Sailplane racing features complex strategic decision making and rewards superior flying skill and pilot “touch.” Trying to explain sailplane racing to someone who has never flown a sailplane cross country, or in competition, can best be accomplished by offering some derivative of Rutger Hauers famous speech from “The Blade Runner…” “I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe…”. That really sums it up best. It is like being a bird, but in what amount to a formula one car of powerless flight. Near absolute perfection in terms of soaring efficiently, modern sailplanes are incredible to experience. In their element, it is almost unimaginable how far and fast they are capable of traveling around a race course which ranges from 150mi to 700mi in a single day.
Latest Soaring Thoughts…
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. Auban
Kawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…] - When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️
It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…] - New Page for new AS33Es
Linky here —> AS33Es SF - “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanship
First couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it. - AS33 is the best glider in the world!?
The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is. - Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.
Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…] - New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔
This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…] - Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!
Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…] - Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, Utah
Link: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb - Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)
Amazing pilot. - Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!
Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying. - winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆
It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…] - US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024
Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…] - Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺
SSA/USA Team Highlighted… - Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall results
After second competition day… - 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…
https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…] - Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HERE
All the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN - The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏
And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM - Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)
Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars! - 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Released
https://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html - This is quite interesting…and sad.
Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…] - Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.
Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…] - Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.
Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4 - My WeGlide Page here…
https://www.weglide.org/user/5329 - We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!
https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…] - 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6
https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True - 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3
Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True - 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2
The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…] - Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸
Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative… - Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!
Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX! - 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) Recap
Did a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More - Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 Morning
Looks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand… - Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the books
Congrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily - Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023
Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…] - 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1
Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily - Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David Springford
Hanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday. - Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSB
ADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States - Day 4 Canadian Nationals
Great soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…] - Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊
It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…] - Day 2 Canadian Nationals
We launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…] - 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1
Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…] - JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerb
https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3…. - 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)
I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well - ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-In
What an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos! - Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!
In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…] - Kawa reviews AS33
Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…] - New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”
Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar! - 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.
https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY - Awesome InReach to OGN integration
I’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN - Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationals
https://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c - Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah
105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…] - Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔
Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb - Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m Nationals
It’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop… - Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021
I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…] - Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSS
SATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…] - How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.
*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…] - Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)
Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782
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- Kawa on Winning FAI SGP World Final in St. AubanKawa made this very cool, although very oddly translated from Polish as usual, describing his victory at this event (2 years ago now). He has immense talent, but this venue is extremely favoring for the French and for the “St. Auban mountain rats” who fly there regularly and literally know every tiny nuance of the … [Read more…]
- When you buy Euros at the perfect time…
- 33 on the Ship 🛳️It is always a very nervous time (and cool) to have something significant (car, airplane, boat, etc) being shipped to and from overseas. My new glider is currently on its way to the United States from Germany 🇩🇪. It is currently in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It passed thru a significant storm yesterday. … [Read more…]
- New Page for new AS33EsLinky here —> AS33Es SF
- “Something truly wicked this way comes,” direct from rural Germany 🇩🇪 #craftsmanshipFirst couple photos of our AS33Es have come from Schleicher! I’m looking forward to it.
- AS33 is the best glider in the world!?The new 18 meter class world champion certainly believes that the Schleicher AS-33 is the world’s best sailplane. By factor of task speeds to wingspan and price, it clearly is.
- Grid Walk 2024 FAI 18 Meter World Gliding Championships (Uvalde, TX, USA 🇺🇸)
- Brutal day of strategic carnage at the USA 🇺🇸 18,15,&Club class Nationals in Hobbs, NM.Full report in yesterday’s entry, but ZO (my 33 for the 2024 World Gliding Championships Uvalde USA) took a gear up landing on concrete Uuuoofff!!!). My 18m teammate had a bit of a “moment” during his land out yesterday resulting in some moderate “kinkage” or “crackage” before the dust finally settled. No pics to share … [Read more…]
- New Playlist: 2023 USA Gliding National Championships Uvalde Texas Flight Analysis Sean Fidler 7TJust started my latest “light” analysis of each contest task from the USA 2023 18 meter Gliding National Championship. I managed to win again and really flew one of my best ever competitions. I felt very in control the whole event and almost blew it open. The final day was a little less than optimal … [Read more…]
- “Somehow” the SSA (USA’s Soaring Govt) has managed to add contests into the IGC rankings in a very peculiar way. 🤔This FAI Gliding WORLD (isn’t that ironic? lol) ranking appears to have been “earned” at a US Regional competition (Perry) for the open class division. This was not (to the best of my knowledge) a US nationals from what is listed in the ranking (REGIONALS). It was flown under US RULES, using US tasking (Area, … [Read more…]
- Eagle says “eat my wake” pal!Team 7T is enjoying our US National Soaring Championship CHARLIE SPRATT 18 Meter Class Trophy immensely! After three years of winning it, but not taking it home with us to enjoy, we finally got it (thank you!). It is exquisitely detailed, solid bronze (I believe), and absolutely beautiful. A really cool soaring trophy! I’m very … [Read more…]
- Flight Reviews for all tasks of the 2021 18m USA 🇺🇸 National Championship held in Nephi, UtahLink: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlXIESJdn64FIcoYNeF3ZkrmlVh90FJog&si=Udn8TVSdurKpGRrb
- Sebastian Kawa outlines his FAI SGP World Championship win at St. Auban (#18?)Amazing pilot.
- Awesome 2023 “wrap up” video. Incredible scenes!Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the sport of Gliding or Sailplane racing. The highest performance aircraft on the planet, racing over incredible mountains and thru incredible weather, against an elite international group of pilots who have reached the summit of something that very few can despite a lifetime of trying.
- winning and winning and winning and winning 🏆It’s time for a quiet victory lap. It just is. Literally ALL (100%, even AHRS) of my opinions expressed in years of various RAS comments (which they triggered and turned into shit fights as they do with anything they don’t like on RAS, also failed now 😂) and on social media are winning in the … [Read more…]
- US 🇺🇸 Soaring Team Ranking for 18m Class 2024Sweep 🧹 😂 Very satisfying and enjoyable to win “three in a row” of the USA’s 🇺🇸 most challenging class (18-meter) at three of the most challenging contest venues in the United States! Nephi, Utah is the USA’s best high speed mountain 🏔️ flying site. World record speeds were achieved by many of the pilots … [Read more…]
- Final Results 37th FAI World Gliding Championship 2023 (low performance), Narromine, Australia 🇦🇺SSA/USA Team Highlighted…
- Open FAI Gliding World Championship, overall resultsAfter second competition day…
- 2023 IOM Nationals Final Results, Photos…https://www.iomusa.org/_files/ugd/6111bf_f3bbcaaf24ab45c2a6898b8695580165.pdf https://www.iomusa.org/completed-events This was a very well run event, great venue, and great competition, especially among the top 3 competitors Mark Golison, Peter Feldman and Sean Fidler who were all tied going into the final day. Sean had a poor race but Peter and Marks event came down to the final race as they were … [Read more…]
- Hangar Winter 🥶 Storage
- 2023 IOM Euro Champ Drone Videos HEREAll the best 2023 IOM World Championship Video’s (drone videos) here: https://youtube.com/@regatecomhr?si=Z05LkFNmFS54OfzN
- The USA 18m Class Sailplane Racing National Championship Trophy 🏆
- 2022 Paragliding World Champion Discusses How He Did It!
- Volunteer Single Handedly Moves US From Embarrassingly Behind in OGN (Flarm Ground Stations) to “At least on the Map” by Single-handedly Building and supporting over 100 fully configured OGN base stations #Wow #HugeThanks 🙏And huge thanks to those in the SSA who promoted, supported approved funding to reimburse expenses, totally over 40k, to enable all of this! https://groups.google.com/g/rec.aviation.soaring/c/hhLgba2qNbM
- Flying the new Hph Twin Shark 🦈 2-Place, 20 Meter Competition Sailplane (It’s Outstanding!)Easy to rig, outstanding flying characteristics, fast, AWESOME! 5 stars!
- 2024 US Soaring Competition Pilot Ranking List Releasedhttps://soaringweb.org/PRL/prl.2024.html
- This is quite interesting…and sad.Seems to me that there may be tomfoolery on all sides here. Political circus tricks, in any sport, destroys the natural enjoyment of the sport. Rules must be simple, enforceable, and not purely decided at the whim of biased viewpoints. Rules must be evenly applied to all competitors. Despite the inner circles best efforts, many … [Read more…]
- Thank You For Your Outstanding SSA Contest Reporting Lt. Cmdr. Richard Owen.Rich Owen (Orlando, FL, ex Navy and Delta Pilot) deserves some serious thanks from the contest pilots and soaring competition fans of the USA/SSA for his steadfast commitment (and writing talent) in writing outstanding contest reports for the SSA contests he attends (many or most) including the seniors championships, which he also essentially runs. Rich … [Read more…]
- Fatal Sailplane Crash in NE Colorado USA Near Wellington just S of Wyoming.Pilots identity still unknown as of this publishing. My friend deepest sympathy to his/her family, friends, and colleagues. It always hurts when a fellow sailplane pilot is injured in this sport we all love and cherish. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/glider-pilot-killed-near-colorado-wyoming-state-line/ar-AA1g8ag4
- My WeGlide Page here…https://www.weglide.org/user/5329
- We did it! US 18m Class National Champion 2023 Uvalde, and a “3-Peat” Completing 3 National Championships in a Row!https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-11-on-2023-08-25/total The final day was just short of a 400km racing task. As they say in auto racing it’s often hard to take your foot off the gas and not push 100%, and it throws off your rhythm. This was probably a little true. I took a little extra height in most climbs, especially my … [Read more…]
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18 Meter Nationals Results after Task 6https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/results/18-meter/task-6-on-2023-08-21/total https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30585&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/21/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 18 Meter Nationals Contest Day 4
- 2023 USA 🇺🇸 18m Nationals Uvalde Results thru Day 3Rest day today. Results below (screenshot). Unofficial but VASTLY SUPERIOR SoaringSpot.com link here (SSA stubbornly refuses to use it): https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/usa-18-meter-nationals-and-uvalde-glide-uvalde-garner-field-2023/ UNUSABLE to public SSA link here (facepalm 🤦♂️): https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2548&ContestDetailId=30437&ContestName=2023+18%2DMeter+Nationals&ContestDate=8/18/2023&ResultsUpdate=True
- 2023 US 18m Nationals Results thru Day 2The SSA website locks the result info (highly disappointing for those of us who want to share our sport openly) so you likely cannot see the links without paying an $80 membership fee, and they don’t use International Standard Contest Scoring Site, SoaringSpot.com, a scoring site which is well known, public, open, and highly professional…but … [Read more…]
- Photos from the 2023 US 18m Nationals in Uvalde, Texas 🇺🇸Having a great time… Doing well, staying conservative…
- Driving thru Texas today, on Route Uvalde, TX, 109 degrees!Meanwhile, on the dash… It was hot 🥵 today! 109!!! Made it to Austin, TX!
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Day 4 (Task 3) RecapDid a video recap today, watch below. Scores under that… Full results and data on soaringspot.com @ Canadian Nationals Day 3 Results Overall Results Pic of XG on leg one… More
- Canadian Nationals Race Day 3 MorningLooks like a convergence day in a narrow corridor (photo 1) to the west of rockton (Sosa). Narrows more later in the day. See photo 2 at 430pm. As always it will be tricky and tough Canadian competitors who know this flying area like the back of their hand…
- Canadian Nationals Day 2 (Task 3) in the booksCongrats to Sergei and Jerzy and all. Difficult day. More reporting added here soon on the task itself. Photos just below are approaching the top of first turn area with scattered heavy showers to navigate around…dicey! SEEYOU DATA – https://seeyou.cloud/flight/public/6iBA3secPdDgevpGEMDMfk# OVERALL SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/total DAY 2 SCORES – https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-3-on-2023-08-01/daily
- Save from 150m 😱 – Canadian Nationals 2023Long story short, a rain shower (moving south) split the first turn area. I wanted the distance due to the undercalled 2.5 hour MAT (with showers limiting the final southern turn area) so I went to the left (downwind) side expecting better lift. This was some risk as the majority of the course and the … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian Nationals Results Day 1Results (Day 1) 2023 Canadian Soaring Nationals https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/canadian-nationals-2023-rockton-2023/results/18-meter/task-2-on-2023-07-31/daily
- Canadian Soaring Legends Wilfred Krueger and David SpringfordHanging out this morning at Southern Ontario Soaring Association (SOSA) after day canceled due to extreme rain yesterday.
- Canadian 🇨🇦 ADSB vs USA 🇺🇸 ADSBADS-B: Implementation in Canada vs. United States
- Day 4 Canadian NationalsGreat soaring weather today but a flooded airport forces another scrub of the day. 😢 Huge thanks to the SOSA club for hosting this contest. They are doing everything they possibly can but a glider contest on a wet field will completely destroy it, and that’s simply not worth the cost. So we have Friday … [Read more…]
- Canadian Nationals Contest Day Three ☔️🌧️⛈️💧☔️🌊It’s still raining and the SOSA field is wet. As you can see from the radar a huge amount of rain has fallen last night and this morning with obvious effects on the soaring conditions moving forward. Also an issue if the grass airport doesn’t dry out before tomorrows gridding process. They may have to … [Read more…]
- Day 2 Canadian NationalsWe launched today (both classes) at 2pm! But it was weak (barely soarable at first) and the days weather window was extremely tight with a forecasted collapse of soarable weather by 5pm and a minimum required task distance of 140km (to get a valid day per the Canadian rules). Dave Springford completed the task, but … [Read more…]
- 2023 Canadian 18m Soaring Nationals Day 1Day 1 – Cancelled on the grid. FLAT TIRE DRILLS …A bit of fire smoke, a bit of 30kph SW wind (which here just W of Hamilton and just N of Lake Erie which will eventually wash out the SOSA area of thermals so the launch window is time limited), and an approaching strong … [Read more…]
- JS3’s Sweep Top 6 Overall at Contest Internationaler Hahnweide Wettbewerbhttps://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/55-hww2023/results/18m/task-4-on-2023-05-20/total I guess I was spot on about the JS3….
- 2022 USA F5J Soaring Nationals Update (5th Place)I’m in 5th, low stress, staying high, conservative, all going well
- ScaleSoaring.com Cumberland, MD Fly-InWhat an incredible view. What an incredible place to fly! Here are some photos!
- Euros launch sailplanes off side of mountain! ❤️
- Two 50% Scale AS-33(Fes) RC Sailplanes took their maiden flights in Michigan yesterday!
- Great shot of my father in his Lak17a on the cover of Soaring Magazine (April 2009).
- Sailplane Stall on Flare: Don’t do this!In a sailplane, which lands very slow already, there is ZERO REASON, to be dangling on the tail close to stall speed at anytime on final approach, at flare, or at touchdown. The video below demonstrates why. Notice the huge amount of runway still remaining. He was probably tempted to stop before the ground crew, … [Read more…]
- Kawa reviews AS33Kawa impressions of AS33. Not the best choice for Grand Prix unfortunately because the smaller wing area, ala the JS3, ala most modern 18m sailplanes. Shocker. I STRONGLY maintain that it is utterly unfair, illogical that in the a “600 kg limited 18 meter class,” the SGP managers choose to use “wing loading” to “equalize” … [Read more…]
- New Alpha 2m ALES “SuperLight”Only 12 oz. fully built including all servos (6) and batteries! Magnificent workmanship. Delicate! I have begun the build at Larry’s shop! 2 weeks I’m guessing until 1st soar!
- 1 race only, 5 knots dying to drifter. MC Masters Nationals.https://theclubspot.com/regatta/9GgTQLcS1B/results?fbclid=IwAR0iJ0nBhKVp0VLZXcYh7wruhqJcO2QPVOS56MARpU-z6TtfTrHbs6K3yLY
- Awesome InReach to OGN integrationI’ve created and am running a script that gathers Inreach data (Spot soon) and uploads it to the OGN to be visible on any website that gets OGN data. https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN if you want to sign up and be visible. In fact, please sign up to help me test the google forms.” https://github.com/DavisChappins/InreachToOGN
- Cool visualization of the terrain during the final task at Nephi 2021 18 Meter USA 🇺🇸 Nationalshttps://ayvri.com/scene/g0jg607eko/ckr55yy4c00015e64qgdso32c
- Beautiful Nephi Scenery
- Day 1, US 18m Nationals Nephi, Utah105 mph and I was still 5th! It was a good day, a reasonable task call for the SSA GOBs, albeit very short as usual. Strong crosswinds on landing created some minor excitement. I could have gone much faster but got stuck trying to max out the second turn area. No big deal. Overall a … [Read more…]
- Rest Day in Nephi (for me) Before Contest Starts – Gravel Ride Up Hills 🏔Trace of ride: https://strava.app.link/nrzItehethb
- Sunset in Nephi…
- Made it to Nephi, Utah for 18m NationalsIt’s a long drive from Michigan, 26 hours nonstop…
- Vaughn fits very nicely into ½ scale AS33 Sailplane (he is wisely uncomfortable with this!)
- F5J RC Soaring Competition – Greater Detroit Soaring Club – June 13, 2021I won my first RC soaring competition!!!! Something clicked today and I managed to win every round (six), and ended up throwing out a 1000. This did not feel real. The competition was very tough as usual, similar to the DLG class at the GDSHS. My new Volo F5J 4m was flying very nicely after … [Read more…]
- Fun day of F3K (Discus Launch RC Glider Competition) with GDHSSSATURDAY JUNE 5, 2021 EXTREME WINDS at the limits of FIA F3K competition were the key theme of this F3K competition day at the Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Club filed at Addison Oaks Park north of Metro Detroit. My anemometer showed winds of 20 mph on the surface and it was clear that the … [Read more…]
- How FAI Soaring WGC France 🇫🇷 Should Have Been Handled… Another Major ISAF Sailing World Championship Cancels Worlds and Changes It’s Designation to a EUROPEANS.*UPDATE* 3 June – The event title is now amended to ‘European Championship’ following consultation. That way we can look forward to a ‘successful’ European Championship rather than the likelihood of a ‘soft’, perhaps disappointing, Worlds. This action feels appropriate and fair with so much of the World unable to join and for many more the trip is … [Read more…]
- Tuesday Night RC Soaring ALES
- Scale RC Soaring Holland Fly In Fun
- Scale Sailplane Fly-In, Holland, MI
- 700 km (almost) out of Ionia, MI (May 12, 2021)Flew with John Iacobucci in his Arcus M most of the flight. What an incredible day it was to fly. 6-8 knot climbs to 8000 AGL at times, clouds the whole way, some streeting later in the day. Absolutely perfect! https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8362782