it had turned to 100 fpm.  By then the tug pilots had pulled enough pilots into the air that I had a crowd with me in the thermal.  100 fpm was feeling pretty good as we climbed out to 3,500'.

With Kraig Coomber on top, this was altitude enough to send us toward the edge of the start circle with thirteen minutes to go before the first start time.  There were wispy cu's out beyond the edge of the start circle.

Our venture out didn't work.  I, and I assume others, didn't find any lift.  I scooted back toward the flight park, just in case I needed another tow.  Fortunately I spotted a red tail hawk at about 700' actually turning circles, so I joined him at 900'.  The lift was less than 100 fpm but at least it kept my options open.  The rest of my leading gaggle came back to join me a few kilometers from Highland.

We worked the weak stuff until we saw other pilots getting up nearby and joined them.  It was still light and slow, but terribly enjoyable as we found a good core and got a few hundred foot jump on all the other pilots.  This put Kraig and I in a good position as everyone headed out on course, now twelve minutes after the last start time.

There were cu's ahead, but too far away to just glide to.  But we found lift quite soon, still inside the start circle and climbed to 3,800'.  We were feeling pretty good about the day given the the air was like pea soup and the lift was weak and low.  The winds were light also, not the ten knots out of the west, but six mph right down the course line.

I figured that I could make it to the first cloud and ran out in front with Kraig high just behind me.  We found good lift under the cu and this put us out alone and in front of everyone.  We climbed up and spread out to work together to find the lift.

The sink was light and the lift was reasonable under the cu's as we jumped from one to the next.  I was averaging 300 fpm and could climb up and catch Kraig.  We took turns leading and always spread out to double our chances.

Fifteen kilometers out from the turnpoint (a closed paved runway near the highway), we had a ten kilometer run with no lift.  I took a line to the right and found more sink than Kraig, so came in over the weak lift at 900'.  It was 130 fpm back to 4,000' with the wind at more than 90 degrees to the course line now.  Kraig was smart and stayed in the thermal until he got to 5,200'.  But then he went on glide and didn't hit anything else landing 18 kilometers from goal.

As I climbed up below him, Larry Bunner and another pilot came in below me.  We hadn't seen any other pilots (in the haze) since the second thermal.  When I left Larry and the other pilot were still way low and slowly climbing.

Like Kraig, I went on glide and the prospects looked dim.  Kraig went to the east of the course line along the highway.  I went right on the course hoping to find lift under the wispy clouds ahead, but wasn't finding anything.  I went for a dry field and saw a hawk circling next to a radio tower.  I joined him and we very slowly climbed up from, well, 900' once again.

With the wind blowing from the west south west I drifted over cleared areas trying to find something strong enough to get me up.  I had lots of birds for company, but they were just hanging onto whatever weak lift that they could find.  I drifted back to the east over the highway toward some better looking clouds hoping for lift but not finding it.

Losing the birds I finally landed in a big soy bean field.  About ten minutes later Sunny came and joined me.  Perhaps he was that other pilot with Larry.  I saw Larry circling about a kilometer away when I was with all the birds, and he landed three kilometers way 20 kilometers from goal.

Paul Kelley who has been patient won the day by going slow and staying high, his strategy every day.  He landed about ten kilometers from goal.  Since we have only made goal on one day, and Paul won that day getting out early, just behind me, racing has not played any part in the scoring.

I've been happy to be out in front every day (that happens when you launch early) and racing (with caution) to get to goal first.  I feel that the race is to be won by racing (when conditions allow for this), and it is a bit of a fluke that I have called tasks that are just a little too difficult so that no one gets credit for racing.

Linda Salamone is in second.  Again, not a fast pilot, but one who sticks with it and gets as far as possible.

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East Coast Championships

(This topic is in: <- Jun.2'08 May 5'08 Jun.11 Jun.7 Jun.6 Jun.5 --> )

The last day is blown out (Highland Aerosports, Maryland)

http://ozreport.com/2007ecc.php

The overall results (including everyone who flew) are found above.  On the last day we had north winds (causing rotors off the tree line to the left of the runway), at 15 to 18 knots.  No great desire to fly on the part of the competitors.  No great desire on the part of the tug pilots to tow.

#	Pilot	Glider	Total
1.	Kelley Paul	Wills Wing - T2	2765
2.	Salamone Linda	Moyes - Litespeed S3	2309
3.	Niehaus Ric	Wills Wing - T2	2242
4.	Cizausks Rich	Aeros - Combat	2205
5.	Coomber Kraig	Moyes Litespeed RS3.5	2148
6.	Straub Davis	Wills Wing - T2 - 144	2091
7.	Venesky Sunny	Aeros - Combat	2068
8.	Lehmann Pete	Wills Wing - T2	1913
9.	Prahl Jim	Moyes - Litespeed S4	1669
10.	Carter Kevin	Wills Wing - T2	1608

The big news is that Linda Salamone came in second, the best scoring by a women in a USHPA sanctioned competition since Kari Castle won the Sandia Classic.

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Gene Mathews

Ill (Dog Mountain, WA)

CJ Sturtevant <<georges>> writes:

Gene Matthews is well known to long-time hang glider and paraglider pilots as Region 1's USHPA director for at least a decade, and as a hang glider pilot for much longer than that.  I received an email from Gene yesterday, from St.  Peter's Hospital in Olympia, where he's undergoing chemo for acute leukemia.  Gene says, "I can't have flowers, fruit or visitors with the least sniffle.  My resistance is zero, so email will be the best way to talk."

I sent him an email right away, and he responded almost immediately: "My niece showed up with a new laptop with a built-in wireless card.  Patients here can use the hospital hi-speed wireless system.

I had a nasty cold for half of April and all of May.  When I tried to mow the lawn on Memorial Day, I had no stamina.

I went to the doctor the day before I was to retire.  The doctor focused on my lungs because I had had pneumonia but the real zinger was the results of the blood test.  My hematocrits were 17.8 (that is very low).

My doctor ordered me to be driven directly to the emergency room for blood transfusions.  I received six units over the next two days.

I have Acute Mylostitic [I think he means Myeloid – C.J.] Leukemia (Type M0) – it is fast growing as opposed to the slower chronic leukemia but the thing that counts is whether we get it under control.

I will get chemotherapy for a week, then they will check things.  Then I need some recovery time in the hospital.  I will be here for a minimum of three weeks and it could be as long as two months.

Two-thirds of patients are clean after the initial chemo but they give a couple extra shots if not.

There are some details of the bone marrow tests that we are waiting for that will give a better idea of the overall prognosis.

The nausea hasn't been bad yet, so I'm hopeful this will just be inconvenient rather than a nasty cancer battle.

So far, so good.  I'll try to keep in touch with news."

Judging from his immediate response to my email, I'd guess that Gene will be very happy to hear from his old flying buddies.  His email address is <skydog63>.

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Stolen Gear

Wills Wing XC (Henson Gap, TN)

Dan Shell <danshell> writes:

WW XC 155.  White upper surface, white l.e., asymmetric blue and green lower surface with XC logo.  Chris Smith Cloudbase pod harness, purple.  Lee full-face helmet, red.  Flytec 4030 Race with airspeed.  Taken from TTT Henson Gap LZ late afternoon Wednesday, June 5, 2007.  Dan Shell at <danshell>, (423)949-6912, or (423)667-9457.

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On June 9th

The big flight (Brisbane, Queensland, Australia)

William Olive <<William.Olive>> writes:

On this day, Saturday 9th of June 1928, Charles Kingsford Smith, Charles Ulm and Americans Harry Lyon and Jim Warner, landed their trimotor Fokker aircraft, the Southern Cross at Eagle Farm, Brisbane, completing the historic crossing in 83 hours, 38 minutes, of flying time.

Arguably the greatest of all the intercontinental flights of the post WW I era, Smithy and his plane and crew battled to cross two storm infested inter-tropic zones in one night's flying in an aircraft that cruised little faster (and had little more crew protection) than my trike.

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