Despite the traditional rainy start, the Region 4 North Soaring Championship was a huge success. Practice day was more practice in getting your glider together and on the line than practice soaring, but a few people launched and managed to fly around after the day was scrubbed. Sunday was scrubbed because of the weather, but on Monday, our valiant Contest Director, Chris O'Callaghan, tried sending people out on task. Only 6 people landed out, but each class did not have enough people finishing over the minimum task distance for it to be a day.
Tuesday was another scrub due to the weather, and anyone who was interested went down to the Goddard Space Flight Center to have a tour of some of the buildings and see what was going on at NASA. Wednesday was a marginal day, but the CD, ever trusting the faithful weatherman launched us anyway. It turned out to be a good call. In Standard Class, Baude Litt (LBL) finished first with 627 points, followed by Mike Smith (XM) with 509 points and Biff Huss (K8) with 481 points. In the 15 meter class, Jonathan Gere (34) won the day with 765 points, followed by George Green (5) with 751 points and Bob Jackson (RJ) with 672 points. In Sports class, Richard Horigan (HH) flying his "new" LAK-12 came in first with 596 points, followed by Val Brain (13) with 553 points and John Hearn (T1) with 539 points. The day was devalued (though still a day) by the number of landouts.
Thursday was our second contest day. The ground fog in the morning was a little discouraging, but the day before had looked similar. The line-up in Standard Class was pretty much the same, with Litt again finishing first, this time to the tune of the full 1000 points, staking his claim on first place with an overall score of 1627 points. Smith was again right behind him with 907 points, putting him in second overall with 1416 points. Chip Bearden (JB) finished third with 887 points, but Huss remained in third place overall with 1358 points.
Jonathan Gere again won the day in 15 meter with a full 1000 points, placing first overall with 1765 points. This time, however, he was followed by David Pixton (9X) with 969 points, bumping Pixton into third position overall with 1544 points. John Hansman (X) followed 9X with 890 points, but 5 still retained his second position overall with 1617 points.
In Sports class, Bill Savory (9) won the day with 978 points, though 13 still held first place overall with 1418 points after his 865 point second place finish for the day. Horigan remained in second overall with a score of 1403 despite his fourth place finish for the day. John Hearn (T1) maintained his third position with 820 points, putting him in third place overall with 1359 points.
Friday was an interesting day. All pilots reported the conditions seemed good around the airport, but once they got away from the airport, the lift dropped off dramatically. Hats off to the only two finishers: Mike Smith in Standard and John Hansman in 15 meter. Almost all of the fleet landed out, but Baude Litt and Chip Bearden managed to go over 50 miles before landing, making it a contest day for Standard Class. Mike Smith finished the day first with 483 points, though that didn't dethrone Baude Litt from his first place overall with 1926 points. Litt and Bearden both received 299 points,* putting them in second and third place overall respectively with 1899 points and 1627 points respectively. In 15 meter, John Hansman finished, but no one else made it over the required 50 miles, making it a "no contest day" for them.
Saturday, as predicted, was the best and last soaring day of the whole contest. June dawned with bright skies and a clear morning (for once). No one needed to be told to go assemble, they just did. Everyone was pretty much ready to go by the pilots' meeting in the morning.
In Standard Class, Chip Bearden finished first with 900 points after giving Mike Smith and Baude Litt the slip when the two lead competitors decided to keep a wary eye on each other and ended up slowing each other down. Bearden's first place finish secured third position overall for him with 2527 points. Litt finished second with 808 points, staking his first place finish overall with 2735 points. Bob Greenblatt (BL) made his first showing, finishing third for the day with 774 points, though Mike Smith continued to maintain his second place standing overall with 2624 points.
The 15 meter class decided to show off a little bit. Jonathan Gere got sick, but still managed to pull in first with 919 points, securing his first place position overall with 2628 points. John Hansman and David Pixton decided to put on a picture perfect finish for the people in the finish gate and the people in the club room who could see out the window by coming in tandem through the gate. Pixton took second for the day with 850 points, bumping him into second overall with 2329 points. John Yorston (FD) made his first showing in third position with 787 points, though George Green remained in third place overall with 2269 points.
There were more surprises in the Sports Class. Val Brain won the day again with 1000 points, putting him in first place overall with 2418 points, and, in the words of John Hearn, totally "demolishing" the whole sports class by running the ridge. Hearn finished second with 909 points, bumping him up into second place overall with 2268 points. Rick Fuller (CL), competing in his first contest, made his first showing in the contest taking third with 798 points. Rich Horigan slipped one position, but still managed to hang on to third position overall with 2040 points.
Region 4 North closed with an awards assembly in the hangar, where there were quite a few surprises, but still some constants. To no one's surprise, Baude Litt and Jonathan Gere finished first in their classes. Perhaps to some, Val Brain's win in Sports class was a surprise, but to everyone in the club, who knew about the race between Brain and Gere every year, this came as no surprise.
The surprises actually came in the second and third place finishers. Dave Pixton mouthed a "wow" when he was awarded the second place plaque and had a big grin on his face that wouldn't go away for the rest of the day. Earlier in the contest, Rich Horigan had asked me (as the scorekeeper, and jokingly, I'm assuming) to make his score better. I told him that the only way he was going to get a better score was if he flew better. Well, he must have taken my advice, since he finished third overall. See what happens when you fly better? Way to go Richard!
Hats off also to Rick Fuller for finishing third on Saturday in his first contest for all time - the first day, he told me all he wanted to do was start, take a turnpoint and come back home. By the end of the contest, his goal was not to finish last. Well, he met both those goals, set some personal records and took third on Saturday - way to go!
Hats off also to Mike Smith who also got sick and scared everyone over the radio when he called in his finish on Friday. Preston Burch, the contest manager, thought he was suffering from severe dehydration. It was actually that he didn't have much voice left, and was trying to call in his finish. While we're talking about Friday, hats off also to John Hansman who also managed to get around and came straight in for a rolling finish - his final glide must have been a scary one.
Well, Region 4 North is over for another year, and now the good weather can come out. Thanks to all the contest staff who were very supportive of a sleep deprived and at one time sick scorekeeper, and thanks to all the contest pilots who kept me busy enough not to complain, yet not so stressed as to yank my hair out. You guys are truly the best. See you next year!
--------------
*When there is only one finisher, the other non-finishers that go over a certain minimum distance (in this case 50 miles) can only receive a maximum score of a certain percentage of the finisher's score. In this case, Baude Litt went further than Chip Bearden, but both went further than the distance required for maximum distance points, receiving the same score.
My partner in our Discus CS provided the "nudge" I needed to jump head first into my first soaring competition (thanks, Cathy), the Region 4 North Contest at Fairfield. After 5-6 years of soaring, my skills around the airport were adequate. I had a few reasonably long cross-country flights under my belt and two legs of my Silver badge complete. "CL" had gone through a couple nice upgrades including a new glide computer last year; some gelcoat fixes, tailwheel and dump valve repairs this year, and overall was in pretty fair shape. It shined from a recent application of Mother's Gold.
For close to 70 years, my father had raced homing pigeons; this was basically the same concept - the fastest bird wins...if any make it home. I had run out of excuses not to ratchet up my skills by trying my hand at competition.
As a pilot, I'm conservative by nature. Like most pilots, I like to think I have control over the level of risk I accept and generally set expectations low for new endeavors. When I haven't flown in a while, there are days at Fairfield I simply want to takeoff, land, and not hurt myself, our plane, or anyone else in the process. Feeling more proficient, I may want to complete that Silver or chase other sailplanes on the club Task Day. As the expression goes, "there are old pilots, there are bold pilots, but no old/bold pilots". Having just been offered my first senior citizen discount at Denny's, it's no time to be overly bold. My current acceptable level of risk is to fly modest cross-countries and land out, if necessary, in known good airports. I've yet to tear up someone's wheat crop.
The Sports Class offers new competitors a means to compete with any glider on a handicapped basis over generally shorter, less demanding tasks. All the information offered on the web strongly suggests that you fully prepare yourself, the glider, and your crew prior to a contest. I started early. There's an abundance of competition material from the SSA written by soaring icons like George Moffatt, Dick Johnson, Karl Striedieck, Dick Schreder, and others. Once committed to the contest, I soaked up all the SSA and SRA info on McCready theory, mental preparation, competition tactics, and articles even prevention of dehydration. I dutifully made a list of all the "golden nuggets" I could find and fell to sleep many nights trying to make sense of thumb rules like "On a downwind leg, get maximum altitude before making a turnpoint. On an upwind leg, go into a turnpoint low and drift back on course while climbing." I was psyched. They weren't memorized, but I could hear them rattling about in my head on cross-country flights.
I had only a few concerns going into the contest; gaggle flying, 2000' tows, lack of a crew, and pilot relief....enough to keep me challenged right up to that first in-flight comfort break. Gaggles: I've often thermalled with 3-4 other gliders, but there were to be 30-35 sailplanes within a 60-minute launch window all looking for that boomer that would take them through the start gate at Vne! In reality, I found the new five-mile start cylinder relieved the overcrowding and it seems to be a well-accepted practice now in US contests. The infamous high-speed start gaggle appears to be in the history books along with turn point photos. Tows: On weekends, I usually take a 3000-foot tow. It had always seemed like a reasonable tradeoff between time to locate that first thermal and the expense of another tow. During the contest, tows to 2000 feet AGL were fairly risk free given there were an average of 10-20 sailplanes launched ahead of me acting as markers. After an initial climb, most pilots dispersed within the start cylinder in the direction of their first turnpoint. Crew: A crew isn't mandatory, but with your flying "stuff" organized; volunteer help from club members and other contestants; and occasional use of our tow-out gear, it was doable. But, a crew would have reduced the stress, strain and the anxiety of getting to the runway at the announced grid time. Bunking in a house trailer kept all my equipment on the field (thanks, Mike Vance) and prevented any high-speed trips back to a hotel for forgotten gear. Pilot relief: Figured out a good system, tested it several times, 'nuff said. As I mentioned, I set my sights low. I figured if I came in last place, I might never try contest flying again. My goal was set...don't finish last.
I'm sure you've heard the weather was a daily challenge for the competitors and our contest meteorologist, Ward Hindman. We managed to scrape together five flying days and three official contest days for the Sports Class. I managed 5th place overall out of nine in the Sports Class and squeaked out a respectable 3rd place for Saturday, the final contest day. I had a personal best that Saturday with a circuit from the Start Cylinder=> Lost Acres=> Chambersburg=> Carlisle=> Kampel=> York=> Lineboro=> Hanover Quarry=> Fairfield for 112 miles at 37 mi/hr....a very rewarding flight after a rain-soaked week. I landed out twice in the contest (two real "confidence builders") and a single relight on the day I was #4 on the launch grid (that 2000-foot tow issue). I met my goal of not finishing last, but I can see it'll be a long time before I "climb the leader board" at the Region 4 North contest with veterans like Val Brain (#1), John Hearn (#2), Rich Horigan (#3), and Bill Savory (#4) ahead of me.
We're there any surprises? Sure, a couple. As a Field Safety Officer, I had more than a passing interest in the safety of the operations and was very pleased that no serious incidents marred the efficient operation of the contest. Pilot meetings featured safety briefs, comments from the Chief tow pilot and debriefs from the previous day's ground and flight operations. Not really a surprise considering the monumental effort put into the contest by the organizers (thanks Preston and all the volunteers). The other "surprise" came when, with ten minutes to launch, I found the entire contents of my Camelback water bag had emptied itself in my seatpan. I'm sure some folks on the grid saw my mad wide-eyed dashes to and from the gazebo with a handful of wet towels. I recovered just in time for the launch and my only relight of the contest. Funniest incident? As told at the morning pilots meeting, one of our more "seasoned" pilots was mistaken for an escaped Alzheimer's patient as he waited for his retrieve crew at a remote country road intersection. (Must have been the hat.)
My recommendation to anyone thinking about entering his or her first contest is a resounding "just do it....but do your homework first". Wax that glider, seal those gaps, tune that vario, do all the reading on contest flying you can find, and spend more than just a little time with the Sports Class rules. You don't need a sophisticated GPS or recorder, altitude recording isn't required, just one you can download to the contest scorer. Figure out what a POST, TAT and MAT are. Your first contest with a "home field advantage" can be extremely satisfying and can elevate your soaring skills to new heights. Recent changes in the rules have increased the safety factor and are designed to be friendly to newcomers to the sport. Yes, I'm hooked. See you at the next contest.
It is hard to believe I am sitting here writing an article for the July Convector. The region IV contest is behind us and next week we will begin another 10-day weekend. Where is the summer going?
Rick Fuller and his gang are finishing up some final comments regarding the Grob incident. I anticipate needing to make some adjustments to out procedures to improve the operation. The intent is to improve the safety and fun aspects and minimize the nonsense. Talking to Rick periodically at the office I don't anticipate any major adjustments.
Speaking of the Grob, I spoke to shop this week. The majority of the repairs are completed. Only the finish work remains, and a new rudder. No word from Germany yet so they were going to try to repairing ours this week. So far we have not had much luck finding a second Grob. Right now there are not many club models for sale. There are however a few Astir models. These are slightly different mainly in ground handling and with the retractable landing gear. One in particular sounds good and is on the eastern seaboard. Frankly those all involved at this point seem a little leery to jump to the Astir and another mixed configuration between the fields. This is bound to be a large part of tomorrow's Board discussion.
As you are reading this there should still be time to run out and take part in the 10-day weekend. This year Hope Howard and Gary Baker went even further to outdo themselves. Classes, breakfasts, diners and guest speakers will all top off a wonderful week of flying. Now if we can only guarantee Mother Nature will participate in a sportsman-like fashion. Those who do get out for the week, watch each other and keep in mind the physical drain a full week in the sun will create. Make sure all are well rested and well hydrated. We do not want to have any close calls dampening our fun.
As a final reminder, remember this year we transitioned to individual payment of SSA dues. A couple of months ago you should have received a bill from SSA. These were due 31 May. If you haven't seen a Soaring magazine, maybe you need to double check your membership status. We need everyone to continue their memberships so we can keep the chapter status and the low insurance rates.
I'll call it quits now. I could rattle on and talk about safety, volunteering and the general sloppiness of the clubhouses, but you have all heard it before. It's the middle of the season and we need to remain focused on the true reason we all joined M-ASA. To Fly! However, when your out at the airport and flying, be safe, help each other out and for Pete's sake, pick up after yourselves.
Yesterday's task had been a long slog upwind, ending in a landout, but since none of our class had made 40 miles, the day didn't count. Last night a cold front went through, and now on the last day of the meet, we were hoping for good soaring weather at long last. And that's what the met man promised, although not the ridge day we had been expecting.
I had only a few points lead from the first two contest days, and those on my heels were both former Sports Class winners. Any one of them could move into the lead on the last day, and conditions might favor their long wings or superior performance.
The task was a PST (pilot selected turnpoints) with Lost Acres the mandatory first turn, about 20 miles out in the valley near Chambersburg midway between the two ranges of wooded hills.
Lift was good on release, and as soon as the start gate opened some of my class headed out. I waited awhile to allow them time to serve as thermal markers and then followed, starting at a little over 4000'agl, just enough height to clear the first range of hills in a straight glide. In a few minutes I could see John Hearn's LS-6 circling about half way across and joined him, but our rate of climb was pitiful and I pressed on, arriving over the last ridge at 2000' agl. Several gliders were scratching around over a quarry, and after much too long I managed to climb to 3,000' and move on. The lift was much worse on this side of the hills, broken and weak, but it was too late now to start over. In this way we made poor time to Lost Acres, where I opted for Plan A -- continue upwind to McConnelsburg and see if the ridge is working, despite the met man's prediction. If not, then Plan B -- use the better lift over the hills to run around a little triangle of three ridgetop turnpoints, before making a final glide downwind to Fairfield to arrive just after the minimum flight time elapsed.
Getting to McConnelsburg wasn't easy. Half way I was down to 1800' and sniffing around two auto junkyards for ground-related thermals. Again after too long I connected, only to arrive in the lee of the hills near McConnelsburg too low to cross. Getting low in the lee of hills is risky, but I pressed on anyway hoping for a wind shadow thermal, and luck was on my side. I climbed to 3,500', just high enough to clear the hills and check out the ridge at McConnelsburg. As I approached the turnpoint I could see wings flashing in the sunlight, but they weren't sailplanes but hang gliders. This was good news, because hang gliders launch into ridge lift and the ridge must be working -- at least at McConnelsburg.
I passed a hang glider with a cheery wave and headed round the curving ridge toward Burnt Cabins. To my surprise the ridge lift was not marginal at all, and I was able to maintain 80 kts 400' above the crest, high enough to make a save in thermal if the ridge lift quit. At Burnt Cabins I made an easy transition onto the razorback ridge that runs almost 40 miles to Thompsontown. So far this was a much easier ride than I had expected, but after another 20 miles I would have to transition onto the great Hog's Back mountain that curves round to the right out of wind, which could prove treacherous.
A taste of problems with wind direction came when I was approaching the transition point to Hog's Back. Usually I can follow the razorback ridge around to the right before following a lift street across the gap, but today the ridge lift quit at the worst time, sinking me below the ridge crest, and I had to retreat back to where it was working again and scratch for a thermal to heave me up and across. The trees looked very uninviting.
Eventually I found a puff and soon was above the ridge again and headed over the gap. I lost no height in the transition, and was able to join the great flank of Hog's Back two thirds the way to the top. Now the issue was whether the ridge lift would continue to Thompsontown, or whether I'd have to fly there and back in thermals, probably much slower -- and against the wind.
Again luck was on my side, and I was able to maintain a couple of hundred feet above the Hog's Back and angle in to round the turnpoint at Thompsontown without circling, arriving back on the ridge level with the crest to head back to Burnt Cabins.
For some reason the return trip the return trip always seems more problematic, maybe because one starts out lower. Soon I was descending below the ridge crest and slowing down to 70, 60, even 50 kts with my wingtip close to the trees and following the gulleys where a buzzard or two were circling. Zero flap now. I was determined to take any thermal I could find to get back up to ridge height, but that didn't happen. Circling was impossible, and S-turns away from the hill could lose altitude, so I pressed on, waiting for the hill to angle back more into wind. To cross a set of power lines I had to go out and around them, and where the trees had been cleared I found a whiff of thermal, and with patience it took me back to the ridge crest and breathing again. Being able to look over and see the home side of a hill is always reassuring.
The transition back to the razorback ridge was easy, and once there I was able to maintain 80 kts 300' above the crest, where the best lift was today. Burnt Cabins now looked in the bag, but another problem manifested itself. The clouds were disappearing, and ahead the sky was quite blue. Would I find lift at BC to get home, or have to scratch across the valley? Moreover, I was now well over my minimum flight time, and at something over 3.5 hours my Garmin database would start erasing my start, blowing the entire flight.
A few wisps of cloud remained at Burnt Cabins, and as I angled in to the TP, I flew through exceptional lift. Once the turnpoint was nailed, I flew back to the lift and was greeted with nine knots to seven thousand feet agl. From this height I could turn downwind and cruise straight back to Fairfield at 80, 90, 100, 110 kts. As soon as I entered the one mile finish circle, I turned off the Garmin and prayed.
Downloading the flight in the Clubroom I was relieved to find all the track had been recorded and my speed, though poor for a ridge flight, was just enough to edge the others on handicap. My colleagues had all made good speeds in thermals alone, and even with my low spots and slow slog to the ridge, it was worth it. That long final glide at 120 mph downwind certainly helped. And technophobe that I am, this flight convinced me it was time to invest in a real datalogger!
|
SOARING ASSOCIATION Board of Directors:
Officers:
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
For Sale: Selling Libelle 201-B. Looking for Discus. Guy Pfeffermann, (301)657-4065 For Sale: Schweizer 1-26. Excellent condition, hangared in main FFD hangar. Low hours. Red leading edge, previously owned by M-ASA club members. For more information, contact Leslie Elsner Bell at: (717) 845-4170 after 7PM or e-mail: lesliebell1555@suscom.net. For Sale: Borgelt B40 Audio Vario. Pristine condition. Contains internal capacity chamber, (i.e. no external capacity bottle required). Built-in audio speaker, 20 sec. thermal averager, rate sensitivity adjustment, and 9v backup power supply. Fits in 3 1/8" panel hole. (Wings and Wheels lists for $440- make reasonable offer.) Bill Whelan 301-774-5240 or e-mail: Tinwings@aol.com Wanted: PARTNER(S) to share and enjoy my Spirit. For details contact Ray Watson phone 410-484-0333 or e-mail Rayswatson@aol.com Editors Note: Ads submitted will be run a couple of times. After that, I will discontinue them if I haven't heard from you. If you want them continued beyond two months, let me know each month. I will continue them within reason, space permitting. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
New member:
Notes/Photos Due:
The following is completing his provisional year with M-ASA and should send a photo & note requesting permanent membership:
Overdue:
Send articles, news, soaring achievements, ratings or badge legs earned, other significant flights, classifieds, other info the membership will find interesting. Deadline: 20th of each month
Well, the Turn Area Task (TAT) was a huge success, both May 19th and during the contest. During the contest it provided the necessary flexibility to task pilots into areas of better weather. We did a dry run of the TAT the weekend before the contest. Baude Litt (LBL) won that day with a distance of 260.6 mi in 3 hours, 32 minutes and 12 seconds. Good job, Baude!
In the spirit of the contest, Jonathan Gere (13) takes first this month with an overall score of 4259 points. He is followed by David Pixton (9X), who slips into second with 3364 points. Val Brain (13) rounds out the top three, not too far behind David, with 3321 points.
Also competing this month are Baude Litt, Michael Higgins (X6), George Green (5), Howard Banks (1XX) and Michael Smith (XM). Congratulations, guys and keep up the good work!
Thanks to a number of volunteers on June 2, glider rides were provided at Frederick for a dozen or so members & families from the 99s - an international organization of women pilots. Many thanks to Dee Torgerson who coordinated with the group, and was on hand to greet them, show them around, and synchronize the operation. Thanks also the pilots providing rides - George Simms in his Blanik, Tom Judkins in his Grob, and Rob Myhre & Tom Jones from the Janus group. The 99s gave M-ASA a plaque in appreciation, now in the Frederick clubroom.
Region 4 North 2002 Fairfield, PA Cumulative Summary Standard Class
Jun 01, 02 May 31, 02 May 30, 02 May 29, 02 May 28, 02 May 27, 02 May 26, 02
Cumulative Score Mod Assgn: 02:30 Turn Area: 02:00 Mod Assgn: 02:00 Pilot Sel: 01:30 No Contest No Contest No Contest
Rank Points ID SSA# Name Glider Rank Points Rank Points Rank Points Rank Points Rank Points Rank Points Rank Points
---- ------ -- ------ ---- ------ ---- ------ ---- ------ ---- ------ ---- ------ ---- ------ ---- ------ ---- ------
1 2735 LBL 896513 Litt, Baudouin LS-8 2 809 2 299 1 1000 1 627 0 0 0
2 2624 XM 581763 Smith, Michael F. LS-8-18 5 725 1 483 2 907 2 509 0 0 0
3 2527 JB 44628 Bearden, Chip ASW-24 1 900 2 299 3 887 4 441 0 0 0
4 1817 BL 282251 Greenblatt, Bob Discus 2B 3 774 6 129 9 801 7 113 0 0 0
5 1752 X6 914672 Higgins, Michael H. ASW-19 4 748 7 118 7 823 8 63 0 0 0
6 1738 RG1 910947 Gaynier, Ronald J. Genesis 2 6 607 4 153 6 831 6 147 0 0 0
7 1489 K8 911372 Huss, Marvin C. Cen 101A 7 93 8 38 4 877 3 481 0 0 0
8 1269 P1 253251 Galloway, Ray LS-8a 9 0 9 0 5 873 5 396 0 0 0
9 1016 1FW 916385 Weaver, David LS-4 8 61 5 142 8 809 9 4 0 0 0
10 0 B21 0 Forster-Lewis, Ian ASW-24WL 9 0 9 0 10 0 10 0 0 0 0
10 0 TB 563889 Paris, James J. ASW-28 9 0 9 0 10 0 10 0 0 0 0
10 0 P3 586188 Mann, Erik LS-8 9 0 9 0 10 0 10 0 0 0 0
15 Meter Class
Jun 01, 02 May 31, 02 May 30, 02 May 29, 02 May 28, 02 May 27, 02 May 26, 02
Cumulative Score Mod Assgn: 02:30 No Contest Mod Assgn: 02:00 Pilot Sel: 01:30 No Contest No Contest No Contest
Rank Points ID SSA# Name Glider Rank Points Rank Points Rank Points Rank Points Rank Points Rank Points Rank Points
---- ------ -- ------ ---- ------ ---- ------ ---- ------ ---- ------ ---- ------ ---- ------ ---- ------ ---- ------
1 2684 34 261033 Gere, Jonathan ASW-20C 1 919 0 1 1000 1 765 0 0 0
2 2394 9X 578061 Pixton, David H. Ventus 2b 2 850 0 2 969 5 575 0 0 0
3 2269 5 419591 Green, George D.A. Ventus 2b 7 652 0 4 866 2 751 0 0 0
4 2185 FD 911674 Yorston, John B. LS-3 3 787 0 6 807 4 591 0 0 0
5 1623 X 733423 Hansman, John R. ASW-20A 5 733 0 3 890 8 0 0 0 0
6 1565 1K 737089 Templin, Robert LS-3 6 718 0 5 847 8 0 0 0 0
7 1531 P4 52094 Benson, Oliver A. ASW-20 4 778 0 8 732 7 21 0 0 0
8 1326 RJ 359068 Jackson, Robert ASW-27 9 35 0 9 619 3 672 0 0 0
9 883 1XX 557986 Banks, Howard ASW-20B 8 90 0 7 752 6 41 0 0 0
Sports Class
Jun 01, 02 May 31, 02 May 30, 02 May 29, 02 May 28, 02 May 27, 02 May 26, 02
Cumulative Score Mod Assgn: 02:30 No Contest Turn Area: 02:00 Pilot Sel: 01:00 No Contest No Contest No Contest
Rank Points ID SSA# Name Glider Rank Points Rank Points Rank Points Rank Points Rank Points Rank Points Rank Points
---- ------ -- ------ ---- ------ ---- ------ ---- ------ ---- ------ ---- ------ ---- ------ ---- ------ ---- ------
1 2418 13 77232 Brain, John Valentin PIK 20B 1 1000 0 2 865 2 553 0 0 0
2 2268 T1 315176 Hearn, John Berkeley LS-6A 2 909 0 3 820 3 539 0 0 0
3 2040 HH 340383 Horigan, Richard D. LAK-12 6 637 0 4 807 1 596 0 0 0
4 1809 9 647659 Savory, William Ventus C 4 696 0 1 978 5 135 0 0 0
5 1662 CL 915609 Fuller, Richard G. Discus CS 3 798 0 5 753 6 111 0 0 0
6 1353 RQ 422258 Clifford, Ronald B. Discus CS 5 671 0 7 682 7 0 0 0 0
7 1121 RM 150630 Frantz, Cole Discus CS 8 0 0 6 726 4 395 0 0 0
8 341 BU 904330 Bauder, Frederick S. 304CZ 7 87 0 8 254 7 0 0 0 0
9 199 GR8 911941 Kaleta, Richard R. PW-5 Smyk 8 0 0 9 199 7 0 0 0 0
Scoresheet created on Monday June 17, 2002 - 14:05 by Winscore Rev 9 (http://www.iac.net/~feguy/winscore)
Friday's task was all about frustration. It was a TAT (a Turn Area Task with turnpoints of varying size) Carrol County, Middletown, Hanover Quarry, and home.
Starting proved difficult, because the wind was strong and the lift so broken that by the time we reached start height, we'd drifted well outside the five mile start circle. So I flew back one and a half miles against the wind and tried again. This time I did make a good start and was able to bump a cloud street to Carrol County, where I turned into wind and the scenery suddenly stopped moving.
It was a frozen landscape with cloud shadows racing across it. None of the clouds was working, and I was soon down to 2,000' agl before I found a little broken thermal and slowly climbed back up. Looking down, there was Carrol County Airport again! Far below were other gliders having similar problems. Misery loves company!
Eventually I was able to penetrate upwind and pressed on over miles of woods to where the long strip mine at Woodsboro is almost always good for a lift. I arrived at 700 agl and was just able to maintain height in whiffs of lift above the quarry. Eventually I worked it up to 1,100', where it quit, and flew back to the quarry at 700' to start over. This happened several times, until the last time I got to 1,800', which took me over the town of Walkersville and in sight of Frederick airport. But no further lift materialized, and I landed in a big cornfield just south of the town.
The corn was only 5" tall, so I was able to steer between the corn rows in an agriculturally correct manner and touch down directly into the 20 kt wind. A busy road was nearby, and wellwishers appeared to help me pull the glider down near where a trailer could stop. One had a cell phone and called in my landing report. But nearby a woman was also talking on a cell phone, and someone said she was calling the Emergency Medical Service. "Stop!" I said. "I don't need medical attention, but she wouldn't. "We should check you out," she said. "I'm a nurse, and this is what we're trained to do." I felt at the mercy of caregivers and anticipated a rerun of the incident a few years back when two fire engines and a fire chief showed up and demanded a contribution to the Fireman's Fund. Fortunately one of my helpers was a fireman and worked for the EMS. "Let me handle this," he said, and taking the phone, told them we didn't need help. Creating excitement in rural parts can be perilous.
Once the glider was parked I walked to the intersection with the highway and sat down by the traffic light to await the trailer. Soon a car stopped opposite and a woman got out and eyed me. I smiled and nodded, but she eyed on, and I crossed over to introduce myself. "Are you okay?" she asked. "Just fine," I replied. "How are you." She seemed uncomfortable, and after some dithering, told me there was a nursing home across the road from which alzheimer patients escaped from time to time and were found wandering. I pointed to my pilot's badge and assured her caring souls like her were the salt of the earth, etc., but it was time now to move on. I was relieved when she drove off.
Waiting for a retrieve allows ample time for reflection, and I reflected that flying an airplane without a motor and landing in farmers' fields without warning is probably grounds for commitment. Do EMS crews carry strait jackets? At the pilots' meeting next day, when I recounted this experience, one pilot asked loudly, "Were you wearing that hat?" and everyone laughed. An insensitive bunch. Gliding challenges one's self image in unexpected ways.
So ended a frustrating no-contest day. All for naught. And maybe I should find a new hat.
When I returned to these parts from California in late '49 I tried to join the Washington Soaring Club, to find that it was defunct. However, a fellow was trying to form a new club. We bought the WSC Pratt-Read. A group of enthusiastic helpers joined in refabricing the Pratt & it was soon airworthy, at Schrom Field (now buried under the beltway & interchange in MD).
Later we moved to Beacon Field (VA). Ralph Queen & Len Yerger and a few others had joined us; Jack Perine finished refurbishing his flattop LK among them. While there we ran the first of the Mid-Atlantic soaring meets. Also, a few privately-owned gliders swelled our activity.
While at a regional gathering in Philly area, we became aware of New England Soaring Assn, a group of clubs, & Jack suggested that we rename our club to MASA, which would become a cover group for us as we got large enough to split into D.C., Balto., & other clubs.
We moved to Martinsburg, WV, where we made probably 90% of all aircraft movements. A short stay at some field in No.Va ensued, then a longer stay at Westminster where Nelson McLeod joined and later led us. Then finally FDK.
I think it was when we were at Westminster that MASA became M-ASA Inc. Latter took over name, members, assets of MASA with no break in operations.
My wife gave birth to this beautiful baby girl! Morgan Elizabeth Birkenstock was born at 3:08pm on May 31st, and she weighed 8lbs, 11oz.Mother and baby are doing wonderfully - Dad is stereotypically hanging on for dear life!
I am sure I speak for all the contest pilots when I express my deep appreciation for all the Region 4 organizers, but in particular for Preston Burch. He and his wife, for another year, put in an exceptional amount of work to ensure the success of the event.
On Saturday, June 1 M-ASA participated at the AOPA Fly-in at the Frederick Municipal Airport.
The Fly-in is a huge event. 895 aircraft flew-in and over 8,000 people attended. In fact, for that day, the temporary control tower became the second busiest one in the nation! The day long event was filled with free seminars, exhibitor booths, and display aircraft.
Under the direction of our own George Simms, we auto towed the club's Schweizer 1-36 and Schleicher Ka-7 to a strategic location in front of the Frederick Aviation building. We had a steady stream of foot traffic approach us all day long. The variety of folks that you meet at these events is truly amazing. Everybody was having a great time (including me!) and had great questions. I expect several to visit our club in the coming weeks.
Thanks go to all of the club members that helped out, but particularly to Rob Myhre and James Garvin for enduring the hot sun with us and fielding questions for several hours.
I recently became the proud owner of a glider and a trailer for it. The trailer top is made of fiberglass, which is translucent and lets a fair amount of light through. For example, the older Komet III trailers exhibit this trait. Several club members approached me expressing concerns over the potential for ultraviolet (UV) damage to the glider while it sits in the trailer. This didn't sound right to me, but not knowing anything about UV damage, I set out to find a more scientific answer.
Solar radiation bombards the Earth's surface in great quantities during the day. The shorter the wavelength of this radiation, the more energetic the radiation and the greater the potential for damage. Ultraviolet radiation is of shorter wavelength than visible light. It is broken into three bands, UV-A -B and -C. UV-C is the most harmful but is thankfully absorbed completely by the ozone layer. At sea level, approximately five times more UV-A reaches the surface than UV-B. All surfaces exposed to the sun are harmed by UV radiation to some extent. The damage is limited to the first millimeter or so that absorbs the energy. The wax that we apply to our gliders is the sacrificial lamb.
I obtained a $50 UV meter ("UV Smart") from Amazon.com. There are many such products on the market, since they are popular with sun tanners. My unit has separate numeric readouts for UV-A and UV-B.
In mid-May on a very sunny day, I conducted my testing at about 2PM. The meter registered values of 57 W/m^2 for UV-A and 0.02 W/m^2 for UV-B. The value for UV-A is considered "high" and very harmful. The value for UV-B is considered "low". I measured UV levels at several positions inside the trailer. At the front, middle and back, close to the clamshell and farther away, I always read values of zero for both scales. As a final test, I measured the UV levels under a sheet of plain white paper. No UV penetrated the paper.
In conclusion, I found absolutely no evidence of UV penetration through a translucent fiberglass trailer.
Weather prediction is an unbelievably complex science. Accurately predicting the strength of thermals is not an easy task, but fortunately the United States Government already spends huge amounts of resources developing weather related products that we can easily put to our own use.
I'm going to describe a simple, step by step procedure for obtaining a very accurate same day forecast for thermal activity.
Obtain the forecasted temperature for 2PM. I like using http://www.weather.com, since it also gives you a nice hour by hour breakdown of the weather forecast. (high temperature - dewpoint) / 4.4 * 1000 = approximate cloud base in feet.
Go to http://www-frd.fsl.noaa.gov/mab/soundings/java/, an interactive Java applet for displaying sounding forecast models from the Forecast Research Division of NOAA.
Select the RUC model. MAPS is also useful but more experimental.
Select a start time of 18Z, which corresponds to a local time of 2PM during the summer.
Enter 0 (zero) for the number of hours to keep it simple.
For the site, enter the airport identifier, FDK (or 39.75703889,-77.351375 for Fairfield).
Click on the Java plot button and wait for the applet to load.
Look at the labeled numbers at the upper right of the chart. KI<25 and LI<0 are good signs of thermal activity.
Look at the right for the wind profile. Lack of wind or a strong wind shear are bad signs. Hover the mouse over the chart and position it at the spot that matches the forecasted high temperature that you obtained earlier and the airport elevation, 300 feet in our case (575 for Fairfield). You may not be able to match the elevation exactly.
Click the left mouse button. Voila! You will now see a new magenta line with a shaded area between it and the red line. Where the two lines intersect corresponds to a Thermal Index (TI) of zero. Put the mouse cursor there and read off the altitude. This is how high the thermals will reach at 2PM.
Gliders normally top out at TI=-3, which will be somewhat lower. Hint: the horizontal distance between the red and magenta lines is a rough indication of the thermal strength at that altitude.
I've glossed over a huge amount of detail for the sake of simplicity and ease of use. For more information on this complex topic, see:
| Frederick | Fairfield | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day | Operations Director |
Tow Pilot | Assistant OD |
Operations Director |
Tow Pilot | Assistant OD |
| 04 | Dennis Petersen Phil Scheel |
Jane Robens | Andrew Dessler | John Mitchell Chris Scarlett |
Keith Newins | |
| 06 | Bill Kerns Bill Donahoe |
David Schober Dick Bernstein |
Gary Goldberg | George Constantin | Chuck Forrester | |
| 07 | John Thornhill Roger Andes |
Gene Wilburn Hans Jorgensen |
Robert Dutilly | Jim Lewis | Phil Burgess | |
| 13 | Mitch Lambros | Scott Petrasek | David A Churchill | John Hearn | ||
| 14 | Bob Luskin | Jan Steenblik | Howard Banks | Buddy Denham | ||
| 20 | Edward Breau | Bob Andrew | David MacVeigh | Jim Chick | ||
| 21 | Rob Myhre | Lance Nuckolls | Laura Hession | George Green | ||
| 27 | Jim Karcher | Bob Ball | Leslie Bell | Bill Savory | ||
| 28 | Bob Whitehead | Robert Robins | Rick Fuller | Mike Grinder | ||
| Frederick | Fairfield | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day | Operations Director |
Tow Pilot | Assistant OD |
Operations Director |
Tow Pilot | Assistant OD |
| 03 | Gary Miller | Sam Harry | Brain Arnett | Arlie Long Jr | David Pixton | Steve Shelton |
| 04 | Urs Thierstein | Tom Judkins | ackary Thornhill | Mike Vore | Elmer Mooring | |
| 10 | Tonas Kalil | Craig Moen | Sarah Macpherson | Pete Welles | ||
| 11 | Garv Garvin | Dee Torgerson | Elliott Blitz | Don Robb | ||
| 17 | Frederick Air Show (no M-ASA operation) | Bruce Andrews Jack Beavers |
Rich Horigan Max Ullmann |
Peter English | ||
| 18 | Frederick Air Show (no M-ASA operation) | Jonathan Gere George Burns |
Mike Smith Keith Newins |
|||
| 24 | Holland Ford | Poul Hansen | Leslie Bell | Jim Trygg | Gary Goldberg | |
| 25 | Dan Meyer | Bob Jackson | Darrel Shiles | Chuck Forrester | Robert Dutilly | |
| 31 | Joe Birkenstock | Ray Scarpulla | Bob Schott | Phil Burgess | ||
| Frederick | Fairfield | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day | Operations Director |
Tow Pilot | Assistant OD |
Operations Director |
Tow Pilot | Assistant OD |
| 01 | Ralph Wentzel | Craig Moen | Karanja Patterson | Kai Rasmussen | John Hearn | |
| 02 | John Allingham Dick Mott |
Dee Torgerson David Schober |
ansoor Ahmed | Peter Blacklin | Buddy Denham | |
| 07 | Dave Weber | Hans Jorgensen | Richard Latoff | Jim Chick | ||
| 08 | Mike Vance | Jan Steenblik | Bob Kryzstan | George Green | ||
| 14 | Dimitrios Stamatelos | Scott Petrasek | Mark Carlisle | Guy Pfeffermann | Bill Savory | |
| 15 | Marly van de Ven | Bob Andrew | Frank Benson | Mike Grinder | ||
| 21 | Tom Jones | Jane Robens | Steve Shelton | Jay Dickhoff | David Pixton | Brain Arnett |
| 22 | Peter Kern | Lance Nuckolls | Zackary Thornhill | Mark Segall | Pete Welles | |
| 28 | Jim Homer | Sam Harry | Christophe Blanchi | Don Robb | ||
| 29 | George Simms | Bob Ball | Kai Rasmussen | Rich Horigan | Janet Frank | |
M-ASA Duty Notes: Members assigned to operations duty must be on site in enough time to start operations by 10:00AM and stay at the field until operations are concluded. Each person listed on the duty roster is responsible for that day's assignment. In the case of "no-shows," the person acting as OD should indicate this fact on the flight sheet. "No-shows" will be fined $100.00. M-ASA's training process requires all new members to serve as Apprentice OD (AOD) at both M-ASA operating locations. This is to familiarize new members with the operating practices at each field. Any member who joined the previous year and who was not scheduled for AOD duty at each field, will be scheduled for AOD duty at each field in the current year. Note that AOD scheduling is done independently of duty preference information submitted on the member's duty preference form. After the AOD cycles have been completed every effort will be made to accommodate the new member's stated duty preference whenever possible. M-ASA Scheduler: Ray Watson 410-484-0333.