The F3L pilots at the 2025 Soaring Nationals.
By Mike Bergerson
It is just a beautiful day to fly 2-meter (2M) wooden sailplanes! The sun is out, there’s a light breeze of about 6 mph, and you have 30 pilots divided into seven teams shooting little wooden RES sailplanes into the sky on FAI regulation highstarts. Why? Because, as my good friend Tom said to me today in the midst of flying, launching, shagging highstarts and timing for our teammates, “I believe I have just found my new favorite competition.” This is pure flying with friends. It involves strategy to ensure a good scoring result and you get to run around in a field like a little kid! Bring lots of water and snacks.
The rules are basically this: the model has to be a wooden 2M RES (rudder/elevator/spoiler) sailplane. It may not have a composite leading edge, but it can have a carbon main spar and/or a carbon fuselage boom. The remaining structure must be of wood.
The task is also simple. The pilots are given a 9-minute window (a buzzer sounds to begin and end the window) to fly a six minute task and perform a precision landing. The landing tapes are graduated up to 100 points. You may relaunch as many times as you like within the window to better your score. The catch is, only your last flight counts and your plane must be on the ground before the final buzzer sounds, or you lose any landing points.
Watch this short of Gil and Gordon shooting a landing.
The concept is easy to understand, and the operation is absolutely a hoot and a joy to watch. Seven sailplanes zipping up into the sky is impressive to say the least. A good straight launch is a must and your teammates are there to support your flight.
Our CD, Ryan Woebkenberg, held his pilots meeting at 8:30 and explained the rules for many first time F3L competitors. At the conclusion of the pilots meeting, all the pilots gathered for a group photo with their planes to send their well wishes to our friend and fellow pilot, Jeff Carr, who couldn’t attend the Nats this year. He is an avid F3L pilot, contest organizer, and loves the Nats. We always miss him when he’s not here.
We managed to complete six full rounds, with a break for lunch included. It was hot, with a light breeeze, so you would think the thermals would be abundant. That was not the case and it left many a pilot with low flight times. There was a drop after five rounds to shuffle the scores up a bit. At the conclusion of the day, one drop showed up bigger than most: a 1000 score. Gordon Buckland posted six 1000-point flights, winning every round. Wow! Several pilots came close, but not enough to beat that perfect score. We’ll see what unfolds tomorrow.
Enjoy the pics and video. Complete scores are on Gliderscore.com, as well as the screenshot of the scores posted here.
Blue Skies!
Todd Anderson and his much-campaigned Oly650.
Broeski and Scully working on spoiler compensation.
(L-R) Norm, Wally, Garry, Ed, and Charles.
This is the B-Team (L-R): Tom Broeski, Tom Scully, Todd Anderson, Tom David (out back) and Mike Bergerson.
Tom Scully watching a teammate launch.