It was a pretty good Electroglide this past Saturday. Winds were out of the Southwest yet only blowing a mild 5 mph. Temperature was 69 degrees at first launch, with a partly sunny sky.
Six pilots took to the sky on the first launch and a few found a surprising column of lift just west of our runway. Neil Zhu, flying a Conscendo had the longest flight at 6:50 minutes and also scored a 30-point landing. Scott Vance, flying a Radian, was second with a time of 6:28 plus a 20-point landing. Third place on that launch was Alex Sutton with a time of 5:19. Daric Knight, flying a Huron, also picked up a 20-point landing.
On the second launch, the lift vanished and flight times dropped. Dennis LaBerge, flying a Radian, had the long flight at 2:33 and a 10-point landing. Scott and Bob Anson shared second place with a flight time of 2:10 and 30-point landings. Alex picked up a 20-point landing and Daric had a 10-point landing.
Flight times on the third launch wasn’t much better with Scott flying the longest at 2:55 minutes and also getting another 30-point landing. Dennis was second at 2:10 with a 30-point landing. Neil was third at 2:06 minutes. Alex picked up a 20-point landing.
The fourth and final launch again had low flight times with Scott flying the longest at 2:28 with a 30-point landing. Neil was second at 2:05 with a 30-point landing and Dennis was third at 2:00 minutes. I would like to point out that Alex landed first at 1:26, (earning the Lucky Dog Award), in the 30-point circle.
Yes, the 30-point circle is not very large so where did Scott and Dennis land their Radians? On top of Alex’s of course. Have a look at the event picture called “crowded landings.”
I think in the future we’ll need to quickly retrieve our aircraft from the target circles if possible.
So, winners for the day:
Radian Class:
1st. Place Scott Vance 195 points
2nd. Place Alex Sutton 154 points
3rd. Place Dennis LaBerge 113 points
Open Class:
1st. Place Neil Zhu 139 points
2nd. Place Deric Knight 74 points
3rd. Place Bob Anson 43 points
This was the last Electroglide for the year; we’ll take a break for the holidays and start up again on January 21st. 2023. However, I would like to announce this year’s total point winners. This is just based on point totals, not glider class.
1st. Place Scott Vance 1000 total points
2nd Place Dennis LaBerge 975 total points
3rd. Place Neil Zhu 961 total points
Congratulations to the monthly and years end winners. This takes piloting skill and a commitment to the sport of competitive flying.
On October 22 at 9:00, we’ll have a brief awards ceremony and raffle drawing for all of this year’s Electroglide pilots.
A special thanks to Frank Sutton for all the event pictures.
Jeff Struthers
