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aeajr
477 Posts |
 Posted - 10/11/2006 : 8:42:21 PM
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From: Lucke, Steve
Sent: Wednesday, October 11, 2006 3:05 PM
On Oct. 7 and 8th we had the Eastern Soaring League's end of season contest at the beautiful Daniel Boone Homestead near Reading PA. This is a nice flying site with lots of open space as well as being ringed by the trees and forests all of us have come to know and love, some better then others. The contest on Saturday had gray skies, very cool with a breeze which gusted up to about 17 mph at times but only averaged about 7 or 8. Most folks were flying Agea Mantis or molded airplanes. I saw Supras, an Icon, Pike Superior, several Thermal Dancers and I think an Escape as well as one Graphite 2. There might have been an Opus in there too.
We were launching off 700 foot winch lines and launch heights were pretty impressive. Amazingly enough we did not have any winch line breaks on Saturday and just a couple of retrieve line breaks. I was very impressed by the number of people who helped with the set up on Saturday morning. I saw Jeff Steifel, Phil Barnes who supplied the generator, Luis Bustamante, Dale Hart, Anker Berg-Soone, Dave Walter who was the CD, Ed Anderson, Mike Lachowski, Terry Luchenbach who supplied a retriever and Jerry Zigenfuse who also supplied a retriever all pitching in, and I'm sure I missed a few folks.
I think we did 6 rounds on Saturday and I thought the conditions were challenging. I spent most of my flights going upwind trying to find waves of lift as I could not get a good read on the air. I think I saw Mike Lachowski spend a great deal of time downwind in good air because he could 'see' the air better then myself and some others. I think Tom Keisling 'saw' the air as well also.
On Sunday we got 7 rounds in and the conditions were amazingly different from Saturday. About as perfect a day as you could want. No more then mid 70s, deep blue sky with no clouds and no wind. We finally managed to break a couple of winch lines but those didn't slow us down much. Again I saw Agea Mantis, Supras, Pike Superior, a regular Mantis which was flown very well by Bill Vida, Thermal Dancers, Evos, and a Graphite 2. Since the wind wasn't a factor people were free to follow every wind shift to a thermal. Landings were very important on Sunday and it was fun to watch the approaches and landings people were making. You could really set up your approach and fly right to the spot, or in my case to some point near the spot.
After Sunday's contest it was great to see Dale Hart work with one of the new guys on sorting out his 2 meter Mantis and getting some launches in before everything was packed up.
I hope everyone has a great off season!
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Edited by - aeajr on 10/17/2006 10:24:45 AM |
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aeajr
477 Posts |
Posted - 10/11/2006 : 8:54:58 PM
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From: Ed Anderson
Subject: Report from ESL EOS contest in Daniel Boon PA.
I though I would share my first experience at an away contest. I had the most wonderful time. The weekend was challenging and rewarding. I will definitely want to do this again.
I car pooled with Demitri and Heidel which made the trip fun. We are members of the Long Island Silent Flyers, www.lisf.org , located in Syosset, NY.
We stayed at the Best Western in Pottstown. Price was right and it included breakfast. We got the ESL Contest rate! Not a bad place.
We arrived at the field at 8 am Saturday. After I managed to open a locked gate, without a key, we all headed into the field. It started the day with a smile for a lot of people.
The weather on Saturday was overcast. We had a little rain in the morning but it was mostly just a cool overcast day with light thermal lift. There was a 5-8 mph wind with a couple of 15 mph gusts registered in the morning but it really was not too gusty most of the day. Any plane would have enjoyed these conditions.
The lay of the land is different from my home field. Where our field is flat, this site is more hilly, as you can see in the photos. The NW wind was coming in from a valley then crossed a hill to our NW, so I think we were shielded, on the ground, from some of the breeze. It seemed a bit stronger up high but definately not a problem. It did have the effect of creating some slope/ridge lift in that NW area which seemed to hold most of the day.
This was an open winch format with 5 winches available. We flew in 4 groups of about 9 pilots each. When your round was called, you had a 10 minute window in which to launch, but you launched whenever you wanted. If you were unsure, you could hold back and see where other pilots went and how they were doing, or you could just step up and launch. If you felt you knew where the lift was you launched early. If you were unsure, you launched late.
There were a wide range of planes. Most flew 3 meter or larger planes, but some were flying planes in the 2-3 meter range. Most were full house planes, but there were several RES planes. Most were composit wing planes but there were wood planes as well. And there were two other Thermal Dancers, like mine.
Just before the first round, one of my flap servos went bad. Someone
noticed I was pulling a servo and offered help. Then others came over. The servo had gone bad and somehow the connector in the plane was bad too. The next thing I know there is a 12V soldering iron, solder, shrink wrap and lots of help. We got the new servo in, taped and trimmed in time for me to make the first round. This was like the pits at Indy, but all of a sudden the other pit crews were helping me.
I had a channel conflict with Robert Buxton, another sportsman with much more experience than I. That's Robert with his big yellow EVO in the photo below.
We agreed to time for each other so there would be no frequency conflict. This seemed to be the typical way channel conflicts were handled.
Robert was in group A and I was in C. In this case, channel conflict turned out to be a great thing. I got to know a great guy, got some good coaching while I was in the air and had a terrific two days with him. While I was flying a light plane at 58 ounces, he was flying a heavy plane at 88 ounces so it was interesting to see that, in the hands of a good pilot, either could do well in the conditions.
Since I was still a bit unsure on the wing repair on my Thermal Dancer, I was taking it easy on the launches on Saturday. I was tapping up with moderate zooms. But I saw no problem with the wings at all.
I think we flew 6 rounds Satuday. I had two where I did not make my time. I ventured down wind to where the heavier planes were finding lift, rather than staying with the light thermal/ridge lift I had been successfully working up wind. I was more interested in testing the plane and myself than I was about contest score.
There was more wind up high but the Thermal Dancer was able to get out and back. However this was not the right place for me to play that day. I really was not comfortable flying out as far as the lift required. It was a contest mistake, but I got back to the field, which some did not.
Landings were where I was working hardest as I have tended to fall short with the TD after years with the Legend. So I had to learn to hold back on crow till later than usual. This worked well and I believe my best landing was an 88 on Saturday. I also had a couple of 12s and I think a 40 something. The tapes were longer than what we usually have at LISF, which I liked.
On Saturday I had several personal best flights. Of the 6 rounds I believe I scored landing points on 4 and made my time, within 10 seconds, on 4 rounds. The Thermal Dancer was flying great and lacked only from the pilot on the sticks. I finished the day at 51.1% of perfect, which put me 10th out of 13. Not great but still, a day filled with personal bests, and that was all that mattered to me. I was walking on air! It took three guys and a crowbar to get the smile off my face.
Dimitri, Heidel and I went for dinner and had a great time. We laughed till we cried. Then back to the motel. I was beat. I hooked up the charger for the plane and the radio and was in bed by 9:30. I dreamed of planes and thermals and soft landings on the tape.
Sunday brought a beautiful clear day with variable winds of about 5 mph, again from the NW, which was just a bit off to the left of the winch line. Occasionally the wind reversed so that we were launching in 0-5 down wind. Likewise we were landing down wind on occasion but the conditions were mild overall.
Since winds were light, I was giving the TD full pedal on the launches with no complaint from the plane at all. Likewise zooms were more aggressive and working fine. Any doubts I may have had on the wing repair are now gone. This plane is solid and I just love it!
I scored 82% of perfect for the day. That put me at 13 of 14. Not in the running, but a personal best, so I was very pleased. I only had one weak flight when I did not make the time, but I blew two landings. One I had my landing mix turned off so when I went to pull crow.... nothing. That landing was quite exciting. I won't make that mistake again.
The other, I was coming in pretty hot and waited too long to pull crow and over shot. I actually tapped my leg, so even if I was within the stripe, I would still get no points.
On Dimitri's last landing of his Graphite, I was standing off to the side, to photograph his landing. I was watching, watching ... hey, that plane is coming right at me and was not going to stop! I started to back up fast but he still clipped me with a wing tip. He will have a small repair but that is what you get for hitting the photographer.
My last flight of the day, Sunday, was most rewarding. I got off a good launch, but must have been traveling through sink a bit too slowly heading for the lift. There were 4 planes riding a nice thermal and I was heading for them but I was only about 2X tree height when I arrived and was worried I had blown the flight.
I managed to get into the edge of the lift in time, at about 90 seconds into the 8 minute flight. As I worked the lift, I literally thermaled up through the crowd so that at 3 minutes I was the highest plane in the group by at least 100 feet. It was a real thrill! I believe I made about a 60 in landing points on that one too. What a great way to finish the contest.
Overall it was a wonderful weekend. I had the best time. I am getting to know my plane and grow in confidence with it on every flight. It was clearly a personal best weekend for me and showed me that I can do much better with just a little more time with the TD.
I will definately want to try other away contests. The friendship and comradary was great! It was nice to be a guest at someone else's field. Different sights, different contures and friendly faces made for an experience I hope to repeat soon.
Wish you had been there!
Best regards,
Ed Anderson
aeajr on the forums
Long Island Silent Flyers
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Edited by - aeajr on 10/12/2006 08:55:44 AM |
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aeajr
477 Posts |
Posted - 10/11/2006 : 8:57:47 PM
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Here are some more photos from the contest:
Best regards,
Ed Anderson
aeajr on the forums
Long Island Silent Flyers
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Edited by - aeajr on 10/11/2006 9:33:41 PM |
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aeajr
477 Posts |
Posted - 10/11/2006 : 9:01:13 PM
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My Thermal Dancer
Best regards,
Ed Anderson
aeajr on the forums
Long Island Silent Flyers
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Edited by - aeajr on 10/11/2006 9:05:20 PM |
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aeajr
477 Posts |
Posted - 10/11/2006 : 9:05:48 PM
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Pilot's meeting and auto row. Pilots working the lift.
Best regards,
Ed Anderson
aeajr on the forums
Long Island Silent Flyers
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Edited by - aeajr on 10/11/2006 9:17:14 PM |
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aeajr
477 Posts |
Posted - 10/12/2006 : 08:55:05 AM
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Please add your comments, experiences, and what you enjoyed at the contest.
The Scores are posted here:
http://www.flyesl.com/scores/scoreCon.asp?vnr=Saturday&vfn=20
Best regards,
Ed Anderson
aeajr on the forums
Long Island Silent Flyers |
Edited by - aeajr on 10/13/2006 9:28:47 PM |
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Fun in PA at the Daniel Boon Contest 10-7,8 2006
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