SASS Soar 2004 2-day NWSS Contest Report - June 10, 11 2004
Contest: Soar Redmond 2004
Dates: July 10, 11
Pilots: 17
Rounds: Saturday: 6 rounds of pilots choice 3p, 5, 7, 9, 10
Sunday: 7 rounds assigned
tasks: 3p, 5, 7, 9, 10, 3p, 5
Saturday was “Thermal Wizard” day with generally good conditions launching away from the dreaded soccer fields. By the end of round 5 there were 5 pilots within 3 minutes of having all 10 minute flights. The sky to the Northwest started to look very ominous late in the 5th round, and by the start of round 6, the wind had picked up substantially as the dark clouds moved in. Most pilots decided to launch early guessing that things could only get worse as the round progressed….they were right. A huge wave developed in increasing winds and the early fliers were actually rewarded with max 10 minute flights by just facing the wind and surfing. Landing was another matter….21 flights – 12 zero landings, Les Grammer got a 6, Tom Cumlsee’s 2-meter got a 7 landing, Seattle’s Andy Page got a 20, that was about it…no…wait…Ray Cooper – 100 points!! The round was extended with 5 minutes left due to rain. Tom Culmsee and Tom Brightbill had already flown their 2 meter flights, but flew their open class flight after the rain stopped, well, Culmsee did, it began raining again and Brightbill flew his last flight in the rain anyway. Les Grammer won the Thermal Wizard missing a perfect 60 minutes of flying by only 13 seconds.
Sunday’s 7 rounds were flown in near perfect conditions. Light, variable winds, hawks and a couple of bald eagles indicating lift. We were launching away from the Soccer fields again. At the beginning of each round we would judge which way the light winds would blow and changed the landing direction as needed to minimize the downwind landings. The winds were actually very light, but it was just a matter of standing on the other side of the landing lines when we switched directions. On the 10 minute task, Les Grammer was making a landing approach at the South end of the field at 3 minutes into the flight, and proceeded to give us a 5 minute lesson in low level lift flying with his Stratos, that is, until he hit the invisible Soccer field parking lot wall and had to move forward out of his "lift" to land at 7:26, such is life flying at 60 Acres. There was a little bit of complaining when the CD called a 3p late in the day, that is, until 3 pilots could not get their 3 minutes.
A big thanks to all those that came early and stayed late to help set up and take down. And a special thanks to Pete for running and maintaining the equipment and putting up with all of us fickle pilots both days. Great weather, a little excitement, a little controversy, good friends, a little airplane carnage, that’s about it. You can find much more scoring detail than you’d ever want here:
Thermal Wizard -
Saturday
Standings by Class -
Saturday Only
Standings by Class -
Sunday Only
Standings by Class - Sat,
Sun Combined
Pilot
Detail by Round - Sat, Sun Combined
Russ Young
CD, Soar 2004 - Redmond
Les Grammer's new Thermal Wizard