By Jeff Struthers
A May Gray day it was last Saturday. Winds blowing from the south at 5 mph for the 10:00 a.m. start.
First launch had Nine pilots taking to the sky, seven Radians, one Easy Star and one open class glider. The lift was there, up high towards the north west. It took a near vertical climb out on launch to get high enough to where the lift was, only Alex Sutton, Steve Gobel and myself got lucky and found it.
Alex had the long flight at 6:40 minutes with a 10-point bonus landing. I had a 6:37 flight and Steve had a flight of 4:45 minutes with a 30-point landing.
Other bonus landing credits earned were by Fred Daugherty for 10-points. Jon Graber and Carlos Mercado both earned 20-point landings on that first round.
Second launch two minutes later found no lift. We all tried the same spot in the sky to no avail. My flight was the longest at 3:32 minutes, Alex Sutton came down at 3:20 and Steve Gobel had 2:40 minutes aloft. Strange that just two minutes after concluding that first launch, such a change in weather conditions can occur.
Extra points earned through spot landings are a way to adjust to the lack of lift and that second launch had one 30-point landing, myself. Two 20-point landings, Alex and Fred, and three 10-point landings earned by Steve, Stephen Treger and Carlos.
Third launch found a slight improvement in conditions. Fred and Rich Rogers had the longest flight time of 4 minutes, 19 seconds each. Two 20-point landings were earned by Stephen and Jon, and Alex picked up another 10-point landing.
Forth and final launch had flight times increasing a bit more. Fred had the long flight at 5:42, and Carlos a close second at 5:29. Alex came in third with a 4:55 minutes aloft. Bonus landing credits were earned by many. I earned a 30-point landing. Steve, Fred, Stephen and Carlos all earned 20-point landings, and Rich Rogers picked up a 10-point landing.
It was great to see so many pilots landing in the target circles and earning bonus points. Paying attention to sink rate, estimating wind speed before making that final turn and having the correct altitude to land where they needed to. All without a motor to help, it’s a hard thing to do. So, congrats to everyone that day for flying so well.
Winner for the day was myself at 173 total points. Second place was Steve Goebel at 163-points and third place goes to Alex Sutton at 153-points.
Thanks again to Frank Sutton for the Electroglide pictures.
Next Electroglide is set for Saturday, June 16th. First launch is 10:00 a.m.
See you there,
Jeff
