We had a pretty fun time last Saturday morning. Ten glider pilots showed up for the first Electroglide of 2023. Eight pilots flew in the Radian class and two pilots flew in the Open class.
The weather gave us a beautiful blue sky day, on the cool side at 57 degrees, but some thermal lift was there to be found. The Radians made the best use of this light thermal. Longest flight was by Scott Vance at a little over 8 minutes.
First launch had a midair collision resulting in the loss of one Radian and an event timer malfunction. We restarted that launch and all went well.
Dennis LaBergh and Stephen Trager both flying Radians, had the longest flights at 4:30 minutes each and both picked up 30-point landings. Scott Vance, also flying a Radian, had a flight of 4:15 min., and getting a 30-point landing. Jeff Struthers, Radian, was third at 2:35 min. Fritz Logan, flying a Radian and Bob Stinson, flying open class, both had 20-point landings and Alex Sutton (Radian) and Bob Anson (Radian) both had 10-point landings.
On the second launch, the lift was a bit harder to find. Bob Anson was first place with a flight of 4:21. Jon Graber, Radian) and Dennis both had flights at 3:30 and both picked up 20-point landings. Jeff was third with a flight of 2:51 min.
Third launch had some much better thermal lifts as the flight times jumped. Scott, (Radian), had the long flight at 8:29 with a 30-point landing. Stephen was second at 7:59 with a 10-point landing and Alex was third at 6:03. Jeff picked up a 30-point landing. Dennis, Fritz and Jon all had 10-point landings.
For the fourth and final launch, the lift had slacked off a bit; Dennis had the long flight at 5:40 with a 30-point landing. Alex had a flight at 4:42 and a 20-point landing. Fritz and Bob Anson tied for third at 4:10. Jeff had a 30-point landing. Stephen, Alex and Bob Stinson, flying open class, all had 20-point landings.
Point winners for 2023’s first Electroglide are:
Radian class:
Dennis LaBergh – 207 pts.
Stephen Trager – 165 pts.
Scott Vance – 137 pts.
Open Class: (only two pilots flying)
Bob Stinson – 111 pts.
Louis Dotson – 7 pts.
It is impressive that with all the rainy days and poor flying conditions during this past month, the glider pilots flew very well. Fight times were respectable for such gentle lift and there were a lot of extra points added from target circle landings. Nice going guys!
Thanks to Eileen for running the event timer and to Frank for the event pictures.
Next Electroglide is scheduled for February 18th.
See you there,
Jeff Struthers
