Greater
Detroit Soaring and Hiking Society
June 2008
Contest
&
June 1, 2008 was what some consider a normal Michigan weekend: Cool, could get warmer: dry, but could rain: last three days windy, should be calm.
GDSHS flyers arrived at our wonderful Addison Oaks club field beginning at about 10:00. Richard Stratton was the first there; Richard being someone you could always count on to make sure that “Stuff is working”. The staff at the Parks had made sure that the runways were cut, so we were ready to go. Weather was an issue. The Amazing Red Bull Plane series in Detroit had been cancelled on Saturday because of 53 MPH wind gusts at the Detroit River Site. Elsewhere in the USA, heavy weather was the rule. We were lucky that we did not have tornadoes. I digress, but only because weather is such an important part of our hobby. It is what it is. We are weather dependent: It would be nice to have 0-5 MPH, but we have 5-15 often. Maybe more. It was windy and overcast, then the wind modulated and it became partly cloudy.
Nine flyers participated in our June club contest. I think Greg Nilsen suggested mixing a make-up into the contest, and this was a great idea. Greg even provided the visual graphic so us guys could understand the format. Two contests: five rounds, the first 3 being the June contest, the last three being the Make-up. The third round would be shared with both contests. Great Idea: No wonder Greg is being put in charge of Saab!!!!
Hearing no dissenting voices, it seemed that this could be the way to go today. Cool weather, very high winds, and we-should-be-home-doing-yard-work kind of day.
Dave Shaw agreed to run the winch during the day. He is a serious Nostalgia flyer, and the winds, he felt, precluded him from having a nice day with his big, Pig-type planes. (This said in a good way). Having a designated winch master sure makes a CD’s job easier. When you have a precision sailplane contest, and you need a timer for each flyer each flight, this can be an issue. Thank you, Dave Shaw.
Five rounds were called. Each round time would be predicated on the previous times. Actually, Rodger had a mathematical formula, but as CD, I did not have to listen to this Scientific logic. This ensures that the task is reasonable. It works sometimes, but conditions change throughout the day, and it may look like it is getting better, and get worse. I’m thinking that launch altitude is the key to searching and flying, but you will have to contact the Corven Twins to see if this is an active theory.
Do you want the short version of the day? Some of us were players, and then Chris Corven showed up.
Do you want the long version: Gerry Marcicki thought he had a chance. It’s sad when the CD allows late flyers to roll into the mix. Next time, for self-preservation, No late Entries, especially if they win the contest. Membership at the field became an issue, as Chris Corven and the Sharon 3.7 began to show its legs. (The Supreme Court is currently reviewing our Charter and Chris’s membership).
The contest was called with a 3/5/6/7/8 minutes. For some flyers, this was not an issue. Landings were really tough, because of the rotor on the field when the wind blows. Keeping the nose down and pushing, was safe, but often times resulted in “the walk of shame”.
I timed for Mike “The Duck” Wade on his 3-minute flight. He was doing really well in the early ridge lift/ thermal stuff, and decided to impress the kids with rolls, loops, etc. I think he flew inverted for a minute. Then he couldn’t push into the landing zone for the 100-point bonus. Knowing Mike, it was a ZEN thing. We forget that a solid 100-point landing is like over 1 ˝ minutes of flight time. Nice job, Mike. Not to beat up our Mike-Man, there were not a lot of very controlled landings during the day. It was tough, but a few flyers did a good job of time/landings. It’s what it takes to do-it.
It was refreshing for the CD to have new members like Bruce and Rodger V, Charlie, Jim Fetterly stop by and help out during our Pure Sailplane Contest. Many of your regulars, flyers who like to fly after the regular contest, were at the Red Bull thing. So, a busy day, challenging, and with a lot of helpful club members in attendance.
Don’t forget our regular Wednesday flying. Weekends are active, depending on weather. Keep your eyes on the Yahoo Group site for immediate information on days to fly. The Yahoo group is your key to Sailplanes in SE Michigan.
PS: Jack Iafret is re-configuring our AMAZING web site. If you have experienced an interruption in the web service, contact “www.your.lawyer.is.better.than.mine.com.”
June/Make up contest CD, Wilbert “Don’t call me Foam Boy” Hutchings.
Edit by the Webmaster:
I can call you anything I
want, “Foam Boy”.
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Club Contest |
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March (Makeup) |
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01JN08 |
ROUND NO. |
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3 |
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No |
Last Name |
First Name |
Total |
Percent
of Total |
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1 |
Corven |
Chris |
1611 |
100.00 |
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2 |
Corven |
Dave |
1251 |
77.65 |
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3 |
Iafret |
Jack |
1089 |
67.60 |
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4 |
Martinez |
Steve |
1044 |
64.80 |
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5 |
Nilsen |
Greg |
879 |
54.56 |
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6 |
Wade |
Mike |
851 |
52.82 |
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7 |
Hutch |
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725 |
45.00 |
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8 |
Marcicki |
Gerry |
692 |
42.95 |
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9 |
Stratton |
Dick |
394 |
24.46 |
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Club Contest |
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01JN08 |
ROUND NO. |
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3 |
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No |
Last Name |
First Name |
Total |
Percent of Total |
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1 |
Corven |
Chris |
1058 |
100.00 |
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2 |
Nilsen |
Greg |
835 |
78.92 |
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3 |
Marcicki |
Gerry |
823 |
77.79 |
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4 |
Iafret |
Jack |
807 |
76.28 |
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5 |
Martinez |
Steve |
798 |
75.43 |
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6 |
Corven |
Dave |
772 |
72.97 |
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7 |
Wade |
Mike |
636 |
60.11 |
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8 |
Hutch |
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505 |
47.73 |
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9 |
Stratton |
Dick |
402 |
38.00 |
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