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josh_glaab
50 Posts |
 Posted - 05/08/2014 : 8:14:41 PM
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2014 HRSF/BRASS ESL Unlimited Waynesboro, VA
On 5/2, 5/3, and 5/4 the ESL visited Franky Coyner Field in Waynesboro, VA. This is the home field for Blue Ridge Area Soaring Society (BRASS) and the location for the annual ESL event which is co-hosted by the Hampton Roads Silent Flyers (HRSF). This was the 5th annual HRSF/BRASS ESL event held at this location. CDs for Saturday and Sunday were Chuck Pinnell and Josh Glaab, respectively. Franky Coyner Field is a beautiful location with a large expanse of sod-farm grade turf that offers awesome views of the Blue Ridge mountains. Friday�s weather was fantastic and many gathered for an ALES event and general sport flying and practice.
The weather forecast for Saturday and Sunday indicated significant winds and we were all bracing for that. Saturday�s forecast was a little better than Sunday�s with winds getting into the 10 to 20 mph range. Sunday�s forecast was for winds in the 15 to 30 mph range. Ay Carumba!
Saturday dawned clear and calm with only a few widely-scattered clouds. We proceeded to get the contest together with help from Steve Lucke, who setup the winch and landing grid with some assistance from Chuck Pinell and Tom Broeski. A total of 27 pilots pre-registered, however 19 pilots showed-up for the competition on Saturday with several pilots likely scared-off by the wind predictions. The task was the �standard ESL task� of 10-minute man-on-man with 100-pt C-delta landings. The first 2 rounds were random with all subsequent rounds being seeded. Luis and Joanne Bustamante were not in attendance this weekend so the scoring duties were picked up by team Glaab (Luke, Josh Jr, and Josh) and veteran scorekeeper Theresa Zyga. This scoring team worked very hard to get things in order and we definitely have a much better appreciation for Luis and Joanne  . We ran into some significant issues with the scoring system (printer and computer issues). Thanks to Keith Ebeltoff (sp?) who ran out to the local Walmart and came back with a brand-new $40 printer. We also switched to a backup laptop and were in business after the first 2 rounds. Yay!
The wind did increase through the first couple of rounds. I flew my 54-oz Spread-Tow Supra unballasted initially and things were going well. After lunch the wind increased to about 10 to 20 mph so I put in 17-oz of lead. I also put ballast in the boys planes (Josh Jr Kevlar Supra Pro, Luke Glass Supra) to get them to ~72 oz total. My Supra was really doing well with the ballast for the next several rounds. Going into Round 7 the wind was calming down a little so I elected to take all the ballast out of my Supra. Round 7 became an epic battle with Frank Dumas (Egita), Duane Beck (Glass Supra Pro), and Leszek Zyga (X2). At about 4 minutes to go and we were all on the tree-line scrapping for anything and really operating within close proximity of each other. Frank hit some lift and got up quickly. The bottom kind of also closed quickly and I couldn�t get into it. I proceeded to scrape down the tree line. At about 1.5 minutes to go I was about 3 feet off the ground and decided to just fly out into the shallow area to get a few more seconds. My Supra hit some energy and it got up to ~6 ft. I decided to take a turn and it climbed back up to ~75 ft over about 10 circles. During the flight I walked quite a distance and I was standing too far away from the spot to shoot the landing since I had no idea I was going to be able to have a shot at the landing and be on time. Flight time is a premium with the C-delta landing task and I needed to do everything to stay in the air, as soaring events should be. Even with the zero landing I was able to stay in the lead since I had a good lead going into that round and eventually won the contest. Frank Dumas came in 2nd, Mike Lachowski (V-tail X2) came in third. Pete Schlitzkus was 4th (X2?) and Leszek was 5th. Josh Glaab Jr and Luke Glaab went back and forth leading the Sportsflyer class through the day, but Josh Jr managed to have one more good flight than Luke to win. Dave Resinger (Supra) came in 3rd. We got �stoned� with the awards (laser etched river stones) provided by Chuck Pinell.
Saturday�s contest was concluded around 4:15pm and a mixed hand-launch/winch-launch ALES event broke out with about 7 electric sailplanes, Mrs Custers Revenge (hand launched by Steve Lucke) and Neal Huffman (winch launched X-2). I am not sure who won Saturday�s ALES event, just that Josh Jr came in 3rd with our Radian Pro.
Sunday again dawned clear and totally calm. However, the winds came up a little quicker and stronger than we saw on Saturday. Once again the ballast went in the Supra and we continued to try to fly. Luke selected what we call the Scratch and Dent Supra for the day . The S&D Supra is an older full-carbon centerpanel Supra that was in a bad wreck a few years ago and has been restored, overall weight ~72 oz. Several pilots elected to stop flying around noon. Hand-held wind meters on the field were reading ~23 mph gusts during rounds 5 and 6. At the end of Round 5 at about 1pm we decided that Round 6 would be the last round due to the wind. Due to the strong winds and a commanding 950-pt lead over his brother, Josh Jr, Luke elected to not fly the last round and bet that Josh Jr would not win his flight group. Josh Jr flew in a 2 person group with Tom Broeski (Royal, Icon-2). Though Tom gave it his best shot with his Icon-2, Josh Jr won the last round and the Sportsflyer contest. I managed to win Sunday�s contest again with the Spread Tow Supra with 17-oz of ballast. Mike Lachowski was second with his V-tailed X2. Steve Lucke, flying Mrs Custer�s Revenge (i.e. Neal Huffman�s old Supra Pro, which spent ~14 months in Mrs Custer�s tree near Daniel Boone Homestead in Reading, PA) came in 3rd. Overall winners for the weekend were: Josh Glaab in Expert, Josh Glaab Jr in Sportsflyer, and Dick Proseaus (X2 and Supra) in the Over 60 class.
During the awards ceremony on Sunday a raffle was held with items donated by Horizon Hobbies. We had a nice BNF UMX Micro Radian to give away along several bottles of Mercury 5 adhesive and kicker. Everyone who flew in the contest and was present at the time were entered into the raffle. A random number generator was used along with the final standings to determine the raffle winners. The Radian was awarded to Dick Proseaus.
Despite the wind and computer/printer issues we managed to have a great contest. As is the norm for all ESL events, all pitched in to help make the event successful doing such tasks as riding the retrieve vehicle, helping with the winches, scoring, timing, and lending a hand to help fellow competitors repair their aircraft. Lastly, I would like to welcome Randy Everly to the ESL. Randy has been flying with the Northern CA group and has been transferred to VA Beach. He is now a member of HRSF and will be at the next ESL event in Horsefeathers.
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Dick Proseaus being presented with the UMX BNF Radian from Josh Jr and Josh Glaab.
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Dave Reisinger, 3rd Place Sportsflyer Saturday.
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Luke Glaab, 2nd Place Sportsflyer Saturday.
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Josh Glaab Jr, 1st Place Sportsflyer Saturday.
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Mike Lachowski, 3rd Place Expert Saturday.
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Frank Dumas, 2nd Place Expert Saturday.
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Josh Glaab, 1st Place Expert Saturday.
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Luke Glaab, 2nd Place Sportsflyer Sunday.
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Josh Glaab Jr, 1st Place Sportsflyer Sunday.
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Steve Lucke, 3rd Place Sportsflyer Sunday (with Mrs Custer's Revenge).
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Mike Lachowksi, 2nd Place Expert Class Sunday.
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Josh Glaab, 1st Place Expert Class Sunday (presented by Theresa Zyga).
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Steve Lucke launching Mrs Custer's Revenge.
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Steve launching Chuck Pinell's Supra.
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Tom Broeski's plane rack (Royale and Icon-2).
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Maximum Don Richmond launches his Maxxa. |
Edited by - josh_glaab on 05/08/2014 9:03:38 PM |
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josh_glaab
50 Posts |
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Duane
24 Posts |
Posted - 05/08/2014 : 9:25:48 PM
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| Thanks for the report. If I may make a slight correction, I was flying a Supra Carbon Lite. |
Duane
CASA, FARM, LSF III #7971 |
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mikel
106 Posts |
Posted - 05/09/2014 : 10:25:31 AM
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| Leszek is still flying X1, not an X2. Sunday was windy, by the end of the day I was up to 24oz of ballast in the X2. Landing conditions were difficult with gusts. You could be lined up 25 ft from the spot and get blown to the side 5 ft. |
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2014 HRSF/BRASS ESL Unlimited
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