Gordon Boettger 1000 mile attempt going on right now

Minden to Kansas in a Duo
Noted on current post on Soaring Cafe:

His SPOT quit, but check out his path on http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N55LK

Currently over Uintas at 25,900' with 19 kts up. Fun to watch the
trace on the top of the page and the altitude and up / down on the
bottom of the page.

On Sunday, April 14, 2013 5:06:01 PM UTC-6, Bob wrote:
Minden to Kansas in a Duo

Noted on current post on Soaring Cafe:



His SPOT quit, but check out his path on http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N55LK



Currently over Uintas at 25,900' with 19 kts up. Fun to watch the

trace on the top of the page and the altitude and up / down on the

bottom of the page.

Excellent! He just entered Colorado with an excellent tailwind!!

Looks like they have landed at the airport at Gunnison, Colorado. Fantastic flight, guys!

On Sunday, April 14, 2013 9:10:12 PM UTC-4, Steve Leonard wrote:
Looks like they have landed at the airport at Gunnison, Colorado. Fantastic flight, guys!

Great flight!

On Apr 14, 6:11*pm, "John Godfrey (QT)"
wrote:
On Sunday, April 14, 2013 9:10:12 PM UTC-4, Steve Leonard wrote:
Looks like they have landed at the airport at Gunnison, Colorado. *Fantastic flight, guys!

Great flight!

I'll second those motions... superb going. Even though the weather
slowed their planned progress, it was a great flight, one to be proud
of, and I'll bet they will be happy to warm up now that they are on
the ground!

Sure was fun to watch the trace as it was happening. Brought back
memories of last summer's 475 mile world record hang glider flight in
Texas. Watched that one on SPOT page to landing.

Thanks Gordon and Hugh! I got almost nothing done today! Good show, GREAT FLIGHT!

Terrific attempt, but I've gotta ask some questions:

Did they expect to fly a thousand miles in daylight? I know they're
equipped for night flight, but I'd hate to have to land anywhere in Colorado
at night in a glider. Worse would be to bail out!

Were they counting on wave to carry them all the way from Minden to Garden
City? That sounds unreasonable to me and I'd expect thermals to quit before
sundown. Is the sink rate of the Duo low enough that they could fly at
minimum sink all night and hope to catch a thermal over the plains in the
morning? Could they keep each other awake?

Again, wonderful flight and I would have been amazed to see it work out, but
I just don't see how it would be realistically possible. Someone please
enlighten me!


wrote in message
...
Thanks Gordon and Hugh! I got almost nothing done today! Good show, GREAT
FLIGHT!

On Monday, April 15, 2013 9:35:47 AM UTC-5, Dan Marotta wrote:
Terrific attempt, but I've gotta ask some questions: Did they expect to fly a thousand miles in daylight? I know they're equipped for night flight, but I'd hate to have to land anywhere in Colorado at night in a glider. Worse would be to bail out! Were they counting on wave to carry them all the way from Minden to Garden City? That sounds unreasonable to me and I'd expect thermals to quit before sundown. Is the sink rate of the Duo low enough that they could fly at minimum sink all night and hope to catch a thermal over the plains in the morning? Could they keep each other awake? Again, wonderful flight and I would have been amazed to see it work out, but I just don't see how it would be realistically possible. Someone please enlighten me! wrote in message ... Thanks Gordon and Hugh! I got almost nothing done today! Good show, GREAT FLIGHT!

If they could've been about 3 mph faster yesterday they could've made it to the sangre de christos and presumable back up to the mid 20's at least, or potentially as high as FL280. Of course this would've been right at sunset, unless they could've been even faster. From there it is about 265 miles to Garden City, elevation about 3000 MSL. So you have to achieve a 53:1 glide to make it, which seems pretty doable to me with the kicking tailwind and a Duo. That would result in a pretty dark landing at Garden City, but there are lighted airports about every 50 miles along the way. If the wind is a bit stronger and the sink not too bad then maybe Dodge City is acheivable.

Thanks! That helped.


"Tony" wrote in message
...
On Monday, April 15, 2013 9:35:47 AM UTC-5, Dan Marotta wrote:
Terrific attempt, but I've gotta ask some questions: Did they expect to
fly a thousand miles in daylight? I know they're equipped for night
flight, but I'd hate to have to land anywhere in Colorado at night in a
glider. Worse would be to bail out! Were they counting on wave to carry
them all the way from Minden to Garden City? That sounds unreasonable to
me and I'd expect thermals to quit before sundown. Is the sink rate of the
Duo low enough that they could fly at minimum sink all night and hope to
catch a thermal over the plains in the morning? Could they keep each other
awake? Again, wonderful flight and I would have been amazed to see it work
out, but I just don't see how it would be realistically possible. Someone
please enlighten me! wrote in message
... Thanks
Gordon and Hugh! I got almost nothing done today! Good show, GREAT
FLIGHT!

If they could've been about 3 mph faster yesterday they could've made it to
the sangre de christos and presumable back up to the mid 20's at least, or
potentially as high as FL280. Of course this would've been right at sunset,
unless they could've been even faster. From there it is about 265 miles to
Garden City, elevation about 3000 MSL. So you have to achieve a 53:1 glide
to make it, which seems pretty doable to me with the kicking tailwind and a
Duo. That would result in a pretty dark landing at Garden City, but there
are lighted airports about every 50 miles along the way. If the wind is a
bit stronger and the sink not too bad then maybe Dodge City is acheivable.

On Monday, April 15, 2013 10:56:43 AM UTC-4, Tony wrote:
On Monday, April 15, 2013 9:35:47 AM UTC-5, Dan Marotta wrote:

Terrific attempt, but I've gotta ask some questions: Did they expect to fly a thousand miles in daylight? I know they're equipped for night flight, but I'd hate to have to land anywhere in Colorado at night in a glider. Worse would be to bail out! Were they counting on wave to carry them all the way from Minden to Garden City? That sounds unreasonable to me and I'd expect thermals to quit before sundown. Is the sink rate of the Duo low enough that they could fly at minimum sink all night and hope to catch a thermal over the plains in the morning? Could they keep each other awake? Again, wonderful flight and I would have been amazed to see it work out, but I just don't see how it would be realistically possible. Someone please enlighten me! wrote in message ... Thanks Gordon and Hugh! I got almost nothing done today! Good show, GREAT FLIGHT!



If they could've been about 3 mph faster yesterday they could've made it to the sangre de christos and presumable back up to the mid 20's at least, or potentially as high as FL280. Of course this would've been right at sunset, unless they could've been even faster. From there it is about 265 miles to Garden City, elevation about 3000 MSL. So you have to achieve a 53:1 glide to make it, which seems pretty doable to me with the kicking tailwind and a Duo. That would result in a pretty dark landing at Garden City, but there are lighted airports about every 50 miles along the way. If the wind is a bit stronger and the sink not too bad then maybe Dodge City is acheivable.

There's a flight summary up on soaring cafe now. The long and short is that they did way over 1000K in really crappy lift. So, the scheme has obvious merit. Enjoy the retrieve guys!

My question: how does an average joe go about getting access to Class A airspace for flights of this sort?

T8