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, but nearly broke the sailplane, and himself. In fact he may actually have broken the glider, or himself… https://youtu.be/Em551DIpSv0

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” 18 meter class sailplanes. This makes absolutely zero sense. This is non proportional and nonsensical. It obviously favors the larger wing area gliders (Hi Ventus 3 cult…I see your shit eating grins) in the full flight range. Kawa says the 33 climbs “very well” but is “unstable” in all axis in turbulence. Says it requires some effort to coordinate. Well, so does any glider (ASG29, Lak17a, etc) I have ever flown (other than the Arcus, which is a bit of a truck) and if a sailplane doesn’t require some effort to balance in gusts then it’s probably slow in the run. Sounds like it’s a good climber. For me, that’s the key but in this case it should be stronger than the 29 in the glide. Still no objective results from the 33 PROVING it’s performance. Only subjective accounts. https://youtu.be/JZIbqcmvvrQ

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!

Racing cancelled, SUP instead!

Lake Lanier sailing club is a mega complex with more cool boats and classes than you can shake a stick at. Gorgeous campsites and area. It was a perfect day for a paddle. Unfortunately the weather forecast for the next two days looks the same as today (which was cancelled and produced no racing). https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/7625129229

MC Scow Masters Nationals 2021 Report #1 Friday AM

Friday 1130am.Lake Lanier Sailing Club front porchAbsolutely beautiful day but as forecast, light air. The MC Class requires 5 knots to start a race. It’s going to be difficult to get that here on Lake Lanier today. Glass An older crowd but quite formidable, especially in the fairly forgiving MC Scow

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

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 really fun day in which I was very conservative and relaxed, as planned. Tomorrow looks iffy due to an even higher chance of thunderstorms. Results: https://members.ssa.org/ContestResults.asp?contestId=2486&ContestDetailId=24069&ContestName=2021+18%2DMeter+Nationals+at+Nephi&ContestDate=6/29/2021&ResultsUpdate=True SSA website seems to require SSA membership to view the results webpages. What a mess. Promoting soaring to only those willing to pay for membership? I just don't care anymore. Grid, 35 or so 18m gliders plus 30 or so competing in regionals.

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 spending some considerable time reprogramming radio to make it more simple with Larry Markey over the past week. It weighs 47 ounces dry, but for most of the day I flew with 6 ounces of ballast to manage the breeze aloft. My CG was fairly aft 105mm. This felt perfect. It was a breezy day again, 10-15ish, with much stronger winds aloft. The thermals were strong when you found them and there were ample cumulus clouds, but the sink was equally strong and perhaps more relevant. With the North wind direction ridges were more difficult to find and the typical south ridge (tree line) was well downwind. Scores and photos below… All pilots and gliders! Ned’s Report (CD) from Club Google Group June 13, 2021, Good Evening Pilots - Wow, what a day.  We ended up having 13 pilots flying today. Due to the last minute change we did lose two pilots that would have otherwise flown. The contest conditions were certainly breezier than anticipated. Early in the day it was a matter of launching high and holding on.  If you did attempt to circle you  found yourself on an express train headed downwind.  As the day progressed there was more thermalling to be had.  Landings were tough because of the bubbling air down low.  We set up to launch to the NNW and late in the day there was a shift to the NW.  We flew 3 rounds, took a break and then flew the remaining 3 rounds.  The original intention was to fly 7 rounds but a combination of attrition and tired pilots led to the decision to end the contest after 6 rounds.  At the end of the day it was Sean Fidler who bested the field with a top score of 5000 points.  In second place was John Ferguson with 4770 points and rounding out the top three was Ted Flack with 4545 points.  You can review the scores for the entire contest on Gliderscore, the link to which is HERE. Follow the link and you will see a drop down box, click on the drop down, look at today's day, scroll down and you will find: GDSHS F5J Contest 2 (Addison Oaks). I want to thank everyone for helping to make the contest run smoothly.  Thanks to those that helped with the Easy Ups, the landing tapes, and the rest.  We used the field clock for the first time without issue.  There is a little bit of fine tuning still to be done and then we'll be set. I had several pilots tell me how helpful it was to be able to glance over at the clock to view the remaining working time.  Again, thanks to everyone for coming out to fly and making this another great contest day.Cheers,Ned

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 fifty foot level the winds were stronger and the gusts even stronger. This was exactly on the limit of formal FAI F3K competition limits and proved to be excellent practice for all of us. A few gliders suffered minor damage and this was expected in such conditions. Fortunately nothing major. The pilots here are all excellent and today the young pilots with high launches had an even greater advantage than normal as the flights were so short in the turbulent conditions. The longest flight was 3 minutes, but the average was around 1 min, and the launch was absolutely critical. I flew well considering my typical last minute arrival and not flying since the last event 1 month ago. This was the first event in which I had used ballast of any sort, and on this day I used full ballast of 60 grams. My first heat was a disaster as I was flying very conservatively, and I paid the price scoring a bottom of the scoresheet 250 points. But I improved and won 3 of the next 6 rounds finishing 5th in a star studded field. Sean

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 either unviable or discouraged due to their local restriction policies. It is expected that overall entry numbers will be largely unaffected by the new title. On the ground it will be a similar event with excellent racing, same size fleet, same charter fleet and the same huge fun. Just a revised title. https://www.rsaerosailing.org/index.asp?p=event&eid=1856&fbclid=IwAR0Pz-kY0GBSfnBUSVh7WzNH278tnt37mrXMg8zYzUyXJINtp8Y1BFrVqds

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 Circling over Lake Wawasee, Indiana Chart of our flight path and altitude during the flight…