1000K in a 1-26 Attempt

On 5/9/2016 8:12 AM, wrote:
This was written with some haste, so forgive me for grammatical errors or
other misgivings. But in view that y'all want to know, here it is:

1000km in a 1-26

Major snip...

This flight was only possible due to the effort and support of a lot of
people. Some people who had contributed very significantly we

Steve Beer for crewing Rick Roelke/Bob Cook assisting with official
observing Brian Glick for towing early early in the morning Phil Chidekel
for the weather forecasts

MSA for providing such a wonderful clubhouse to crash the night Aero Club
Albatross for letting me use their wonderful 1-26E!

Thank you so much guys!

Lastly, what I hope the soaring community takes away from this experience
is that this flight was indeed done in an Aero Club Albatross glider. I am
incredibly fortunate to be in a flying club that has given me incredible
latitude and encouragement in the use of their equipment. I hope that other
clubs give their members the same opportunities, particularly their youth
members. This is how we will grow the sport.


Daniel,

Congratulations once again!!!

Thanks for summarizing your epic flight so rapidly. Just as Ron Schwartz's
2009 1000K attempt served to inform and inspire you, perhaps your write-up
will serve someone(s) in the future. For the savvy reader there's a LOT of
"stuff" (e.g. mental preparation, flight strategy/tactics) to be gleaned both
directly and inferentially from your write-up. Great stuff!!!

Bob W.

Awesome Daniel, Congratulations!!

On Sunday, May 8, 2016 at 6:07:46 AM UTC-7, wrote:
Daniel is making another run on a 1000k 1-26 flight. Looks like he is running well with an early start this morning. Go Daniel!

Dan,
Outstanding accomplishment!!! You're an animal. Way to stay focused and keep trying. A dream come true. Respect!
Gordon Boettger

I see many pilots offering respect, which of course is well earned! But I have another emotion, shame. Having always flown glass birds in great western conditions and I have not flown a 1,000k.

An amazing flight and one that has given me motivation.

On Sunday, May 8, 2016 at 2:27:43 PM UTC-7, Tony wrote:
According to glideport he has exceeded 1000km. Way to go Daniel!!!

Hip hip HOORAY!

Hip hip HOORAY!

Hip hip HOORAY!

having committed most of "the sunship game" to memory, i once looked up some stuff about stirling moss who was mentioned by gleb derujinsky. i came across a quote from sterling moss who said, "it is necessary to relax your muscles when you can, relaxing your mind is fatal." that kind of goes against what you say below, but i get what you mean about pacing yourself mentally.. one of the things about this or any long flight which is really tough, is the physiological aspect. keeping your body and mind functioning optimally for that length of time is as tough as anything else!

The big challenge of the flight was not so much the execution, but in the physical endurance. I had flown all of the ridges involved and the transitions were not anything particularly novel. A lot of the focus went into trying to stay relaxed and avoiding exerting mental effort as much as possible. Luckily the ridge was relatively smooth, so I was able to stay relatively fresh for most of the flight. By the end I was starting to get soar, but it was not all too bad.

Congratulations Daniel! Way to plan and execute. Well done!

Hey andy,

You're certainly correct about the necessity of staying mentally sharp or the consequences could be catastrophic. However, there are different levels of emotional intensity that you can exert at different times. The simplest example involves transitions. For most of the jumps, particularly the upwind ones, I backed off compared to most of my flights. I ended up making the jumps with 1000ft or more to spare. I could have left lower and done them more optimally, but I knew that would be more mentally exerting, so I tried to give a little bit more margin to avoid burning out.

One of the interesting things about these sorts of flights is that on one hand, you are pushing hard all day and keeping the speed up, but on the other hand, you DO have all day to complete the flight. You certainly can't give up efficiency often, but backing off a couple times to keep yourself physically and mentally sharp is feasible.

Best regards,
Daniel

On Tuesday, May 10, 2016 at 9:17:24 AM UTC-7, Daniel Sazhin wrote:
Hey andy,

You're certainly correct about the necessity of staying mentally sharp or the consequences could be catastrophic. However, there are different levels of emotional intensity that you can exert at different times. The simplest example involves transitions. For most of the jumps, particularly the upwind ones, I backed off compared to most of my flights. I ended up making the jumps with 1000ft or more to spare. I could have left lower and done them more optimally, but I knew that would be more mentally exerting, so I tried to give a little bit more margin to avoid burning out.

One of the interesting things about these sorts of flights is that on one hand, you are pushing hard all day and keeping the speed up, but on the other hand, you DO have all day to complete the flight. You certainly can't give up efficiency often, but backing off a couple times to keep yourself physically and mentally sharp is feasible.

Best regards,
Daniel

Excellent flight, Daniel.
And you beat Ron to it!
Jim

Nice. In a borrowed 1-26 no less. I would be happy to even fly half that distance. Wow, what a feat!

Casey

Congrats, totally awesome flying. What I'm wondering is the market value of 1-26s up now that they are 1,000 kilometer capable gliders...