Cross Country Posers
By Mike Bergerson
With day two of Cross Country (XC) in the books, all I can say is “John Butler is hooked!” Oh… and I got my 1K fly-and-return task done for LSF Level 3! Woohoo!
The day began much like yesterday, waiting for the ominous weather to pass us by, and it did! Launching the Pike Perfect on the winch is a nice stress-free experience, straight up and smooth. Off the winch line is a bit different, as I determined that my natural preference for a rearward CG is not in this plane's wheelhouse, at least not like I have it set up. Getting her to altitude has some pilot load, but flying it in a straight line down the course is easy. She's fast and responds well to lift. That’s good criteria for an XC sailplane.
I worked a good thermal up to 1,200 feet, jumped into (crawled, actually - LOL) the back of the world famous “Country Cadillac” and we cruised on down the road. I had only lost about 400 feet as we reached the turn point. Lift was spotty, but I had enough altitude, barring any major sink, to get back to the landing field. We did have to wait a little bit for the train. Pulling back into the school, I made my landing 50 feet from where I started. It was a hoot and all my trepidation melted away. I spent the day just relaxing with my new accomplishment.
The other best part of the day was having my good friend and USA F5J Team member, John Butler, show up to fly his Challenger F5J plane and asking him to ride along on my 1K flight. He had a great time and decided to give it a shot himself. So off he goes, specks out and jumps in the truck, and then proceeds to fly an E 2K fly and return flight! We got him hook, line, and vario.
John Butler flying his Challenger from the back of the Country Cadillac.
John made a great spot landing to complete his 2K flight.
Three more runs on the course for John netted several miles of XC travel, to include an off-field landing inside a fenced in pasture, the one with the bull! Ed expertly scaled the barbed wire fence, retrieved the plane, and exited… quickly! It turns out the bull had no interest in a bunch of sailplane junkies.
Another off-field landing in one of the many bean fields was an easy recovery. On that particular run I spotted for John and responded to his comment that lift was difficult to find with, "Wouldn't a vario be nice right about now?” Mr. “No varios ever” agreed! LOL. He set up a vario for his next flight and he racked up the miles today for sure.
Ed flew his Pike Perfection on a 1K fly-and-return for his winch level 3 and completed his 30 minute duration requirement on the same flight. Several other planes made their way into the sky as well, including a beautiful Kennedy Composites Sprite 2M. What pretty and fun sailplanes these are. Another wonderful Kennedy Composites sailplane, a Super AVA, even saw the beautiful skies over Parker City.
When I left the field on a mission from Wally, John was off on yet another run down the course, specked way out with his vario singing!
There is only one more day of 2025 Nats XC to go, so come fly with us. The joy is endless. Blue Skies!