By Jeff Struthers
Last Saturday was one beautiful day for our Electroglide. Clear skies, 71 degrees and a NW wind. The wind would later increase and be a slight problem for us, but long flights were still made by some. Sam Halderman from the Escondido Wing Masters R.C. Club drove down and joined us for the contest.
First launch was at 10:00 and nine pilots took to the blue skies. Six Radians, one Easystar and one open class motor glider. I managed to get the first long flight at 7 minutes, 10 seconds. Alex Sutton came in second at 6:18, Rich Rogers was third with a flight of 5:26 plus getting a 20-point landing. Dennis LaBerge also picked up a 20-point landing. Steve Treger and Sam Halderman both got 10-point landings.
The second launch was into some increasing north west wind that affected the thermals coming towards us from Sea World’s parking lot, so flight times were a bit shorter. Jim Bonnardel had the long flight of 5:20 plus a 30-point landing. I came in second at 4:51 with a 20-point landing and Dennis La Berge was third at 4:10 minutes aloft. Sam Halderman again got a 10-point landing.
The third launch was into some tricky conditions. It took careful attention in watching our aircraft to stay aloft. Most flight times were under 5 minutes, but Jim Bonnardel showed us how to do it with an amazing flight time of 10 minutes and scoring a 20-point landing. I came in second with a 5:16 flight time and a 10-point landing. Sam Halderman came in third at 4:09 and another 10-point landing. Good flying Jim.
The forth and final launch had many of us finding the lift, flight times jumped. I managed the long flight at 8:58. Carlos Mercado came in second at 8:22 plus a 10-point landing and Dennis LaBerge and Alex Sutton shared third place with 6:36 aloft. Dennis picked up a 30-point landing. Stephen Treger and Jon Graber both scored 20-point landings. I would also like to point out that Jon Graber found a good thermal with his little EasyStar-2, staying aloft for respectable 6:20; his longest flight this year.
The winner for the day was yours truly with a total score of 199. Jim Bonnardel came in second at 170 points and Dennis LaBerge was third at 162 points.
This was a good contest on a beautiful day. Good flying by all pilots and many extra points earned with the spot landings. Great work everybody
Also, thanks again to Frank Sutton for all these pictures.
Next Electroglide is set for May 19th, 10:00 a.m. first launch.
See you then,
Jeff
