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aeajr
477 Posts |
 Posted - 06/11/2007 : 9:46:16 PM
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From: "John Kirchstein"
Subject: SKSS Soaring Meet
Contest report for SKSS ESL Classic June 9-10, 2007
After the gale force winds we had at last years contest, the 20 mph zephyrs that were present for this year’s Saturday rendition were almost peaceful! Despite frequent line breaks and consequent dropping of the retriever lines, the wind-hardened launch crew dug in and got the job done with minimal interruption.
Six rounds were completed by 3:00 and scores were very competitive: 73 points separated the top three Experts. Pete Schlitzkus pulled first place and John Hauff and Luis Bustamante took second and third with but two points separating them.
A ribs and chicken, dogs and burgers buffet was held at noon. Food supplied by a professional caterer member of the club, beautifully prepared and presented, and greatly appreciated by all present.
John Hauff put on a winch launching seminar that was well attended and closely followed. Some of his suggestions were obvious in the techniques observed on Sunday
Sunday dawned cloudy and calm, staying that way all through the day. Lift was where you found it but generally good enough that if you messed up a landing you moved out of contention.
Leszek Zyga took first honors, followed by Steve Lucke, Kerry Cochrell and Pete Schlitzkus. Pete made enough to garner high points for the weekend.
Five Novice flyers took part and all seemed to enjoy their first attempts at competition.
After seven rounds, we called it an early day at 2:00 Having put in only one round after the lunch which was a repeat of Saturday’s feast. |
Edited by - aeajr on 06/15/2007 10:46:03 PM |
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aeajr
477 Posts |
Posted - 06/22/2007 : 10:59:50 AM
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I arrived at the SKSS field Saturday morning around 8am to find a beautifully groomed field and people busy at work setting up winches. It looked like it would be a beautiful day, but the wind was starting to pick up. This was going to be an "interesting day"
I checked into the desk, then went about set-up of my planes. I was debating whether I was going to need ballast or not.
I took one of the test launches off the winches with my Thermal Dancer. Yep, it was bouncy up there and it was getting stronger. I dropped 9 oz of ballist into my 59 ounce plane.
I had the privlidge of pairing up with Stewart Swanson for timing. Stewart is an Expert class pilot and I am a developing Sportsman class flyer. Stewart apparently is famous for his KLAM planes. The first one to come out was Kinda Like a Mantis. It had the basic design but it had a conventional built up tail. And while others were flying fancy high end sailplane radios, Stewart was flying a Hitec Flash 5X. As the day went on I got a real lesson in the "it is the pilot, not the plane or the radio that makes the difference". Stewart really showed that to be true.
I was getting good launches but mixed results on my times. I had several very good landings, good for me that is, and overall I was having a great time but the down hill landing set-up was giving me trouble. As I was coming in, I was in a slope soaring effect. Any variation of wind would pick the plane up and it was hard to not over compensate. This was tough!
Lunch came out and, what a feast. There were hot dogs, hambergers, chicken, and the best spare ribs I think I have ever eaten. Salads and side dishes rounded out the buffet and everyone talked about how good the food was.
After lunch, with gusts getting stronger, the contest continued. My Thermal Dancer was doing pretty good up until the next to last landing. One of those gusts grabbed my plane and as I tried to adjust, I ended up smacking the nose hard into the ground and broke the front pod with two compression breaks. I had no landing points and a broken plane.
Stewart had had similar experience on his landing, resulting in a broken tail. These were tricky conditions.
Fortunately I had my Airtronics Legend on deck and ready to go. This is an 82 ounce 2.9M plane that is at least 20 years old. I plan to retire it from contest flying but for now it is my back-up plane.
As the gusts came, the Legend went up the winch. As it climbed out, I would swear it looked back at me and said, "what wind?". It seems to like the wind.
A quick turn to the right and the Legend indicated lift. Up she went and I skied it out. I had no problem brining in the Legend hot and low. I was within a few seconds of my time and made landing points on top of that. Maybe I should have been flying the Legend all day.
To my surise, that last flight was enough to put me into 3rd place for Sportsman. This was my first wood in an ESL contest.
That night the Themal Dancer went on the repair table, got several Kevlar patches and some clean up. By morning it was ready to fly again.
Sundy shown beautiful and quiet. The sky was clear and the winds were around 5 mph. Perfect conditions for my Thermal Dancer. Glad I got it fixed.
Stewart and I teamed again and I gained a lot from his advice. I had a great day, but so did everyone else so I missed wood for the day.
We had a second great BBQ. Once more round was flown after lunch and it was all finished so those who were coming from out of town could get an early start.
I want to thank the Silent Knights Soaring Society for putting on a great event. I will be back!
Stewart, thanks for timeing for me and letting me work with you. It was a great training experience.
Great contest, great people, great food and a great time. That is what I had!
Best regards,
Ed Anderson
Long Island Silent Flyers
aeajr on the forums |
Edited by - aeajr on 06/22/2007 11:20:53 AM |
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SKSS Contest Report - Newark DE 6-9 and 6-10 2007
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