Ed Dumas concentrating on his Explorer as he approaches the conclusion of his two-hour LSF flight.
By Mike Bergerson
The weather gods have granted mercy! What a beautiful day to fly gliders. There were quite a few flights made from the winch, and just as many were electric flights.
I spent the day helping out friends, setting up airplanes, and spotting for a run down the Cross Country (XC) course. I did manage to get in one flight with my Vinco 4M F5J sailplane. Unfortunately, I did not take it out on the XC course. The thermals were strong and abundant. Wayne Norrie, Mike Ward, Rick Bothell, John Armstrong, Randy Everly, and Kent Nogy were all doing the same, enjoying long thermal flights and spending time with friends. Wally Adasczik even got to fly his Supra!
One of the two big stories of the day was Ed Dumas and his two-hour League of Silent Flight (LSF) flight duration task. He accomplished that in grand fashion, logging 2 hours and 8 minutes, followed by a spot landing with his Explorer. He was definitely a happy camper!
The second big story had John Marien flying his 4M Maxa on another attempt to satisfy his LSF Level 5 10k fly and return task. That's 10k out and 10k back. After a beautiful launch from the winch, he climbed to 1,800 feet. The thermals were very cooperative. With Randy piloting the “Country Caddy,” we set off down the north XC course: a beautiful, straight shot of road with minimal obstacles that could block the line of sight to your sailplane. Spotting requires you to help your pilot read the air as he hops from thermal to thermal along the course, monitor and relay his attitude by utilizing his airplanes telemetry, and relay his speed-change requests to the driver. We were fighting a bit of headwind for the first several kilometers, and everything seemed great … until it wasn't. The sink can sneak up on you and make finding the next thermal difficult. Unfortunately, the cold air won, and John had to land after getting 6.5km down the course. A valiant effort!
The day wrapped up with folks heading out to help set up the next two days of winch flying at Site 5 of AMA’s International Aeromodeling Center. The Quadfecta runs Saturday and Sunday, July 20-21 … be there!
A big thank-you to Wally and Ed for creating a wonderful XC Soaring experience!
Blue Skies!
Note from AMA: Do you have photos from the Nats that you’d like to share? If so, email them to Clarissa Poston at clarissap@modelaircraft.org. Please include a brief description in your email, naming any individuals pictured in the photo(s), the name of the event that the photo(s) were taken during, and the name of the individual who took the photo(s). Your submission(s) might be posted on AMA’s Flickr page, which can be found at www.flickr.com/photos/modelaircraft/albums!