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topic: Makbule Baldik Le Fay

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Go long in Texas 2022 »

Thu, Aug 18 2022, 1:39:47 am GMT

Alexandra "Sasha" Serebrennikova|Cowboy Up|Flytec|Go long in Texas 2022|Gregg "Kim" Ludwig|Icaro|James Race|Jon Irlbeck|Ken Millard|Larry Bunner|Makbule Baldik Le Fay|Mark Moore|Masayuki Takeo|Matt McCleskey|Mick Howard|Moyes|Rich Reinauer|Rick Mullins|Robin Hamilton|Tiki Mashy|USHPA|Wills Wing|XC

The original stated intent of the Go Long Texas event was to offer pilots of all experience levels the opportunity to fly simple cross country flights in what are some of the best conditions on the planet starting from the Texas Gulf coast. The event is not set up as a competition between pilots, rather a challenge for each pilot to fly their furthest, seeking personal best (PB) flights in a supported environment of camaraderie. This year’s event had 31 pilots flying over the week from July 17-24th from Cowboy Up Hang Gliding base in Wharton, Texas. The event was a spectacular success! The raw statistics:

178 launches and only 12 re-lights, mainly pilots choosing to take a short flight or for equipment issues. Pretty much everyone that wanted to get underway on an XC did. Every time, every day

  • 31 pilots, 27 Personal Best flights, 6 pilots each with 2 PB’s during the week
  • 11,822 total miles flown
  • 52 flights > 100 miles
  • Site record (241 miles) broken 3 times during the week and is now 308 miles
  • No Safety incidents, accidents
  • 31 super happy pilots and Organizers

Weather Conditions

The conditions were consistently good through the week with high pressure dominating Central Texas and provide a generally SW-SSE flow through the flying area. There is also a historic drought across the State that has for sure helped with soaring conditions. Wind speeds were mostly moderate during the week at typically 8-14mph along the course line. Early morning cloud streets were present pretty much every day we flew and with consistent lift and fairly high TOL at 4000’agl+ by 1200 hrs. Base rose during the day and further north on the course line reaching over 8,000’msl most days and up to 9,500’ on the best days. Lift was big, fat and consistently strong on most days – 600-800fpm was “normal”. With the dry ground and strong daily heating (temps > 100°F for most of the day), it was possible to fly in thermal till sunset. Probably after sunset too.

The “Stories”

With so much flying and downwind distance flown, most of the pilot interaction happened in the morning pilot meetings. There were endless great stories from the previous day’s flying. Pilots like Maria Alexandra and Takeo making their first cross country flights on Falcons. Ken Millard “I’ve been trying to fly a hundred miles for the last 10 years and yesterday I went 162 miles”. Ken then went 220 miles a day later. He even went again on the Sunday after the event had closed with no arranged retrieve driver to crack off another 200 miles. And he got back to Wharton the same day! James Race similarly hadn’t done a hundred miler and still hasn’t. But he did go over 200 miles, but yet that hundred miler still eludes him. Even the elder gentlemen got into this – both Larry Bunner and Robin Hamilton getting new hang gliding PBs at 289 and 308 miles respectively.

Rich Reinauer had 5 flights totaling 878 miles and almost 33 hours airtime. He broke his PB twice (244, 256 miles) and had the site record twice. One of the key organizers of the event, Matt McCleskey, got his first 100 miler and then had a second long flight where he flew back north to his hanger in Navasota to park his T3 with his Kit Fox. Jon Irlbeck, a Sports class hero from GL2021 for his threepeat on PBs at that event (and namesake of the Jon Irlbeck Award for multiple PBs at the GL event), could alas manage only a couple of >100mile PBs this year. Jon did have a late evening breakdown where the local State Trooper offered assistance, brought water and carefully checked in on Jon till he was picked up. Yes, this is Texas.

For the aforementioned Jon Irlbeck award, it was close between the 6 pilots each with 2 PBs but after the duration PB tie-breaker, James Race was the recipient of the handsome carbon full face helmet sponsored by Icaro. Our other award of the smart grey Flytec jacket went to Mick Howard for outstanding sportsmanship.

Thanks to:

A big thanks to key organizer Tiki Mashy, Cowboy Up and the volunteers Sahaar Moghtader, Makbule Baldik, Matt McCleskey, Read Bixby, Masayo Eda, Takeo Eda, Mark Moore and Henry Wise that set up and kept the event running flawlessly.

Our Tug Pilots were Rick Mullins, Gregg Ludwig and Tiki, providing perfect, fast tows into the Texas morning skies. A big thanks to Tiki and these gentlemen.

We are also grateful for all of our drivers. They probably didn’t realize what they were getting themselves into when they signed up for this event with long retrieves pretty much every day. The latest return to base was around 4:30 am from close to the Oklahoma state line… There were no real vehicle dramas and the one time we had a vehicle issue, other pilots immediately set out to help retrieve the pilots involved and get the vehicle fixed.

We had wonderful sponsor support for this growing event – everything from T-shirts to helmets and even great deals on new gliders. Sponsors were Flytec, Icaro, Moyes, USHPA and Wills Wing. Many, many thanks.

See ya next year.

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Mick in Texas

Thu, Aug 26 2021, 10:46:50 pm MDT

Go-Long

Makbule Baldik Le Fay|Go Long in Texas 2021|Jeff Hunt|Mark Moore|Mick Howard|Robin Hamilton|Tiki Mashy

https://OzReport.com/docs/Go-LonginTexasFlightReportSummary.pdf

The first day started with a welcome speech from Tiki including information about the facilities while Ty talked about the set up and launch and landing areas at Wharton and Mark Moore our launch director briefed us on staging and launching. Robin provided detailed information about the area, the terrain, routes, flying conditions, airspace, weather for the day and task suggestions and the weather outlook for the week. I covered safety with several emphasis points and then Makbule covered logistics, (parking and retrieve vehicles and drivers), radio frequencies and events.

Discuss "Mick in Texas" at the Oz Report forum   link»  

Flying the Dry Line

Thu, Jul 15 2021, 5:57:19 pm MDT

It's almost like flying from Zapata

Makbule Baldik Le Fay|Gregg "Kim" Ludwig|Ken Millard|Larry Bunner|Lawrence "Pete" Lehmann|Makbule Baldik Le Fay|Matt McCleskey|Mick Howard|Nathan Wreyford|Pete Lehmann|record|Ric Caylor|Richard Milla|Rich Reinauer|Robin Hamilton|weather|X Flight 2019

The Texas crew is making a very smart move (if hang gliding and weather history is any guide). Here is what Larry Bunner writes:

We begin our south Texas encampment next Monday. Ten pilots, one super tug and some good weather should put produce some epic miles!

Most of the X Flight crew that flew from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada in 2019 are back together again to fly in an cross country encampment starting July 19. Robin Hamilton and Larry Bunner have put together this event that will be based out of Cotulla, TX for the week. They will be joined by X Flight member Pete Lehmann who has vast experience in the area having flown out of Zapata for many years (which is the site of many world record hang glider flights).

Venerable tow pilot Gregg (Kim) Ludwig will provide the “mountain” that we need on his super trike to get us high over the west Texas plains. Also joining us will be the multi aviation skilled Mick Howard, Rich Reinauer, and Nathan Wreyford all veterans of previous encampments out of Refugio and Falfurrias, TX.

Rounding out our group will be Texas pilots Makbule LeFay, Richard Milla and Matt McCleskey and relative newcomers Ric Caylor and Ken Millard.

Our intentions for the week are to take advantage of the early morning soaring conditions that start over the coastal plains and fly north through The Hill Country of west Texas onto the Edwards Plateau and beyond.

Looks to me like they will be launching out of the Cotulla-La Salle County Airport. This is just slightly north east of our preferred route out of Zapata. It is along interstate 35 which heads from Laredo to San Antonio. It is about 170 km (105 miles) north of Zapata and 110 km north northeast of Laredo.

They won't have to worry about Laredo airspace and they won't have to worry about less than optimal retrieval options between Zapata and Laredo.

From this venue they will have the option of traveling up along highway 83 toward Uvalde, and then along highway 55 toward Rock Springs and beyond into the panhandle.

The issue is will they have the early morning cloud streets (the over running) that you get in Zapata that allows for you to go far and fast while not getting high but always under a very visible set of cloud streets. Of course, this is very dependent on the location of the high pressure, hopefully south of New Orleans.

Larry writes:

The terrain to the north is much friendlier than Zapata. We'll see how well the morning streeting is. All of us will be flying with GPS and linking them to Loctome. This app provides location and altitude among other parameters for our drivers and also allows Loctome subscribers from around the world to watch our flights (ie. all of us in one group). It's like Life360 with altitude, climb rate and distance.

Doesn't look to me that you need to subscribe to follow along: https://loctome.com/live

They have a great opportunity to go far if we look at the long term conditions. Here is the soil moisture:

It looks pretty dry in west Texas all along their route.

https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/Soilmst_Monitoring/US/Soilmst/Soilmst.shtml

You can follow the local weather at launch here: https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=28.454&lon=-99.2185#.YO9s90xMGcw Looks to be generally southeast for the next few days, which is what you want. Looked good on Wednesday as I write this.

I'll be following the weather forecasts on https://www.xcskies.com/map.

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Go Long In Texas, Full Up »

Thu, May 13 2021, 10:54:51 pm EDT

FOMO

Glen Volk|Go Long In Texas 2021|Greg Chastain|Jim Yocom|Larry Bunner|Makbule Baldik Le Fay|Robin Hamilton|Rohan Taylor|Sara Weaver

https://cuhanggliding.com/golongintexas/

Confirmed Pilot List
Jonathan Irlbec Read Bixby
Tavo Gutierrez Doug Hale
Rick Maddy Sujata Sen
Charles Cozean Carl Boddie
Makbule Baldik Matt Mccleskey
Robin Hamilton Larry Bunner
Eduardo Fonseca Sara Weaver
Michael Williams Greg Chastain
Bob Fisher Soham Mehta
Glen Volk Tyson Taylor
Majo Majors Ron Berry
Rich Reinauer James Race
Nate Wreford Mitch Sorby
Richard Hiegel German Boliviar
Mick Howard Jim Yocum

2020 US Nationals Beginning to Fill Up

December 16, 2019, 7:53:24 EST

2020 US Nationals Beginning to Fill Up

Paradise Airports and Wilotree Nationals

US Nationals 2019|US Nationals 2020|Wilotree Park

We've already had 69 pilots sign up for the 2020 World Championships being held in April and that means it's going to be a successful competition with this number of pilots. We say the maximum that we can handle is 125, but we've never expected that many to show up. Pilots need to sign up by January 19th (you don't have to be on a National team to be in the Worlds) so the window is closing quickly on who are going to be coming to the Worlds.

https://airtribune.com/2020-world-championships/info/details__info

We're also putting on two Class 1 Open competitions in April at Wilotree Parks, one the week before the Worlds and one during it. (The Worlds are the combined Women's Worlds, Sport Class, Class 2 and Class 5 Worlds).

Once again last year these Spring open class competitions at Wilotree Park were very popular. Pilots love coming to fly in Florida in April enjoying the marvelous lifting thermals in pleasant air with mild temperatures, puffy little clouds, light winds and open fields. Pilots are signing up now for these competitions, despite the fact that they are not under the same tight time constraints that pilots who are signing up for the Worlds.

We are always under resource constraints (mainly the number of tugs that we can round up to get every one in the air), so it is always a good idea to register as early as possible and become confirmed as early as possible so that you can be assured that you are in the competition. There will be additional resource constraints during the Worlds for the Wilotree Nationals dictated by the fact they the Worlds ahs first claim on the resources and we can fit in open class pilots only after their needs are taken into account. The World's pilots launch first, for example.

At the moment, we can handle all six competitions and we'll see what the future holds. We hope to be able to accommodate open class pilots in both the Paradise Airsports Nationals and the Wilotree Nationals. For sure there is no issue with the Paradise Airsports. It is a bit iffier for the Wilotree Nationals, so you might want to sign up early to reserve your spot (need to be confirmed). We'll keep you informed.

https://airtribune.com/2020-paradise-airsports-nationals/info/details__info

https://airtribune.com/2020-wilotree-nationals/info/details__info

2019 Big Spring Nationals

Tue, Aug 20 2019, 6:16:31 am MDT

Personal bests

cart|Mitchell "Mitch" Shipley|Mitch Shipley|US Nationals 2019

"Eduardo Fonseca" «fonseca414» writes:

Here is a quick summary of the comp after my last goal on task 3:

Task 4: Did not fly, too gusty for my comfort level
Task 5: Good tow, but didn’t get to leave the start cylinder
Task 6: Could have been a better tow, got just outside the start cylinder
Task 7: Great tow, great climbs, made goal.

Now, here are the details:

Task 4:
It was gusty, beyond my comfort level. I decided not to fly that day. Perhaps a good decision given that the treachery of the wind that day cause pilots to have two broken downtubes and a carbon speedbar. Most people didn’t make goal, and I feel I made the right decision.

Task 5:
Had the best tow to date. After so much mentoring and feedback I wanted to stick in the cart longer. As Mitch Shipley had mentioned, during Big Spring air pilots need to stick to the cart longer. There is the tendency to leave the cart once we are “lifted” by the prop wash, but there is not enough airspeed at that time to properly maneuver the glider. Thus, pilots need to ride out the prop wash, and then hold on to the hoses to the point that the keel of the glider lifts off the cart. So I did, and the takeoff was so much better. Mick had also given recommendation on how to move the body, relax the knees, and control the glider. This tow was so great thanks to being able to apply all the teachings we had received during the comp. During flight it was not easy to find lift and ended short of leaving the start cylinder. Great approach and landing, which seem to come more naturally now. However, I cannot let my guard down (stay tuned for task 7).

Task 6:
It is important to be consistent, which I did not fully apply on takeoff. After the prop wash I left too early, with just enough airspeed to leave the cart. However, I felt the harness graze the cart. Thus, not the best takeoff and need to stay in the cart even longer. The task was a 110 km flight, but just like the prior day, could not find good lift. This flight taught me the importance of always looking for a landing field, and how easy one can end up getting in trouble. Trying to find lift kept me moving towards a not-so-easy-to-land area and going to an open field was out of the question due to distance. There were two options, freak out or stay calm and deal with the situation. Thankfully, I have experience dealing with stressful and difficult situations that require quick action, so the same methodology from work was applied to the landing strategy. Given the wind direction and landing limitations, I was able to land the glider on a pipeline path that was in very similar direction as the wind. Good landing and not very difficult drive for the retrieval team.

Task 7:
Last day of the competition. 38 km NE downwind. I kept telling myself that just being able to fly is great. But how great it would be to make goal once again. We just have to wait and feel the air.

Another great tow, this time staying as long as I could on the cart. Plenty of speed for control and contingencies. Being towed by Mick, I just felt so confident staying in line and dealing with the bumpy air. Just a great tow.

Waved off in nice smooth lift. I was not sure if it just was weak lift or I lacked thermaling skills, but I could see Mynor from Guatemala just a few miles upwind going up like a rocket. I could try to fly that direction, or stay where I was. I decided to stay with my current little climb (at least I was going up). The only way I could even possibly make goal in my opinion was to capitalize on any lift I could find. Thus, I kept working the lift. I took the time to refine my thermaling skills. As I circled, I thought of the direction of the wind, the path of the glider, and how to adjust the turning radius upwind and downwind to make the climb as efficient as possible.

After 6500 ft MSL I did not look at the vario at all, I just managed the turns and listened to the beeps. After a while, I looked again and for the first time in my life I was above 10,000 ft. It didn’t really feel like it, but there I was. “I might have a chance,” I thought. I did not care if I arrived last, I just wanted to get there.

I got as high as 10,900 ft, and when I could not climb anymore, I set the VG full and went on course. Getting lower again at 6000 ft, I reduced speed and little VG in case another thermal showed up. And there it was.

Climbing once again, I prepared myself for the final stretch, taking note of distance to goal, required glide ratio (compared with current glide ratio), as well as time left on the task. It was 5:15 pm and the task would be stopped at 6:00 pm. Thus, it was time to leave the climb, set full VG, stretch my body and tuck my arms in to minimize pressure drag, and stuff the bar in.

After a couple of minutes, I was at goal. I got to goal at around 6000 ft. So happy to make goal once again.

I felt I could have gone for another 60 km, but the day had to end early due to clos9ng ceremonies. So it was time to land. Thankfully at 6000 ft there are so many options, and I picked a field in which two other pilots had landed (Pete and Max).

What’s funny about this moment for me is that as I tried to go down, lift was happening… where have you been all my life. So I stuffed the bar in, and eventually got low enough to make the final approach. Max and Pete gave me the wind direction. As I went down, I could see Max gesturing to add speed, and I was trying (he would later tell me to just keep a hand of the upright and another on the speedbar). Essentially, need to increase my airspeed, period.

Ground effect coming in, and then time to flare. There was more wind than what I had experienced the other days of the comp, so when time to flare came, up the glider went. Not so much, but it is one of those moments in which some people might think of pulling in, but instead I stretched my arms even more and waited for physics to happen. Landed on my feet, safe on the ground and with a great smile.

This was a great way to end an amazing week of hang gliding. I had dreamed of flying in Big Spring since the the Oz Report started talking about it back in 2002. Now, I have become a part of it.

As Mick has mentioned in prior occasions, the experience gained in competition flying substantially surpasses recreational flying. Not for the competitiveness, but for the learning potential. Here are some of my statistics to show you how valuable competitions can be for pilot development:

- Number of flights: 7
- Max altitude: 10,900 ft
- Max thermal climb: 5055 ft
- Number of tasks flown: 6 out of 7
- Number of tasks completed (reached goal): 2 out of 6
- Total flight time: 7 hours 14 minutes
- Longest flight: 2 hours 18 minutes
- Total distance: 131.6 km
- Max distance in a single flight: 41.8 km

Being in Big Spring has been a tremendous learning experience that far exceeded my expectations and made me a better pilot. Of course there is room for improvement, and I hope that the 2020 Big Spring comp is just as exciting and educational.

2019 Big Spring Nationals

August 19, 2019, 7:04:44 pm CDT

2019 Big Spring Nationals

The podiums

competition|Facebook|photo|US Nationals 2019

https://airtribune.com/2019-big-spring-nationals/results

Open Class:

Sport Class:

2019 Big Spring Nationals

August 18, 2019, 6:39:56 pm CDT

2019 Big Spring Nationals

Seven days, seven tasks

Belinda Boulter|CIVL|competition|Davis Straub|dust devil|Erick Salgado|Facebook|Gary Anderson|Kevin Carter|Mike Degtoff|US Nationals 2019|Wills Wing T3|Willy Dydo

The pilots made it clear that they wanted the awards ceremony and meal on Saturday night, the last day of the competition and not on Sunday morning at brunch. That meant we had to have a shorter task or a task that brought us back to Big Spring on Saturday. With a 12 mph forecasted southwest wind, that meant a small triangle for the open class and a short downwind task for the sport class.

Today's task and flight:

https://airtribune.com/2019-big-spring-nationals/results

Task 7:

# Name Nat Glider Time Total
1 Rodolfo Gotes MEX Wills Wing T3 144 01:58:23 764
2 Willy Dydo USA Wills Wing T2C 136 02:25:16 724
3 Nathan Wreyford USA Wills Wing T2C 144 02:10:32 666
4 Erick Salgado MEX Moyes RX 5 Pro 02:13:51 663
5 Davis Straub USA Wills Wing T3 144 02:18:10 649
6 Bruce Barmakian USA Aeros Combat 12.7 02:29:35 58

Final Results:

# Name Nat Glider Total
1 Rodolfo Gotes MEX Wills Wing T3 144 5301
2 Erick Salgado MEX Moyes RX 5 Pro 5200
3 Bruce Barmakian USA Aeros Combat 12.7 4690
4 Willy Dydo USA Wills Wing T2C 136 4258
5 Davis Straub USA Wills Wing T3 144 4068
6 Kevin Carter USA Wills Wing T3 3919
7 Vic Hare AUS Wills Wing T3 144 3889
8 Nathan Wreyford USA Wills Wing T2C 144 3705
9 Rich Reinauer USA Wills Wing T2C 144 2510
10 Gary Anderson USA Wills Wing T2C 144 2409

Sport Class:

Erick R. Lopez won the last task with Ric Caylor second and Anibal Lemus third. Eight pilots made goal with the winner there in 33 minutes (it was a short task).

Jose Sandoval only went eight kilometers, but that didn't stop him from winning overall. Four Guatemalans in the top five.

Swift Class:

Chris won the task again by three minutes and won the meet overall.

The sky was still blue at 1 PM. The temperatures here were about 10 degrees warmer than what we have experienced in the past (104 Vs. 95). The sky has been blue instead of full of cu's reliably appearing at 1 PM. We've also not had good lift conditions until around 2 PM. There has been at least a slight inversion at 1 PM this year.

Three pilots launched at about 1:15 PM and two stayed up but didn't get high. I launched right after we saw them thermaling, and climbed to 5,200' but no higher and then lost the thermal and landed as did Willie Dydo, one of the three The wind was seventeen mph out of the south.

After a new bottle of water I went again at about 2:20 PM and now the lift was there and sustained. I went right up after the Swifts and circled with them over the airport. I circled up to about 8,000' drifting just outside the start cylinder and then went back and tagged it for the fourth start time at 2:45 PM. I was averaging a little over 200 fpm.

I almost took the 2:30 PM clock but decided to stay near or inside the start cylinder by heading back upwind against the seventeen mph wind, to just get the fourth start clock. The Swifts went with me. About six minutes later Erick and Bruce left the start cylinder late, but I was basically on my own. Rudy would take the 3 PM clock.

Five kilometers out I found almost 500 fpm to 8,300' which told me that the day was truly on. There were no cu's in the vicinity though. This can also be a sign that you'd better be careful if you think that all the lift is going to be this good.

That thermal got me to the turnpoint at a little over 7,000' Turning to the southwest, my tail wind turned into a cross head wind of ten mph. I flew almost six kilometers before I found lift down at 4,200'.

I was low and the lift was weak at 220 fpm and I could only climb to 5,800' losing distance all along drifting to the north. I pushed to the south directly into the wind getting south of the course line before once again starting from 4,200' I climbed at 300 fpm to 7,900' but north and east (downwind of the course line and back up the course line) so I had to cover the same ground again.

Heading southwest then south passing under the first cu's, which when they did not have any lift that, I continued to another cu to the south where I found 150 fpm and was heading backwards once again. I moved east a kilometer from 5,400' and worked slightly better lift until I was seeing 1000 fpm on the twenty second averager. I climbed at 400 fpm on average to 9,700'.

There was a large area of uncultivated flat lands to my southwest and toward the second turnpoint. The wind was between eleven and eighteen mph out of the south. A cu formed over me as I climbed and there were now scattered cu's out in front. I was high enough to get over the less friendly area and flew thirteen kilometers to get to the next lift three kilometers from the turnpoint. As I flew toward the turnpoint, I kept seeing wisps of cu's forming to my southwest but they disappeared before I could get to them.

When I found that thermal it took me to 8,000' at over 400 fpm. It was easy to get the turnpoint despite the 13 mph south wind.

Turning east south east twenty two kilometers from goal it looked like there were cu's ahead. Then I spotted Eric and Rudy turning and flew the four kilometers past the turnpoint to them getting down to 4,500'.

The lift was very strong, sometimes at 700 fpm and averaged 540 fpm. Though Erick and Rudy started out about 3,000' over my head I quickly gain most of that altitude up to them flying in the same thermal which was much stronger down below them. I climbed to 9,500' which gave me a 10:1 glide ratio to goal. Rudy and Erick took off about 500' above me and I went with them.

There was a ten mph cross wind going to goal. At first I was all going well and I wasn't losing much altitude, then things changed and I was losing consistently 800 fpm. My required glide was down to 7.5:1 but I was getting 6.5:1. I stopped for a dust devil and a cu above it at seven kilometers out to be sure that I had enough altitude to make it. I came in five minutes behind Rudy and Erick.

It was an incredible competition with great conditions, just what we expect from Big Spring. We held it a week later than normal, and they had rain after four months of no rain. Next year we go back to the first week of August. The only reason we held it when we did was because we wanted to have two weeks between the Worlds and our meet. That was a useless gesture which we won't ever repeat.

The task and safety committees performed brilliantly and made the competitions with their great calls. Mitch was the best CIVL meet steward we have ever experienced, by far. Belinda was a fantastic meet director and very much in charge and worked well with Mitch. Kate Griffin was a fantastic scorekeeper and tracker wrangler. She is very experienced now (Brett Janaway keeps updating the procedures so it is a task just to know what is going on.) Thor was a very calming presence as the launch director and Mike Degtoff was a great second in command at the launch. The tug pilots, Mick, Bobby, and Jim were spot on and their little cooperative of tug pilots is working great.

Thanks so much for all the help from the Big Spring Community. We could not pull this off without their tremendous support - water and free ice cream included. Thanks to all the sponsors for their prizes.

Photo by Mike Degtoff.

2019 Big Spring Nationals

August 16, 2019, 10:58:53 pm CDT

2019 Big Spring Nationals

Another incredible call from the Safety Committee

Chris Zimmerman|competition|Davis Straub|Erick Salgado|Gary Anderson|Kevin Carter|Mitchell "Mitch" Shipley|Tom McGowan|US Nationals 2019|Wills Wing T3|Willy Dydo

Today's task and flight:

https://airtribune.com/2019-big-spring-nationals/results

Big Spring to Lamesa to Town, 145 kilometers.

Task 6:

# Name Nat Glider Time Total
1 Erick Salgado MEX Moyes RX 5 Pro 02:31:00 776
2 Rodolfo Gotes MEX Wills Wing T3 144 02:25:57 765
3 Kevin Carter USA Wills Wing T3 02:33:31 684
4 Davis Straub USA Wills Wing T3 144 02:34:23 671
5 Vic Hare AUS Wills Wing T3 144 02:38:30 642
6 Willy Dydo USA Wills Wing T2C 136 02:39:37 625

Cumulative:

# Name Nat Glider Total
1 Erick Salgado MEX Moyes RX 5 Pro 4537
1 Rodolfo Gotes MEX Wills Wing T3 144 4537
3 Bruce Barmakian USA Aeros Combat 12.7 4103
4 Vic Hare AUS Wills Wing T3 144 3609
5 Kevin Carter USA Wills Wing T3 144 3542
6 Willy Dydo USA Wills Wing T2C 136 3534
7 Davis Straub USA Wills Wing T3 144 3419
8 Nathan Wreyford USA Wills Wing T2C 144 3039
9 Rich Reinauer USA Wills Wing T2C 144 2225
10 Gary Anderson USA Wills Wing T2C 144 2191

Open class:

The open class task was stopped at 5:46 PM and scored stopped at 5:31 PM. Seven pilots had already made goal. (Tom McGowan also made goal right after me but was scored incorrectly.)

Sport class:

Stopped at 5:40 PM and scored at 5:25 PM, Jose Sandoval was in the lead when the task was stopped. No one made goal. There was over-development to the west which got close to or came over the course line.

Swift Class:

Chris Zimmerman won the day.

With a forecast for strong lift, cu's, cloud base at 13,500' and 10-13 mph southwest winds we called cross wind tasks to the north. But when we launched at 1 PM it was not happening at all and almost everyone landed and went for a reflight.

When I relaunched at about 2 PM things were much different and I climbed up to 8,500'. I've been adding more layers each day after only two layers on Wednesday (which was very comfortable) with four moderate layers today with the forecast for 37 degrees at 13,500' cloud base later in the day. I don't recall us ever getting that high here before.

There were plenty of cu's after 2 PM as there had been none at 1 PM. I took the last start clock at 2:30 PM, which was the popular start time as almost everyone had to launch late for the second time.

I headed for a fat cu to the north northwest fourteen kilometers and found little lift there. It was all blue ahead so I wanted to get up from 2,200' AGL and I left 160 fpm at 6,000' heading into the blue after a disappointing climb.

Of course, there was good lift right out in the blue and I found 300 fpm to 7,900' and then 400 fpm to 8,900'. It wasn't 13,500' but it was getting up there. The wind had started out at 10 mph out of the south southeast and was now 10 mph out of the south.

I had enough altitude to find the next bit of reasonable lift at twenty two kilometers to the north northwest. I was heading for the ten kilometer cylinder around Lamesa. I headed for an isolated small cu over the canyon area that looked like it was feeding off the gullies. The sink increased dramatically as I approached the spot that I thought looked like the origin of the thermal, and that assured me that there was a good thermal there. I took 250 fpm to 7,200' from 4,500'.

With more cu's ahead I was able to climb to 8,200' at 430 fpm just before the turnpoint cylinder edge. I pushed to the west to get the cylinder and get myself lined up for a cloud street to the north. The wind was averaging thirteen mph out of the south southeast.

The cloud street was working and I was able to climb at 300 fpm and then 330 fpm and then flying straight and climbing to 9,200'. I still had not climbed high and felt the icy cold winds. Speaking of winds, the winds were now eighteen mph out of the south southwest.

For the first time I noticed the over-development and shading from the west. There was rain about fifteen miles away. I wanted to go fast to get north of the rain if possible.

Twenty seven kilometers north of the turnpoint at Lamesa I found a strong thermal at 7,600' It averaged over 500 fpm and I took it to 12,400'. It was cool up there. I was forty three kilometers from goal and had goal at 14:1 with a seventeen mph tail wind. I went on final glide.

During the final glide it showed I had about 2,300' above best glide. That value changed very little no matter how fast I flew nor how much sink or lift I encountered. I was racing the storm to the west which was producing more rain but wasn't effecting goal as yet. Mitch Shipley was at goal and he was saying it was level 1. Tom McGowan and I on the Safety Committee were flying near each other and agreed.

As I got within five kilometers of goal I no longer was losing any altitude even with the bar stuffed.

When I go to goal it was shaded as was the last five kilometers and I found nothing but lift. I had to fly to the east five kilometers to finally find some sink and get down. I assume that it was being affected by the over-development to the west.

The over-development affected the Sport Class goal much more strongly as it built to the south of our goal. Their task was stopped a few minutes earlier than ours was.

The task committee had originally set a task to Levelland to the west of the Town goal. That would have put us right through the over-development. The safety committee moved the task based on the forecast.

So far three days in a row affected by thunderstorms. The task and safety committees have been brilliant in task calling, keeping us safe but with fun tasks. The conditions here have been excellent as well as exciting. All the pilots are enjoying themselves immensely. It was great getting so high today. It was great flying the last forty three kilometers in less than half an hour.

2019 Big Spring Nationals

August 15, 2019, 7:46:27 pm CDT

2019 Big Spring Nationals

Setting the best task that the weather forecast allows

Chris Zimmerman|competition|Davis Straub|dust devil|Erick Salgado|Flytec 6030|Gary Anderson|Kevin Carter|Roger Irby|US Nationals 2019|weather|Wills Wing T3|Willy Dydo

Today's task and flight:

https://airtribune.com/2019-big-spring-nationals/results

Task 5:

# Name Glider Time Total
1 Bruce Barmakian Aeros Combat 12.7 01:55:47 960
2 Rodolfo Gotes Wills Wing T3 144 01:55:57 882
3 Erick Salgado Moyes RX 5 Pro 02:13:02 841
4 Davis Straub Wills Wing T3 144 02:00:22 821
5 Willy Dydo Wills Wing T2C 136 02:08:10 746
6 Nathan Wreyford Wills Wing T2C 144 02:24:56 667
7 Rich Reinauer Wills Wing T2C 144 02:47:42 589
8 Vic Hare Wills Wing T3 144 02:34:51 559
9 Kevin Carter Wills Wing T3 144 02:37:59 544
10 Gary Anderson Wills Wing T2C 144 02:44:33 533

Cumulative:

# Name Glider Total
1 Bruce Barmakian Aeros Combat 12.7 3904
2 Rodolfo Gotes Wills Wing T3 144 3772
3 Erick Salgado Moyes RX 5 Pro 3761
4 Vic Hare Wills Wing T3 144 2967
5 Willy Dydo Wills Wing T2C 136 2909
6 Kevin Carter Wills Wing T3 2858
7 Davis Straub Wills Wing T3 144 2748
8 Nathan Wreyford Wills Wing T2C 144 2617
9 Roger Irby Wills Wing T2C 154 2041
10 Gary Anderson Wills Wing T2C 144 1882

Sport Class:

Five pilots made it back to Big Spring with Peter Wall winning the day. Jose Sandoval is in the lead over all.

Swift Class:

They made a task to the south. Chris Zimmerman won the day and leads overall.

The weather forecast was for over development in all directions after 4 PM. So we decided on short tasks with early starts.

There were cu's to the west and east of the airport very early and there were too many cu's to the north with cu-nimbs to the west and north at Lamesa which almost stopped the task at 12:30PM (we launched at 12:15). Mitch was on the radio to the safety committee and we said level 2 and 2.5. We were south of the airfield and in good conditions climbing to 7,400', so we said it was level 1 where we were. We were just concerned about the conditions to the north.

As we were six or seven kilometers from the top of the five kilometer start cylinder I flew up to the north at four minutes before the first start time but found weak lift down to 4,500'. I hung in it with a couple of other pilots trying just to stay up.

We stayed in the poor lift for almost half an hour until, just before the last (third) start time, the lift we were in finally turned on and we were able to climb up to 6,000' before going on glide and finding a good thermal to 7.400', nine kilometers to the north. There were no cu's near us.

The winds were light which is why we called a triangle task for the open class and an out and return task for the sport class. The towering cu's to the north dissipated and there was plenty of sun shine on the ground. It no longer was a level 2.

I was leading out in front of the other two pilots which seemed easy to do. We found 200 - 300 fpm average climbs and hooked up with Rudy for a few climbs south the the first turnpoint. The lift was improving as the day went on. We had taken the last clock at 1:45 PM.

I found a nice dust devil just before the first turnpoint where I had seen Rudy turning a bit earlier under a cu and I climbed to 7,700'. There was a much bigger dusty to the east by the second turnpoint which Rudy got into. Before I got to that dust devil I found a thermal under a small cu that averaged 425 fpm so I took it to almost 9,000'.

As I headed south on my own I could see the over development further to the west. The rest of the sky was inviting. I found a forming cu out in the blue and climbed at 380 fpm average to 9,300'. The 6030 said I had goal but it was 12:1 to get there from twenty five kilometers out so I didn't exactly believe that.

The outflow from the top of the over development was partially shading the ground between me and goal. I could see a nice little cu about half way to goal, but off the course line a couple of kilometers. I felt that there was a good chance of finding lift just going down the course line in spite of the partially shaded ground.

At thirteen kilometers from goal I found 440 fpm and took it to 7,500' with an 8:1 required glide.

I came into goal with 600' AGL and landed. The wind was light out of the west toward the over development.

The over development continued to grow and come toward us but all the pilots who made goal made it in with incident. It was just shaded and there were no thunderstorms near us.

2019 Big Spring Nationals

August 14, 2019, 9:21:51 pm MDT

2019 Big Spring Nationals

East northeast wind with low top of lift

competition|Davis Straub|Erick Salgado|Gary Anderson|Kevin Carter|Roger Irby|US Nationals 2019|Wills Wing T3|Willy Dydo

Today's task and flight:

https://airtribune.com/2019-big-spring-nationals/results

Task 4:

# Name Glider Time Distance Total
1 Bruce Barmakian Aeros Combat 12.7 03:26:40 118.09 534
2 Rodolfo Gotes Wills Wing T3 144 03:52:45 118.09 458
3 Erick Salgado Moyes RX 5 Pro 03:57:58 118.09 418
4 Davis Straub Wills Wing T3 144   44.46 235
5 Kevin Carter Wills Wing T3   29.02 188
6 Willy Dydo Wills Wing T2C 136   15.77 132

Cumulative:

# Name Glider Total
1 Erick Salgado Moyes RX 5 Pro 2860
2 Bruce Barmakian Aeros Combat 12.7 2844
3 Rodolfo Gotes Wills Wing T3 144 2816
4 Vic Hare Wills Wing T3 144 2421
5 Kevin Carter Wills Wing T3 2297
6 Willy Dydo Wills Wing T2C 136 2153
7 Nathan Wreyford Wills Wing T2C 144 1963
8 Davis Straub Wills Wing T3 144 1904
9 Roger Irby Wills Wing T2C 154 1749
10 Gary Anderson Wills Wing T2C 144 1362

Sport Class:

Jose Sandoval Sandoval was the only one to make goal at 48T. He continues to lead the sport class.

Swift Class:

Didn't fly.

The forecast was for an east northeast wind, lighter than the previous day. With a huge downpour and flash flooding around Big Spring on Tuesday night we figured the lift around the airport to be very poor. That proved to be the case.

The wind was sixteen mph northeast just south west of the airport so that made things even worse. Our task was to the west northwest given the forecast for lighter and east northeast winds.

I was circling with Bruce and Kevin as we climbed at 170 fpm. That thermal got us to the edge of the start cylinder just in time for the first clock at 3 PM. We joined up with Roger Irby and Rudy Gotes and climbed to 6,800' just outside the start cylinder.

After a short weak climb we headed north northwest to try to get on the upwind side of some shallow lakes. Roger Irby landed and Bruce and Kevin thermaled downwind of the lakes. I pushed further up wind and found better lift at 345 fpm and after a while they came and joined me. We lost track of Rudy.

We climbed back to 6,800' and headed again to the north northwest cross wind in order to go toward the turnpoint at 48T. We stayed above 5,600' climbing to almost 6,000' and hooked up with Rudy. I was able to find lift by pushing up wind to the northeast when after I felt any lift.

The lift gave out for a while and down to 800' I found lift near a very strong gas flare. Rudy came back to join me and Kevin landed. Bruce was behind us and climbing. We were only able to get to 5,600'.

There were now little cu's popping along our cross wind course line so we could fly to them. I found the next thermal and Rudy joined me but it was only 100 fpm. We had lost Bruce who was high and behind us. We only climbed to 5,700'.

Rudy stayed back as I raced to get under the next thin cu, but got low and had to work it back up to 5,300'. The lift was broken up near the top so I went for a cu just forming up wind of us. It didn't work and I soon landed.

Rudy and Bruce were able to make it around to goal with Erick coming later.

I should have been more conservative and not tried to chase cu's. The lift down low was broken and ratty.

2019 Big Spring Nationals

August 13, 2019, 11:54:10 pm CDT

2019 Big Spring Nationals

Dealing with the forecast for no lift later to the south

Chris Zimmerman|competition|Davis Straub|dust devil|Erick Salgado|Gary Anderson|Greg Chastain|Kevin Carter|Roger Irby|US Nationals 2019|Wills Wing T3|Willy Dydo

Today's task and flight:

Today's forecast for lift at 5 PM:

The task committee set a task with a eighteen kilometer radius around the airfield at Rankin so that we didn't have to go over a territory full of pump jacks (oil wells) to get to the airfield. It also helped that it kept us away from the likely over development.

https://airtribune.com/2019-big-spring-nationals/results

Task 3:

# Name Glider Time Total
1 Bruce Barmakian Aeros Combat 12.7 01:41:50 874
2 Rodolfo Gotes Wills Wing T3 144 02:05:34 777
3 Vic Hare Wills Wing T3 144 02:05:22 776
4 Erick Salgado Moyes RX 5 Pro 02:07:18 742
5 Kevin Carter Wills Wing T3 144 02:03:44 631
6 Rich Reinauer Wills Wing T2C 144 02:11:01 628
7 Roger Irby Wills Wing T2C 154 02:23:03 624
8 Davis Straub Wills Wing T3 144 02:32:55 566
9 Gary Anderson Wills Wing T2C 144 02:36:34 544
10 David Proctor Wills Wing T2C 154 02:40:47 481

Cumulative:

# Name Glider Total
1 Erick Salgado Moyes RX 5 Pro 2442
2 Rodolfo Gotes Wills Wing T3 144 2358
3 Vic Hare Wills Wing T3 144 2335
4 Bruce Barmakian Aeros Combat 12.7 2310
5 Kevin Carter Wills Wing T3 2109
6 Willy Dydo Wills Wing T2C 136 2021
7 Nathan Wreyford Wills Wing T2C 144 1877
8 Davis Straub Wills Wing T3 144 1669
9 Roger Irby Wills Wing T2C 154 1663
10 Gary Anderson Wills Wing T2C 144 1276

Sport Class:

Six pilots in goal with Jose Sandoval winning the day. Jose is now back in first place overall.

Swift Class:

Greg Chastain landed short and now Chris Zimmerman is in first place after making it back to the airport.

With an unusual north northeast wind at launch we launched from the south part of the taxi way. There were no cu's around at first at 1:30 PM. There was good lift just southwest of the airport and I was able to get to 7,400' with half a dozen other pilots. When that lift ran out twenty three minutes before the start window opened I headed back toward the airport and then north to a cu when I didn't see anyone climbing near the airport.

The cu quickly disappeared and I chased a remnant of a dust devil further west to hook up with what remained of it after it disappeared also. That set me up alone north of the course line at a little less than 7,000' for the 2:30 PM start.

To the south the area of forecasted zero lift was already filling up with cu's. There were a few wispies along our course line. The forecast said that we wouldn't get too high, maybe to 8,000'.

I found a couple of good climbs but twenty kilometers out from the edge of the twelve kilometer start cylinder I was down to about 1,000' AGL. I was able to work 250 fpm back to over 6,000'.

There had started to be a few scattered good looking cu's about so it was easier to find the lift. Lots of cu's starting and disappearing quickly.

I kept an eye on the vast area to the south where the thick cu's were forming. They were far enough away that I couldn't see their shadows. They did not look dangerous. There seemed to be a limit on how high they went.

I found a nice set of cu's and was able to climb to 9,200' under the dark bottoms. They were still pretty small. I continued to stay northwest of the course line.

The wind changed from lighter northeast to stronger east northeast. This pushed me further to the west of the course line. I also was following the cu's which were more to the west of the line.

There was a mix of possible landing areas and lots of areas with not such great landing opportunities below. I had already been low so I didn't want to do that again.

Twenty kilometers out from the goal cylinder I chased after some little forming cu's and when those didn't work I flew to the area where I had seen a dust devil when I was a few kilometers to the north. Down to 900' AGL I found that there was good lift under some forming cu's that got me back to 6,000' which was enough to get over a large patch of unlandable area and to goal over a super big cultivated field.

I landed with the areas in shade further to the south but plenty of sunshine where I was. It looks like the task committee called a good task given the conditions.

The thunderstorm did hit Big Spring around 8:30 PM with flash flooding.

2019 Big Spring Nationals

August 12, 2019, 11:37:18 pm CDT

2019 Big Spring Nationals

Air sick

Bobby Bailey|Tom McGowan|US Nationals 2019

We take a bit later launch than originally planned as the pilot meeting drags on a bit so the launch is at 1:30 PM (half an hour before Sunday) and the start window at 2:30 PM. After all the relights on Sunday pilots are a bit reluctant to go right away, but we see the first few sticking so the open class pilots are all off in half an hour.

The cu's do start late with a few at 1:30 but more at 2 PM. Bobby Bailey tows me up and before we get to the end of the taxi way to the south he's bank up and I hang on as best I can. I  go around with him twice and then pin off at 1,700' AGL. I work that thermal with lots of pilots coming over to join me to over 10,000'.

It's still a few minutes before the start window so we mush around in light sink before heading out at 2:30 PM at about 9,400'. The wind is averaging 7 mph out of the south west. Our turnpoint is to the northeast. There is a big turnpoint radius around Fish at eighteen kilometers and then the course goes north to Jayton airfield.

About eight of us start off together high and head up the highway toward Snyder to the east north east. The optimized course line will take us right over town and right over the sport class goal. We climb to 10,600' nineteen kilometers from the edge of the start cylinder at almost 600 fpm.

After that I struggle with weak lift and not getting high for the next fifty kilometers as the wind turns from southwest to south at 16 - 18 mph.. Down to 5,000' I get too hot (too much clothing) and get nauseous. I check to see if it is heat stroke or air sickness, but I'm still sweating so it's air sickness. I keep flying as it is not overwhelming as it has been two other times.

I climb to 9,400' just before Snyder over the airfield that is the sport class goal. East of Snyder the land mass changes from open fields to canyon lands. I have to go cross wind to get to the turnpoint eighteen kilometers from Fish. I find another thermal twenty two kilometers out from Snyder at 400 fpm to 8,500' but then it all gets worse as I continue to fight with the air sickness.

I'm six kilometers north of the optimized course line and  work my way south southeast to get back toward the optimized waypoint on the eighteen kilometer radius turnpoint. I'm soon down to 2,000' AGL working weak lift and drifting to the north away from the optimized turnpoint. I go back south and back up the course line to try again and it doesn't get  any better. I'm over the canyon lands low with a few landing options that present difficult retrieves.

I was three kilometers from the turnpoint but low and not willing to go cross wind across unlandable area to go further east to get the cylinder. Taking lift I climb to over 6,000', still relatively low but now six kilometers from the turnpoint and it's upwind. All the lift I find under the fast moving cu's is weak.

I push again upwind to get under the best looking cu and there is nothing there. I'm drifting away from the turnpoint. There is no reason to continue and I'm ready to land as I feel pretty ill.

I land near a paved road and fortunately I can contact Tom McGowan who has landed near Snyder and is in the retrieve vehicle not far away. I curl up on the ground under my glider not having moved it since I landed and go to sleep. I can't stand up. Tom and Dave Proctor break down the glider for me as I rest in the air conditioned truck.

The field is full of stickers and our shoes are covered with them.

2019 Big Spring Nationals

August 12, 2019, 10:51:26 pm CDT

2019 Big Spring Nationals

Down and cross wind almost 100 miles

Chris Zimmerman|competition|Davis Straub|Erick Salgado|Gary Anderson|Greg Chastain|Kevin Carter|Roger Irby|US Nationals 2019|Wills Wing T3|Willy Dydo

https://airtribune.com/2019-big-spring-nationals/results

Task 2:

  Name Nat Glider Time Total
1 Erick Salgado MEX Moyes RX 5 Pro 02:39:00 974
2 Nathan Wreyford USA Wills Wing T2C 144 02:38:26 935
3 Rodolfo Gotes MEX Wills Wing T3 144 02:44:49 917
4 Willy Dydo USA Wills Wing T2C 136 02:44:17 901
5 Vic Hare AUS Wills Wing T3 144 03:00:00 783
6 Bruce Barmakian USA Aeros Combat 12.7 03:00:11 779
7 Kevin Carter USA Wills Wing T3 144 03:36:29 599

Cumulative:

# Name Nat Glider Total
1 Willy Dydo USA Wills Wing T2C 136 1824
2 Erick Salgado MEX Moyes RX 5 Pro 1700
3 Rodolfo Gotes MEX Wills Wing T3 144 1581
4 Vic Hare AUS Wills Wing T3 144 1559
5 Nathan Wreyford USA Wills Wing T2C 144 1525
6 Kevin Carter USA Wills Wing T3 1478
7 Bruce Barmakian USA Aeros Combat 12.7 1436
8 Davis Straub USA Wills Wing T3 144 1103
9 Roger Irby USA Wills Wing T2C 154 1039
10 Gary Anderson USA Wills Wing T2C 144 732

Sport Class:

Twelve out of fourteen made goal at 75.6 km with Max Conde winning the day.

Max Conde is in the lead overall with Jose Sandoval in second. Two Guatemalans.

Swift Class:

Chris Zimmerman and Greg Chastain. They are doing out and return tasks as they don't have a driver.

Greg has won both days.

2019 Big Spring Nationals

Mon, Aug 12 2019, 6:23:37 am MDT

Sport Class to La Mesa

competition|US Nationals 2019

Four out of fourteen pilots made it in Sport Class seventy kilometers to the goal at the La Mesa airfield.

https://airtribune.com/2019-big-spring-nationals/results

Jose Sandoval, Ric Caylor, Max Conde, and John Irlbeck.

2019 Big Spring Nationals

August 12, 2019, 6:19:07 MDT

2019 Big Spring Nationals

We glide on up to Brownfield

Blue Sky|competition|Davis Straub|dust devil|Erick Salgado|Kevin Carter|Roger Irby|US Nationals 2019|Wills Wing T3|Willy Dydo

https://airtribune.com/2019-big-spring-nationals/results

https://airtribune.com/2019-big-spring-nationals/results/task4325/day/open-class

Task 1:

# Name Glider Time Total
1 Willy Dydo Wills Wing T2C 136 02:33:51 921
2 Kevin Carter Wills Wing T3 02:26:25 877
3 Vic Hare Wills Wing T3 144 02:35:14 772
4 Erick Salgado Moyes RX 5 Pro 02:56:44 721
5 Roger Irby Wills Wing T2C 154 02:49:29 682
6 Davis Straub Wills Wing T2C 144 03:03:35 662
7 Rodolfo Gotes Wills Wing T3 144 03:07:10 659
8 Bruce Barmakian Aeros Combat 12.7 03:08:43 651
9 Nathan Wreyford Wills Wing T2C 144 03:09:12 583

14 to 18 mph south southeast wind. A few cu's. The dry line was clearly visible to the west. Top of lift/cloudbase around 11,000'. A 2 PM launch and 3 PM start to get the better part of the day.

Mick Howard towed me three kilometers south toward the nearest cu due south of the taxi way. The area to the west of launch has proven to be a poor area for lift so I was happy to avoid it. The cu's had been popping since about 1:30 PM (half an hour before launch) on our east side, but we are restricted from going there because it crosses the main runway.

After I pinned off it was a continuous climb from about 4,000' (1,700' AGL) to almost 9,000' drifting seven kilometers to the north northwest in a 15 mph south southeast wind. The start cylinder had a six kilometer radius so given that Mick had towed me way to the south I had no issues staying inside it for the second start time.

North of the airport the cu's were mostly off to the east of the course line about ten kilometers and the first turnpoint was at the La Mesa airfield to the north northwest. While it was all blue ahead I headed in the direction of the turnpoint about five kilometers east of the optimized course line. The start cylinder is centered on a point five kilometers west of the Big Spring airport.

Despite the blue sky there was lift where there were no cu's. I even took a thermal over a gas flare of which there are many (not like years ago north of Big Spring). I was able to hook up with a sweet dust devil north of Ackerly averaging 460 fpm and called Dave Proctor over to join me.

There were towering cu's off to the west quite far aways, but just little wisps along our route. There were some haze domes north of La Mesa which marked 400 fpm lift and I could see ahead a large area of green cotton fields that indicated weaker lift.

I had to search around just south of the cotton fields to find 270 fpm. Bruce, Erick, and Dave came in under me as we all had the idea to get high here before venturing out into the less promising area. I couldn't get any one to go so I headed off by myself (which had been ture for all the flight so far) and it was thirteen kilometers before I found 200 fpm at less than 2,000' AGL (the land elevation was rising).

Kevin and Erick came in under me and we climbed back to 8,000' (5,000' AGL). Kevin had taken the clock after me and Erick the one before me. I couldn't get Kevin to leave so again I headed out on my own as we drifted close to the turnpoint at T-Bar.

There were cu's to the northwest which I had decided to go to before the turnpoint. It was all blue and cross wind to the goal to the west northwest at Brownfield airfield.

I misjudged the distance to the cu's and that took me north and downwind of the course line. Then, when I got to the cu's, they didn't work so I had to go hunting for lift in the blue anyway. I ended up twelve kilometers downwind of the course line working lift to get as high as possible to give me a chance to beat back upwind.

I worked to over 9,600' at 280 fpm and headed southwest knowing that it would take a bit more lift to make it in. Fortunately it was there eight kilometers out and I was able to make it in with plenty of altitude despite the 18 mph head wind.

Kevin went into the blue after the T-bar turnpoint and found lift along the course line going into goal. Willy Dydo took the first clock and grabbed all the extra points getting to goal twenty three minutes before Kevin.

2019 Big Spring Nationals

August 10, 2019, 11:00:10 pm CDT

2019 Big Spring Nationals

The Welcome Dinner

Gary Osoba|US Nationals 2019

Photo by Gary Osoba.

2019 Big Spring Nationals

August 5, 2019, 5:13:50 pm MDT

2019 Big Spring Nationals

It begins this weekend

US Nationals 2019

https://airtribune.com/2019-big-spring-nationals/blog

https://www.livetrack360.com/livetracking/

https://lt.flymaster.net/

Get ready for following the 2019 Big Spring Nationals.

We'll put up the link to Flymaster Live Tracking this weekend when we set things up.

2019 Big Spring Nationals is on

Tue, Jul 2 2019, 6:57:01 am MDT

We've got enough pilots to keep the loses under control

Belinda Boulter|CIVL|US Nationals 2019

The tee-shirts are going to be donated. Belinda has come up with trophies. The CIVL costs will not be as high as we thought. We still will suffer substantial losses.

https://airtribune.com/2019-big-spring-nationals/pilots

We look forward to having a great competition in Big Spring.

2019 Big Spring Nationals

June 20, 2019, 10:22:39 MDT

2019 Big Spring Nationals

Get confirmed by July 1st

Gregg "Kim" Ludwig|US Nationals 2019|Wilotree Park

I wrote to pilots:

We are very much looking forward to the Big Spring Nationals in August. We trust that you are also. It’s great that this year it will also be the test competition for the 2020 Pan-American Championships.

As you know we have to bring everything to Big Spring to run a championship. This includes the Dragonflies from Wilotree Park. Gregg Ludwig will already have his trike in Texas, even though he now lives in Florida.

As you can no doubt see from the aerotow fee, this is an expensive proposition and we need to know well in advance of the competition how many pilots are coming this year. As we have informed almost all of you previously, your status in the pilot registration needs to be marked “confirmed” in order for you to reserve a spot in the competition. The number of pilots with “confirmed” status will determine the number of tugs that we will have at Big Spring.

For example, if we have 50 “confirmed” pilots we will have a total of 5 tugs at Big Spring. We currently have 53 pilots registered and 13 “confirmed” pilots. You can see the pilot list here: https://airtribune.com/2019-big-spring-nationals/pilots.

The number of spots reserved on July 1st will determine how many tugs we will have at Big Spring. If we have only 13 pilots “confirmed,” as is the case now, Gregg might be the only tug pilot there.

So to make this competition a success we need your cooperation. If you are coming to the 2019 Big Spring Nationals you need to take the steps necessary to become “confirmed.” They are as follows, and as found here: https://airtribune.com/2019-big-spring-nationals/info/details__info:

1) Pay $250 entry fee here: http://ozreport.com/2019BigSpringpay.php

2) Sign waivers and medical information form: http://ozreport.com/onlinewaivers.php or: http://ozreport.com/waivers.php

Pilots not confirmed by July 1st will be so noted and only if there are spots available will they be allowed to enter the competition. Again, the number of spots available will be determined by the number of tugs that we have available at Big Spring and therefore by the number of pilots “confirmed” on July 1st..

If you are registered, but not coming to Big Spring we would very much appreciate hearing from you also so that we can delete your entry from the pilot list. In this case please email Davis at <davis> saying that you won’t be coming.

If everything goes to hell in a hand basket (i.e. the meet is canceled), you will receive a 100% refund.

Again, looking forward to having a great time as always in Big Spring. Hope to see you there.

2019 Nationals - week 1 long task

Mon, May 13 2019, 7:24:37 am MDT

Replay is now working.

US Nationals 2019

https://airtribune.com/play/3982/2d

https://OzReport.com/23.94#0

The cloud street is to the left (west) of the course line. Andrew Hollidge has found a wisp along the course line marking lift and keeping him on track to make the last turnpoint.

Carter and Gotes also stay along the course line and get high enough to make it into goal.

https://airtribune.com/2019-quest-air-nationals-week-1/blog__day_5

2019 Big Spring Nationals and pre-Pan-Americans

Fri, May 3 2019, 8:04:56 am EDT

Get ready for the big fat air

Pre-Pan-Americans 2019|US Nationals 2019

https://airtribune.com/2019-big-spring-nationals/info/details__info

This is a unique opportunity. This is the test event for the first Pan-American Championships (Class 1 open class). We are looking for pilots from Central and South American to join us and get a taste of that Big Spring air.

2019 Nationals

April 30, 2019, 9:38:36 EDT

2019 Nationals

Some of those who came to help run the competition

Facebook|US Nationals 2019

2019 Nationals (week 2)

April 28, 2019, 3:25:20 pm EDT

2019 Nationals (week 2)

Results for day 7, task 6

Bruce Barmakian|competition|Corinna Schwiegershausen|Davis Straub|John Simon|Jon "Jonny" Durand jnr|Phill Bloom|Raul Guerra|Tim Delaney|US Nationals 2019|Wills Wing T3|Zac Majors

https://airtribune.com/2019-quest-air-nationals-week-2/results

Task 6:

# Name Glider Time Total
1 Jonny Durand Moyes RX 4 Pro 03:00:56 993
2 Zac Majors Wills Wing T3 144 03:00:36 989
3 Pedro L. Garcia Wills Wing T3 144 03:01:12 987
4 Nene Rotor Wills Wing T3 144 03:01:13 985
5 John Simon Aeros Combat C 12.7 03:02:08 971
6 Akira Nagusa Wills Wing T23144 03:01:58 970
7 Marcelo Alexandre Menin Wills Wing T2C 154 03:02:28 969
8 Corinna Schwiegershausen Moyes RX 3 Pro 03:04:59 945
9 Giovani Tagliari Wills Wing T2C 154 03:05:28 943
10 Raul Guerra Aeros Combat C 12.7 03:47:06 758

Final:

# Name Glider Total
1 Nene Rotor Wills Wing T3 144 5614
2 Pedro L. Garcia Wills Wing T3 144 5426
3 Zac Majors Wills Wing T3 144 5266
4 Jonny Durand Moyes RX 4 Pro 5153
5 Marcelo Alexandre Menin Wills Wing T2C 154 5005
6 John Simon Aeros Combat C 12.7 4827
7 Kevin Dutt Aeros Combat 13.5 4635
8 Akira Nagusa Wills Wing T23144 4620
9 Phill Bloom Moyes RX 3.5 Pro 4430
10 Bruce Barmakian Aeros Combat 12.7 4242
11 Davis Straub Wills Wing T3 144 3956
12 Corinna Schwiegershausen Moyes RX 3 Pro 3911
13 Guilherme Sandoli WillsWing T2C 136 3875
14 Patrick Pannese Wills Wing T3 144 3770
15 Raul Guerra Aeros Combat C 12.7 3747

Sport Task 6:

# Name Glider Distance Total
1 Knut Ryerson Aeros Discus C 48.36 900
2 Mitch Sorby Wills Wing U2 145 44.29 847
3 Rod Regier Moyes Litesport 4 42.30 813
4 Richard Westmoreland Wills Wing U2 145 26.41 528
5 Tim Delaney Wills Wing Sport 3 135 22.35 475
6 Richard Milla Wills Wing U2 145 19.75 431
7 Attila Plasch Moyes Litesport 4 16.77 369
8 Danilo Lohse De Stefani Wills Wing U2 160 5.00 116
8 Phil Siscoe Wills Wing U2 5.00 116
8 Richard Caylor Moyes Gecko 170 5.00 116

Final:

# Name Glider Total
1 Rod Regier Moyes Litesport 4 4531
2 Richard Westmoreland Wills Wing U2 145 4217
3 Tim Delaney Wills Wing Sport 3 135 3462
4 Richard Milla Wills Wing U2 145 3063
5 Mitch Sorby Wills Wing U2 145 2987
6 Knut Ryerson Aeros Discus C 2716
7 Richard Caylor Moyes Gecko 170 2226
8 Ken Millard Moyes Gecko 155 1541
9 Danilo Lohse De Stefani Wills Wing U2 160 1490
10 Attila Plasch Moyes Litesport 4 1287
11 Phil Siscoe Wills Wing U2 625

2019 Nationals (week 2)

April 28, 2019, 3:23:51 pm EDT

2019 Nationals (week 2)

The last day

Jeff Chipman|PG|US Nationals 2019|weather|Wilotree Park

The forecast:

https://ozreport.com/seweather.php

Saturday

Sunny, with a high near 85. North wind 5 to 10 mph becoming east in the afternoon.
Surface winds 8 mph decreasing to 5 mph east northeast.

HRRR 3, 2 PM:

Updraft velocity: 600 fpm
TOL: 5,000’
Wind TOUL: 8 mph, east northeast
B/S: 9.8
Surface winds 5 mph east northeast
Cu’s unlikely.

The task:

No Leg Dist. Id Radius
1 0.0 km QUEST 400 m
2 SS 4.6 km QUEST 5000 m
3 35.1 km GROSS 3000 m
4 53.4 km CENTER 400 m
5 68.1 km CENTER 15000 m
6 82.7 km CENTER 400 m
7 ES 101.9 km QUEST 400 m

A 15 kilometer exit circle around Center Hill.

The flight on-line: https://www.xcontest.org/world/en/flights/detail:davisstraub/27.4.2019/17:30

https://www.xcontest.org/world/en/ranking-hg-national:US

http://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/2257915

http://wxc.fai.org/module.php?id=22&date=20190428&gliderclass=hg1

The narrative:

The idea is that we would fly west to get away from the lake effect with the northeast wind to the 3 km turnpoint around the Gross airfield. Then back east to Center Hill against the east wind. There is a 15 km exit cylinder around Center Hill so you have to get anywhere outside it to get this next waypoint, then back to Center Hill before heading back to Wilotree Park.

Again pilots were reluctant to launch until they saw a few pilots in the air, and some of the pilots did launch in their original order. When the launch organizer when around again calling upon us to launch, we all launched in our order.

The lift was indeed suppressed by the lake effect and I didn't find anything at first. Then I drifted down wind to the Mickey Mouse lake and with the help of the "locals" skimming over the lake, I found 200 fpm that took me to over 4,300'. And then after every one joined me we went over and found another thermal to 4,300', but this was 8 minutes before the start window opened and with a 7 mph east southeast wind.

Unfortunately I lost a bunch of altitude when this thermal gave out and was down to 2,800' at the start which put me in a bit of a deficit. Others had managed to stay near 4,000'.

Managed to find 200 fpm over Mascotte and was soon back to 4,200'. I could see the lead gaggle ahead and we found reasonable lift going west toward the Gross airfield, at one point averaging over 300 fpm, and getting to over 4,000' so even though I was behind things looked good.

Three kilometers from the Gross turnpoint I came over the lead gaggle. I found the better lift and they all came in under me. I was back in the game.

As I was on top I lead out to the turnpoint, but instead of heading to the east north east headed back toward where we were previously climbing. This turned out to be an error as the guys that were below me were now above me climbing up over a small fire that was now to my north. I quickly got over there but now I was on the bottom instead of on the top. It took a while to center the smoke thermal from 1,800' but I was finally in the 300 fpm core to 3,900'.

South of Bushnell I climbed to 3,800' but only at a little over 200 fpm. I hadn't caught up with the lead guys yet. I saw a few pilots further north higher and turning but didn't go to them thinking that I would find lift to the east toward Center Hill That was my second mistake.

The lift along the east/west highway going to Center Hill was very weak. The first three thermals: 140 fpm, then 50 fpm, then minus 22 fpm. Leaving the last non-lift at 1,600' I thought for sure that we were going down. At 600' AGL as I looked at fields to the north for landing opportunities as we were over intensively farmed nurseries, we found 225 fpm that took us to 3,800' drifting back at 5 mph.

This made it possible to find lift to 3,100' at 284 fpm just before Center Hill. I headed northeast and found 100 fpm then 180 fpm over a very small fire which got me to 3,600' over the forested area on its southeast corner. A kilometer further north Jeff Chipman and I had the help of two bald eagles as we climbed to 4,300' at 250 fpm.

I went further north past the Florida Turnpike to get past the edge of the 15 kilometer exit cylinder. The wind was 5 mph due east. Coming back from outside the cylinder around Center Hill I started at 2,400'.

Down to 1,700' I found 240 fpm just east of the prison. As I drifted over the prison I climbed to 3,900'. I hoped that they didn't think that I was going to drop anything.

Heading south directly across the center of the forest I found a couple of thermals to get me to the south side, north of Center Hill. There I found 190 fpm to 3,900' at 5:49 PM. After that it was a 12:1 glide for 11 kilometers into a 6 mph head wind to one of the most beautiful and friendly landing fields near us, but 4 kilometers short of the chicken coops where I hoped to get back up.

Raul would land at goal about 5 minutes after as the last one to make goal.

2019 Nationals (week 2)

April 26, 2019, 10:14:14 EDT

2019 Nationals (week 2)

Rain day, winds later

US Nationals 2019

2019 Nationals (week 2)

April 25, 2019, 11:07:51 pm EDT

2019 Nationals (week 2)

We don't go down wind

Jon "Jonny" Durand jnr|Larry Bunner|PG|US Nationals 2019|weather

The forecast:

https://ozreport.com/seweather.php

Thursday

Mostly sunny, with a high near 88. Calm wind becoming south around 5 mph in the morning.
Surface wind 5 mph, southeast

HRRR 3, 2 PM:

Updraft velocity: 680 fpm
TOL: 6,000’
Wind TOUL: 10 mph, south southwest
B/S: 10
Surface winds 3 mph south southeast
A good chance of cu’s.

The task:

No Leg Dist. Id Radius
1 0.0 km QUEST 400 m
2 SS 4.6 km QUEST 5000 m
3 10.7 km GATORS 400 m
4 31.7 km BARON 4000 m
5 47.5 km PANOLK 3000 m
6 63.4 km KOKEE 3000 m
7 ES 91.5 km QUEST 400 m

The flight on-line: https://www.xcontest.org/world/en/flights/detail:davisstraub/25.4.2019/17:27

https://www.xcontest.org/world/en/ranking-hg-national:US

http://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/2255949

http://wxc.fai.org/module.php?id=22&date=20190426&gliderclass=hg1

The narrative:

There are no cu's in the nearby area so the first pilots (including me at number 3) naturally decline to launch and go to the end of the queue. About half the pilots do this, so we quickly start the second round. We find plenty of lift and climb out slowly while drifting to the north toward the first turnpoint at Gator field.

Our drift in the 12 mph south wind and climb rate (weak) are perfectly timed so that we reach the edge of the start cylinder at our highest altitude (4,500') just as the window opens for the first start at 2PM. Jonny and Jon Simon start with us, but go back later. Kevin Dutt is with us. Nine pilots take the first clock.

Gator field is a short distance away so we quickly get there then head northwest up the Florida Turnpike. I get south of the Turnpike to get to the wispy cu's and climb out at over 200 fpm to 4,800'. I saw Kevin, Patrick and Konstantin higher and in front of me further down wind to the north (the wind is now 13 mph out of the south), but I feel that I can catch them by getting to the cu's and climbing faster.

I keep finding good lift under the cu's along the turnpike and sure enough I run into those pilots ahead of me at the turnpoint at Baron and we climb out fast to cloudbase at 5,800'. We let Chippy and Kevin go out in front.

I wanted to get as high as possible because the next leg looks difficult. It's a straight cross wind leg. It's unclear where we are going to find the lift despite the presence of cu's. Sure enough I get down to 1,900' before I find a little something west of the prisons.

Patrick goes a bit further west and finds better lift. I come over him and climb out to 4,300' while he loses the lift for a while. He fortunately comes back down wind to find it again but I leave him low by the turnpike. The 7 mph wind out of the south southwest pushes us way to the north.

The pilots who took the second clock have almost caught up with us and they are further upwind having found lift near the prisons, which we did not find.

It's an up and back struggle to take the next turnpoint at the grass air strip southwest of Lake Panasofkee and to get away from it to head south southwest to the turnpoint at Kokee. There are plenty of cu's ahead and as soon as I get away from the lake I find strong lift, at one point averaging almost 500 fpm to 5,000'.

That height gets me to 2,500' 3 kilometers north northeast of he turnpoint. I circle there a few times with Jonny in negative 110 and then leave as I can't figure out why we are doing this. I head for the turnpoint while Glen turns back upwind to get up at Bushnell.

I get lucky. Down to 1,100' AGL I tag the turnpoint and then find a thermal which at 250 fpm takes me to 4,400'. This puts me ahead of all the nearby pilots. I head out with Larry Bunner, who took the second clock, nearby.

After an 8 kilometer glide and down to 2,100' I decide to turn back to get under a better looking cu. Larry comes in under me. I climb to 3,800' at almost 200 fpm with Larry right below me. Five or six pilots who were just behind us come in under us as we climb up.

We lead out and find three more thermals for the following pilots, being their guiding lights ahead. The last one just south of the nursery on highway 50 takes me to 3,600'with a 9.5 kilometer glide to goal. With a 4 mph cross wind it is an easy final glide as I lead them all into goal.

2019 Nationals (week 2)

April 25, 2019, 10:20:58 pm EDT

2019 Nationals (week 2)

Preliminary Results for day 5, task 5 (Kevin Dutt not scored yet)

Bruce Barmakian|competition|Corinna Schwiegershausen|Davis Straub|Glen Volk|John Simon|Jon "Jonny" Durand jnr|Larry Bunner|Phill Bloom|Raul Guerra|Tim Delaney|US Nationals 2019|Wills Wing T3|Zac Majors

https://airtribune.com/2019-quest-air-nationals-week-2/results

Task 5:

# Name Glider Time Total
1 Zac Majors Wills Wing T3 144 02:28:56 987
2 Alvaro Figueiredo Sandoli Wills Wing T3 144 02:29:51 968
3 John Simon Aeros Combat C 12.7 02:30:59 953
4 Pedro L. Garcia Wills Wing T3 144 02:43:59 845
5 Marcelo Alexandre Menin Wills Wing T2C 154 02:44:41 839
6 Akira Nagusa Wills Wing T23144 02:51:41 798
7 Raul Guerra Aeros Combat C 12.7 03:09:40 709
8 Corinna Schwiegershausen Moyes RX 3 Pro 03:21:44 647
9 Wolfgang Siess Wills Wing T3 154 03:23:50 641
10 Larry Bunner Wills Wing T2C144 03:20:34 636
11 Davis Straub Wills Wing T3 144 03:39:55 631

Cumulative:

# Name Glider Total
1 Alvaro Figueiredo Sandoli Wills Wing T3 144 4634
2 Pedro L. Garcia Wills Wing T3 144 4445
3 Zac Majors Wills Wing T3 144 4283
4 Jonny Durand Moyes RX 4 Pro 4121
5 Marcelo Alexandre Menin Wills Wing T2C 154 4042
6 Phill Bloom Moyes RX 3.5 Pro 3978
7 John Simon Aeros Combat C 12.7 3861
8 Akira Nagusa Wills Wing T23144 3655
9 Bruce Barmakian Aeros Combat 12.7 3641
10 Kevin Dutt Aeros Combat 13.5 3631
11 Guilherme Sandoli WillsWing T2C 136 3415
12 Davis Straub Wills Wing T3 144 3393
13 Glen Volk Moyes RX 3.5 3364
14 Philippe Michaud Wills Wing T2C 144 3236
15 Patrick Pannese Wills Wing T3 144 3227

Sport task:

Name Glider Time Distance Total
1 Rod Regier Moyes Litesport 4 02:23:18 51.30 1000
2 Richard Westmoreland Wills Wing U2 145 31.46 615
3 Mitch Sorby Wills Wing U2 145 28.50 584
4 Richard Milla Wills Wing U2 145 26.15 552
5 Richard Caylor Moyes Gecko 170 24.28 522
6 Knut Ryerson Aeros Discus C 19.19 422
7 Attila Plasch Moyes Litesport 4 17.67 388
8 Tim Delaney Wills Wing Sport 3 135 17.38 381
9 Danilo Lohse De Stefani Wills Wing U2 160 7.53 155
10 Phil Siscoe Wills Wing U2 5.00 105
10 Ken Millard Moyes Gecko 155 5.00 105

Sport cumulative:

Name Glider Total
1 Rod Regier Moyes Litesport 4 3718
2 Richard Westmoreland Wills Wing U2 145 3689
3 Tim Delaney Wills Wing Sport 3 135 2987
4 Richard Milla Wills Wing U2 145 2632
5 Mitch Sorby Wills Wing U2 145 2140
6 Richard Caylor Moyes Gecko 170 2110
7 Knut Ryerson Aeros Discus C 1816
8 Ken Millard Moyes Gecko 155 1541
9 Danilo Lohse De Stefani Wills Wing U2 160 1374
10 Attila Plasch Moyes Litesport 4 918
11 Phil Siscoe Wills Wing U2 509

2019 Nationals (week 2)

April 25, 2019, 7:58:08 EDT

2019 Nationals (week 2)

Results for day 4, task 4

Bruce Barmakian|competition|Jeff Chipman|John Simon|Jon "Jonny" Durand jnr|Phill Bloom|Tim Delaney|US Nationals 2019|Wills Wing T3|Zac Majors

https://airtribune.com/2019-quest-air-nationals-week-2/results

Task 4:

# Name Glider Time Total
1 Jonny Durand Moyes RX 4 Pro 02:43:32 987
2 Marcelo Alexandre Menin Wills Wing T2C 154 02:47:40 922
3 Zac Majors Wills Wing T3 144 02:51:00 917
4 Philippe Michaud Wills Wing T2C 144 02:47:56 915
5 Alvaro Figueiredo Sandoli Wills Wing T3 144 02:51:18 912
6 Bruce Barmakian Aeros Combat 12.7 02:51:02 882
7 Jeff Chipman Moyes RX 3.5 02:53:35 863
8 John Simon Aeros Combat C 12.7 02:56:40 847
9 Wolfgang Siess Wills Wing T3 154 03:03:09 804
10 Kevin Dutt Aeros Combat 13.5 03:11:24 801

Cumulative:

# Name Glider Total
1 Alvaro Figueiredo Sandoli Wills Wing T3 144 3666
2 Jonny Durand Moyes RX 4 Pro 3647
3 Kevin Dutt Aeros Combat 13.5 3631
4 Pedro L. Garcia Wills Wing T3 144 3600
5 Phill Bloom Moyes RX 3.5 Pro 3360
6 Zac Majors Wills Wing T3 144 3296
7 Bruce Barmakian Aeros Combat 12.7 3276
8 Guilherme Sandoli WillsWing T2C 136 3207
9 Marcelo Alexandre Menin Wills Wing T2C 154 3203
10 John Simon Aeros Combat C 12.7 2908

Sport task 4:

# Name Glider Time Distance Total
1 Tim Delaney Wills Wing Sport 3 135 01:34:28 38.23 1000
2 Richard Westmoreland Wills Wing U2 145 01:35:11 38.23 979
3 Rod Regier Moyes Litesport 4 01:38:31 38.23 934
4 Ken Millard Moyes Gecko 155 35.24 518
5 Knut Ryerson Aeros Discus C 27.66 441
6 Richard Milla Wills Wing U2 145 26.35 424
7 Richard Caylor Moyes Gecko 170 25.02 402
8 Danilo Lohse De Stefani Wills Wing U2 160 11.06 156
9 Mitch Sorby Wills Wing U2 145 5.38 87
10 Attila Plasch Moyes Litesport 4 5.00 83

Sport Cumulative:

# Name Glider Total
1 Richard Westmoreland Wills Wing U2 145 3074
2 Rod Regier Moyes Litesport 4 2718
3 Tim Delaney Wills Wing Sport 3 135 2606
4 Richard Milla Wills Wing U2 145 2080
5 Richard Caylor Moyes Gecko 170 1588
6 Mitch Sorby Wills Wing U2 145 1556
7 Ken Millard Moyes Gecko 155 1436
8 Knut Ryerson Aeros Discus C 1394
9 Danilo Lohse De Stefani Wills Wing U2 160 1219
10 Attila Plasch Moyes Litesport 4 530

2019 Nationals (week 2)

April 25, 2019, 0:20:37 EDT

2019 Nationals (week 2)

Counter clockwise around the Green Swamp

Belinda Boulter|Bruce Barmakian|PG|Steven "Steve" Pearson|US Nationals 2019|weather|Wilotree Park|Zac Majors

The forecast:

https://ozreport.com/seweather.php

Wednesday

Sunny, with a high near 87. Calm wind becoming southeast around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Surface wind 5 mph, southeast

HRRR 3, 2 PM:

Updraft velocity: 660 fpm
TOL: 5,600’
Wind TOUL: 6 mph, east
B/S: 10
Surface winds 2 mph south
A chance of cu’s.

The task:

No Leg Dist. Id Radius
1 0.0 km QUEST 400 m
2 SS 4.6 km QUEST 5000 m
3 11.7 km T50469 1000 m
4 28.2 km KOKEE 3000 m
5 45.7 km DIARIA 5000 m
6 67.3 km T98471 1000 m
7 78.6 km FAMISH 2000 m
8 93.5 km T47433 1000 m
9 ES 110.1 km QUEST 400 m

The replay: https://lt.flymaster.net/bs.php?grp=2696#

The flight on-line: http://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/2255169

http://wxc.fai.org/module.php?id=22&date=20190417&gliderclass=hg1

https://www.xcontest.org/world/en/flights/detail:davisstraub/24.4.2019/17:39

https://www.xcontest.org/world/en/ranking-hg-national:US

The narrative:

Steve Pearson, Zac Majors and Wolfgang Seiss let me borrow the Wills Wing TIII that is here at Wilotree Park and in Wills inventory. So I'm back on the TIII.

After the pilot meeting I go over across the runway to setup the glider. This keeps me from hearing that the task has changed slightly. A waypoint is added at Famish. The meet director, Belinda, forgets to call another pilot meeting at the launch site, forgets to tell the volunteers working the line to mention the task change to pilots, and doesn't have the safety committee review the task change that was made because of pilot input for safety reasons (which were bogus).

She does call a pilot meeting at the normal location but at least three of us are far away near launch and don't hear the whistle. She brings over the amended task board to the launch, but we don't see it. She doesn't even mention it to me. The small blank task board is not used to highlight the task change in the line.

Many of the pilots skip their launch spot given what happened the day before with so many relaunches. There are no cu's in the sky, but Larry thinks that they will show up (he's right).

We go through the list again and with evidence of good lift we all get pulled up. Numerous gaggles form with the lift working and soon a bunch of us head to the edge of the start cylinder as it's only a few minutes before the first start time. We hang in weak lift near the top of the lift at 4,000'.

Ten or so of us head out but don't go very far before turning in more weak lift. I can tell right away that this group is going to turn back and take the next start gate. We come back from 2 km out with 5 minutes to spare and take the 2:20 PM clock.

We're racing west along the north edge of the Green Swamp. The lift varies from 85 fpm to 300 fpm. Mostly it is less than 200 fpm. Pilots are jumping from gaggle to gaggle.

We've got a 3 km turnpoint cylinder at the northwestern edge of the Green Swamp. After finding 300 fpm on the northeastern edge we again find 300 fpm on the northwestern side and climb to 4,400'. It's after 3 PM. We find the first cu's, which then populate the western edge of the Green Swamp.

The lift gets good. We head south and find 300 fpm, 300 fpm, 400 fpm, 300 fpm and 450 fpm in the next thermals to over 5,500', not quite cloudbase. Larry Bunner and I are working with each other to make sure that we find the best lift.

Larry and I head south to the cu's west of the turnpoint at the bottom of the Green Swamp. Those pilots who took the more direct route are down below us as we get nearer the turnpoint at 471 and 98.

Larry and I climb out at 350 fpm to 5,400' under the sweet looking cu's that we come to expect when we do the Green Swamp task. There are more in front of us and we are able to take advantage of them.

I'm cruising along at 5,500' over the Green Swamp when Larry comes back at me from the south and asks if I got the turnpoint at Famish. This is the first I've hear of it. He had just gone to the south to get the turnpoint. I'm quickly fiddling with my instruments to see how far away the two kilometer cylinder around Famish is. I get within less than a kilometer of Famish itself before turning back to parallel the course line.

I head out over the pasture lands, not the forest land toward little wisps. Down to 2,600' I work 190 fpm to 4,400' and then scoot back over the forest to get to 5,000' under some wisps. Based on the latest transmission from Larry who is near the turnpoint 8 kilometers away I should be able to find lift there and can leave at 5,000' to get to it.

Sure enough there is plenty of lift just north the 474 to 5,000' and that makes the glide into goal easy.

Controversy erupts when Belinda comes up with a way to score the day with a bonus for those pilots who made the Famish turnpoint. Only Bruce Barmakian and Kevin Dutt didn't.

2019 Nationals (week 2)

April 23, 2019, 10:49:16 pm EDT

2019 Nationals (week 2)

A funny shaped task at 90 km

Flytec 6030|PG|Rob Clarkson|US Nationals 2019|Volirium P1|weather|Wilotree Park

The forecast:

https://ozreport.com/seweather.php

Tuesday

Sunny, with a high near 87. Calm wind becoming east around 5 mph in the morning.
Surface wind 6 – 8 mph, east

HRRR 3, 2 PM:
Updraft velocity: 640 fpm
TOL: 5,000’
Wind TOUL: 11 mph, northeast
B/S: 7.2
Surface winds 5 mph east
A slight chance of cu’s.

The task:

  Leg Dist. Id Radius
1 0.0 km QUEST 400 m
2 SS 4.6 km QUEST 5000 m
3 17.0 km T47433 400 m
4 31.5 km WALABY 5000 m
5 53.5 km DSROK 400 m
6 71.5 km T47433 400 m
7 ES 88.4 km QUEST 400 m

The Replay: https://lt.flymaster.net/bs.php?grp=2696

The flight on-line: http://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/2254486

http://wxc.fai.org/module.php?id=22&date=20190417&gliderclass=hg1

https://www.xcontest.org/world/en/flights/detail:davisstraub/23.4.2019/19:09

https://www.xcontest.org/world/en/ranking-hg-national:US

The narrative:

The wind is out of the east and we're back in the slot at the west end. There are no cu's and with the brisk enough we are probably getting some suppression of the lift from Lake Apopka. But we are not aware of it at first.

I'm 17th to launch and we've already had one pilot land. Tim takes me to the south of the field and I find strong lift, 400 fpm to 4,300'. When it peters out I head north east then east looking for the next thermal.  I don't find anything even in the smoke from the fire to the east. Kevin Dutt is right below me and he turns to go back to Wilotree Park for a landing just as I do.

Unfortunately I take out a down tube on landing, but fortunately David Lopez and Alex Skyride operate as a pit crew and get me back in line for another tow. It's probably been three years since I took out a down tube.

I get back in line but it's time for the sport class launch. Everyone has to wait for them. There is a fifteen minute interval after the end of the open class launch for relights, then pilots have to wait for the sport class to launch. The top three pilots have to wait as they all had to relaunch. There were many relaunches.

It's a long wait, but when we get up we find good lift to the southwest away from Wilotree Park. I climb to 3,800' at 240 fpm and take the fourth clock (out of four) at 3:24 PM (last clock is at 3:15 PM), more than an hour after the first clock. No one is able to take the first clock at 2:15 PM.

I glide 8 kilometers from the edge of the start cylinder down to 900' AGL just north of the Seminole Glider Port where I spot hang glider pilots turning. I climb out at 240 fpm to 4,900'. This makes it easy to get the first turnpoint at the intersection of highway 474 and highway 33.

There are a few pilots around and it is five thermals to get to the Wallaby 5 km turnpoint to the southeast. The first thermal is reasonable strong at 340 fpm to 4,300', but the rest of them are weak, under 300 fpm.

I turn around at the turnpoint to head west to the intersection of Dean Still and Rockridge and find 364 fpm to 4,300' drifting to the west. I can see pilots climbing in the distance and after a 10 kilometer glide get under them and it's 250 fpm to 3,500'.  A little over a kilometer further west I find 280 fpm to 4,500'.

I've got two flight instruments the Flytec 6030 and the Volirium P1. I'm noticing a significant different in the indicated distance to the turnpoint. Finally I figure out that I've put the turnpoint at the intersection of Rockridge and highway 98 in the 6030, but the P1 has DSROK. I know that that is the right  turnpoint and this hasn't caused any delays in my flight. I take the turnpoint at DSROK and manually select the next turnpoint on the 6030.

As I make the turnpoint I head into the headwind. The first thermal averages minus 35 fpm. After eight minutes of waiting to see if it will turn on I head out toward public roads to the east so that I can land with a manageable retrieve.

Down to 600' AGL I spot a pilot turning at just above my altitude a short distance to the north. I come in under him and climb out at 134 fpm drifting back to the west. I top out at 2,400'.

I spot Peter Kelley and Rob Clarkson to my north over edge of the Green Swamp. I race toward them and find lift before I get there. It's 180 fpm to 3,200'. They join me.

We move to the east a couple of kilometers to find 190 fpm to 4,400'. Leaving this lift it's a nine kilometer glide to the turnpoint at 474 and 33. My 6030 user fields go blank so I can't see my glide ratio over the ground among other bits information. It states that the wind direction is south west which is a bit confusing. The actual wind is about 5 mph out of the east.

There was a forecast for a sea breeze from the west late and it is definitely late, eight minutes after 6 PM. The user fields return as I get to the turnpoint. They show a north wind component of 3 mph.

I'm down to 1,400' at the turnpoint and head north along highway 33. There are plenty of open field to land in if needed and it appears to be needed. Peter and Rob are just behind me.

I pick out a huge field that I am familiar with just east of the Seminole glider port. I look around and there appears to be no wind in the field. I come in low at the north end assuming a southwest wind, but I am mistaken. It is in fact north east if light. Suddenly I realize that I'm going to eat up the whole field.

Just before I smack into the fence at the southwest corner I turn but hit the fence on the western side. I'm unhurt but there is enough damage to the glider that I won't be flying that one on Wednesday. First time in over 5,000 flights that I've hit a fence.

2019 Nationals (week 2)

April 23, 2019, 9:25:33 pm EDT

2019 Nationals (week 2)

The preliminary results for day 3, task 3

Bruce Barmakian|competition|Corinna Schwiegershausen|Davis Straub|Fabiano Nahoum|Jon "Jonny" Durand jnr|Konstantin Lukyanov|Phill Bloom|Raul Guerra|Roger Irby|Tim Delaney|US Nationals 2019|Wills Wing T3|Zac Majors

https://airtribune.com/2019-quest-air-nationals-week-2/results

Task 3:

# Name Glider SS Time Distance Total
1 Zac Majors Wills Wing T3 144 14:35:00 02:40:29 88.43 958
2 Pedro L. Garcia Wills Wing T3 144 14:35:00 02:40:45 88.43 944
2 Alvaro Figueiredo Sandoli Wills Wing T3 144 14:35:00 02:40:46 88.43 944
4 Kevin Dutt Aeros Combat 13.5 15:15:00 02:35:04 88.43 901
5 Jonny Durand Moyes RX 4 Pro 14:35:00 02:56:35 88.43 862
6 Phill Bloom Moyes RX 3.5 14:35:00 02:58:54 88.43 852
7 Corinna Schwiegershausen Moyes RX 3 Pro 14:35:00 02:59:28 88.43 846
8 Guilherme Sandoli WillsWing T2C 136 14:35:00 03:15:02 88.43 782
9 Roger Irby Wills Wing T2C 154 14:15:00 03:29:18 88.43 778
10 Konstantin Lukyanov Moyes RX 3.5 14:15:00 81.69 622

Cumulative:

Name Glider Total
1 Kevin Dutt Aeros Combat 13.5 2836
2 Pedro L. Garcia Wills Wing T3 144 2827
3 Alvaro Figueiredo Sandoli Wills Wing T3 144 2758
4 Jonny Durand Moyes RX 4 Pro 2669
5 Phill Bloom Moyes RX 3.5 2654
6 Guilherme Sandoli WillsWing T2C 136 2422
7 Bruce Barmakian Aeros Combat 12.7 2416
8 Zac Majors Wills Wing T3 144 2382
9 Marcelo Alexandre Menin Wills Wing T2C 154 2301
10 Patrick Pannese Wills Wing T3 144 2297
11 Akira Nagusa Wills Wing T23144 2175
12 Konstantin Lukyanov Moyes RX 3.5 2137
13 Fabiano Nahoum Icaro Laminar 14.1 2119
14 Raul Guerra Aeros Combat C 12.7 2118
15 Davis Straub Wills Wing T3 144 2047

Sport Task 3:

# Name Glider Distance Total
1 Rod Regier Moyes Litesport 4 19.58 257
2 Mitch Sorby Wills Wing U2 145 15.34 219
3 Ken Millard Moyes Gecko 155 6.77 145
4 Richard Westmoreland Wills Wing U2 145 5.00 129
4 Tim Delaney Wills Wing Sport 3 135 5.00 129
4 Attila Plasch Moyes Litesport 4 5.00 129
4 Knut Ryerson Aeros Discus C 5.00 129
4 Danilo Lohse De Stefani Wills Wing U2 160 5.00 129
4 Richard Milla Wills Wing U2 145 5.00 129
4 Richard Caylor Moyes Gecko 170 5.00 129

Sport Cumulative:

# Name Glider Total
1 Richard Westmoreland Wills Wing U2 145 1853
2 Rod Regier Moyes Litesport 4 1660
3 Richard Milla Wills Wing U2 145 1614
4 Tim Delaney Wills Wing Sport 3 135 1564
5 Mitch Sorby Wills Wing U2 145 1375
6 Richard Caylor Moyes Gecko 170 1144
7 Danilo Lohse De Stefani Wills Wing U2 160 1021
8 Knut Ryerson Aeros Discus C 911
9 Ken Millard Moyes Gecko 155 869
10 Attila Plasch Moyes Litesport 4 405
11 Phil Siscoe Wills Wing U2 404

2019 Nationals (week 2)

April 22, 2019, 10:19:28 pm EDT

2019 Nationals (week 2)

100 km, FAI triangle

James-Donald "Don" "Plummet" Carslaw|Jon "Jonny" Durand jnr|PG|US Nationals 2019|weather|Wilotree Park

The forecast:

https://ozreport.com/seweather.php

Monday

Sunny, with a high near 84. Calm wind becoming northeast around 5 mph in the morning.
Surface wind 6 mph, northeast

HRRR 3, 2 PM:

Updraft velocity: 640 fpm
TOL: 5,600’
Wind TOUL: 9 mph, north
B/S: 10
Surface winds 6 mph east
No cu’s.

The task:

No Leg Dist. Id Radius
1 0.0 km QUEST 400 m
2 SS 4.6 km QUEST 5000 m
3 41.9 km CHIN 10000 m
4 77.4 km BARON 3000 m
5 ES 105.7 km QUEST 400 m

The Replay:

https://lt.flymaster.net/bs.php?grp=2696

The flight on-line: http://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/2253551

http://wxc.fai.org/module.php?id=22&date=20190423&gliderclass=hg1

https://www.xcontest.org/world/en/flights/detail:davisstraub/22.4.2019/17:56

https://www.xcontest.org/world/en/ranking-hg-national:US

The narrative:

We move the launch from the northeast facing direction to an east facing direction further west in the east/west slot runway and delay the task half an hour to start at 2:30 PM. There are no cu's as forecast. The wind is light out of the east.

I launch 24th and find light lift to the south of Wilotree and climb slowly to 3,600' with a couple of other pilots. Pilots who left this thermal early before getting as high as we did and head to the northwest have to land back at Wilotree Park.

We head northwest toward the first turnpoint, a ten kilometer cylinder around the Chinese airfield. It's still six minutes before the first start gate. We find 200 fpm and then 300 fpm. I leave the start cylinder four minutes after the window opens as I climb to 4,400'. There are about eight guys higher and in front of a few of us behind.

We are doing a bit better behind finding better lift and keeping an eye on the gaggle in front. The lift is poor, less than 200 fpm, and the lead gaggle is getting lower and lower with each thermal.

I veer off to the south a bit just northwest of the lumber yard and south of some greenhouses to find much better lift at 300 fpm and climb to 4,700'. The lead gaggle is far below and soon out of site to the north.

I take over the lead as the lead gaggle struggles and head out on my own toward the turnpoint. I've been out here before so I have some idea of what to look for in order to get back up as I come down from my commanding height.

It's a nine kilometer glide before I find 170 fpm by the Kokee turnpoint and I can climb back to 3,000'. A six kilometer glide and I come over apparently from the smell, some chicken coops just east of a prison (so many of them in Florida). I'm down to 1,400' and looking at a possible landing field just past the prison, but I find little bits of lift and hang with them.

I average a little over 100 fpm to 2,000' which gets me past the prison and the field next to it. I'm familiar with the fields ahead having climbed out of them on a previous flight. They are the last fields before the river which is surrounded by trees. Our optimized turnpoint is just on the other side of the river. I'm too low to cross it.

I see a small bit of smoke in the trees next to an open field and get to it at 600' AGL. I take the 254 fpm to 4,500' where we all get together at the turnpoint. I relinquish my lead at this point.

Now it's sixteen guys racing toward the three kilometer cylinder around the Baron turnpoint to the east northeast with seven guys in front. We race ahead and stop for 200 to 300 fpm about every five kilometers. Five or so guys at the top of each thermal.

As we pass south of the prisons, Phil Bloom goes out in front, with Pedro, Nene and me just behind him getting higher. I lead out to get over Phil who has lost a lot of altitude as we approach the turnpoint. I lead out again with Raul and Bruno just behind racing for the turnpoint. We get the turnpoint and head south.

Those behind us see us plummeting and take a line further to the east also heading south. Bruno moves to the south east to get in the lead with Jonny and Kevin Dutt behind him as they work weak lift from low. Bruno lands.

Raul and I work 25 fpm for twelve minutes to climb from 2,200 to 2,700' as we drift in an eight mph north wind toward Wilotree Park and goal. I lead out as I'm familiar with the area. We work 100 fpm and 55 fpm climbing to 2,800' and drifting south.

I come over the nursery on the north side of highway 50 west of Mascotte but I don't find much. Raul spots a vulture climbing and climbs with him when I turn east to head for the chicken coops and possible landing area. Down to 600' AGL I find a little bit of zero sink and start working and searching for the better core.

The guys to our east are finding better lift. Kevin Dutt gets out ahead and continues on a long glide into goal. The pilots who took the second clock are able to come in fifteen minutes later and score well despite poor leading and arrival points.

It's almost 6 PM. I find the area of better lift over the possible landing field and slowly climb out drifting slowly to the south. I climb at 120 fpm to 3,700' topping out at 6:22 PM with a 6:1 glide to goal. I'm not in the mood for landing short. It's an easy seven kilometer glide into goal for the last guy to make it to goal at 6:28.

2019 Nationals (week 2)

April 22, 2019, 10:18:12 pm EDT

2019 Nationals (week 2)

The preliminary results for day 2, task 2

Bruce Barmakian|competition|Fabiano Nahoum|Glen Volk|Jeff Chipman|Jon "Jonny" Durand jnr|Phill Bloom|Tim Delaney|US Nationals 2019|Wills Wing T3

https://airtribune.com/2019-quest-air-nationals-week-2/results

Task 2:

# Name Glider SS ES Time Total
1 Kevin Dutt Aeros Combat 13.5 14:30:00 17:44:36 03:14:36 947
2 Glen Volk Moyes RX 3.5 14:50:00 17:59:14 03:09:14 926
3 Jeff Chipman Moyes RX 3.5 14:50:00 17:59:23 03:09:23 918
4 Jonny Durand Moyes RX 4 Pro 14:30:00 17:49:30 03:19:30 905
5 Pedro L. Garcia Wills Wing T3 144 14:30:00 17:49:50 03:19:50 896
6 Bruce Barmakian Aeros Combat 12.7 14:30:00 17:49:55 03:19:55 886
7 Marcelo Alexandre Menin Wills Wing T2C 154 14:50:00 18:04:05 03:14:05 864
8 Alvaro Figueiredo Sandoli Wills Wing T3 144 14:30:00 17:55:56 03:25:56 861
9 Phill Bloom Moyes RX 3.5 14:50:00 18:05:51 03:15:51 857
10 Fabiano Nahoum Icaro Laminar 14.1 14:50:00 18:06:43 03:16:43 845

Cumulative:

# Name Glider Total
1 Kevin Dutt Aeros Combat 13.5 1935
2 Pedro L. Garcia Wills Wing T3 144 1883
3 Bruce Barmakian Aeros Combat 12.7 1843
4 Marcelo Alexandre Menin Wills Wing T2C 154 1818
5 Alvaro Figueiredo Sandoli Wills Wing T3 144 1814
6 Jonny Durand Moyes RX 4 Pro 1807
7 Phill Bloom Moyes RX 3.5 1802
8 Akira Nagusa Wills Wing T23144 1800
9 Glen Volk Moyes RX 3.5 1771
10 Patrick Pannese Wills Wing T3 144 1748

Sport task 2:

# Name Glider Distance Total
1 Tim Delaney Wills Wing Sport 3 135 27.06 900
2 Richard Milla Wills Wing U2 145 22.70 803
3 Richard Caylor Moyes Gecko 170 20.80 749
4 Rod Regier Moyes Litesport 4 20.11 726
5 Richard Westmoreland Wills Wing U2 145 20.07 724
6 Danilo Lohse De Stefani Wills Wing U2 160 17.60 624
7 Mitch Sorby Wills Wing U2 145 17.54 621
8 Knut Ryerson Aeros Discus C 16.19 553
9 Ken Millard Moyes Gecko 155 15.07 491
10 Phil Siscoe Wills Wing U2 6.59 177
11 Attila Plasch Moyes Litesport 4 5.00 142

Sport Cumulative:

# Name Glider Total
1 Richard Westmoreland Wills Wing U2 145 1724
2 Richard Milla Wills Wing U2 145 1485
3 Tim Delaney Wills Wing Sport 3 135 1435
4 Rod Regier Moyes Litesport 4 1403
5 Mitch Sorby Wills Wing U2 145 1156
6 Richard Caylor Moyes Gecko 170 1015
7 Danilo Lohse De Stefani Wills Wing U2 160 892
8 Knut Ryerson Aeros Discus C 782
9 Ken Millard Moyes Gecko 155 724
10 Phil Siscoe Wills Wing U2 404
11 Attila Plasch Moyes Litesport 4 276

2019 Nationals (week 2)

April 21, 2019, 10:42:08 pm EDT

2019 Nationals (week 2)

We stick together

John Simon|PG|US Nationals 2019|weather

https://lt.flymaster.net/bs.php?grp=2696#

The forecast:

http://ozreport.com/seweather.php

Sunday

Sunny, with a high near 78. Light northwest wind increasing to 5 to 10 mph in the morning.
Surface wind 8 mph, northwest

HRRR 3, 2 PM:

Updraft velocity: 700 fpm
TOL: 5,600’
Wind TOUL: 11 mph, northwest
B/S: 8.8
Surface winds 10 mph northwest
Chance of cu’s.

There is a strong inversion and no chance of cu's.

The task:

No Leg Dist. Id Radius
1 0.0 km QUEST 400 m
2 SS 4.6 km QUEST 5000 m
3 40.1 km Fantasy of Flight 1000 m
4 87.6 km Avon Park 22000 m
5 ES 100.0 km Lake Wales 400 m

http://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/2252178

At one o'clock, there are no cu's and a pretty brisk wind out of the west. I'm scheduled to launch ninth, but will all the help I'm giving to the meet director I'm not ready, so opt to launch at the end of the line. John Simon has already told me that he is launching last so as to not have to wait around for an hour in the start cylinder, so that helps me make my decision to wait.

The pilots that we pulled up before us stick and we get towed up at 40 minutes after the launch window opens and twenty minutes before the start window opens. At almost 300 fpm we climb to 5,000' a few minutes before the start window opens and take it high at 4,800'. I'm not the highest pilot but high enough to not be disadvantaged by launching so late. Almost everyone takes the first start clock.

With no cu's everyone relies on everyone else. We jump from group to group and climb up in a friendly fashion not cutting each other off. We climb to 5,600' before the Fantasy of Flight our first turnpoint with lift averaging 300 and 400 fpm in the last thermals before we cross interstate 4.

We've got twenty to thirty pilots sticking together and using each other to find lift as we move over Winter Haven. The distance between thermals is less than 5 km. We are flying over built up areas with just a few landing areas but with plenty of lift we don't consider the ground below.

Lots of lakes below, of course, but not many indicators of lift with the light winds. Just south of Winter Haven we climb at 300 fpm to 5,100'. I'm near the top of the gaggle now after playing catch up the whole flight. I head off with Bruno Sandoli and one other pilot. We are soon in the lead overall.

There are mostly open fields ahead and we are 23 kilometers from the edge of the 22 km turnpoint cylinder around Avon Park to the south. We expect to find lift quickly and perhaps get away from the rest of the gaggle.

This doesn't work out. We glide for twelve kilometers without finding a bump. I see Sandoli turning to the west and down to 1,600' I go under him, but find only sink. I head further south as I don't see him head north and start rising and down to 800' AGL find 50 fpm to 1,600'. I stick with this for 15 minutes then it improves to almost 300 fpm climbing for the next ten minutes to 4,300' over possible landing areas.

I go from being in front to being behind. But it is quite exciting to be so close to landing and being able to climb in weak lift for so long.

There are a couple of gaggles just ahead hovering around the turnpoint at the cylinder edge. I'll have to work some lift to be able to get high enough to come in to goal behind them.

Thirty pilots in goal.

2019 Nationals (week 2)

April 21, 2019, 9:14:50 pm EDT

2019 Nationals (week 2)

The preliminary results

Bruce Barmakian|competition|John Simon|Roger Irby|US Nationals 2019|Wills Wing T3|Zac Majors

https://airtribune.com/2019-quest-air-nationals-week-2/results

Task 1:

# Name Glider Time Total
1 John Simon Aeros Combat C 12.7 02:37:01 990
2 Kevin Dutt Aeros Combat 13.5 02:36:57 988
3 Pedro L. Garcia Wills Wing T3 144 02:36:57 987
4 Zac Majors Wills Wing T3 144 02:37:03 981
5 Akira Nagusa Wills Wing T23144 02:37:20 972
6 Bruno Sandoli Wills Wing T2C 144 02:37:24 970
7 Bruce Barmakian Moyes LS 3.0 02:38:07 957
8 Marcelo Alexandre Menin Wills Wing T2C 154 02:38:19 954
9 Alvaro Figueiredo Sandoli Wills Wing T3 144 02:38:34 953
10 Roger Irby Wills Wing T2C 154 02:38:19 946

Sport Task 1:

Name Glider Time Distance Total
1 Richard Westmoreland Wills Wing U2 145 02:08:47 52.28 1000
2 Richard Milla Wills Wing U2 145 41.31 692
3 Rod Regier Moyes Litesport 4 40.81 687
4 Mitch Sorby Wills Wing U2 145 30.45 542
5 Adam Smith Wills Wing U2 145 17.02 376
6 Danilo Lohse De Stefani Wills Wing U2 160 11.95 319
7 Richard Caylor Moyes Gecko 170 11.73 316
8 Ken Millard Moyes Gecko 155 9.33 275
9 Knut Ryerson Aeros Discus C 9.12 271
10 Phil Siscoe Wills Wing U2 8.99 268

2019 Nationals (pre-Worlds)

April 20, 2019, 1:40:42 pm EDT

2019 Nationals (pre-Worlds)

Too windy on Saturday

US Nationals 2019|weather

At Leesburg Airport to our north:

Time
(edt)
Wind
(mph)
12:53 W 20 G 28
11:53 W 16 G 29
10:53 W 22 G 33
09:53 W 18 G 28
08:53 SW 10

The local rules state:

Wind direction and velocity determine the launch area and launch direction. South-southeast wind speeds up to 15 - 20 mph can be accommodated from the north-northwest launch area. Westerly winds up to 10 - 15 mph can be accommodated from the east and southeast launch. East winds up to 10 - 15 mph can be accommodated out of the west launch. Northerly winds 10 - 15 mph can be accommodated out of the south launch.

Variations in wind direction and gust factors below 5 mph will be evaluated to determine launch safety. For winds above 10 mph, gusting above 5 mph will keep the launch suspended or closed.

The day was cancelled by the Safety Committee and Director.

The second week starts on Sunday. The forecast is for good weather with light winds.

2019 Nationals (pre-Worlds)

April 19, 2019, 4:00:43 pm EDT

2019 Nationals (pre-Worlds)

Rain day, Friday

US Nationals 2019

2019 Nationals (pre-Worlds)

April 19, 2019, 3:48:34 pm EDT

2019 Nationals (pre-Worlds)

Georgia

Bobby Bailey|Christian Ciech|Jon "Jonny" Durand jnr|Kevin Carter|Larry Bunner|PG|Richard Lovelace|Suan Selenati|Tullio Gervasoni|US Nationals 2019|weather

The flight:

https://www.xcontest.org/world/en/flights/detail:davisstraub/18.4.2019/16:37

https://www.xcontest.org/world/en/ranking-hg-national:US

http://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/2247267

http://wxc.fai.org/module.php?id=22&date=20190419&gliderclass=hg1

The Thursday forecast:

https://ozreport.com/seweather.php

Thursday

Sunny, with a high near 89. East southeast wind 5 to 10 mph.
Surface wind 10 mph, south southeast

RAP 13, noon:

Updraft velocity: 600 fpm
TOL: 4,300’
Wind TOUL: 19 mph, south southeast
B/S: 3.8
Surface winds 9 mph south southeast
A good chance of cu’s.

HRRR 3, 2 PM:

Updraft velocity: 700 fpm
TOL: 6,000’
Wind TOUL: 20 mph, south
B/S: 5.3
Surface winds 10 mph south
A good chance of cu’s.
Strong upper level winds. Convergence over highway 301 to Vidalia, Georgia

The earlier winds make for a few timid pilots at first. David Fynn, the Safety Director measures 7 - 11 gusting to 14 mph. The report from the Leesburg Airport to the north is consistent with that with the wind decreasing from 14 mph to 10 mph by 1 PM.

The local rules state:

Wind direction and velocity determine the launch area and launch direction. South-southeast wind speeds up to 15 - 20 mph can be accommodated from the north-northwest launch area. Westerly winds up to 10 - 15 mph can be accommodated from the east and southeast launch. East winds up to 10 - 15 mph can be accommodated out of the west launch. Northerly winds 10 - 15 mph can be accommodated out of the south launch.

Variations in wind direction and gust factors below 5 mph will be evaluated to determine launch safety. For winds above 10 mph, gusting above 5 mph will keep the launch suspended or closed.

Despite the earlier whining, the pilots get in line and start to launch. It is a little rough coming out of the field, but I've launched here to the south southeast in 22 mph winds and it was fine.

Bobby Bailey takes me south to 2,000' AGL in a 14 mph south wind. He drops me in lift and I climb at 160 fpm to 4,100' and cloud base. We climbed again to cloud base just to the northwest of Groveland within the 10 kilometer start cylinder. As we get near cloudbase we head out. It's Tullio, Larry Bunner, Andrew Hollidge, Guilherme Sandoli, and I. Larry gets low by Grass Roots trying to get his radio working.

Andrew and I do a bunch of the pulling as we head northwest along the Turnpike toward the 5km turnpoint cylinder around Coleman. I keep leaving when the lift gets weak. None of the thermals average over 200 fpm until we get north of the Turnpike next to the turnpoint where we climb back to cloud base.

Northeast of Wildwood I find 300 fpm to 4,800'. Always leaving well below cloud base as the lift peters out. Tullio gets out in front and leads us up highway 301 to the north toward the next turnpoint at the state prison northwest of Starke.

I can't spot Tullio as he is too low on the west side of the Villages quite a ways east of highway 301. I leave Guilherme and Andrew and lead out on my own. I can see them, turning 5 km behind me. The lift is between 200 and 300 fpm.

I pass Tullio and head for a dark cu southeast of Leeward airfield. The thermal is almost 300 fpm as is the next one at the Leeward airfield. I climb to 4,600'. Tullio is back out in front along 301 over east Ocala, a tricky spot with few landing options. We've left everyone else behind.

Tullio gets too low in this poor area and lands.

I fly over the Ocala National Forest and the Silver Springs Conservation area east of 301 toward good looking cu's. I keep heading north northeast off the course line to stay under cu's. I've never gone this far east before on this course. I'm nine kilometers to the east of the course line but it's blue a long the course line.

Suan, Kevin Carter, and Rudy are about 10 km to 20 km behind as I come up east of Orange Lake and far from the paved highway.

Southeast of Hawthorne and ten kilometers east of Lochloosa Lake and at 5,200' I change direction heading north west toward more cu's that are now conveniently closer to the course line. I need to get around the west side of Keystone airfield to stay out of restricted airspace to the north of it.

Northeast of Hawthorne I find a thermal at almost 300 fpm and leave that at 4,800' still climbing but slowly. Southwest of Lake Santa Fe I find over 300 fpm to 4,500'. Suan has caught me from behind and is just over me. He heads out in front and I follow.

He marks strong lift 12 kilometers south of Stark next to 301. We are well west of the restricted airspace. I climb at a little over 300 fpm to 4,500'. Suan is way out in front but goes down by the turnpoint at the prison just before a huge expanse of forested lands. I work the cu's northwest of Starke and climb to 5,500' before turning north northwest toward the 2 km turnpoint cylinder around the prison.

Guilherne and Andrew are about 5 km behind near Starke. Kevin Carter, Rudy, Richard Lovelace and Christian Ciech are just behind them another 5 to 10 km.

I make the turnpoint and find 240 fpm right away to 4,800'. It's 4:45 pm. Every where I look to the north northeast I see forested lands, with patches of clear cuts and sand roads. The cu's are to the west of the course line and I head for them. There is only lift under the cu's and it is blue to the northeast. I have every desire to stay up and not land out in the middle of nowhere with bad road access.

I climb at 210 fpm southwest of Macclenney over open fields three kilometers west of the course line. To get under the next cu's I have to turn further to the north northwest to climb at 180 fpm to 4,700'. I'm now 6 km west of the course line. Guilherme comes in 2,000' below me.

Andrew has made a turn to go to the east to get back on the course line and is flying over the Saint Mary river heading north toward the turnpoint at Saint George while I follow the clouds. I wonder if he found a cu out there.

Rudy and Kevin are west of Macclenny and turning to the northeast to get toward the course line. Guilherme and I have crossed the river and are well into into Georgia and he is flying low over clear cuts and forests. I'm staying as high as possible.

I climb to 5,300' drifting a bit with the 16 mph south southwest wind, somewhat closer to the course line. Reasonable landing fields are 12 kilometers to the east. I can't really see them even when I'm at 5,300'. The only other options to my east are rough cut clear cuts.

As I get down to 2,500' I head toward pasture lands to the northwest just in case and find 200 fpm to 4,800' Guilherme is low under me and over the clear cuts. I turn northeast to leave the cu's behind but head toward the turnpoint as I'm about to be blown past it. It seems to me that I will not find any lift in that direction. I see Guilherme land in a clear cut by highway 94.

Behind me Rudy and Kevin with Jonny Durand behind them have made the leap to the northeast. I can see cu's in that direction but they seem far too far away. Maybe not. Andrew has landed after ticking the turnpoint at Saint George. I don't like the landing prospects on highway 94 (that's a mistake) and head for what looks like a farm to the east northeast.

It turns out to be nothing and I, like Guilherme, have to land in a clear cut off a sand road just slightly northwest of the turnpoint a little after 6 PM. My driver does a heroic job as we communicate over the phone navigating six miles in over slippery sand roads.

Nene, Jonny and Olav land a little to the south of me. Rudy and Kevin find lift and able able to make it into goal on a final glide from about 20 kilometers out. They are the only ones to make it.

2019 Nationals (pre-Worlds)

April 19, 2019, 3:47:05 pm EDT

2019 Nationals (pre-Worlds)

Day 5, task 4, results

Bruce Barmakian|competition|Corinna Schwiegershausen|Davis Straub|Jon "Jonny" Durand jnr|Kevin Carter|Konstantin Lukyanov|Krzysztof "Krys/Kris" Grzyb|Larry Bunner|Richard Lovelace|Suan Selenati|Tim Delaney|US Nationals 2019|Wills Wing T3|Zac Majors

https://airtribune.com/2019-quest-air-nationals-week-1/results

Replay: https://lt.flymaster.net/bs.php?grp=2672#

Task 4:

# Name Glider Time Distance Total
1 Rodolfo Gotes Wills Wing T3 144 05:17:30 246.97 976
2 Kevin Carter Wills Wing T3 144 05:27:21 246.97 950
3 Andrew Hollidge Wills Wing T3 144 229.64 797
4 Larry Bunner Wills Wing T3 144 227.50 792
5 Davis Straub Wills Wing T3 144 223.80 781
5 Jonny Durand Moyes RX 4 Pro 223.63 781
7 Olav Opsanger Moyes RX 3.5 Pro 219.65 765
8 Guilherme Sandoli Wills Wing T2C 144 216.75 752
9 Bruce Barmakian Aeros Combat 12.7 208.10 719
10 Konstantin Lukyanov Moyes RX 3.5 183.13 666

Cumulative:

# Name Glider Total
1 Jonny Durand Moyes RX 4 Pro 2989
2 Larry Bunner Wills Wing T3 144 2921
3 Kevin Carter Wills Wing T3 144 2911
4 Rodolfo Gotes Wills Wing T3 144 2893
5 Zac Majors Wills Wing T3 144 2768
6 Olav Opsanger Moyes RX 3.5 Pro 2764
7 Bruce Barmakian Aeros Combat 12.7 2569
8 Andrew Hollidge Wills Wing T3 144 2545
9 Suan Selenati Wills Wing T3 144 2529
10 Davis Straub Wills Wing T3 144 2504
11 Guilherme Sandoli Wills Wing T2C 144 2341
12 Richard Lovelace Wills Wing T3 144 2306
13 Wolfgang Siess Wills Wing T2C 154 2058
14 Alvaro Figueiredo Sandoli Wills Wing T3 144 2020
15 Kevin Dutt Aeros Combat 13.5 1987

Sport Task 4:

# Name Glider Time Distance Total
1 Erik Grabowski Moyes Gecko 155 03:41:08 148.15 984
2 Rod Regier Moyes Litesport 4 03:45:38 148.15 958
3 L.J. Omara Wills Wing Sport 3 155 132.44 724
4 Richard Westmoreland Wills Wing U2 145 128.29 709
5 Tim Delaney Wills Wing Sport 3 135 111.58 631
6 Ricky Rojas Aeros Discus 14C 72.18 505
7 James Race Wills Wing U2C 160 49.34 425
8 Bill Snyder Wills Wing U2 145 32.25 362
9 Ilya Rivkin Will Wing Sport 3 155 31.51 359
10 Nick Jones Wills Wing U2 145 30.49 353

Sport Cumulative:

# Name Glider Total
1 Erik Grabowski Moyes Gecko 155 3282
2 Rod Regier Moyes Litesport 4 2725
3 Tim Delaney Wills Wing Sport 3 135 2141
4 Ricky Rojas Aeros Discus 14C 2107
5 Nick Jones Wills Wing U2 145 1968
6 Lee Silver Wills Wing U2 160 1885
7 Adam Smith Wills Wing U2 145 1826
8 Pete Wall Wills Wing U2C 160 1787
9 Richard Caylor Moyes Gecko 170 1775
10 Richard Westmoreland Wills Wing U2 145 1757

Warnings:

Name Note
Patrick Pannese Courtesy warning for flying over Ocala Airspace.
Rodrigo Gerundo Courtesy warning for flying over Ocala Airspace.
Corinna Schwiegershausen Courtesy warning for flying over Ocala Airspace.
Larry Bunner Manually scored based on pilot tracklog.

Penalties:

Name % penalty Reason
Kevin Dutt 100% Violation of R2903A Airspace
Krzysztof Grzyb 100% Violation of R2903A airspace.

2019 Nationals (pre-Worlds)

April 19, 2019, 1:26:47 EDT

2019 Nationals (pre-Worlds)

Day 5, task 4, preliminary results

Christian Ciech|competition|Davis Straub|Jon "Jonny" Durand jnr|Kevin Carter|Konstantin Lukyanov|Suan Selenati|US Nationals 2019|Wills Wing T3|Zac Majors

https://airtribune.com/2019-quest-air-nationals-week-1/results

Task 4:

# Name Glider Time Distance Total
1 Rodolfo Gotes Wills Wing T3 144 05:17:30 246.97 997
2 Kevin Carter Wills Wing T3 144 05:27:21 246.97 971
3 Andrew Hollidge Wills Wing T3 144   229.64 815
4 Davis Straub Wills Wing T3 144   223.80 802
5 Jonny Durand Moyes RX 4 Pro   223.63 801
6 Olav Opsanger Moyes RX 3.5 Pro   219.65 787
7 Guilherme Sandoli Wills Wing T2C 144   216.75 775
8 Konstantin Lukyanov Moyes RX 3.5   183.13 696
9 Suan Selenati Wills Wing T3 144   180.76 690
10 Christian Ciech Icaro 2000 Laminar 14.1   175.51 675

Cumulative:

# Name Glider Total
1 Jonny Durand Moyes RX 4 Pro 3009
2 Kevin Carter Wills Wing T3 144 2932
3 Rodolfo Gotes Wills Wing T3 144 2914
4 Zac Majors Wills Wing T3 144 2799
5 Olav Opsanger Moyes RX 3.5 Pro 2786
6 Kevin Dutt Aeros Combat 13.5 2610
7 Andrew Hollidge Wills Wing T3 144 2563
8 Suan Selenati Wills Wing T3 144 2558
9 Davis Straub Wills Wing T3 144 2525

2019 Nationals (pre-Worlds)

April 17, 2019, 10:26:30 pm EDT

2019 Nationals (pre-Worlds)

The milk run to Williston

Jon "Jonny" Durand jnr|PG|Suan Selenati|US Nationals 2019

https://www.xcontest.org/world/en/flights/detail:davisstraub/17.4.2019/17:09

https://www.xcontest.org/world/en/ranking-hg-national:US

http://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/2246689

http://wxc.fai.org/module.php?id=22&date=20190417&gliderclass=hg1

The sky is full, really full of dark cu's. Such a great promise for the day. We are excited to go to Williston, 110 kilometers to the northwest. The forecast is for an east wind at 14 mph, so it will be a cross wind task.

I'm pulled up early and pin off at 1,800' in 300+ fpm to cloud base at 4,600'. Unlike on Tuesday when we all crowded together there is lift every where and no need to get in each others way. It's perfectly pleasant to fly around and stick at cloudbase. And that's just what we all do.

The wind is blowing at least 12 if not 18 mph out of the east, so we keep tracking back up wind to not get blown out of the start cylinder. Six minutes before the 2 PM start window a bunch of us head to the northeast east of Groveland over highway 50 thinking we'll be in a good position for a start, up wind of the course line.

Only a few pilots take the 2 pm start time, not doubt one of them being Suan. The rest of us wait for the second start time at 2:20 PM and take it downwind of the course line, just east of Mascotte. Oh, well.

There are plenty of pilots, but no crowding. Finding the first lift is a bit of a core and some pilots find great lift, while many of us work 200 fpm west of Grass Roots. The field splits up. Finally Larry and I find 300 fpm to 5,000' northeast of Center Hill and race to the next thermal.

It's only 200 fpm and there are a good number of pilots out in front of us and leave with 4,300'. I'm out in front of Larry but there are half a dozen pilot heading for the 5 km turnpoint around Baron ahead of me.

Larry sees me falling fast goes left and finds 400 fpm behind me. I don't go back to him. I take the turnpoint at 2,600' and continue falling heading to the northwest along the Turnpike. I'm down to 1,100' AGL before I find the weak lift (155 fpm) over a new housing development. The wind is 13 mph from the east southeast and I'm drifting with the thermal for four kilometers getting to only 3,200'.

With lots of cu's around I head north but it's 6 kilometers before I find lift at 1,400' AGL. Again it's weak at 155 fpm on average, and I climb with a few other pilots to 3,200' once again before leaving.

I head out to the north northeast to get under some fast moving cu's over sun lit fields then spot pilots turning to my west. I join them and we go up at almost 400 fpm to 5,000'.

I head out over Marion Oaks but I'm down to 1,600' on the west side before big open fields to the west. I want to grab a thermal on the east side of the open fields as I would rather drift over them than over the treed area to the north and west. The wind is still blowing east southeast at 13 mph.

I find 300+ fpm and climb back to 5,000', cloud base. This gets me over the Florida Greenway and the populated areas to the northwest and to another nice thermal averaging 400 fpm to 5,400' again cloudbase. I'm just southeast of the optimized point on the 7 km turnpoint cylinder around the Dunnellon airfield and southwest of the Ocala airspace.

After taking the turnpoint I head north toward the next cu's and climb to 4,200', 21 km from goal. It looks like I might be able to make it. I get a 20 to 1 glide but 10 km from goal I'm down to 2,200' and it looks like it might be iffy. There is a dark cloud ahead but it is shading all the ground under and to the east of it along my course line. I'm thinking that maybe I won't find any lifting air there.

I turn upwind to the east to get over sunlit fields and find 100 fpm from 1,400' back to 2,500'. That's all I can get so I go on glide to find a nice tail wind and a 14:1 glide to goal.

Many happy pilots at goal. It was great how Suan took most of the available non distance points. Zac and Jonny tied. Mick Howard, who towed pilots up on his trike, launched his hang glider after the Sport Class launch and made it within 16 kilometers of goal.

2019 Nationals (pre-Worlds)

April 17, 2019, 9:01:58 pm EDT

2019 Nationals (pre-Worlds)

Day 4, task 3, results

Bruce Barmakian|competition|Corinna Schwiegershausen|Davis Straub|John Simon|Jon "Jonny" Durand jnr|Kevin Carter|Mark Dowsett|Richard Lovelace|Suan Selenati|Tim Delaney|Tyler Borradaile|US Nationals 2019|Wills Wing T3|Zac Majors

https://airtribune.com/2019-quest-air-nationals-week-1/results

What a day. Suan starts early (first clock) and smokes the fields taking huge chunks of the speed, leading and arrival time points.

Task 3:

# Name Glider Time Total
1 Suan Selenati Wills Wing T3 144 01:52:36 992
2 John Simon Aeros Combat C 12.7 02:16:26 670
3 Olav Opsanger Moyes RX 3.5 Pro 02:18:12 656
4 Zac Majors Wills Wing T3 144 02:19:21 655
4 Jonny Durand Moyes RX 4 Pro 02:18:35 655
4 Wolfgang Siess Wills Wing T2C 154 02:18:31 655
7 Kevin Carter Wills Wing T3 144 02:19:56 649
7 Tyler Borradaile Moyes RX 3.5 Pro 02:19:46 649
9 Marcelo Alexandre Menin Wills Wing T2C 154 02:20:57 640
10 Malcolm Brown Wills Wing T3 144 02:26:38 614

Cumulative:

# Name Glider Total
1 Zac Majors Wills Wing T3 144 2266
2 Jonny Durand Moyes RX 4 Pro 2209
3 Olav Opsanger Moyes RX 3.5 Pro 2001
4 Kevin Dutt Aeros Combat 13.5 1989
5 Kevin Carter Wills Wing T3 144 1963
6 Rodolfo Gotes Wills Wing T3 144 1920
7 Suan Selenati Wills Wing T3 144 1868
8 Bruce Barmakian Aeros Combat 12.7 1852
9 Alvaro Figueiredo Sandoli Wills Wing T3 144 1780
10 Andrew Hollidge Wills Wing T3 144 1749
11 John Simon Aeros Combat C 12.7 1736
12 Davis Straub Wills Wing T3 144 1726
13 Richard Lovelace Wills Wing T3 144 1662
14 Guilherme Sandoli Wills Wing T2C 144 1592
15 Corinna Schwiegershausen Moyes RX 3 Pro 1526

All three women made goal. Sara made goal on her Sport 3.

Task 3 sport:

# Name Glider Time Total
1 Erik Grabowski Moyes Gecko 155 00:37:56 847
2 Mark Dowsett Moyes Gecko 155 00:40:56 758
3 Richard Caylor Moyes Gecko 170 00:40:44 669
4 Pete Wall Wills Wing U2C 160 00:42:45 645
5 Ricky Rojas Aeros Discus 14C 00:49:28 610
6 Tim Delaney Wills Wing Sport 3 135 00:45:44 608
7 Rod Regier Moyes Litesport 4 00:51:09 565
8 Ilya Rivkin Will Wing Sport 3 155 01:04:41 539
8 Lee Silver Wills Wing U2 160 00:54:56 539
10 Nick Jones Wills Wing U2 145 00:59:32 515

Sport Cumulative:

# Name Glider Total
1 Erik Grabowski Moyes Gecko 155 2301
2 Rod Regier Moyes Litesport 4 1724
3 Lee Silver Wills Wing U2 160 1603
4 Nick Jones Wills Wing U2 145 1599
5 Ricky Rojas Aeros Discus 14C 1583
6 Richard Caylor Moyes Gecko 170 1468
7 Mark Dowsett Moyes Gecko 155 1449
8 Tim Delaney Wills Wing Sport 3 135 1440
9 Pete Wall Wills Wing U2C 160 1412
10 Ilya Rivkin Will Wing Sport 3 155 1272

2019 Nationals (pre-Worlds)

April 16, 2019, 10:03:09 pm EDT

2019 Nationals (pre-Worlds)

Another blue day with a little more wind than forecasted

Bobby Bailey|Corinna Schwiegershausen|Jon "Jonny" Durand jnr|PG|US Nationals 2019|weather

http://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/2245839

http://wxc.fai.org/module.php?id=22&date=20190417&gliderclass=hg1

https://ozreport.com/seweather.php

Tuesday

Sunny, with a high near 84. North wind 5 to 10 mph becoming east in the afternoon.
Surface wind 9 decreasing to 7 mph, east, northeast

HRRR 3, 2 PM:

Updraft velocity: 560 fpm
TOL: 4,300’
Wind TOUL: 6 mph, northeast
B/S: 10.0
Surface winds 5 mph northeast
Looks like a great day with light winds and a high TOL later in the day. No cu’s.

The task committee calls a box task to the northwest. The radii of the turnpoints are chosen very carefully to make it pilot friendly with available landing areas. For example, a three kilometer cylinder around Baron:

We don't have to fly over the swamp to the east and north.

I launch nineteenth just after Larry behind Bobby Bailey. He wraps it up tight low in lift to make his little tug climb, but I hold on any way until he takes me over to the forming gaggle to the north. It's 124 fpm to 3,400'. As I top out it's a little over half an hour before the window opens.

The 5 mph east wind is pushing us toward the edge of the start cylinder, but it's too early to go over there and get trapped against the western side. We hold back in light lift biding out time. I'm on the radio with Larry.

At 1:45 we are near the edge of the cylinder and working up to 3,700'. With the light wind we are able to stay close and take the first start gate at 1PM at 3,400'. A few pilots like Jonny and Zac will take the second gate twenty minutes later.

The thermals are very crowded and we hope to get away from other than a few pilots who we want to work as bird dogs. But for a while everyone sticks together and you are just lucky the out of control pilots, or the rude ones, don't hit you.

We are not going to get high, so it's game of of dare as we head out to the west to see if we can find the next thermal from 2,000'. It takes eight thermals to get to Kokee with a quartering tail wind from the northeast at 7 mph. We find between 100 fpm and 300 fpm climbing to 3,600'. The thermals are still full. Larry and I are working together.

The turnpoint after Kokee is off to the northeast which gives us a bit of a headwind at 6 mph. We're following about four pilots heading toward the town of Bushnell and getting lower and lower without a sign of lift. My neck is sore from all the craning around I'm doing to keep out of everyone's way.

Down to 1,400' AGL I look back to see pilots climbing a little over a kilometer behind me. Larry reports lift ahead but I'm feeling a little too low to make it there in the head wind. This is where we lose contact with each other (other than on the radio). I climb from 1,000' AGL to 3,500' along with half a dozen other pilots.

Pushing ahead I'm back down to 1,100' AGL after 7 kilometers but there are spotters out ahead finding the lift and I climb out at 300 fpm to 3,200'. The head wind continues to be a problem and it is a back and forth fight in weak lift by the landfill trying to make the next waypoint around Coleman north of the mines and west of the prisons. It takes 45 minutes to go 11 kilometers.

I tag the turnpoint at 1,500' and leave it at 2,800'. There are lots of houses in this new development to fly over but fortunately there is also a mine to the south of them. I find good lift over the mines and climbing in a 9 mph east northeast wind get to 4,200' at 250 fpm.

The next optimized turnpoint is due east. I've got some altitude to use. I'm by myself as Larry and his gaggle are ten kilometers ahead and moving slowly.

As I make it to the optimized point on the Baron cylinder five or six gliders come over me about 200 feet higher. Great, now I'll have some help. We tick the turnpoint and head south southeast. I haven't found much lift since leaving the good thermal that got me over 4,000'. We get lower and lower.

Crossing the turnpike to the southeast I see the lowest guy in front of me take one turn then head off with the others to get in a thermal on the north side of the turnpike. I'm down to 800 AGL and don't see any landing areas in that direction. I take a turn in the area where the previous pilot turned, but find just sink. But less sink than I was experiencing. I drift back and find 100 fpm at 700' AGL. I'm over huge open fields.

There is a good paved east/west road just half a kilometer to my north. I'm drifting at 10 mph to the west. There are open fields for 5 kilometers. If I stay up I know that I can get out fairly easily. I hang tight at 97 fpm.

Corinna flies right at my altitude right next to me but doesn't stop and thermal with me. She continues east and quickly lands. After a few minutes two gliders chase back to me from the group that had gone to the north of the turnpike and come in under me. I think it is Olav on a Moyes Litespeed and Hugo Rodriguez on a Combat. I get to hang with them just above them as we drift quickly west.

In twenty seven minutes we climb  to 4,000'. It's 5:15 PM. I follow Olav to the southeast where he finds a little lift. I move over to the small fire to the west but that gives only 50 fpm. I lose track of Olav and stick with Hugo as we head to the next fire. That one provides negative lift.

We head down the road that goes to Center Hill from Mascotte but soon run out of altitude and land in big fields. It looks like Olav got within one kilometer of goal.

2019 Nationals (pre-Worlds)

April 16, 2019, 8:13:34 pm EDT

2019 Nationals (pre-Worlds)

Day 3, task results

Bruce Barmakian|competition|Davis Straub|Jon "Jonny" Durand jnr|Kevin Carter|Larry Bunner|Tim Delaney|Tullio Gervasoni|US Nationals 2019|Wills Wing T3|Zac Majors

https://airtribune.com/2019-quest-air-nationals-week-1/results

Task 2:

# Name Glider Time Total
1 Jonny Durand Moyes RX 4 Pro 03:03:30 973
2 Kevin Dutt Aeros Combat 13.5 03:04:46 962
3 Zac Majors Wills Wing T3 144 03:07:21 941
4 Rodolfo Gotes Wills Wing T3 144 03:23:36 924
5 Alvaro Figueiredo Sandoli Wills Wing T3 144 03:23:25 923
6 Guilherme Sandoli Wills Wing T2C 144 03:24:48 918
7 Tullio Gervasoni Wills Wing T3 144 03:24:44 912
8 Andrew Hollidge Wills Wing T3 144 03:25:56 908
9 Larry Bunner Wills Wing T3 144 03:27:31 898
10 Kevin Carter Wills Wing T3 144 03:33:22 874

All the Sandoli's (Nene and his two sons) made goal.

Cumulative:

# Name Glider Total
1 Zac Majors Wills Wing T3 144 1617
2 Jonny Durand Moyes RX 4 Pro 1556
3 Andrew Hollidge Wills Wing T3 144 1516
4 Larry Bunner Wills Wing T3 144 1494
5 Rodolfo Gotes Wills Wing T3 144 1401
6 Kevin Dutt Aeros Combat 13.5 1382
7 Olav Opsanger Moyes RX 3.5 Pro 1374
8 Kevin Carter Wills Wing T3 144 1327
9 Bruce Barmakian Aeros Combat 12.7 1266
10 Davis Straub Wills Wing T3 144 1234

Sport class:

Task 2:

# Name Glider Time Total
1 Erik Grabowski Moyes Gecko 155 02:37:20 985
2 Lee Silver Wills Wing U2 160 02:58:54 875
3 Adam Smith Wills Wing U2 145 03:08:22 865

Cumullative:

# Name Glider Total
1 Erik Grabowski Moyes Gecko 155 1443
2 Adam Smith Wills Wing U2 145 1169
3 Rod Regier Moyes Litesport 4 1145
4 Nick Jones Wills Wing U2 145 1071
5 Lee Silver Wills Wing U2 160 1051
6 Ricky Rojas Aeros Discus 14C 961
7 Richard Westmoreland Wills Wing U2 145 899
8 Tim Delaney Wills Wing Sport 3 135 820
9 Richard Caylor Moyes Gecko 170 787
10 Pete Wall Wills Wing U2C 160 755

2019 Nationals (pre-Worlds)

April 15, 2019, 10:19:36 pm EDT

2019 Nationals (pre-Worlds)

Day 2, task 1

Bruce Barmakian|competition|Davis Straub|Jon "Jonny" Durand jnr|Larry Bunner|PG|Richard Lovelace|US Nationals 2019|weather|Wills Wing T3|Zac Majors

https://www.xcontest.org/world/en/flights/detail:davisstraub/15.4.2019/18:13

https://www.xcontest.org/world/en/ranking-hg-national:US

http://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/2245019

http://wxc.fai.org/module.php?id=22&date=20190416&gliderclass=hg1

https://ozreport.com/seweather.php

Monday

Partly sunny, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 80. Northwest wind around 10 mph.
Surface wind 10 mph northwest.

HRRR 3, 2 PM:

Updraft velocity: 500 fpm
TOL: 3,300’
Wind TOUL: 20 mph, northwest
B/S: 2.2
Surface winds:11 mph northwest

That forecast was brutal. We wouldn't get high, the winds would be strong, the lift wouldn't be that good.

We felt that it just would not be a good day. Blue, no cu's in the forecast, often difficult launch conditions with the westerly component.

Still the task committee called a couple of tasks for the sport class and for the open class, and the safety committee and safety director felt that the launch conditions were good, even with the wind almost directly west.

I'm sixth to launch in the right line at 2:13 PM. April takes me up and waves me off at 2,000' AGL. I search around and find 24 fpm then 45 fpm drifting east southeast at 10 mph and climbing to 2,300', slightly above the altitude that I pinned off at. This is progress.

Push up wind with other pilots to pilots circling and from 1,100' AGL, climb back again to pin off altitude at 113 fpm. Do this a couple more times not getting quite so low and then down to 1,400' AGL hook into a reasonable thermal at 230 fpm and climb to 3,200' drifting downwind outside the start cylinder to the east southeast at 3:00 PM, so over 45 minutes in the start cylinder basically just trying to stay up. The day has fulfilled the prognosis.

I climb a little more to 3,500' and then head out to the south southwest with others. Today is a day to stay with your friends. No cu's to mark lift. You've got to be careful and use other pilots to indicate where the lift is. Also hold on to any lift. Weak lift is better than no lift or worse.

The wind is pushing us hard to the east but we are slowly working our way west toward the course line. Pilots are pretty scattered but there are a few to hang with. The next four thermals: 150 fpm, 2,800' top, 83 fpm, 2,300' top, 44 fpm, 2,400' top, 106 fpm, 2500' top. These get us to highway 474. Not getting high reduces the chances of finding the next lift, but we seem to get lucky and there is lift out there.

I hook up with Richard Lovelace, Andrew Hollidge, and Malcolm Brown, the UK contingent. We work 101 fpm, 2,600', 123 fpm, 2,200', 166 fpm, 2,800', 176 fpm, 2,800'. That's 13 kilometers from 474 to Dean Still Road. The lift is getting better. We approach the left side of the 5 km cylinder around the Fantasy of Flight and find 196 fpm to 3,000' in a 14 mph cross wind breeze.

We split up and cross Interstate 4. I follow Andrew Hollidge toward some nice looking open fields after flying over lots of forested areas. He's getting lower and lower and I'm getting skeptical. I spot buzzard heading to the northwest (as I head southeast) and turn to follow him. He looks like he's on a mission and indeed he is. He finds the lift and I find it with him.

It's 265 fpm to 3,700', the highest point of the day, the best lift of the day, and only 30 kilometers from goal.

Now the trick is to stay high enough to be able to get to one of the few landing areas as I'm now alone and over built up housing areas. Thankfully there are a few open fields that allow for a reasonable search for thermals. The best lift seems to be downwind of the small lakes. You can see all the wind on the lakes and all the thermals that interrupt the smooth flow of the wind across the lakes.

About twenty kilometers out from goal I'm joined by Bruce Barmakian and Andrew Hollidge coming in at my altitude. We work broken lift often less than 100 fpm to stay between 2,600' and 2,900'. We're right on the course line in spite of the cross wind.

Twelve kilometers out we find 196 fpm and go on glide from 2,900'. It's good all the way into goal.

This day seems totally impossible. How could we get to Lake Wales in a strong cross wind with no cu's and rarely getting over 3,000? I just can't believe that we did it. We were obviously very lucky. Andrew said it was because we were willing to hang on to the lightest lift, like they do in England.

I certainly never ventured out in front and only went off on my own when the leader looked like he was in trouble and I saw a sign of good lift.

Five of the pilots making goal were flying the new Wills Wing T3's.

https://airtribune.com/2019-quest-air-nationals-week-1/results

Task 1:

# Name Glider Time Total
1 Zac Majors Wills Wing T3 144 01:55:40 682
2 Olav Opsanger Moyes RX 3.5 Pro 01:56:32 674
3 Bruce Barmakian Aeros Combat 12.7 02:13:26 616
4 Andrew Hollidge Wills Wing T3 144 02:14:38 613
5 Davis Straub Wills Wing T3 144 02:18:51 603
6 Richard Lovelace Wills Wing T3 144 02:19:24 602
7 Larry Bunner Wills Wing T3 144 02:19:32 601
8 Jonny Durand Moyes RX 4 Pro 02:26:00 587

2019 Nationals (pre-Worlds)

April 14, 2019, 6:09:26 pm EDT

2019 Nationals (pre-Worlds)

No task on the first day of week 1

record|US Nationals 2019|weather

https://ozreport.com/seweather.php

Today

A slight chance of showers between 11am and 1pm, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 89. Windy, with a south southeast wind 10 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Surface wind 15 - 18 mph south southwest gusting to 20 – 24 mph.

At 8 am wind is 8 mph, as per forecasted

HRRR 3, 2 PM:

Updraft velocity: 600 fpm
TOL: 5,300’
Wind TOUL: 35 mph, south
B/S: 2.5
Surface winds: 18 mph south
Cloud base at 4,600’.

It rained a couple of times and there was some wind, but not as much as forecasted (the record from Leesburg airport):

Time
(edt)
Wind
(mph)
17:53 SW 13 G 21
16:53 S 10
15:53 S 10 G 21
14:53 S 13
13:53 S 10
12:53 S 17 G 23
11:53 S 14
10:53 S 12 G 21
09:53 S 14 G 22

The task was cancelled.

Getting ready for the ⁢2019 Nationals (pre-Worlds)

Fri, Apr 12 2019, 11:01:40 pm EDT

We fly to Keystone, 150 km.

Bruce Barmakian|Gary Anderson|Larry Bunner|PG|Tullio Gervasoni|US Nationals 2019|weather|Wilotree Park

The flight:

https://www.xcontest.org/world/en/flights/detail:davisstraub/12.4.2019/16:17

https://www.xcontest.org/world/en/ranking-hg-national:US

http://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/2243108

The forecast:

https://OzReport.com/seweather.php

Today

Sunny, with a high near 89. South wind 5 to 10 mph.
Surface wind 8 mph south southeast

HRRR 3, noon:

Updraft velocity: 500 fpm (other models show 600 fpm)
TOL: 3,600’ (other models show 4,000’ – 5,000’)
Wind TOUL: 19 mph, south southeast
B/S: 2.7
Surface winds: 8 mph south southeast

HRRR 3, 2 PM:

Updraft velocity: 800 fpm
TOL: 7,000’
Wind TOUL: 11 mph, south southeast
B/S: 10.0
Surface winds: 10 mph south southeast
Cloud base at 6,300’
Convergence east of highway 301. Earlier starts preferred given southwest flows approaching course line after 3 pm.

Task:

Quest, 5000 m
Keystone, 400 m

Weather Underground showed rain at 2 PM north northeast of Ocala.

Larry Bunner launches first and I'm right behind him at 12:17 PM. Larry finds lift on the southwest corner of Wilotree Park and we climb at 200 fpm to 3,200'. That's not that great an altitude for our first jump over Groveland.

We head for a little cu that doesn't fulfill its promises and immediately turn west to get over the chicken coops and under some good looking cu's that indeed are working. We leave at near cloud base at 3,200' and find less than 100 fpm to the north under cu's. I finally chance it out further north and at 1,800' hit 600 fpm that averages 200 fpm over the climb to 4,400'. Larry joins me. We are drifting in a 10 mph south southeast wind just south of the Turnpike.

There is a series of dark cu's on a line paralleling the Turnpike to the northwest (which is where we want to go anyway), so we fly under them keeping our altitude loses in check and then find weak lift over the prisons. We continue to climb in weak lift checking all around under the sky full of cu's for better lift. We keep drifting to the north northwest just staying above 2,600' and sampling the lift that is on offer.

Finally, northwest of Wildwood, we find 300 fpm to 4,800'. Larry finds some better lift and is above me but when he leads out to the next thermal he doesn't find it at first and loses enough altitude to just get below me. I carefully milk the weak lift while he charges on ahead toward east Ocala. I'm able to stay high.

Working a couple of hundred feet per minute west of Leeward I see Larry coming back south under me to get over the sunlit fields and to get back up before going over the area of few landing spots. I'm high enough at 4,900' to head for the two fires that are burning the underbrush in the Ocala National Forest. I find 300 fpm just on the south side of the smoke plumes while Larry struggles to get up 9 km south of me.

By the time Larry gets up and to the smoke plumes, Tullio, Gary Anderson, and Mick Howard have caught up with him. I dawdle along hoping for Larry to catch up with me so that we can fly together. He can hear me on his radio, but his mic isn't working.

I fly to a dark cloud street going from the south southeast to the north northwest. It goes out over the big lakes, but for now it is a good path. I look ahead for where I can jump to the northeast to get under the cloud street to my east. I stay high. I climb to 5,300' at the end of the second cloud street.

I'm 43 km from goal and there is a blue hole in front of me with cu's far (10 km) to the east over swamp lands and the St. Johns River. It looks like the day is going to end soon. I take a 14 km glide with a bit of a turn to the northeast to get under some little wisps over landable fields east of Hawthorne. I'm down to 1,800'. I find 255 fpm under these almost cu's and climb back to 3,700', 27 kilometers from goal.

There continues to be a blue hole between me and the goal, as well as a big lake and lots of forest. I'm on my own as I can't hear from Larry, but he can hear me calling out the locations and climb rates.

I head to the northeast to try to get as near as possible to the cu's in that direction and also to get over landable fields. Down again to 1,800' I find 70 fpm and start turning in a 15 mph south southwest drift over non landable areas:

I'm only able to ride this thermal to 2,500'. The next landable field is 7 kilometers to the north, which to be sure is downwind. I don't want to chance it and head upwind to the fields just to my south.

I decide which field to land in but before I do I check out the possible lift to the south and east of the field. I can see good looking cu's overhead and a very small fire. I get there with 1,200' to find 260 fpm Climbing to 3,600' I'm confident of making the next landable field and keep searching for better lift.

I spot Gary Anderson to the north and get under him in a thermal going up at 400 fpm. This is way more than I need to get to goal.

Larry has caught me and made it in already. Garry gets there and after me Tullio and Mick. Later Bruce Barmakian who started much later and Phillip Michaud who flew from Wallaby.

Tiki on how she gets to a one person business

Tue, Mar 5 2019, 8:05:33 am EST

She's raising funds pretty quickly

Christopher LeFay|Dragonfly|Makbule Baldik Le Fay|Tiki Mashy|video

https://www.gofundme.com/help-black-female-pilot-save-flying-in-texas

https://youtu.be/li8QiC03xqQ

She's still got the Dragonfly to tow up solo pilots. The tow fee has been raised to $35/tow at Paradise Airsports and Wallaby Ranch in Florida.

$32,235 of $49,000 goal

Christopher LeFay writes:

The folks who run Go Fund Me were so moved by my friend Tiki Mashy's plight that they donated a $1000. The staff talked amongst themselves, took a vote, took action. Consider convening your own personal committee of one. I predict all votes will be in favor. $1,000 GoFundMe Team 5 days ago.

Our competitions »

Wed, Dec 19 2018, 10:01:45 am EST

Listed

Facebook|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2019|Pan-Americans 2020|Pre-Pan-Americans 2019|Pre-Worlds 2019|Quest Air Nationals 2019|US Nationals 2019|Wilotree Park XC 2019|Worlds 2020|XC 101 Clinic 2019

On Airtribune (where you register):

2019 Wilotree Park Cross Country

2019 Cross Country 101 Clinic details

2019 Green Swamp Sport Klassic details

2019 Quest Air Nationals (week 1) (pre-Worlds) details

2019 Quest Air Nationals (week 2) details

2019 Big Spring Nationals (Pre-Pan-Americans) details

2020 World Championships details

1st Pan-American Championships and 2020 Pan-Americans details

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/ozreport/events/

2019 Cross Country Clinic Wilotree Park
Mar 16, 2019 - Mar 23, 2019 · 5 Friends Are Going Groveland, Fl
2019 Green Swamp Sport Klassic Wilotree Park
Mar 23, 2019 - Mar 30, 2019 · 8 Friends Are Going Groveland, Fl
2019 Pre-Worlds And Quest Air Nationals (week 1) Wilotree Park
Apr 13, 2019 - Apr 20, 2019 · 5 Friends Are Going Groveland, Fl
2019 Quest Air Nationals (week 2) Wilotree Park
Apr 20, 2019 - Apr 27, 2019 · 4 Friends Are Going Groveland, Fl
PRE-PAN-AMERICANS And 2019 Big Spring Nationals BIG Spring Mcmahon–wrinkle Airport
Aug 10, 2019 - Aug 17, 2019 · 2 Friends Are Going Big Spring, Tx
2020 World Hang Gliding Championships Wilotree Park
Apr 19, 2020 - May 1, 2020 · By Oz Report Groveland, Fl
2020 Pan-American Championships BIG Spring Mcmahon–wrinkle Airport
Aug 2, 2020 - Aug 14, 2020 · By Oz Report Big Spring, Tx

Our competitions »

Tue, Dec 18 2018, 1:48:25 pm EST

Listed in every issue

Facebook|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2019|Pan-Americans 2020|Pre-Pan-Americans 2019|Pre-Worlds 2019|Quest Air Nationals 2019|US Nationals 2019|Wilotree Park XC 2019|Worlds 2020|XC 101 Clinic 2019

2019 Wilotree Park Cross Country

2019 Cross Country 101 Clinic details

2019 Green Swamp Sport Klassicdetails

2019 Quest Air Nationals (week 1) (pre-Worlds) details

2019 Quest Air Nationals (week 2) details

2019 Big Spring Nationals (pre-Pan-Americans) details

2020 World Championships details

1st Pan-American Championships and 2020 Pan-Americans details

Oz Report events on Facebook

2019 Cross Country Clinic Wilotree Park
Mar 16, 2019 - Mar 23, 2019 · 5 Friends Are Going Groveland, Fl
2019 Green Swamp Sport Klassic Wilotree Park
Mar 23, 2019 - Mar 30, 2019 · 8 Friends Are Going Groveland, Fl
2019 Pre-Worlds And Quest Air Nationals (week 1) Wilotree Park
Apr 13, 2019 - Apr 20, 2019 · 5 Friends Are Going Groveland, Fl
2019 Quest Air Nationals (week 2) Wilotree Park
Apr 20, 2019 - Apr 27, 2019 · 4 Friends Are Going Groveland, Fl
PRE-PAN-AMERICANS And 2019 Big Spring Nationals BIG Spring Mcmahon–wrinkle Airport
Aug 10, 2019 - Aug 17, 2019 · 2 Friends Are Going Big Spring, Tx
2020 World Hang Gliding Championships Wilotree Park
Apr 19, 2020 - May 1, 2020 · By Oz Report Groveland, Fl
2020 Pan-American Championships BIG Spring Mcmahon–wrinkle Airport
Aug 2, 2020 - Aug 14, 2020 · By Oz Report Big Spring, Tx

Events

Wed, Nov 28 2018, 9:11:08 am PST

As listed on Facebook

Facebook|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2019|Pre-Pan-Americans 2019|Pre-Worlds 2019|Quest Air Nationals 2019|US Nationals 2019|Worlds 2020|XC 101 Clinic 2019

https://www.facebook.com/pg/ozreport/events/

2019 Cross Country Clinic Wilotree Park
Mar 16, 2019 - Mar 23, 2019 · 5 Friends Are Going Groveland, Fl
2019 Green Swamp Sport Klassic Wilotree Park
Mar 23, 2019 - Mar 30, 2019 · 8 Friends Are Going Groveland, Fl
2019 Pre-Worlds And Quest Air Nationals (week 1) Wilotree Park
Apr 13, 2019 - Apr 20, 2019 · 5 Friends Are Going Groveland, Fl
2019 Quest Air Nationals (week 2) Wilotree Park
Apr 20, 2019 - Apr 27, 2019 · 4 Friends Are Going Groveland, Fl
PRE-PAN-AMERICANS And 2019 Big Spring Nationals BIG Spring Mcmahon–wrinkle Airport
Aug 10, 2019 - Aug 17, 2019 · 2 Friends Are Going Big Spring, Tx
2020 World Hang Gliding Championships Wilotree Park
Apr 19, 2020 - May 1, 2020 · By Oz Report Groveland, Fl
2020 Pan-American Championships BIG Spring Mcmahon–wrinkle Airport
Aug 2, 2020 - Aug 14, 2020 · By Oz Report Big Spring, Tx

Even more registrations

Thu, Nov 15 2018, 9:57:50 am PST

Lots of pilots have signed up

Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2019|Quest Air Nationals 2019|US Nationals 2019

2019 Quest Air Nationals (week 1) (pre-Worlds)

79 registered, 13 confirmed

2019 Quest Air Nationals (week 2)

52 registered, 9 confirmed

2019 Big Spring Nationals (pre-Pan-Americans)

28 registered, 3 confirmed

2019 Green Swamp Sport Klassic

10 registered, 2 confirmed

Huge turnout for registration

Mon, Nov 12 2018, 9:54:49 am PST

We did not expect this so early.

CIVL|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2019|Pre-Worlds 2019|Quest Air Nationals 2019|US Nationals 2019|XC 101 Clinic 2019

We opened registration for all our competitions in the first week of November (along with a few glitches). Well, you have responded, and your response is much more than we anticipated. We're able to handle it all, and it is very gratifying to see that so many pilots want to come to our competitions.

Quest Air Nationals and pre-Worlds (week 1): https://airtribune.com/2019-quest-air-nationals-week-1/info/details__info

67 pilots registered (14 from Brazil, 7 from Canada, 5 from Great Britain, 35 overall from outside the US)

Quest Air Nationals (week 2): https://airtribune.com/2019-quest-air-nationals-week-2/info/details__info

44 pilots registered (15 from Brazil, 3 from Canada, 2 from Great Britain, 24 overall from outside the US)

This really confirms our strategy of holding two one week competitions back to back to encourage non-US-based pilots to come the competitions.

The Cross Country 101 Clinic https://airtribune.com/2019-cross-country-101-clinic/info/details__info

4 pilots registered so far. We have always felt that it would take a while to get this filled out.

2019 Green Swamp Sport Klassic https://airtribune.com/2019-green-swamp-sport-klassic/info/details__info

10 pilots registered. Last year we had over 50 pilots and 14 mentors. We expect to see similar numbers in 2019

2019 Big Spring Nationals (pre-Pan-Americans) https://airtribune.com/2019-big-spring-nationals/info/details__info

24 pilots registered (10 non-US-based pilots). This competition isn't happening for 9 months so there is the least pressure on pilots to sign up so early. We had 70 pilots in 2018 and we expect even more in 2019 as the pre-Pan-Americans.

We will know in December what our tug resources are and so will keep everyone updated on the total number of places available in all the competitions. If there are limits on the total number of pilots which requires opening a waiting list, we will choose pilots allowed into the competition by the date that they are confirmed.

We have already met all the CIVL requirements for allowing non-US pilots into the competitions thanks to the strong turnout of pilots from Brazil and other countries. Thanks to you.

2019 Big Spring Nationals (and pre-Pan-Americans)

November 8, 2018, 8:31:33 PST

2019 Big Spring Nationals (and pre-Pan-Americans)

Registration is now open

cart|CIVL|Facebook|record|USHPA|US Nationals 2019|weather|World Pilot Ranking Scheme

https://airtribune.com/2019-big-spring-nationals/info/details__info

The 17th Big Spring Nationals, site of the 2007 World Hang Gliding Championship, the finest cross country hang gliding competition site in the World. Big Tasks (world records), smooth thermals, unrestricted landing areas, easy retrieval on multiple roads, consistent cumulus development at 1 PM, air conditioned head quarters, hanger for setup, free water and ice cream, welcome dinner, live tracking, many drivers available, strong safety record, highest pilot satisfaction rating.

Also easy airport access to Midland-Odessa airport, inexpensive accommodations, plentiful infrastructure (restaurants), great community support, superb meet director.

Pay $250 entry fee here: http://ozreport.com/2019BigSpringpay.php

Sign waivers: http://ozreport.com/onlinewaivers.php or: http://ozreport.com/waivers.php

Practice, Check-in and Welcome on Saturday, August 10th.

Live tracking with Flymaster trackers provided.

The competition is USHPA and CIVL sanctioned so USHPA NTSS and CIVL WPRS points will be awarded

Maximum 120 (60 class 1) pilots.

Helpful Instructions: http://ozreport.com/2019BigSpringhelpful.php

• Daily Prizes
• Event Tee-shirt
• Medical Emergency Service
• Food and drink for Competition Opening/Ceremony
• Brunch During Prize-giving Ceremony
• Separate mobile sized web page with organizer contact information
• Weaklinks
• Flymaster Tracker
• Live Tracking
• On-line Turnpoint Coordinates
• On-line airspace file
• On-line task maps
• Free Wi-Fi
• Weather Briefing on Pilots’ Phones
• Task Sent to Pilots’ Phones
• Access to Professional Retrieval Coordinators (Retrieval Goddess’s Retrieval Service)
• Hangar space for setup
• Free ice cream
• Free bottled water
• Use of an air-conditioned terminal/headquarters
• Port-a-potties
• Golf cart retrieval for landing near launch
• Lunch concession
• Pilot goody bags
• Help with finding accommodations

Facebook Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/274225953217983/

USHPA Competition Calendar for 2019

Wed, Oct 24 2018, 12:13:52 pm GMT

Approved by the BOD

Applegate Open 2019|Belinda Boulter|East Coast Championships 2019|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2019|Jamie Shelden|Quest Air Nationals 2019|Santa Cruz Flats Race 2019|USHPA|US Nationals 2019|US Open of PG 2019

https://www.ushpa.org/page/competition-calendar

2019 Approved Sanctioned Competitions
2019 Green Swamp Sport Klassic
A Ushpa National Championship Series Event*
Ushpa Sanctioned Hg Race To Goal - At

Location:Quest Air, Sheets Field, Groveland, Florida
Event Dates:March 23 - 30, 2019
Register Dates:November 1, 2018 - March 23, 2019
Organizer:Belinda Boulder | «Belinda»

2019 Quest Air Nationals (PRE-WORLDS) - Week I
A Ushpa National Championship Series Event*
Ushpa Sanctioned Hg Race To Goal - At

Location:Quest Air, Sheets Field, Groveland, Florida
Event Dates:April 13 - 19, 2019
Register Dates:November 1, 2018 - April 13, 2019
Organizer:Belinda Boulder | «Belinda»

2019 Quest Air Nationals - Week Ii
A Ushpa National Championship Series Event*
Ushpa Sanctioned Hg Race To Goal - At

Location:Quest Air, Sheets Field, Groveland, Florida
Event Dates:April 20 - 27, 2019
Register Dates:November 1, 2018 - April 20, 2019
Organizer:Belinda Boulder | «Belinda»

2019 East Coast Hang Gliding Championship
A Ushpa National Championship Series Event*
Ushpa Sanctioned Hg Race To Goal - At

Location: Ridgley, Maryland
Event Dates:June 8 - 15, 2019
Register Dates:November 1, 2018 - May 15, 2019
Organizer:Dan Lukaszewicz | «Lucky_chevy»

2019 Us Open Of Paragliding Chelan
A Ushpa National Championship Series Event*
Ushpa Sanctioned Pg Race To Goal

Location:Chelan Butte, Chelan, Washington
Event Dates:July 6 - 13, 2019
Register Dates:March 1, 2019 - July 6, 2019
Organizer:Matty Senior | «Mattysenior»

2019 Big Spring Nationals (PRE-PAN-AMERICANS)
A Ushpa National Championship Series Event*
Ushpa Sanctioned Hg Race To Goal - At

Location:Mcmahon Wrinkle Airport, Big Spring, Texas
Event Dates:August 10 - 17, 2019
Register Dates:November 1, 2018 - August 10, 2019
Organizer:Belinda Boulder | «Belinda»

2019 Santa Cruz Flats Race - Mark Knight Memorial
A Ushpa National Championship Series Event*
Ushpa Sanctioned Hg Race To Goal - At

Location:Francisco Grande Golf Resort, Casa Grande, Az
Event Dates:September 15 - 21, 2019
Register Dates:December 15, 2018 - August 15, 2019
Organizer:Jamie Shelden | «Naughtylawyer»

* Pilots attending a race to goal USHPA National Championship Series event are encouraged to get an FAI Sporting License at least 14 days prior to the event, available through NAA.

Discuss "USHPA Competition Calendar for 2019" at the Oz Report forum   link»

What's the future?

Wed, Jul 25 2018, 7:58:03 am MDT

Looking ahead to 2020

CIVL|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2019|Jamie Shelden|Mitchell "Mitch" Shipley|Quest Air Nationals 2019|US Nationals 2019|World Championships 2020

You might have noted this article https://OzReport.com/22.145#1 which was a call from CIVL to prospective meet organizers about international category 1 competitions in 2020 and 2021. Which means test event next year and in 2020. And CIVL wants to see the bids for those 2020 events within a little over five weeks. For the 2021 events by the end of the year. And preparing a bid is no simple matter.

Doesn't give one much time to plan and think about what pilots might want and that's the first thing a prospective meet organizer needs to look at. Now holding a Category 1 competition in European is a no brainer. The place is stuffed with multiple countries and multiple pilots and they can all get together for a competition. Last week we had the Class 1 European and Class 5 World Championships and next week it is the pre-Worlds. You could easily trip and fall down hurting yourself trying to get around these competitions. This doesn't include the ongoing European Paragliding Championships right now.

But, try to put together a World Championship in the US or other North or South American country and things are a lot tougher. We last held a class 1 Worlds in the US in 2007 in Big Spring, Texas. It was very successful as we have great flying conditions there.

We are right now in the process of creating bids to CIVL for a number of category 1 competitions:

2nd FAI Sport Class, and 14th FAI Women's, and 8th FAI Class 5 World Hang Gliding Championships
Sunday, April 19th, 2020 to Friday May 1st, 2020
Wilotree Park, 6548 Groveland Airport Road Groveland, Florida, USA

and:

1st Class 1, Sport Class, Women's, Class 5 and Class 2 Pan-American Hang Gliding Championships
Sunday, August 2nd, 2020 to Friday, August 14th, 2020
Big Spring McMahon-Wrinkle Airport, 3200 Rickabaugh Drive, W. Big Spring, Texas

These are combined events.

As you can see we are being very ambitious. In addition, we would have to put on test events:

There are two possible test events in 2019 for the first competition. The first is the 2019 Green Swamp Sport Klassic. Saturday, March 23rd, 2019 through Saturday, March 30th, 2019 and the second: 2019 Quest Air Nationals, Saturday April 13th through Sunday, April 27th, 2019. Next year

For the Pan-American: 2019 Big Spring Nationals,
Saturday, August 3rd through Saturday, August, 10th, 2019.

As you can see from the numbering scheme this would be the first time ever that anyone has run a Pan-American Hang Gliding Competition. There have been three Pan-American Paragliding competitions.

But some Europeans are very skeptical about whether anyone (they mean other Europeans) would be willing to go to any of these competitions (travel expenses and all).

So we have to ask, are you interested in any of these competitions? We have to tell the CIVL Bureau in advance that there is in fact interest in these competitions, before they will consider letting us put them on. So, you need to send Davis an email to davis and he's at davisstraub.com and tell him that you are interested in coming to one or more of these competitions. Also send your email to Jamie Shelden «naughtylawyerelektratow

We realize that this is almost an impossible ask on our part. Who knows what they want to do in two years? But please if you have any desire to come to these competitions please email to davis. Also please spread the word around. Without your interest they are not going to happen.

We'll report more on CIVL and the upcoming competitions again, soon.

The life of a meet organizer

Thu, Jul 19 2018, 6:05:28 pm MDT

I completed 120 pages of documents just for the insurance part of the competitions that we have organized

CIVL|Larry Bunner|Midwest Championships 2017|video|weather

And we are forever grateful to be able to follow the original work done by Larry Bunner for the Midwest 2017 competition. Here is the required bid information for a Category 1 competition. You have until September 1st to fill this out and submit your bid.:

https://www.fai.org/document-compression/24747

Annexe A – Bid Information


  • The following information must be provided in support of your bid.
  • A bid will be refused if some of the information is missing.
  • This template has to be followed: same items in the same order.
  • Additional information of the bidder’s choice may also be included at the end of the bid (see point 35)

  • This document will form part of the FAI Organiser Agreement. It is binding. Key information (like the entry fee) cannot be changed later without CIVL Bureau and Plenary consent.
  • Documentation required in support of the bid is noted in Annexe B.
  • Outline of the budget must follow the template as per Annexe C.

1. Name of Championship

See FAI document: Naming FAI Competitions available at: http://www.fai.org/fai-documents under Organising an Event.

2. Location(s) of Championship

3. Proposed Dates of Championship

4. Competition allowing the organiser to bid

State here which competition allows you to bid.

To be eligible, the NAC making the bid shall, as a minimum, have held a national championship or FAI Category 2 competition with a minimum entry of 50 pilots for Cross Country events or 30 pilots for Accuracy and Aerobatics events, on the proposed site(s) within the four years before the bid is received.

5. Local Organiser (LOC)

Party designated in the Organiser Agreement who will have contractual responsibility for organising the event, and will sign the Organiser Agreement.

The party has written approval and endorsement of the holder of the Sporting Powers (see point 6).

6. Sporting Power

Party having the sporting power in your country.

  • It can be the National Airsport Control (NAC).
  • It can be another entity (a federation for instance) to which the NAC has delegated its sporting powers. If this is the case, a letter of information has to be sent by the entity to the NAC.

The Sporting Power will also have to sign the Organiser Agreement

7. Detailed Schedule of Championship

  • Free and official training days.
  • Registration.
  • Mandatory Safety Briefing.
  • Opening ceremony.
  • Mandatory training task.
  • Championship flying days.
  • Closing ceremony.

8. Organisers, Directors and Key Officials

Include brief note on qualifications, experience, languages, etc.

For all events:

  • Organisation/Event Director.
  • Meet Director.
  • Safety Director.
  • Meteorologist.
  • Launch (or drop) Marshal.

For Cross Country:

  • Scorer.
  • Live Tracking Manager.
  • Goal Marshal.

9. CIVL Coordinator, Steward, Judges, Jurors

  • At the time of the bid, the CIVL Coordinator will be the CIVL President or the appropriate Committee Chairperson. If the bid is accepted, the Coordinator will be the CIVL Steward as soon as he is appointed.
  • In Accuracy, the Chief Judge and Event Judges will be appointed by CIVL in consultation with the LOC. The Chief Judge will then appoint other Judges in consultation with the LOC. All Judges should be the same at the test event and at the event.
  • In Aerobatic, the Chief Judge will be appointed by CIVL in consultation with the LOC. The Chief Judge will then appoint other Judges in consultation with the LOC. All Judges should be the same at the test event and at the event.
  • The CIVL Jurors will be appointed in due time by the CIVL Bureau.

10. Pilots Entry

Specify the maximum number of pilots allowed overall.

You may want to justify this number in relation to the site and flying conditions.

Reminder:

The maximum number of pilots per nation and the team size will be defined in the championship Local Regulation, which is subject to CIVL approval.

11. Entry Fee

Define the Entry Fee for the Championship:

  • For Pilots.
  • For Teams Leaders and Assistants.
  • What is included in Entry Fee.

Reminder: See Section 7 Common 5.1.2 for the minimum expected to be included in the Entry Fee.

Define what will be optional or subject to additional charges, such as tow fees, retrieve, lunch packs, equipment hire, etc.

12. Test Event

  • Dates of Test Event.
  • Pilot qualifications (open selection or specific criteria if any).
  • Entry fee for Pilots, Teams Leaders and Assistants.
  • What is included in Entry Fee. (see 11. above)

Reminder:

See Section 7 Common 2.4.5 and 12.1.1 for general requirements.

See Section 7 Common 12.3.1 for the minimum International Participation required.

13. Launch sites

Add general comments on suitability of sites for proposed event, competition history, accessibility, availability, permission for use.

For each site, list:

  • Take-off direction(s).
  • Height above valley.
  • Configuration, surface, size of take-offs and rigging/preparation areas.
  • Number of ramps.
  • Hazards (cables, pylons, trees, etc.).
  • Facilities (car park, shelter/shade, water, refreshments, toilets, etc.). 

For winch/aero tow sites:

  • Airfield details, size, wind directions, facilities, etc.

For Accuracy:

  • Height difference between take off and target area.

For Aerobatic:

  • Height above water when reaching the flying ‘box’.

14. Distance/access to launch site(s)

  • Road access: for cars or only 4-wheel drive vehicles or organisers trucks?
  • Cable car or mountain railway to take-off area?
  • Parking available part way up?
  • Organiser transport arrangements to sites.

For Accuracy and Aerobatic:

  • Shuttle time from the landing area to take-off area.

15. Task flying area XE "Task flying area"

  • Type and suitability of terrain.
  • Unlandable and built up areas difficult to avoid.
  • Suitable goal landing fields and height AMSL.
  • Suitable ‘bomb-out’ .
  • Local road quality for retrieves, road traffic problems.
  • Any prohibited flying or landing areas.
  • Include a map or a link to an online map showing airspace, turnpoints, major features, typical tasks (see Annexe A).

For Accuracy and Aerobatics:

  • Target location and specificities.

16. Airspace XE "Airspace"

  • Free to what height above take-off and task flying areas?
  • What limitations? Restricted/prohibited areas?
  • What permission or exclusions required? How likely to be granted?
  • Frontier crossing arrangements?

17. Weather

  • Details of any sites prone to low clouds, possibility of wave or foehn, best time of day for thermal upslope, possibility of residual lift late in the afternoon, known turbulence areas.
  • Weather data and type of conditions to expect during the period selected for the event.
  • Recommended maximum wind speed: on launch and for task flying.

18. Meteorology XE "Meteorology"

  • What arrangements will be in place for daily forecasts during the event and the relevant experience of the forecaster.
  • Details of satellite weather monitoring, most reliable web resources for forecasts, automatic wind station monitoring, webcams, etc.

19. Transport XE "Retrieves"

  • Details of transport provided to launch, organisation vehicles, vehicles to be provided by competi­tors, etc.
  • How retrieve/check-in will be organised.

20. Safety issues

In general:

  • Local meteorological conditions (areas of rotor, strong valley winds, etc.) or local terrain features (pylons). 
  • Task setting/task style/scoring ideas to compensate.
  • Comments on pilot qualifications/skill levels required.
  • Details of any fatalities or serious accidents on the site or in the task flying area in the past 5 years.

21. Rescue XE "Rescue" /Medical Services

  • Information on experience of on-site doctor/paramedic, first aid arrangements, medical first response in tasks area.
  • Helicopter availability including response times.
  • Helicopter landing space for each site.

22. Safety Management Plan

States here what your safety management plan will be.

Reminder:

FAI has published ‘Guidelines in the event of a casualty or of a serious accident’. Please be aware of this document and its sections:

  • Advise Regional ATC Centre and also local ATC organisation.
  • Raise NOTAM.
  • Insurance to cover liability, rescue charges, etc.
  • Advise local police.
  • Advise local ambulance, hospital and other medical services.
  • Arrange medical doctor rota to cover the event also to cover any post-mortem
  • examination and inquest.
  • Arrange site facilities, including a control room and incident room.
  • Appoint officials: Event Director and Deputy Director, Event Safety Officer, Public Relations Officer.
  • Investigate laws, rules and procedures that apply at the event site or sites, for accidents, injuries, fatalities and air accidents.
  • Make plans for dealing with accidents and incidents: release of names, control actions, incident log, official statements after the event, immediate actions, follow-up actions, dealing with press and media, witnesses, details of injured or deceased, National accident investigation procedures, continuance of event, facilities for victim’s team, report to FAI; Injury, illness or death of participants or spectators.

23. Transmissions

  • Radio XE "Radios" s: details including any restriction on frequencies or types of radio, particularly 2m, and any licence requirements.
  • Mobile/Cell ‘Phone Coverage: availability of local SIM cards. Details of best network coverage within the competition area.

24. Liaison with police, military, public services

  • Their familiarity with this type of event. Past experience? Assistance expected?

25. Insurance XE "Insurance"

  • Insurance requirements pilots will be required to provide (third party, personal, repatriation…).
  • Detail of what will be available to be purchased on site.
  • Details of Organisers’ Liability cover for the event (including public liability and CIVL officials).

Reminder:

The LOC must arrange insurance coverage in an adequate amount in connection with the event including public liability insurance meeting the applicable legal specifications. This coverage must be presented to the FAI at the earliest opportunity.

The FAI, its respective directors, employees and assigned event Personnel must be designated as additional insured parties for liability claims.

26. Event Headquarters XE "Headquarters"

  • Location and size of rooms for briefings, registration, equipment checks.
  • Office facilities: AV equipment, office equipment, communication systems (phones, wifi, etc.).
  • Internet access available for Officials.
  • Internet access available for competitors.

27. Local facilities

  • General outline of availability and average prices of hotels, camping sites, apartments and other accommodation.
  • Proximity from event HQ of: car hire, shops, restaurants/bars, repair facilities, etc.

28. Competition website

  • Outline of the anticipated website design/content, which should be the main means of disseminating information about the championship.
  • Confirm that this will be in place prior to the test event, and updated prior to the main event, with all relevant information, at least 6 months before the start of the event.
  • An interactive online registration and payment facility is desirable.

29. Visas, Vaccinations

  • Will any FAI member be refused entry to the country?
  • Details of visas required for visitors from FAI member nations.
  • Details of any vaccinations recom­mended for competitors (or provide web addresses for information).

30. Early arrivals:

  • State any date before which competitors should not arrive.
  • Give details of arrangements for pilots if early arrival is possible (access to launch, etc.).

31. Customs and equipment importation:

  • Information on custom arrangements for temporary importation of gliders and other competition equipment. If necessary, customs at main entry points for the event should be informed of the nature of equipment that will accompany pilots.
  • List entry points that have already been contacted or notified.

32. Medals, etc.

Medals and diplomas will be provided for free by CIVL, but transportation and custom are paid by the organisers.

  • State here if there are any other forms of recognition or prizes.

33. Media coverage, merchandising

  • Outline of plans to promote the event.
  • Media coverage planned before, during and after the event.
  • Facilities for spectators (virtual and physical).
  • Filming/video opportunities.

Reminder:

Coverage produced by LOC or local partners may have to be provided to FAI for international use without any rights restrictions, limitations and costs. FAI retains the right to use any audiovisual coverage of the event without limitation in space or time.

Are also subject to FAI regulation as per Organiser Agreement (obtainable on request at FAI): international distribution; merchandising and hospitality rights; intellectual property, FAI marks and exposure, event logo, mascot…

34. Sponsorship

  • Secured or expected sponsors if any.

Reminder:

If the FAI requests exposure and the LOC has a specific possibility to secure event sponsors of the same products or services categories as the FAI main partners for a major sponsor position, FAI shall be contacted in order to agree on a solution.

FAI shall exercise its right up to 6 months prior to the event. Before this time limit, the LOC may ask the FAI to grant full release from this obligation or to specify which categories have to be reserved.

35. Finance

  • Anticipated sources of finance (local, government, sports authorities, NAC, etc.) and percentage of budget expected from pilot entry fees.
  • Provide an outline budget (see Annexe C)

36. Any additional information in support of the bid:

Name:

Position in Organisation:

Date:

Signed:

Annexe B – Support Documentation


  1. Letter of support from the NAC or delegated entity.
  2. Letter of information from the delegated entity to the NAC (if applicable).
  3. Letter of support from the local authorities.
  4. Map of the area.

Annexe C – Budget

See the Excel file. https://www.fai.org/sites/default/files/civl/documents/cat_1_budget_annexe_c_-_v2018.xls

Big Support for Big Spring

May 21, 2018, 12:47:49 pm CDT GMT-0500

Cloudbase Foundation adds $1000

Big Spring 2018|Cloudbase Foundation|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2017|Ken Millard|Quest Air|US Nationals 2018

https://www.thecloudbasefoundation.org/campaign/assist-big-spring-texas-foster-care-children#donations

Today, the Cloudbase Foundation donated $1,000 to our campaign to pay back the people of Big Spring for all their support for hang gliding. In addition, Ken Millard sent us $100 along with his entry fee for the Big Spring Nationals, to help pay back for our losses at the Green Swamp Sport Klassic. Since those losses were already paid back, due to profit from the Quest Air Nationals, we just donated his kind contribution to the Assist Big Spring, Texas Children in Foster Care campaign.

Yes, we are now at $6,155, well over our arbitrary goal of $5,000.

2018 Quest Air Nationals »

Sun, Apr 22 2018, 9:14:28 am EDT

The podium

Andrey Solomykin|Bruce Barmakian|Christian Ciech|competition|Corinna Schwiegershausen|Evgeniya "Zhenya" Laritskaya|Glen Volk|John Simon|Jon "Jonny" Durand jnr|Krzysztof "Krys/Kris" Grzyb|Makbule Baldik Le Fay|photo|Quest Air|Quest Air Nationals 2018|Sara Weaver|Zac Majors

https://airtribune.com/2018-quest-air-national-series/results

The Sport Class top three:

2018 Quest Air Nationals Sport Class top three: Andrey Solomykin, Charles Cozean, Rod Regier

Andrey Solomykin, Charles Cozean, and Rod Regier. Sara Weaver was the first place woman.

Final Results:

# Name Glider Total
1 Andrey Solomykin Aeros Discus 14 1822
2 Charles Cozean Wills Wing U2 145 1576
3 Rod Regier Moyes Litesport 4 1540
4 James Race Wills Wing U2 160 1472
5 Sara Weaver Wills Wing Sport 3 135 1434
6 Douglas Hale Moyes Gecko 155 1276
7 Makbule Baldik Le Fay Aeros Discus 13B 1269
8 Nick Jones Wills Wing U2 145 1208
9 Rich Reinauer Wills Wing U2 145 1119
10 Lee Silver Wills Wing U2 160 1105

The Open Class top three:

2018 Quest Air Nationals Open Class top three: Zac Majors, Christian Ciech, John Simon

Zac Majors, Christian Ciech, John Simon. Corinna Schwiegershausen was the top finishing woman.

The final results:

# Name Glider Total
1 Zac Majors Wills Wing T2C 144 3004
2 Christian Ciech Icaro 2000 Laminar 14.1 2968
3 John Simon Aeros Combat C 12.7 2625
4 Sandy Dittmar Wills Wing T2C 144 2624
5 Jonny Durand Moyes RX 3.5 Pro 2619
6 Alvaro Figueiredo Sandoli Ww T2C 144 2528
7 Bruce Barmakian Aeros Combat 12.7 2497
8 Glen Volk Moyes RX 3.5 2457
9 Krzysztof Grzyb Moyes RX 3.5 Pro 2373
10 Malcolm Brown Wills Wing T2C 144 2298

Sandy Ditmar, one point behind John Simon. It was so great to see Sandy here from Venezuela. It's been too long.

Photos by Evgeniya Laritskaya.

2018 Quest Air Nationals »

Sat, Apr 21 2018, 8:14:52 am EDT

The happy pilots

Alejandro Riera|Andrey Solomykin|Bruce Barmakian|Charles Allen|Christian Ciech|Corinna Schwiegershausen|Davis Straub|Fabiano Nahoum|Fred Kaemerer|Gary Anderson|Glen Volk|Greg Dinauer|Jeff Chipman|Jim Messina|John Simon|Jon "Jonny" Durand jnr|Ken Kinzie|Kevin Carter|Konrad Heilmann|Krzysztof "Krys/Kris" Grzyb|Larry Bunner|Makbule Baldik Le Fay|Mark Bourbonnais|Mike Glennon|Patrick Kruse|Phill Bloom|Quest Air|Quest Air Nationals 2018|Raul Guerra|Richard Lovelace|Roger Irby|Sara Weaver|Tullio Gervasoni|Tyler Borradaile|Zac Majors

Joerg Bajewski's photo of all of us:

All the happy pilots at the 2018 Quest Air Nationals. May include, but not limited to: Adam Smith, Adrian Sanchez, Adriano Sorci, Alejandro Riera, Alessandro Silva, Alfredo Grey, Alipio Loyola, Alvaro Figueiredo Sandoli, Andrey Solomykin, Austin Marshall, Bill Comstock, Bill Vickery, Brian Vitola, Bruce Barmakian, Carl Wallbank, Carlos Alvarado, Charles Allen, Charles Cozean, Christian Ciech, Corinna Schwiegershausen, Dan Lukaszewicz, David Aldrich, David Hayner, David Whittle, Davis Straub, Derreck Turner, Douglas Hale, enrique arriaga, Eric Williams, Erico Oliveira, Fabiano Nahoum, Fabio Thomaz, Fred Kaemerer, Gary Anderson, Giovani Tagliari, Glen Volk, Greg Dinauer, Greg Sessa, Hollidge Andrew, James Race, James Yocom, JD Guillemette, Jeff Chipman, Jim Messina, Joerg Bajewski, John Blank, John Maloney, John Simon, Jonny Durand, Jose Paulo Tavares, Jose Sandoval, Ken Kinzie, Kevin Carter, Kevin Dutt, Kevin Kernohan, Konrad Heilmann, Krzysztof Grzyb, Larry Bunner, Lee Silver, Makbule Baldik Le Fay, Malcolm Brown, Marcello Pereira, Marcelo Alexandre Menin, Mark Bourbonnais, Michael Duffy, Michael Williams, Mick Howard, Miguel Molina, Mike Glennon, Misael Rosalez, Nick Jones, Patrick Kruse, Patrick Pannese, Patrick Ruber, Pedro L. Garcia, Peter Kelley, Peter Suchanek, Philippe Michaud, Phill Bloom, Raul Guerra, Ricardo Ricky, Ricardo Vassmer, Rich Cizauskas, Rich Reinauer, Richard lovelace, Richard Milla, Rick Maddy, Rob Dallas, Robert Clarkson, Rod Regier, Rodrigo Russek, Roger Irby, Sandy Dittmar, Sara Weaver, Sergey Kataev, Soraya Rios, Stephan Mentler, Steve Hogan, Tullio Gervasoni, Tyler Borradaile, Will Ramsey, William Baker, Zac Majors

The photo is live.

Discuss "2018 Quest Air Nationals" at the Oz Report forum   link»  

2018 Quest Air Nationals »

Results from day six, task 4

Fri, Apr 20 2018, 11:58:13 pm EDT

A.I.R. ATOS VR|Andrey Solomykin|Bruce Barmakian|Christian Ciech|competition|Davis Straub|Fred Kaemerer|Glen Volk|Jon "Jonny" Durand jnr|Krzysztof "Krys/Kris" Grzyb|Larry Bunner|Makbule Baldik Le Fay|Phill Bloom|Quest Air|Quest Air Nationals 2018|Richard Lovelace|Sara Weaver|Zac Majors

https://airtribune.com/2018-quest-air-national-series/results

Task 4:

Name Glider SS ES Time Total
1 Christian Ciech Icaro 2000 Laminar 14.1 13:30:00 16:09:48 02:39:48 877
2 Zac Majors Wills Wing T2C 144 14:10:00 16:34:49 02:24:49 860
3 Alvaro Figueiredo Sandoli Ww T2C 144 13:50:00 16:34:55 02:44:55 729
3 Jonny Durand Moyes RX 3.5 Pro 13:50:00 16:35:06 02:45:06 729
5 Malcolm Brown Wills Wing T2C 144 13:50:00 16:36:11 02:46:11 720
6 Sandy Dittmar Wills Wing T2C 144 13:50:00 16:41:14 02:51:14 694
7 Bruce Barmakian Aeros Combat 12.7 13:30:00 16:34:49 03:04:49 687
8 Carl Wallbank Moyes RX 3.5 13:30:00 16:35:00 03:05:00 685
9 Kevin Dutt Aeros Combat 13.1 13:30:00 16:35:01 03:05:01 681
10 Glen Volk Moyes RX 3.5 13:50:00 16:43:49 02:53:49 675
11 Krzysztof Grzyb Moyes RX 3.5 Pro 13:50:00 16:43:53 02:53:53 674
12 Larry Bunner Wills Wing T2C 144 13:30:00 16:35:06 03:05:06 673
13 Phill Bloom Moyes RX 3.5 13:30:00 16:37:22 03:07:22 646
14 Davis Straub Wills Wing T2C 144 13:30:00 16:45:08 03:15:08 620
15 Richard Lovelace Wills Wing T2C 144 Carbon 13:30:00 16:46:58 03:16:58 614

Sport Task 4:

# Name Glider Time Total
1 James Race Wills Wing U2 160 01:38:00 985
2 Douglas Hale Moyes Gecko 155 01:40:33 935
3 Makbule Baldik Le Fay Aeros Discus 13B 01:46:14 866
4 Andrey Solomykin Aeros Discus 14 01:50:45 822
5 Rod Regier Moyes Litesport 4 01:53:08 801
6 Charles Cozean Wills Wing U2 145 01:55:33 781
7 Sara Weaver Wills Wing Sport 3 135 01:56:02 777
8 Nick Jones Wills Wing U2 145 01:58:43 756
9 Rich Reinauer Wills Wing U2 145 01:59:53 747
10 Richard Milla Wills Wing U2 145 02:00:18 744
11 Ricardo Ricky Wills Wing T2C 01:37:41 700
12 Lee Silver Wills Wing U2 160 02:18:14 622

Rigid task 4:

# Name Glider Sponsor Time Distance Total
1 Fred Kaemerer Air Atos Vr Air Usa 03:03:53 126.60 995
2 Patrick Ruber A-I-R Atos Vr A-I-R 03:04:08 126.60 992
3 James Yocom Air Atos Vr 10 My Beautiful Wife! 75.82 326

Rigid final results (they all left early Saturday morning):

# Name Glider Total
1 Patrick Ruber A-I-R Atos Vr 2509
2 Fred Kaemerer Air Atos Vr 2263
3 James Yocom Air Atos Vr 10 1875

Cross Country Bohl updated

Wed, Sep 27 2017, 10:25:04 am MDT

More resources

Jeffrey "Jeff" Lawrence Bohl|Makbule Baldik Le Fay|Robin Hamilton

Tiki at «Tiki at» writes:

October 7, 8 & 9 (Columbus Day Weekend) the Cross Country Bohl Celebration is happening again this year; Summer-to-Fall Texas Cross Country flying. All are invited to come join us for three days of fun Cross Country flying, food, music and overall merriment at Cowboy Up. Robin Hamilton will be giving a lecture on Cross Country flying then setting a flight task. Whether you're a newbie, seasoned or somewhere in between, it’s all about celebrating and fun flying.

This is a potluck so everyone contributes and we always have more food then we can shake-a-stick-at. We’ll fire up the grill, the margarita machine and put the karaoke on the big screen and loud speakers. So bring your dancing shoes. But wait there’s more. The Wills Wing crew (Zac, Majo, Dave and Wolfi) will be joining the celebration and bringing the awesome new Easy Flyer and if we’re lucky maybe Makbule and Zac will entertain us with their fire dancing.

Oh, but wait, there are even more happenings. On Saturday night we South Texans will honor one of our own - Robin Hamilton - for his contribution to our local flying and a special recognition for his stellar performance at the 2017 Worlds.

Camping (car, tent, RV or throw your sleeping bag on the ground), showers, restrooms will be available. There are also several hotels close by, ranging from Holiday Inn Express to American Value.

If you have any questions, contact us: email: «Tiki at» or call or text Cowboy Up at (832) 740-2004

2017 Midwest, Vlog 3 »

June 16, 2017, 8:21:47 MST -0600

2017 Midwest, Vlog 3

After the first day of competition

Midwest Championships 2017|video

https://youtu.be/nv2tySnyPos

This video covers the winners of task 1 and pilot briefing for task 2 (which was canceled due to low/weak lift and high winds).

2017 Midwest, Vlog 2 »

June 15, 2017, 7:57:13 MST -0600

2017 Midwest, Vlog 2

The first day of competition

Midwest Championships 2017|video

https://youtu.be/oNlYpOfHkc8

2017 Midwest, Vlog 1 »

June 14, 2017, 7:06:53 MST -0600

2017 Midwest, Vlog 1

Wills Wing's turn to log it

Midwest Championships 2017|video

https://youtu.be/yZREHtibq0Y

2017 Midwest, a video look »

June 13, 2017, 6:54:22 pm CST -0500

2017 Midwest, a video look

A look around

Midwest Championships 2017|video

https://youtu.be/32ko6enNiJ8

2017 Midwest, my thoughts »

June 13, 2017, 8:48:59 CST -0500

2017 Midwest, my thoughts

Two weeks in Wisconsin

Midwest Championships 2017

We loved being and flying in Wisconsin. It was a wonderful week of competition flying. Eastern Wisconsin is so beautiful and there are landing areas everywhere so you are completely comfortable flying anywhere.

Flying started out a week before the competition on a very weak Saturday after a strong rain storm the previous day. I sure was hoping that we wouldn't have the situation of eighty pilots hanging together in a very weak thermal like the ones we experienced that day. Thankfully that didn't happen during the competition even when we had a weak day or two. There was plenty of room and numerous thermals so that everyone kept out of everyone else's space.

The area around Whitewater is dotted with lakes, small patches of forest and open farm lands. Because of the cold and wet Spring the corn fields were often not planted yet and if they were the corn was only two or three inches high. There were plenty of grass/hay fields with low growth also. One day I did land in a soybean field with the plants just sticking their leaves out of the ground.

Three days before the competition we again had good flying conditions and two days before the competition we had epic conditions which very robust lift and light winds. I had plenty of opportunities to try out various combinations of varios to see what I liked about each one. I'll be reporting more on that later.

With a high level of participation, far beyond what the organizers expected, there were plenty of skilled pilots and tough competition to liven up the meet. We flew in all directions and conditions from a day when almost everyone had to relight to cu filled skies with thermals wherever you went. I really loved the times that I got low and had to dig my way out of whatever I had managed to get myself into.

In my opinion there is no point in flying, if you are flying alone without a goal. I want to fly with others who are striving to do their best. The closer the better and the more helpful the better.

I'm hoping that we all come back to Whitewater next year.

2017 Midwest, the organizers' thoughts »

June 12, 2017, 6:14:35 CST -0500

2017 Midwest, the organizers' thoughts

At least Greg Dinauer's

Dragonfly|Facebook|Greg Dinauer|Jamie Shelden|Midwest Championships 2017|weather

Greg Dinauer <<gdinauer>> writes:

Organizing a major sanctioned hang gliding competition is something that Larry, Kris and I have always talked about and, indeed have attempted in the past. Plagued by low turnouts, and of course, the always dubious weather up here in the Midwest, we just lost interest.

This year we finally decided to give it another go. With the lack of sanctioned competitions, due to the complexity of negotiating the minefield of insurance imperatives, and the huge gap in years of having any large scale events like this, we agreed it was a perfect storm of wide open doors.

In October we started drawing up plans. Since then every door has opened, even though the insurance hurtle almost discouraged us out of it. We always had the back-up plan that if only 20-25 pilots signed up and we skimped on everything, we could just pull it off without having to dig too deeply into our new glider funds.

So when after merely five days of the event registration being open, I received a late night call from Larry and Kris confirming that we had 60 registered pilots, I felt like the co-inventor of some unique product that just went nationwide overnight.

Of course we had to have another meeting at Larry’s home (the geographical midpoint) to access what to do about the monster we created. We wanted to limit it to 60, but before we knew it there were 80 pilots registered. So we had to draw a sharp line in the form of strict deadlines to control every ones flying sickness for this event. The glee we shared with the break in the really gloomy weather in the upper Midwest over the prior month well; it was just another of those open doors which seemed as inexplicable as Kris’s “need” to schedule during a full moon. If he is silently gloating, he deserves to be.

In as much as we considered every contingency, now that the competition is over, there were weak places; places that we could have better addressed, had we not also been competitors ourselves. Better communication with the launch process volunteer staff, management of civilities like: the portable bathrooms and waste containers, and the damp condition of the ground, particularly on the first day, are among them.

With all that, the pilots’ response was overwhelmingly positive, and while the soaring was not particularly epic, we did have one or two good days along with some challenging ones.

I really want to say that the three of us never scuffled with each other over decisions or ideas (often done over Larry’s favorite beer), in spite of the daunting insurance mitigation forms that Larry labored endlessly over. Our individual tasks in this came about more or less naturally; just three flying buddies cooperating to make a bigger dream happen.

We want to again thank everyone including the pilots, tug pilots, all the selfless volunteers, and the (more than patient) local pilot community for participating in what we feel was a bit more like what these events use to be. I, for one, while watching Rhett’s vivid green dragonfly depart this morning couldn’t help but feel a bit sad to see it end.

Will we do it again next year? We’ll see. A lot of the busy work is done and as with Jamie, Davis and other organizers in the past, we have learned a lot.

2017 Midwest, day 7, the podiums »

June 10, 2017, 4:11:31 pm CST -0500

2017 Midwest, day 7, the podiums

Simon and Myrkle win

competition|Midwest Championships 2017

https://airtribune.com/midwest-2017/results

2017 Midwest, day 7 »

June 10, 2017, 4:05:59 pm CST -0500

2017 Midwest, day 7

It blows

Facebook|Midwest Championships 2017

https://www.facebook.com/groups/456553944685782/permalink/472285089779334/

The forecast was correct (we knew three days in advance):

NWS forecast: Sunny, with a high near 89. Windy, with a southwest wind 10 to 15 mph increasing to 20 to 25 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 40 mph.

Hourly shows southwest surface winds at 21 mph at noon gusting to 31 mph, rising to 24 mph gusting to 38 mph at 3 PM then slowly decreasing. Forecast for 8 AM – 10 mph.

NAM 3 forecast:

1 PM:

Lift: 500 fpm
TOL: 4,300’
Cloudbase: No cu’s
Surface winds: southwest 24 mph
TOL wind: southwest 40 mph

4 PM:

Lift: 500 fpm
TOL: 4,300’
Cloudbase: No cu’s
Surface winds: southwest 24 mph
TOL wind: southwest 42 mph

The day was cancelled because of the high winds.

2017 Midwest, day 6, task 5 »

June 9, 2017, 10:57:55 pm CST -0500

2017 Midwest, day 6, task 5

The luck can be good or bad

Bruce Barmakian|Facebook|Flytec 6030|Greg Dinauer|James Stinnett|John Simon|Midwest Championships 2017|Niki Longshore|Raul Guerra|video|Zac Majors

Zac Majors called a task to the east given the west winds.

Here is the forecast for the day:

NWS forecast: Mostly sunny, with a high near 81. Northwest wind 5 to 10 mph.

Hourly shows north northwest surface winds at 9 mph.

NAM 3 forecast:

1 PM:

Lift: 500 fpm
TOL: 3,600’ (RAP 13 – 5,000’)
Cloudbase: No cu’s
Surface winds: northwest 8 mph
TOL wind: northwest 16 mph

4 PM:

Lift: 600 fpm TOL: 5,000’
Cloudbase: No cu’s or cu’s at 5,600’
Surface winds: northwest 5 mph
TOL wind: west northwest 12 mph

Op40:

TOL: 5,000’
55 degrees
North northwest wind 6 – 10 mph
Reasonable chance of cu’s
Winds move to more westerly later in the day

The cu's were forming as we got pulled up into the air at 1:20 PM. The lift was weak under the cu's but we just held on and climbed slowly getting up to cloud base which was low at 5,000' as forecasted.

Up and down in the weak lift as we tried to stay near cloudbase. I lost track of the time for a few minutes and then realized I was out of place as the start window approached. Found 300 fpm and climbed back to over 5,000' but I was three kilometers from the edge of the start cylinder when the window opened.

Niki was right under me and I told her that I was going to take the first start clock despite being way behind. She decided to wait for the next start window.

I figured that I could use the pilots ahead to mark the thermals and if they slowed down I could catch them.

There was a cu-filled sky to the southeast but quite a ways off the course line to the north. I followed behind the lead gaggle until I lost most of them by the third thermal. The lift was still weak for me and I'd gain 1,000' before running off to the next one as I got near cloud base.

After climbing to 4,900' in the third thermal it was clear that I would have to venture out into the blue to the south to get near the course line and because basically there were no more cu's any where near the direction to the first turnpoint. Raul Guerra had joined me and we spread out looking for little forming wispies.

We found one but it provided only 129 fpm to 4,800'. We headed due south to the next forming wispies and down to 1,400' AGL and after searching around we connected. This thermal was almost 300 fpm and we hung on until 6,400'. The wind was perfect and we drifted right to the turnpoint as we climbed.

Greg Dinauer had come in under us. We heard later that he had lost his flight instrument and was relying on us to tell him where the lift was. He was circling right with us and climbing right with us even though we would have been very hard for him to see.

It was a short glide to the next turnpoint at Burlington airport and while there were little bits of lift we didn't stay but for a few turns before heading to the Bong turnpoint to the southeast. We probably should have worked the available lift a bit more and gained some altitude, but the cu's ahead looked good as did the dry fields below them.

Soon I was on search mode big time. I had lost track of Raul and needed any lift to keep me in the air. Heading over a series of drier fields I felt a little bump. I pushed back upwind into the 7 mph northwest wind and the lift improved. It was weak and broken at first but I was going up from 800' AGL.

I gained about 1,000' and then James Stinnett came in under me at 350' AGL. He was very happy to see me going up. We climbed to 5,100' at almost 300 fpm on average and again drifted toward the turnpoint to the east.

I noticed that a number of pilots who were ahead of us had landed out. As James and I topped out I saw Raul about a 1,000' below us heading for the goal. My 6030 said we had goal by over 1,000' so James and I went on glide.

It's 20 kilometers to the goal but there is a 2km goal cylinder to keep us away from the airfield as it is a drop zone.

There were no clouds a little past the turnpoint at Bong so I was a little cautious at first. Then sped up as I saw that my glide ratio greatly exceeded the required glide ratio and I was not hitting any big sink. It was a breeze making it into goal.

As I worked my way down from 1,000' AGL I noticed that the pilot before me landed going east. The wind had been out of the west or northwest the whole flight. I wondered what's going on.

I had not looked out to the east to see Lake Michigan. There was a sea breeze and that is why all the guys in the first gaggle other than John Simon and Bruce Barmakian are on the ground (or so it appears). James and I got high at the turnpoint, higher than most pilots so we had no problem dealing with the sea breeze.

Zac talks about his flight here: https://www.facebook.com/zacmajors/videos/vb.584324602/10155349211799603/?type=2&theater

2017 Midwest, day 6, task 5 »

June 9, 2017, 8:09:29 pm CST -0500

2017 Midwest, day 6, task 5

Looks like five competition days

Bart Weghorst|Bill Soderquist|Bruce Barmakian|competition|Davis Straub|Fabiano Nahoum|James Stinnett|John Simon|Kevin Carter|Konrad Heilmann|Lawrence "Pete" Lehmann|Midwest Championships 2017|Mike Degtoff|Moyes Litespeed RX|Niki Longshore|Pete Lehmann|Phill Bloom|Roger Irby

With Saturday predicted to be too windy it looks like Friday is the last competition day.

Niki on launch:
Niki launching
Photo by Mike Degtoff.

https://airtribune.com/midwest-2017/results

Task 5:

# Name Glider Time Total
1 John Simon Aeros Combat C 12.7 01:16:23 954
2 Bruce Barmakian Icaro Laminar 13.2 01:21:44 881
3 Kevin Carter Wills Wing T2C 01:22:16 874
4 Phill Bloom Moyes RX 3.5 01:15:55 853
5 Reinaldo Niella WillsWing T2C144 01:25:46 837
5 Bill Soderquist Moyes RX3.5 01:25:27 837
7 Robert Dallas Wills Wing T2C 154 01:27:00 815
8 Patrick Pannese Wills Wing T2C 154 01:28:45 807
9 James Stinnett Wills Wing T2C 01:19:38 797
10 Luke Waters Wills Wing T2 154 01:35:34 749
11 Fabiano Nahoum Icaro Laminar 14.1 01:36:05 740
12 Niki Longshore Moyes LSRX 3.5 PRO 01:26:40 736
13 Bart Weghorst Wills Wing 154 T2C 01:35:47 726
14 Roger Irby Wills Wing T2C 154 01:38:41 720
15 Konrad Heilmann Moyes Litespeed RX3.5 Technora 01:30:18 712
16 Davis Straub Wills Wing T2C 01:40:26 698
17 Alfredo Cabezas Moyes RX 01:41:28 687
18 Rich Cizauskas Aeros Combat 01:54:34 642
19 Pete Lehmann Wills Wing T2-154 01:44:53 630
20 JD Guillemette Moyes Litespeed RX3.5 01:55:09 599
21 Bill Comstock Wills Wing T2 02:05:54 544

2017 Midwest, day 5, task 4 »

June 8, 2017, 7:56:05 pm CST -0500

2017 Midwest, day 5, task 4

Many Brazilian pilots here

Bruce Barmakian|cart|Derrick Turner|Fabiano Nahoum|Glen Volk|John Simon|Jon "Jonny" Durand jnr|Krzysztof "Krys/Kris" Grzyb|Lawrence "Pete" Lehmann|Mark Dowsett|Midwest Championships 2017|Mike Degtoff|Moyes Litespeed RX|Niki Longshore|Pete Lehmann|Robin Hamilton|Rohan Taylor|Sara Weaver|Steve Rewolinski|Zac Majors

Photo by Mike Degtoff.

The forecast for the day:

NWS forecast: Increasing clouds, with a high near 79. Light west wind becoming southwest 5 to 10 mph in the morning.

Hourly forecast is for a 9 mph west southwest wind

There is a front to our west.

NAM 3 forecast:

1 PM:

Lift: 600 fpm
TOL: 6,000’
Cloudbase: No cu’s
Surface wind: southwest 10 mph
TOL wind: southwest 12 mph

4 PM:

Lift: 300 fpm
TOL: 5,000’
Cloudbase: No cu’s
Surface wind: southwest 11 mph
TOL wind: southwest 15 mph

With the approaching front, cirrus clouds could shut down the lift early.

OP40:

1 PM:

TOL: 5,000’
53 degrees
Southwest wind 7 - 8 mph
No cu’s

Four models show no lift at 5 PM, 2 (RAP 3 and HRRR 3) show good lift then.

The major feature is an approaching front. I have the task committee move the task up an hour so that we can have a better chance of flying before the front gets here. That proves to be an important change.

The cloud from the front are already encroaching upon us as we start launching at 12:20. I get towed up into no lift and only find a little before landing. A few pilots find the lift and a few more land for reflights.

Despite the nearby mid level clouds associated with the front pilots find lift and get up over 6,000'. Niki and I launch again and climb up to 3,000' AGL. Our thermal stops there and I go west to find more lift. Just as I leave the pilots upo wind of us circling low find lift and Niki heads for them Her radio doesn't work so she can't tell me what's up. I land soon. She gets up and goes on to take the second clock.

With the weak lift the pilots who take the second clock are able to quickly catch the pilots who took the first clock twenty minutes before them. Pilots are just working hard to stay up and drift to the northeast toward the turnpoint 39 kilometers away.

Only David Brito Filho is able to make goal at the East Troy airfield.

Task 4:

# Name Glider Time Distance Total
1 David Brito Filho Willswing T2Cx 144 02:12:20 76.15 991
2 Ollie Chitty Moyes Rx5 PRO   72.73 873
3 Robin Hamilton Moyes RX3.5   68.42 832
4 Alvaro Figueiredo Sandoli WW T2C144c   65.99 813
5 Fabiano Nahoum Icaro Laminar 14.1   65.00 803
6 Niki Longshore Moyes LSRX 3.5 PRO   63.60 784
7 Glen Volk Moyes RX 3.5   60.53 753
8 Krzysztof Grzyb Moyes Litespeed RX 3.5   56.45 725
9 Pete Lehmann Wills Wing T2-154   56.45 708
10 Bruce Barmakian Icaro Laminar 13.2   53.64 691

Cumulative:

# Name Glider Total
1 Ollie Chitty Moyes Rx5 PRO 3072
2 Alvaro Figueiredo Sandoli WW T2C144c 2970
3 Zac Majors Wills Wing T2C 154 2933
4 Glen Volk Moyes RX 3.5 2888
5 Robin Hamilton Moyes RX3.5 2884
6 Bruce Barmakian Icaro Laminar 13.2 2786
7 John Simon Aeros Combat C 12.7 2721
8 Jonny Durand Moyes LSRX 3.5 PRO 2670
8 Steve Rewolinski Icaro Z9 2670
10 Krzysztof Grzyb Moyes Litespeed RX 3.5 2638

Task 4:

# Name Glider Time Total
1 Sara Weaver Wills Wing Sport 2 135 00:51:17 971
2 Knut Ryerson Aeros Discus C 00:51:33 954
3 Rick Maddy Wills Wing U2 160 01:02:03 772
4 Richard Milla Wills Wing U2 145 01:03:48 751
5 Matt Pruett WW U2 145 01:03:52 750
6 Dan Lukaszewicz Wills Wing U2 01:06:06 724
7 Douglas Hale Moyes Gecko 01:12:26 659
8 Mark Dowsett Moyes Techno-Gecko 01:20:33 583
9 Greg Sessa Wills Wing U2 160 01:21:14 577
10 Ty Taylor Wills Wing U2 160 01:26:48 530
11 Kelly Myrkle Moyes Gecko 01:47:55 377

The pilots at the Sport Class goal:

Your editor coming out of the cart:

Photo by Mike Degtoff

Derrick Turner coming out of the cart:

Photo by Mike Degtoff.

The women at the Midwest 2017

Wed, Jun 7 2017, 10:44:01 pm MDT

A great representation

The women

Makbule Baldik Le Fay|Mike Degtoff|Niki Longshore|Sara Weaver|Tiki Mashy

Linda Salamone, Majo G Majors, Niki Longshore, Sara Weaver, Makbule Baldik Le Fay, Tiki Mashy

Thanks to Mike Degtoff.

Discuss "The women at the Midwest 2017" at the Oz Report forum   link»  

2017 Midwest, day 4, task 3 »

June 7, 2017, 11:18:56 pm CST -0500

2017 Midwest, day 4, task 3

Light winds

John Simon|Midwest Championships 2017

The task is a triangle with a 14 km start cylinder centered around Palmyra:

I was the first pilot to get towed up. Jim Prahl took me to the north and just barely inside the 14 km cylinder whose edge is just upwind of the launch. The wind was out of the east at about 10 mph, but I was able to stay near the start cylinder as I drifted west in each weak thermal.

I was alone and getting high slowly as other pilots struggled below me. Bart joined me and we climbed to 5,000'. Finally I found a good thermal and climbed to over 7,000'.

The launch was going well and other pilots were now in the air and climbing. I'd been been circling  for half an hour and now the cold was getting to me at 7,000'. I had the feeling that my hands (covered by thin gloves) were getting frostbit. I had half an hour to go.

Finally the window opened and half the field was ready to go from on high and at the edge. Ollie and Zac were a bit higher and out in front the rest of us were chasing.

Majors, Chitty, Bunner, Straub, Simon, Weghorst, Guerra, Volk and Dinauer were in the lead as we go on an 11 km glide into the blue. There had been a few wispies near the launch and the edge of the start cylinder which provided us the visual clues to the thermal that got us high at the start. Now there were no cu's ahead.

We were heading for a good sized lake which would kill the lift if we were on the downwind side of it. We were heading for a turnpoint at the south end of the lake. Half way there we found a thermal in the blue. It averaged over 400 fpm and that got us back over 6,500' before we raced ahead to the west.

No lift on the way to the turnpoint. We turned around at 2,900' AGL and headed into the wind with Majors, Simon, Chitty and Bunner out in front. They weren't hitting anything. It did not look good. Zac was just flying straight.

We were heading for three small lakes, not some nice open brown baking fields. Zac went right over the northern most lake and kept on going. Chitty, a few hundred meters behind Zac turned over a brown field and Zac immediately turned around to come back.

Raul and I found lift a little further back as we were down to 1,100'. Bunner was turning a little further south down to about 600' AGL. We all came together except Larry who had to stay in what he had. Chitty, Majors, Guerra, Volk, Simon, and Straub all climbed up together and then headed out at 5,000' with Chitty in the lead.

It's only 6 km when we find 400+ fpm to 6,500'. All six of us plus Bart get up, then Chitty headed out in front.

I followed Majors to the northeast while every else followed Chitty to the east. Unfortunately I missed the thermal that he found and had to go searching on my own which slowed me down a bit.

It got slow for every one as we approached the turnpoint at Lakeland.  I hooked up with John Simon. Majors and Chitty jumped ahead and got around the turnpoint first with Chitty in the lead.

Once we made the turnpoint it was an easy flight back to the flight park.

2017 Midwest, day 3, task 2 »

June 6, 2017, 10:32:59 pm CST -0500

2017 Midwest, day 3, task 2

The results

André Wolfe|competition|James Stinnett|John Simon|Jon "Jonny" Durand jnr|Kevin Carter|Krzysztof "Krys/Kris" Grzyb|Larry Bunner|Mark Dowsett|Midwest Championships 2017|Moyes Litespeed RX|Robin Hamilton|Rohan Taylor|Sara Weaver|Steve Rewolinski|Zac Majors

https://airtribune.com/midwest-2017/results

Task 2:

# Name Glider Time Total
1 Zac Majors Wills Wing T2C 154 02:04:27 916
2 John Simon Aeros Combat C 12.7 02:17:56 857
3 Alvaro Figueiredo Sandoli Wills Wing T2C144 02:20:39 851
4 James Stinnett Wills Wing T2C 02:20:35 850
5 Robin Hamilton Moyes RX3.5 02:13:44 839
6 Larry Bunner Wills Wing T2C 144 02:20:49 827
7 Kevin Carter Wills Wing T2C 02:14:16 822
8 Ollie Chitty Moyes RX 5 02:23:38 803
9 JD Guillemette Moyes Litespeed RX3.5 02:18:19 783
10 Andre Wolf Moyes Litespeed RX 3,5 PRO 02:24:00 779

Cumulative:

# Name Glider Total
1 John Simon Aeros Combat C 12.7 1460
2 Alvaro Figueiredo Sandoli WW T2C144c 1449
3 Steve Rewolinski Icaro Z9 1448
4 Andre Wolf Moyes litespeed RX 3,5 PRO 1442
5 James Stinnett Wills Wing T2C 1407
6 Robin Hamilton Moyes RX3.5 1362
7 Zac Majors Wills Wing T2C 154 1353
8 Jonny Durand Moyes LSRX 3.5 PRO 1324
9 Ollie Chitty Moyes Rx5 1304
10 Krzysztof Grzyb Moyes Litespeed RX 3.5 1206

Task 2:

# Name Glider Time Total
1 Greg Sessa Wills Wing U2 160 01:39:42 1000
2 Erik Grabowski Wills Wing U2 145 01:40:17 978
3 Ty Taylor Wills Wing U2 160 01:43:18 927
4 Rick Maddy Wills Wing U2 160 01:43:39 922
5 Ricardo Vassmer Bautek Fizz 01:51:05 842
6 Mark Dowsett Moyes Techno-Gecko 01:55:31 803
7 Knut Ryerson Aeros Discus C 01:56:17 797
8 Charles Cozean Wills Wing Sport 2 02:01:48 754
9 Richard Milla Wills Wing Sport2 155 02:07:58 710

Cumulative:

# Name Glider Total
1 Greg Sessa Wills Wing U2 160 1405
2 Mark Dowsett Moyes Techno-Gecko 1141
3 Erik Grabowski Wills Wing U2 145 1102
4 Charles Cozean Wills Wing Sport 2 1074
5 Rick Maddy Wills Wing U2 160 1064
6 Ty Taylor Wills Wing U2 160 1045
7 Ricardo Vassmer Bautek Fizz 960
8 Richard Milla Wills Wing Sport2 155 937
9 Knut Ryerson Aeros Discus C 915
10 Sara Weaver Wills Wing Sport 2 135 524

2017 Midwest, day 3, task 2 »

June 6, 2017, 10:00:27 pm CST -0500

2017 Midwest, day 3, task 2

A sky full of cu's

Greg Dinauer|Jeff Chipman|Krzysztof "Krys/Kris" Grzyb|Larry Bunner|Midwest Championships 2017|Niki Longshore|Raul Guerra|Robin Hamilton

The forecast for the day:

NWS forecast: Sunny, with a high near 74. Northeast wind 5 to 15 mph.

North northeast surface wind, 13 – 15 mph noon through 3 PM, 11 mph after that.

NAM3 forecast:

1 PM:

Lift: 597 fpm (other models similar)
TOL: 5,632’ (other models similar)
Cloudbase: No cu’s (All other models show no cu’s except NAM 12, which shows TOL 1,000’ higher)
Surface wind: north northeast 11 mph (other models show 9 – 15 mph)
TOL wind: north northeast 19 mph (other models vary between 15 and 23 mph)

4 PM:

Lift: 577 fpm (other models vary between 398 and 736 fpm)
TOL: 5,964’ (other models vary between 5,301’ and 7,289’)
Cloudbase: No cu’s or 6,000’
Surface wind: north northeast 12 mph (other models vary between 9 and 12 mph)
TOL wind: north northeast 14 mph (other models vary between 14 and 19 mph)

SkySight (between 1 PM and 4 PM):

Lift: 400 – 450 fpm
TOL: 4,000’ – 6,000’ (6,000’ – 7,000’ to the south later)
Cloudbase: No cu’s
Surface wind: north northeast 8 – 12 mph
TOL wind: north northeast early at 20 – 22 mph calming to 14 – 16 mph later

OP40:

1 PM:

TOL: 6,700’
42 degrees
North northeast wind 11 mph at surface level and 18 mph at TOL
Thin cu’s possible

4 PM:

TOL: 7,700’
39 degrees
North northeast wind 11 mph at surface level to 14 mph at TOL
Thin cu’s possible

Actually the cu's formed early and they were maybe 1,000' thick and very plentiful.

Niki Longshore, Larry Bunner, Raul Guerra, Greg Dinauer, Kip Stone and I along with a few others took off in early bird. The lift was weak but we managed to climb to 4,700'. We had to go searching after that and hung in zero or less for a good while until Larry showed us the lift to our west, downwind. We all got under him and all climbed to 6,700'.

The wind was blowing 11 to 13 mph out of the northeast so that we were drifting rather quickly to the edge of the 15 km start cylinder so we headed back upwind to the inviting cu's. I found 180+ fpm under an expansive cu and slowly climbed up from 4,700' to 6,900' as I drifted at about the right speed downwind toward the edge of the start cylinder in time for the second clock. Larry took the first one.

Hitting the edge of the start cylinder high ten seconds after it opened was reassuring. Greg and Niki were just behind me. About twelve gliders were below. Jeff Chipman pushed out in front about 1,000' lower and I was just behind him.

The next two thermals came in quick succession at 350+ fpm to 7,000' so I was flying at first at 80 km/h downwind then 85 km/h speed over the ground with an 11 to 18 mph tail wind. We were all pushing it just leaving good lift just before cloud base.

Four kilometers before the first turnpoint we turned in 280+ fpm and I left at 6,500'. Perhaps I should have stayed longer. There were good looking cu's ahead.

On the glide from that last thermal around the turnpoint and off toward the west southwest I lost 4,000' in 16 km, down to 2,500' (1,700' AGL). Niki was nearby also low and Krzys was just above us. Robin Hamilton had gone out in front and stayed higher. He was to our north over Beloit.

Niki and I spent the next fourteen minutes working lift that at best averaged 60 fpm to 3,000', but slowly died out as we searched and searched in the 11 mph wind. Krzys got even lower just a kilometer away down to 1,000' AGL. Robin worked weak lift over the town of Beloit from 2,500' AGL. Everyone else was behind us working whatever they found from higher altitudes.

Back down to 2,500' MSL Niki and I went searching but didn't find anything. Bart Weghorst landed with us.

The whole area was very weak and pilots worked and worked to get any lift. Krzys was able to finally get up as was Robin and the rest of the pilots around us.

Looking over the flight in detail I see that I should have stayed in the lift four kilometers from the turnpoint for another 500 feet at least. I would have had thermal markers out in front if I had done so. Also there was just a bit of bad luck finding weak lift to stay in that didn't pan out.

Many pilots made goal. Some very quick. The replay is great.

https://airtribune.com/play/2518/2d

2017 Midwest, day 2 »

June 5, 2017, 8:17:24 pm CST -0500

2017 Midwest, day 2

A bit too windy

Midwest Championships 2017|weather

NWS forecast: Mostly sunny, with a high near 71. Northeast wind 5 to 10 mph increasing to 10 to 15 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 25 mph.

The 25 mph gust is forecasted only for 11 AM. Launch wind speed forecasted to be 16 mph northeast.

NAM3 forecast:

1 PM:

Lift: 477 fpm (other models vary between 0 and 517 fpm. But most basically agree with NAM3)
TOL: 3,313’ (other models vary between 2,651’ and 4,307’)
Cloudbase: No cu’s (All models show no cu’s)
Surface wind: northeast 13 mph (other models basically agree)
TOL wind: northeast 18 mph (other models vary between 17 and 24 mph northeast)

4 PM:

Lift: 477 fpm (other models vary between 0 and 537 fpm)
TOL: 3,644’ (other models vary between 3,313’ and 4,638’)
Cloudbase: No cu’s
Surface wind: northeast 14 mph (other models vary between 12 and 16 mph northeast)
TOL wind: northeast 25 mph (other models vary between 18 and 25 mph northeast)

SkySight (between 1 PM and 4 PM):

Lift: 350 – 400 fpm
TOL: 3,000’ – 4,000’ (2000’ – 3000’ at 1 PM)
Cloudbase: 3,000’ – 4,000’ (2000’ – 3000’ at 1 PM)
Surface wind: northeast 10 – 12 mph
TOL wind: east northeast 16– 20 mph

The models more closely match each other than yesterday giving greater confidence in the forecast. For sure strong northeast winds at TOL. Low TOL at under 5,000’ likely between 3,000’ and 4,000’. Strong inversion between 3,000’ and 4,000’ rising during the day. There is a chance for thin cu’s.

I’d say a more difficult day than Sunday and also a later day like Sunday with lower TOL, low climb rates, and stronger winds aloft.

Temperature at TOL: 53°. Five degrees warmer than yesterday at a much lower altitude.

Better conditions on Tuesday.

The meet officials determined that overall conditions were not conducive to safe tasks. Local readings were 18 mph gusting to 24 mph, http://w1.weather.gov/data/obhistory/KJVL.html, and the winds didn't quite down until 7 PM.

We organized a big group to go ride single track at Cam-Rock Park https://www.mtbproject.com/trail/577682 and we loved the park.

2017 Midwest, day 1 »

Mon, Jun 5 2017, 6:23:59 am MDT

The Results

Midwest Championships 2017

Most pilots got minimum distance:

https://airtribune.com/midwest-2017/results

# Name Glider Time Total
1 Steve Rewolinski Icaro Z9 01:16:19 711
2 Andre Wolf Moyes Litespeed RX 3.5 Pro 01:22:13 663
3 Glen Volk Moyes RX 3.5 01:26:22 638
4 Phill Bloom Moyes RX 3.5 01:26:40 633
5 John Simon Aeros Combat C 12.7 01:31:55 603
6 Alvaro Figueiredo Sandoli Ww T2C 144 C 01:32:15 598
7 Jonny Durand Moyes LSRX 3.5 Pro 01:39:36 571
8 James Stinnett Wills Wing T2C 01:43:28 557
9 Robin Hamilton Moyes RX 3.5 01:54:53 523
10 Krzysztof Grzyb Moyes Litespeed RX 3.5 01:55:14 521
11 Linda Salamone Wills Wing T2C 01:58:55 510
12 Ollie Chitty Moyes RX 5 02:02:08 501
13 Mitch Shipley Wills Wing T2C 144 02:17:24 464
14 Bart Weghorst Wills Wing 154 T2C 02:22:27 452

Jonny is flying the Moyes Gecko for the first two days as he gave Andre his glider. Andre's was damaged in shipping. Art's should arrive today.

Mitch Shipley is also towing, flying a Dragonfly. Linda Salamone did well.

There were five start times. All the pilots who made goal got the last start time which was very likely long before they actually made their start.

Jonny landing back at launch
Jonny landing back at launch.

Zac helping Majo with her glider
Zac helping Majo with her glider.

Sara Weaver ready to launch
Sara Weaver ready to launch.

Discuss "2017 Midwest, day 1" at the Oz Report forum   link»   »

2017 Midwest, day 1 »

Sun, Jun 4 2017, 4:06:21 pm MDT

The heavy penalty for success, it's my own damn fault

Blue Sky|Midwest Championships 2017|Niki Longshore|weather|World Pilot Ranking Scheme

Here's the forecast for the day:

NWS forecast: Mostly sunny, with a high near 87. Southwest wind 5 to 15 mph becoming northwest in the afternoon.

NAM3 forecast:

1 PM:

Lift: 477 fpm (other models vary between 0 and 756 fpm)
TOL: 4,307’ (other models vary between 994’ and 8,945’)
Cloudbase: No cu’s (one other model shows cu’s at 8,283’)
Surface wind: northwest 10 mph (other models vary between 8 and 14 mph west northwest to northwest)
TOL wind: northwest 15 mph (other models vary between 14 and 20 mph west northwest to northwest)

4 PM:

Lift: 338 fpm (other models vary between 0 and 577 fpm)
TOL: 5,632’ (other models vary between 994’ and 8,283’)
Cloudbase: No cu’s Surface wind: northwest 13 mph (other models vary between 8 and 14 mph west northwest to northwest)
TOL wind: northwest 18 mph (other models vary between 12 and 18 mph west northwest to northwest)

SkySight (between 1 PM and 4 PM):

Lift: 350 – 450 fpm
TOL: 6,000’ – 7,000’
Cloudbase: 5,000’ – 7000’ disappears after 4 PM
Surface wind: northwest 8 – 12 mph
TOL wind: west 18 – 20 mph
Convergence: west northwest to east southeast Palmyra to Burlington and Richmond to Lake Geneva forming later in the day

With all the rain yesterday I would expect the the climbing conditions to be less like Friday and more like last Thursday. But in addition we will have stronger wind conditions than either day which should increase the difficulty.

The task:

https://airtribune.com/midwest-2017/blog__day_1

I'm doing the weather and I am on the task committee also. I wanted a 15 km start cylinder to deal with the wind and weak lift, but we compromised at 12 km. That didn't turn out well for me.

We trekked over to the Palmyra Municipal airport for its east-west runway to go with the forecast of an west northwest day with winds up to 20 mph at top of lift. Nice big grass runway 250 feet wide, plenty of room for two launch lines.

The launch wasn't until 1 PM. When we got there at 9:45 AM cirrus covered most of the sky. As the day progressed cu's formed to the northwest in an east west line. By around 12:30 PM this thin line of cu's were over the airport but rapidly moving to the south. Other cu's were way way to the southeast.

With the cu's rapidly disappearing as we started launch, things did not look good. Basically a blue sky with some remnants of the cirrus moving away to the south.

I was nineteenth to launch and pinned off at 2,200' AGL. I had felt a tiny bit of lift after a tow through sinking air. All the pilots ranked higher than me in WPRS points were below me having not found much lift after getting off tow.

I started working the weak stuff at 54 fpm just trying to stay up. I saw two Litespeeds turning near me and way below me so it seemed like a few of us were out there trying to get up. One of them may have been Niki Longshore. The rest of the pilots disappeared back to the launch. We were 2 km south of launch and starting out at 2,200' AGL.

Let me just say that again. All the higher ranked pilots other than these two didn't get up and went back and landed to get another tow up later.

I kept turning and found 214 fpm while Niki and the other Moyes pilot kept turning close by but way lower. I was hoping that they would hang in there with me and that we would be able to get together and fly the course together.

I had taken off at 1:17 PM. The start window on the 12 km start cylinder opened at 2 PM. I was facing a 14 mph west northwest wind. This presents a very tricky problem that I was most concerned about. Could I get high and also stay inside the start cylinder?

I climbed to 5,000' at 1:35 PM. I was way higher than anyone else. Unfortunately I was also alone as Niki and the other Moyes pilot went back to the launch as they weren't able to climb with me. Drat.

Then I spotted two other pilots near me but again way way low. Would they find some lift? I was only 5 km from the start but I didn't think that I would be able to make it back to the launch into a 14 mph headwind even from 4,200' AGL.

I watched these lower pilots as I searched around under wispy cu's for some more lift to keep me up or get me higher. The inversion looked to be about 5,000'. Soon at least one of the pilots landed and I lost track of the other. They were both very low.

I had succeeded in getting high. I wasn't forced to go back to the airport to re-launch. unlike most other higher ranked pilots (if not all of them). I felt that it would be stupid to even try to do so since I had just succeeded where no one else had and where all the best pilots in the meet were on the ground or soon to be. It felt like it would be nuts to give up all my gains and go back and start again. Even though the day might be better later. It did not look good over launch with no cu's around.

I went searching for lift near nearby wispies. I found 22 fpm. Then 20 fpm near the next wispies. And that was it. I was able to stop going down but not stop being pushed by the wind to the east. I needed a strong thermal to make it possible to stay upwind of the start cylinder edge or to go upwind for a few moments.

It was now a struggle to find better lift, not just zero sink because if I started too early I would be very heavily penalized. I had to serve two masters, the need for lift and the need to stop going east. I was not able to fight them successfully. I left the start cylinder racing to get under a cu two minutes too early.

There was plenty of buoyancy as I got closer to the ground but with the strong wind there was not a thermal. After I landed in a nice grass field I spotted the vultures ridge soaring the barn. They sure weren't thermaling.

More news on how the relaunchers did later. Some were doing very well.

2017 Midwest, getting ready »

Fri, Jun 2 2017, 6:13:54 pm MDT

Too easy for some

Glen Volk|Midwest Championships 2017|Risk Retention Group

https://airtribune.com/davisstraub/tracks__122221

The open task today was to the south southeast. An easy task for some, a mere 31 km out and then return. The sky was full of cu's and cloudbase was super high.

I took off at 2:05 PM and waited on the line in sinking air until 2,100' AGL. It looked to me like there would be lift ahead under a wispy tiny cu. I was also watching a king posted glider south low over the town of Whitewater turning.

Indeed there was lift and I climbed out to 5,200' at over 300 fpm. This was way below cloudbase but with plenty of cu's ahead I wasn't concerned about getting too high. It was already cold.

I headed west southwest to get upwind of the course line which allowed me to drift with the thermals in the 6 mph west northwest winds. I was soon at 7,600' under just forming cu's. It was cold up there. The forecast was for 40°.

I was the first pilot to take on the task so I knew that I would be alone, but given the conditions I was confident that I would have no problem with the task that now looked very short.

I just ignored lift and glided for 15 km until I got down to my lower limit at 3,000' AGL (3,800' MSL). I took the next thermal at 360 fpm to 8,000' just to see how high I could get. I still wasn't at cloudbase.

It was a 9 km glide to the turnpoint with lift near it which again I ignored. Turning back I found two thermals in the blue at 400+ fpm to 7,500'.

Two more thermals, one at 480 fpm average and it was easy to take the last 16 km glide into goal as fast as possible even with 900 fpm sink before goal.

There were plenty of reflights and pilots who started later came in later.

The flight park is filling up even more. Zac and Majo made it. Glen Volk arrived as did Nene. Mitch is here which should prove interesting regarding the RRRG.

2017 Midwest, getting ready »

June 1, 2017, 11:11:48 pm CST -0500

2017 Midwest, getting ready

Tasks completed

Krzysztof "Krys/Kris" Grzyb|Midwest Championships 2017|Sara Weaver

The pace of the Midwest 2017 is picking up with lots of pilots here doing tasks. Sara Weaver completed out and return sport class task by landing in the backyard of the neighbor across the street from the airport as her flight instrument beeps when she was 3 feet off the ground.

https://airtribune.com/sweaverflies/tracks__121950

Krzys and Larry completed the 85 km triangle.

The forecast and task for the day was:

Twin Oaks, 3km
East Troy, 1km
Lake Lawn, 400m
Twin Oaks, 400m

NWS: Sunny, with a high near 77. Calm wind becoming west around 5 mph in the afternoon.

NAM 3 forecast:

Noon

500-600 fpm lift
5000’ – 6000’ TOL
No cu’s
3 mph southwest surface wind
6 mph west wind at TOL

TOL raises 1000’ during the day. Climb rate increases to 600-700 fpm to the east Winds stay similar

Lift stops after 4 PM

Sport Class task was Palmyra and back, 28 km.

The wind turned out to be 12 mph west.

2017 Midwest, getting ready »

May 30, 2017, 8:42:20 CST -0500

2017 Midwest, getting ready

Forecasts improving

Midwest Championships 2017|weather

Tuesday (NAM 3, 1 PM): 600-700 fpm, west 37 mph at TOL.

http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=42.8336&lon=-88.7323#.WS10VMa1uM9

A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 2pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 66. West wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.

Currently surface winds at 13 mph.

Wednesday (NAM 3, 1 PM):  600-700 fpm, west northwest 23 mph at TOL.

Thursday (NAM 3, 1 PM): 500-600 fpm, west northwest 7 mph at TOL.

2017 Midwest, getting ready »

May 29, 2017, 4:51:12 pm CST -0500

2017 Midwest, getting ready

Bruce, Greg and I did a nice 30 mile road ride

Greg Dinauer|Midwest Championships 2017

Greg Dinauer sends this sky picture from the airfield:

The winds were predicted to be west 40 mph at the top of lift. We took our ride on Monday early in the day and the surface winds weren't that bad. Later I road back and forth to town and it was much stronger.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1011453786

Larry says that the forecast for next week is super good. The forecast for this week is not.

2017 Midwest, getting ready »

May 28, 2017, 6:04:05 pm CST -0500

2017 Midwest, getting ready

Larry kept flying

Larry Bunner|Midwest Championships 2017

Larry Bunner wrote:

I did manage a three hour flight yesterday and just when it got good decided to land to spend time with Sue on my birthday. Conditions were still good two hours later so in spite of the saturated ground the soaring was good.

This place is a lot like Florida in that if the sun is shining we will be soaring.

Also we have three bands playing during the week, one special guest guitarist on another night, open jam sessions around the campfire each night, a 5km run on one of the mornings, catered breakfast at the airport every morning, wood fired pizzas most evenings and a couple super meals during the event.

Plenty of cool things to do in the area as well, like mountain bike riding on kettle moraine trails, canoeing and kayaking on the numerous lakes and rivers and even a bowling alley in town.

As I mentioned above, on such days launch later in the day. We are far north with later sunsets here.

2017 Midwest, getting ready »

May 27, 2017, 9:09:55 pm CST -0500

2017 Midwest, getting ready

A typical day with light lift

Midwest Championships 2017

https://airtribune.com/davisstraub/tracks__120937

It's hard to imagine what we are going to do with eighty pilots in the air in conditions like we saw today (Saturday the 27th of May). It's been raining for two months here. We came through four hours of rain on Friday driving from the south. Neither corn nor soybeans have been planted yet in Wisconsin (although they were in Illinois). The fields are soaking wet.

Conditions much improved much later in the day. Maybe launch at 3 PM.

http://www.midwest2017.com/

Supposed to rain tonight and on Sunday and on Memorial Day.

2017 Midwest »

May 22, 2017, 8:53:45 EST -0400

2017 Midwest

Looks like rain this coming week

Midwest Championships 2017|Quest Air|weather

http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=42.8336&lon=-88.7323#.WSJPNsa1uM9

We head out from Quest Air on Tuesday taking four days to get there.

2017 Green Swamp Sport Klassic »

May 17, 2017, 8:09:58 EST -0400

2017 Green Swamp Sport Klassic

The video

Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2017|video

https://youtu.be/EhSohtCnDro

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Fighting to make goal at the 2017 Green Swamp Sport Klassic

May 2, 2017, 5:08:05 pm EST -0400

Fighting to make goal at the 2017 Green Swamp Sport Klassic

Sara struggles to complete the triangle and keeps crying along the way

Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2017

http://sweaverflies.com/final-flight-green-swamp-sport-klassic-april-1-2017/

The difficulty of the flight revealed itself just after launch. I started in weak lift east of the field, but found it challenging to maintain altitude. There were some gliders that had launched after me circling northwest of the field, and I decided to go for them. I arrived at 1200 feet and began the long process of working what little lift we had. Two gaggles formed, north and northwest of the field. I stuck in the northwest area, but it became evident the north crew was getting more altitude. The gaggle I was in began shifting east to the better area, but I glimpsed a bird circling even more west. Knowing I could always relaunch if I lost altitude, I went for the bird and found lift at 350 ft/min, strengthening with altitude. I radioed my team members over and they began thermaling below me. Pretty soon, the rest of the gliders joined us and I topped out at 5075 feet.

2017 Green Swamp Sport Klassic »

April 11, 2017, 10:32:47 pm EST -0400

2017 Green Swamp Sport Klassic

Too busy to know how far he flew.

Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2017|Mike Barber|Tom Lanning

Timothy Conover writes:

This was the first time I have ever really been able to fly side by side with other pilots, in the same thermals or on the same glide (not counting in the confines of a ridge lift band, which is a different thing). At my home site we never really launch more than one glider per cycle, and there just aren’t enough of us to make it happen. And while I have been to the Team Challenge, I missed that one great day people still talk about. So, here I finally flew in a gaggle, and I wasn’t a total traffic menace, but other pilots were generally climbing faster, and not falling out as often as I. And it turns out a Discus and a race harness beats my kit by a full point on glide.

Friday morning in the clubhouse Tom Lanning channeled Mike Barber in Mike’s sermon on pilots working too hard in thermals. Pulling too much VG, losing turning precision, pushing out too much, half-stalled, turning too big and flat, falling out too often, generally getting worn out and beat up, making too many adjustments and losing the thermal (the last bit also leads into Eric Carden’s “Thermal 1-2-3”). It all came back to me, with a sinking feeling in my heart, because Mike himself gave the talk at Team Challenge 2013. Yes, it describes my flying the previous five days, doing all I know how to keep up with my Green Swamp team. Saturday I was grounded by a head cold, but I imagine a lot of pilots in that wide but weak thermal, launch gaggle, were doing their best to achieve the Zen trick of climbing faster by working less hard.

Later Friday another verse from Mike’s 2013 sermon came back to me. He said when he’s thermaling, that’s his time to relax and plan his line for his next glide. Easy for a Sky God to say! But his point was that when he’s on glide, he concentrates very hard on not just speed to fly, but finding better lift lines and bypassing sinky areas.

Finally, from my own log book: in 5 flights I had 8 hours airtime and total 108 miles, and the 4 times I made it out of the start cylinder became my 4 farthest X-C flights ever. The Leeward trip was also top-5 for duration, but I was so busy it didn't feel that long. That day I managed to actually fly with my team and it was a blast, with Davis leading us on a merry chase from cloud to cloud. With abundant thermals and a good team, even a mediocre soaring pilot can get an inspirational taste of the rewards of cross-country flying.

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2017 Green Swamp Sport Klassic »

April 10, 2017, 8:22:46 EST -0400

2017 Green Swamp Sport Klassic

They want to come back and fly in Florida again

Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2017

Chris Chaney writes:

I fell in love with flying at the Green Swamp Mentored Comp. I have been flying cross country comps for almost fifteen years, but I never had much success in going very far. It was frustrating not having other pilots to fly with because I was always so far behind.

Having the mentors there with me during this meet to help me find my way to better lift and help me decide which lines to take helped me so much to fly higher and further. It was so rewarding to make goal for my first time, and I almost made it around the green swamp on my Sport 2.

Florida flying is beautiful and the thermals were just right. The dates chosen for the meet were just right for me and my Texas flying buddies. Please make it the same time next year because I'm pretty sure we all want to come back.

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2017 Green Swamp Sport Klassic »

April 7, 2017, 11:45:43 EST -0400

2017 Green Swamp Sport Klassic

Tom Lanning's reports

Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2017|Tom Lanning

http://skyout.blogspot.com/

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2017 Green Swamp Sport Klassic »

April 6, 2017, 1:43:04 pm EST -0400

2017 Green Swamp Sport Klassic

Perfect cross country course

weather

Lee Silver <<lee.silver.lee>> writes:

I have been hang gliding for quite some time, but with our short Canadian season, family obligations, work, and weather, I haven't had the chance to fly cross country as much as I would like. I've had some great flights in my life but nothing comes close to the ones I had at the Green Swamp. We had six out of seven days of flying and each flight was approximately 3 hours long, sometimes longer. I, and a large percentage of pilots, smashed personal bests all week.

The Green Swamp is the perfect cross country course. Flying every day allowed us to learn from one day, and correct our mistakes the next. We swapped mentors every couple of days which let us focus on different skills. Some mentors focused more on thermaling techniques, others focused on the bigger picture like planning ahead.

Aside from flying, I met some amazing people and enjoyed the off-time just as much. Thanks to Davis and all the mentors, tug pilots, volunteers, and Quest for making it happen.

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2017 Green Swamp Sport Klassic »

April 5, 2017, 8:02:45 EST -0400

2017 Green Swamp Sport Klassic

Had a blast

Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2017|Jeff Curtis|Tom Lanning|weather

Jeff Curtis <<jafcmx5>> writes:

Jeff Curtis

I had a blast at the Green Swamp Sport Klassic! My goals were to have fun, learn the mechanics of how a comp works and compare my skills against fellow Sport pilots to understand my strengths and weaknesses. I did all those things and so much more.

I discovered I climb well, especially in weak conditions. I need to work on gliding better. I had a personal best cross country distance and cross country duration. I made goal three times and won the day once!

Flying a task was a lot of fun It was great to be in the air and see other gliders out on course. Flying every day and getting constructive feedback really sped up the learning process.

Since weather forecasting, task planning, and retrieve were all worked out the logistical stresses were removed and we could focus on the flying.

I highly recommend this event to pilots wanting to improve their cross country skills and pilots wanting to give competition a try. I'll certainly be back again!

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2017 Green Swamp Sport Klassic »

April 4, 2017, 7:31:42 EST -0400

2017 Green Swamp Sport Klassic

Too much fun

cart|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2017

Max Kotchouro <<motomax>> writes:

Max Kotchouro

Short version: I had so much fun it should be illegal.

Longer version: I am not interested in competition all that much, so going to a competition event made me anxious a bit. Things were going to be rushed. Performance anxiety. Pressure.

None of this happened. I took performance anxiety out of the equation by performing poorly in the first 3 days. But seriously, the event is as laid back, and smoothly running as they come. My anxiety disappeared by day 2.

I didn't feel rushed once. Yes, you have to be on a cart and ready to fly by certain time, but you have hours to prepare. I had time to take a leisurely breakfast, drive to a grocery store, very slowly assemble my glider, check everything as many times as I felt necessary, etc. You get the idea.

Then there was a magic of five tugs towing us up. No long wait before you get in the air. It was awesome.

As to the competition itself, I was looking at it as an opportunity to fly with a purpose. It gives you a task to complete. Technically, you should always plan your flights anyway, so here you can practice that. Practice working with your instrument to help you fly farther.

Competition points. I viewed those as measure of my progress. Yes, it is nice to win, but if that is the only driving force, then this event is probably not for you. This is a practice comp, no reason to be stressed about the points.

Anyway, if you are an aspiring cross country pilot - this is the event to go to. You will be practicing your cross country flying skills with help from very experienced cross country pilots. And if you want to compete, same thing - this is the best staring point for you, too.

Oh, and last but not least, flying in Florida is amazing. I logged more hours in a week than I logged last year in 2 months back home.

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2017 Green Swamp Sport Klassic »

Mon, Apr 3 2017, 6:07:06 am MDT

The women

competition|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2017|Makbule Baldik Le Fay

https://airtribune.com/2017-green-swamp-sport-klassic/results

We had three outstanding women pilots in the competition. Two of them with very little experience going cross country.

On day 2, Sara was third into goal and Jennifer was fourth. Makbule was seventh. Their times were very close to each other.

On day 3, going around the Green Swamp, Makbule was second.

On day 4, Sara was third.

On day 5, Makbule was fifth.

On the last day, the toughest day, Sara was fourth into goal, Jennifer was fifth, just a tiny bit short of goal and Makbule was tenth.

They all showed outstanding persistence and courage.

These Sport Class women pilots should go to the Women's Worlds. And fly their Wills Wing Sport 2's.

2017 Green Swamp Sport Klassic »

Mon, Apr 3 2017, 6:06:43 am MDT

The last day was a blue day

Facebook|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2017|Lawrence "Pete" Lehmann|Makbule Baldik Le Fay|Mark Bourbonnais|Quest Air|weather

Here is the forecast for Saturday:

National Weather Service forecast:

Sunny, with a high near 88. North wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the afternoon.

NAM forecast:

2 PM
700 - 900 fpm lift
4,000' - 5,000' top of lift
No cu's
0 mph west wind at 2,000'
0 mph wind at 30'
3 mph west at the top of the lift

5 PM
600 - 700 fpm lift
5,000' - 6,000' top of lift
No cu's
7 mph west wind at 2,000'
7 mph west wind at 30'

Op40 at 2PM shows top of lift at 5,300' at 57° with no clouds, wind at the surface zero climbing above 2,000' to 12 mph out of the west. Also shows zero surface winds at 1 PM.

The surface winds are 5 mph out of the north until after noon according to all the models. SkySight has them still northeast at 4 - 6 knots at 1 PM and 2 - 4 knots at 2 PM.

A blue day with light winds and moderately good lift.

With the zero winds at 2 PM we call a 53 km triangle task to the north up highway 33 to the Florida Turnpike then southwest to Center Hill and then back to Quest Air. The hope is that we can go upwind early enough to avoid the stronger west winds that supposedly come later in the day. Then ride the west winds back to goal.

We take off from the south east side into a sky full of blue and I find that I'm limited to 3,100' as I slowly descend searching for lift after the first okay thermal. For fifteen minutes only a couple of pilots are high while the rest of us can't find a way to break through. Then I head once again over the Mickey Mouse ears lake and there is the thermal we've all been searching for. It averages 300 fpm and almost everyone (apparently not Sara) joins in with me as we escape the heat and climb to 4,900'.

Most of my team is on the ground ready of a reflight. I'm circling just north of Groveland wondering if I should just go back and maybe land as the day does not look great. I decide to go back as only a few pilots are out ahead to the north and maybe I can pick up some other pilots to help them out by spotting thermals.

I measure the winds 7 to 12 mph out of the west northwest. It seems way too strong for the task with king posted gliders.

The lift is scattered and we are going cross wind to the north. I keep finding 300+ fpm thermals so it is possible to move along. I attempted to find one team mate who did get up after a second tow but he is down quickly.

Many of the sport pilots don't push hard against the west head wind. They get drifted way back to the east. You just can't let that happen. You need to stay near highway 33. But some are almost to Clermont.

I work with a few pilots and help them get to the first turnpoint at the Turnpike, but when we turn and start west I'm convinced once again that this is not going to happen. The wind is 9 mph out of the west and the next turnpoint is to the south west. I'm thinking that I'll just turn around and head back toward Quest Air.

Then I see three sport class gliders out in from of me flying. I can easily spot Makbule in her orange topped glider. I was shamed by their willingness to fight against that head wind to head for Center Hill. Unfortunately they are also low and they soon land near each other. Pete Lehmann and Richard Milla are also down further east of them.

I come over Makbule's field after losing 3,600' and down to 2,100' and get the stuffing kicked out of me. I have to stay in it for a little while at least but it is not at all pleasant and it doesn't stop being horrible. Back to 4,000' I say enough is enough and head further down the course line.

I've got Mark Bourbonnais with me and he's using me. I find a smooth 350 fpm at 2,400' as Mark joins me in it and climb to 6,100' drifting directly away from the turnpoint at 12 mph.

I head up wind on a line that seems to be lifty as I'm only going down at about 200 fpm. I get to the Center Hill at 3,900' and so have plenty of options when I turn downwind and head southeast. With a 13 mph quartering tail wind it is easy to make it back.

I had outrun any of the sport pilots other than a few that got up over Makbule. Rich Westmoreland was still in the air but I couldn't communicate with him. Fortunately he hooked up with Sara and Jen and they were flying together.

We were watching on Airtribune as they go closer and closer to goal. Sara started flying cross country in February and was on a Wills Wing Sport 2. Jen had one cross country flight before she got here to the competition. Sara was able to make it in and Jen and Richard landed close by.

Six days of flying. Excellent conditions every day, even when it didn't seem that way at first. An opportunity to fly around the Green Swamp. Pilots were very pleased with the competition.

2017 Green Swamp Sport Klassic »

Mon, Apr 3 2017, 6:06:22 am MDT

How it went

Makbule Baldik Le Fay|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2017

Makbule Baldik «Makbule Baldik» writes:

Makbule Baldik LeFay

First of all I'm so stoked to hear that you're already planning on having a 2018 Green Swamp.

I've learned hang gliding some time ago but don't have a lot of airtime (Just got over 100 hours last fall!). Life keeps getting in the way. Right before the competition I was thinking that something was very wrong with my flying. I couldn't even perform the things that felt natural before.

This mentored competition was exactly what I needed! We're calling it a competition but to me it was more of a condensed cross country flying course.

I had a great time; it was very confidence building. Briefing before flights and debriefing afterwards helped a lot. Talking about the decisions we make in the air allowed me to analyze my flights better. It was nice that sometimes mentors would challenge those decisions and demand explanation for why we did what we did:)

A big thank you to Davis for organizing the event and to all the other mentors. Thanks to everyone who was part of making this event happen. I think it's a huge contribution to the hang gliding community, a great way of passing on some valuable knowledge and experience. I strongly recommend it!

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2017 Green Swamp Sport Klassic »

April 2, 2017, 11:07:33 EST -0400

2017 Green Swamp Sport Klassic

Sara Weaver on flying in difficult conditions

Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2017|Sara Weaver

Sara writes:

Sara Weaver, image from Instagram: @sweaverflies 12:41am 03/30/2017, found for Sara's article by Scare!

Yesterday was the last day of the Green Swamp Sport Klassic mentored competition! After a week of awesome conditions, I got to finish my first comp with a unbelievable arrival to goal at Quest after 4 hours and 45 minutes in the sky. The triangle task was short (~50 km), but with strong west winds, it proved incredibly difficult to make it back. I arrived in tears (ha!) After a long fought battle upwind followed by a smooth, sea breeze assist back to Quest.

Some notable moments during my flight:

1. Spending an hour and a half scratching at Quest trying to get enough altitude to leave the 3 km start circle.

2. Radio died halfway to the first turn point so I was unable to communicate with my mentor and teammates (Lee and Jen).

3. Meeting up with Richard and getting to fly with him for most of the flight after that.

3. A personal best low save from 500 feet above the first turn point.

4. Fighting directly upwind through large areas of weak lift and smaller areas of 700-900 ft/min sink (in a Sport2!!)

5. Arriving back at Quest with 3200 feet to spare.

Just goes to show what a week of mentorship from some of the most experienced pilots around can do! Davis, Mick, and Tom, I can't thank you enough for all the help. Davis, for seeming to be everywhere at once and marking the best thermals, Mick, for telling me I suck at thermaling and then teaching me to be way less sucky at thermaling, and Tom, for teaching me to plan way ahead, and reminding me that the key is not to land.

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