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Club Class Nationals at Sunflower



 
 
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  #1  
Old June 16th 19, 04:34 AM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Tony[_5_]
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Posts: 1,965
Default Club Class Nationals at Sunflower

RAS,

22 Pilots gathered in Yoder, KS starting June 3rd to determine this years Club Class Champion. I was the Contest Manager. Hugh Grandstaff did a fantastic job as the CD.

Yoder is the closest town to the Sunflower Gliderport. It was originally built as Hutchinson Naval Air Station in WWII, was home to the Kansas Air National Guard in the 50's and 60's, and was purchased by Bill Seed in early 1970's. I'm sure many of you remember the Regional & National Championships held there. The most recent Nationals was the Open Class in 1989. Since then we've had a handful of Regionals including 3 in the last 5 years or so.

Sunflower has gone through quite the transformation recently. As you can imagine, time has taken its toll especially on the old concrete ramp. The 200 x 7000 ft Asphalt runway is still in pretty good condition though. The Sunflower Soaring Foundation has, in the last couple years, made some major investments, including cleaning up the remains of the old wings on the Tower, leveling bumps in the runway, leveling a big heave on the ramp, and most importantly, finishing construction of a 50'x 65' state of the art Soaring Center!

We took possession of the new building the week before the contest. There was a mad scramble to get it furnished, move in, and put up the flagpole and lay down some sod, but by the opening ceremonies all was in order. With the new building we now had an air conditioned space that comfortably held all the competitors, a kitchenette for preparing lunches and serving meals, plenty of seating for pilots meetings and dinners, Mens & Womens bathrooms with four toilets each, and private meeting space for task advisors & CD to brief with the weathermen and set tasks. All of this is positioned about 100 yards from the grid so especially on south wind days we could easily grid squat in complete comfort.

In May 2019, the state of Kansas, like many others, experienced record or near record monthly rainfall totals. This is the sort of thing that keeps contest managers up all night and tends to nudge several competitors to withdraw. By the beginning of the contest the rivers were mostly back in their banks but the fields still had standing water in low spots. The local hosts were mildly nervous about the effect this would have on the soaring conditions of course but stayed optimistic.

The practice provided a couple of good soaring days. We flew a 3 Hour TAT on the first day and on the second Practice day we had a 71 mile Assigned Task. This task took advantage of the many close in turnpoints in our database and gave us the opportunity to race head to head but never get more than 15 miles from Sunflower.

We had a nice opening ceremony with speeches from Andrew Peters representing the Sunflower Soaring Foundation, Myself with a welcome from the host club, Kansas Soaring Association, and Morris Yoder who represented the local community and declared the contest open. Kinsey Peters sang the National Anthem while the flag was raised and Andrews kids cut the red ribbon across the front door of the Soaring Center.

The first contest day forecast decent soaring but with a strong south wind. Unfortunately we got a little optimistic with the task and the cloud field did not set up as forecast. The end result was a non contest day with some gliders never getting away, seven landing at the Kingman airport, and a bunch of landouts in flat dry Kansas farm fields (including me).

The next day showed promise. Our morning towplane sounding confirmed the forecasts and the wind was light out of the NW, always a good direction. The problem was a pesky high layer was slowing things down. The sniffer had found some hope but the first four on the grid fell out. As a last ditch effort Phil Chidekel and I were launched as we could see the edge of the sunshine to the southeast. However the shadow would not clear in time. I knew this was our last chance so i took the downwind glide to the sunshine just to see if it was working. There was bumps out there but I arrived too low to work anything. The day was cancelled as I landed out in another nice dirt field. It wasn't too hard finding a retrieve crew and about 12 people showed up to help me put the Cirrus in its trailer.

The next day was a rainout so many of the pilots visited the Strataca Salt Mine and Cosmosphere in Hutchinson and a large proportion of the contest enjoyed a private tour of the B-29 "Doc" in Wichita in the afternoon.

June 7 would be the first official contest day. We had a solid forecast and early development. Paul Sodamann and his crew got the fleet launched quickly. We had a fleet of all Cessna towplanes: A 150 hp 150, 180 hp 172, 230 hp 175, and a 182. The task was a 3 hr TAT to the northwest and back. We weaved between Quivera and Cheyenne Bottoms wildlife refuges between Lyons & Great Bend. The soaring day was pretty good and Mike Westbrook set the pace at 59 hmph.

The following day the commercial soaring forecasts did not look good but the towplane sounding looked alright. John Bird & Phil Chidekel, our excellent on site weathermen, along with Walt Rogers who was providing remote weather support, expected good soaring once a "squelch line" passed through. The day popped earlier than we expected and the satellite picture quickly filled with cu so we set a 3 hr TAT to the west to get us to the cloud field and work the wind line. While we were out there running between Pratt & Great Bend the way home blued out and the wind picked up to 20 mph. This made it a tough go for many and we ended up with 6 finishers and the rest of the fleet scattered along Highway 50 between St. John, KS (including me) and Sunflower.

With two contest days in the record we had another day off due to storms.

With its giant runway and wide open spaces plus non-public status, CD Hugh gave us a finish line at Sunflower. I think the competitors all enjoyed it and Hugh was out there each day watching finishes and providing feedback to the pilots. We set the finish point about 1/3 down the runway which gave you plenty of space to land straight in if you didn't have enough energy to pull up into a pattern.

So now we have two days in the books and four days remaining. The forecast shows good on Mon/Wed and iffy on Tue/Thurs. Very few of us probably actually thought we would fly out the rest of the contest but that is exactly what we did!

On Monday we had a blue day but 4 knot averages to 5000 AGL. The task was a 90 mile Assigned Task to the south and just a little west. Cirrus was approaching from the west so there wasn't much start gate roulette and the task ended up being a really fun balls to the walls race. It very much reminded me of the fun I had flying the Formula 1.0 Grand Prix last year in Australia. We were all in a pack and everyone was pushing hard. It was great. The bulk of the field crossed the finish line within 10 minutes of each other. Even the slowest pilot had a big smile on their face after landing. Dinner that night at the Soaring Center was enjoyed by all.

Tuesday was not a great forecast but the sniffer found a little lift and we were soon up in the air and on task for a close in 2 hr MAT. There were 4 assigned turnpoints that would get you minimum distance. Most finishers added a few more tunrpoints along the wind line. There were 6 landouts, all safe. Walt sent a text to us saying we pulled a rabbit out of the hat!

During the contest we used the Calling Post app for contest communication. Each pilot registered in our Calling Post group at registration then we could send them all emails or texts as needed. Walt used this at last years Standard Class Nationals for distributing his weather briefings. It came in really handy for getting out notices to changes of grid times, dinners, or the fact that storms were headed towards Sunflower.

Tuesday night we had those two words that every glider pilot loves to hear pass, a COLD FRONT. This was the real deal, polar air diving in from the north, and unusually late in the spring too! The front did bring some storms of course and we had pea size hail at the airport but other than the noise on camper roofs, no damage. The wind stayed reasonable. The cool air showed on the next mornings sounding as the temperature at 6000 ft was quite cold!! There was some serious excitement in the flight center. All commercial forecasts, Walt, John, Phil, and our towplane sounding all said it was going to be good. Hugh set a 226 mile Assigned Task to take advantage of an awesome day. The beginning of the task was tough though as we headed up the path of the previous nights storms and rainfall. After limping past Lyons though it got AWESOME. Lots of 5 kt average climbs, Cu as far as the eye could see, streeting, etc etc. All the good stuff. Most of us were pretty anxious after the slow start to go as fast as we could the rest of the task. The nice thing about these days though is they work late and Mike Brooks finished about 7 PM. A few others couldn't get what they needed for the final leg and landed at Kingman, the final turnpoint. Ron Leonard flew 7 hrs and 8 minutes in his HP-18!

If you're wondering how the scoresheet has been going, Mike is maintaining his lead. He's on rails, rising up to every challenge presented and staying cool. Tom Holloran and Danny Sorenson are swapping 2nd and 3rd and there are a handful nipping at their heels for the podium. Day winners have included Mike, Danny, and Jacob Fairbairn in his Libelle on the Grand Prix day.

If you're into the standard soaring forecasts like most of the pilots, you would've figured that this was the last day of the contest and we'd all pack up on Thursday, have the banquet, and go home. However Hugh was determined to make every effort to have us finish the day with a flight and a competition day to determine the champ. We had a thick band of mid level clouds approaching from the west. Two tasks were set. A Task a short Assigned Task to the east to get in ahead of the clouds. B Task was similar but to the west in case the clouds moved through fast. The sniffer was pleasantly surprised as was everyone else with decent lift to 3500 AGL. The fleet was soon launched and we were climbing to 4000+ AGL in 3 kts. The clouds were approaching and the task opened. It was another grand prix-ish day with a couple gaggles forming. We had a glider convention at 2000 AGL over Burrton before heading into the wind for Andale. Castleton was the next turnpoint and it was just under the edge of the overcast. Then we retreated to sunlight for Haven and a climb to get final glide. I found a Bald Eagle on the way who showed me the way to 3.5 kts. This got me high enough for a comfortable final glide, a fast finish, and a day win to close out the contest.

Mitch Hudson turned 43 during the contest. We found a wheelchair for him to sit in while we sang Happy Birthday at the morning meeting. Many of you remember when Mitch was a young kid at contests. At this years Club Nationals I'm pretty sure he was in the top half of the age range. David McMaster was the youngest at 19. His brother JT celebrated his 26th birthday during the contest. Other people younger than Mitch included John Bird, Phil Chidekel, Jacob Fairbairn, Sylvia Grandstaff, Mike Westbrook, Danny Sorenson, Daniel Sazhin, and myself. JT and Phil borrowed gliders from Hank Nixon to compete. David had Harris Hill's Discus. John bought a Libelle 2 weeks before the contest for $6000! Steve Leonard loaned Daniel the FJ-1. This young group has some major talent up and coming and I for one am excited to see our Junior Team in the next few years.

Mike Westbrook is the 2019 Club Class Champion. Tom Holloran 2nd and Danny Sorenson 3rd. Sunflower is back on the contest circuit. We flew 3 Assigned Tasks, a MAT, and 2 TAT's. We finished across a line every day. We raised money for Sylvia and the rest of the Women's Worlds Team. There were no protests and no complaining. Everyone enjoyed themselves and the flying was top notch. Each day had a great challenge and was a good test of our skill.

Tony Condon
Contest Mangager - 2019 Club Class Nationals
  #2  
Old June 16th 19, 05:46 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
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Default Club Class Nationals at Sunflower

Thanks Tony. Great report on a great contest! Nice to see many young contestants too. So the Club Class is a success!
  #3  
Old June 18th 19, 09:38 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Tony[_5_]
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Posts: 1,965
Default Club Class Nationals at Sunflower

Jerry Boone assembled this nice summary video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMjt...kOOogaqht4mFCQ
  #4  
Old June 18th 19, 10:03 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Ron Gleason
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Posts: 483
Default Club Class Nationals at Sunflower

On Saturday, 15 June 2019 21:34:41 UTC-6, Tony wrote:
RAS,

22 Pilots gathered in Yoder, KS starting June 3rd to determine this years Club Class Champion. I was the Contest Manager. Hugh Grandstaff did a fantastic job as the CD.

Yoder is the closest town to the Sunflower Gliderport. It was originally built as Hutchinson Naval Air Station in WWII, was home to the Kansas Air National Guard in the 50's and 60's, and was purchased by Bill Seed in early 1970's. I'm sure many of you remember the Regional & National Championships held there. The most recent Nationals was the Open Class in 1989. Since then we've had a handful of Regionals including 3 in the last 5 years or so.

Sunflower has gone through quite the transformation recently. As you can imagine, time has taken its toll especially on the old concrete ramp. The 200 x 7000 ft Asphalt runway is still in pretty good condition though. The Sunflower Soaring Foundation has, in the last couple years, made some major investments, including cleaning up the remains of the old wings on the Tower, leveling bumps in the runway, leveling a big heave on the ramp, and most importantly, finishing construction of a 50'x 65' state of the art Soaring Center!

We took possession of the new building the week before the contest. There was a mad scramble to get it furnished, move in, and put up the flagpole and lay down some sod, but by the opening ceremonies all was in order. With the new building we now had an air conditioned space that comfortably held all the competitors, a kitchenette for preparing lunches and serving meals, plenty of seating for pilots meetings and dinners, Mens & Womens bathrooms with four toilets each, and private meeting space for task advisors & CD to brief with the weathermen and set tasks. All of this is positioned about 100 yards from the grid so especially on south wind days we could easily grid squat in complete comfort.

In May 2019, the state of Kansas, like many others, experienced record or near record monthly rainfall totals. This is the sort of thing that keeps contest managers up all night and tends to nudge several competitors to withdraw. By the beginning of the contest the rivers were mostly back in their banks but the fields still had standing water in low spots. The local hosts were mildly nervous about the effect this would have on the soaring conditions of course but stayed optimistic.

The practice provided a couple of good soaring days. We flew a 3 Hour TAT on the first day and on the second Practice day we had a 71 mile Assigned Task. This task took advantage of the many close in turnpoints in our database and gave us the opportunity to race head to head but never get more than 15 miles from Sunflower.

We had a nice opening ceremony with speeches from Andrew Peters representing the Sunflower Soaring Foundation, Myself with a welcome from the host club, Kansas Soaring Association, and Morris Yoder who represented the local community and declared the contest open. Kinsey Peters sang the National Anthem while the flag was raised and Andrews kids cut the red ribbon across the front door of the Soaring Center.

The first contest day forecast decent soaring but with a strong south wind. Unfortunately we got a little optimistic with the task and the cloud field did not set up as forecast. The end result was a non contest day with some gliders never getting away, seven landing at the Kingman airport, and a bunch of landouts in flat dry Kansas farm fields (including me).

The next day showed promise. Our morning towplane sounding confirmed the forecasts and the wind was light out of the NW, always a good direction. The problem was a pesky high layer was slowing things down. The sniffer had found some hope but the first four on the grid fell out. As a last ditch effort Phil Chidekel and I were launched as we could see the edge of the sunshine to the southeast. However the shadow would not clear in time. I knew this was our last chance so i took the downwind glide to the sunshine just to see if it was working. There was bumps out there but I arrived too low to work anything. The day was cancelled as I landed out in another nice dirt field. It wasn't too hard finding a retrieve crew and about 12 people showed up to help me put the Cirrus in its trailer.

The next day was a rainout so many of the pilots visited the Strataca Salt Mine and Cosmosphere in Hutchinson and a large proportion of the contest enjoyed a private tour of the B-29 "Doc" in Wichita in the afternoon.

June 7 would be the first official contest day. We had a solid forecast and early development. Paul Sodamann and his crew got the fleet launched quickly. We had a fleet of all Cessna towplanes: A 150 hp 150, 180 hp 172, 230 hp 175, and a 182. The task was a 3 hr TAT to the northwest and back. We weaved between Quivera and Cheyenne Bottoms wildlife refuges between Lyons & Great Bend. The soaring day was pretty good and Mike Westbrook set the pace at 59 hmph.

The following day the commercial soaring forecasts did not look good but the towplane sounding looked alright. John Bird & Phil Chidekel, our excellent on site weathermen, along with Walt Rogers who was providing remote weather support, expected good soaring once a "squelch line" passed through. The day popped earlier than we expected and the satellite picture quickly filled with cu so we set a 3 hr TAT to the west to get us to the cloud field and work the wind line. While we were out there running between Pratt & Great Bend the way home blued out and the wind picked up to 20 mph. This made it a tough go for many and we ended up with 6 finishers and the rest of the fleet scattered along Highway 50 between St. John, KS (including me) and Sunflower.

With two contest days in the record we had another day off due to storms.

With its giant runway and wide open spaces plus non-public status, CD Hugh gave us a finish line at Sunflower. I think the competitors all enjoyed it and Hugh was out there each day watching finishes and providing feedback to the pilots. We set the finish point about 1/3 down the runway which gave you plenty of space to land straight in if you didn't have enough energy to pull up into a pattern.

So now we have two days in the books and four days remaining. The forecast shows good on Mon/Wed and iffy on Tue/Thurs. Very few of us probably actually thought we would fly out the rest of the contest but that is exactly what we did!

On Monday we had a blue day but 4 knot averages to 5000 AGL. The task was a 90 mile Assigned Task to the south and just a little west. Cirrus was approaching from the west so there wasn't much start gate roulette and the task ended up being a really fun balls to the walls race. It very much reminded me of the fun I had flying the Formula 1.0 Grand Prix last year in Australia. We were all in a pack and everyone was pushing hard. It was great. The bulk of the field crossed the finish line within 10 minutes of each other.. Even the slowest pilot had a big smile on their face after landing. Dinner that night at the Soaring Center was enjoyed by all.

Tuesday was not a great forecast but the sniffer found a little lift and we were soon up in the air and on task for a close in 2 hr MAT. There were 4 assigned turnpoints that would get you minimum distance. Most finishers added a few more tunrpoints along the wind line. There were 6 landouts, all safe. Walt sent a text to us saying we pulled a rabbit out of the hat!

During the contest we used the Calling Post app for contest communication.. Each pilot registered in our Calling Post group at registration then we could send them all emails or texts as needed. Walt used this at last years Standard Class Nationals for distributing his weather briefings. It came in really handy for getting out notices to changes of grid times, dinners, or the fact that storms were headed towards Sunflower.

Tuesday night we had those two words that every glider pilot loves to hear pass, a COLD FRONT. This was the real deal, polar air diving in from the north, and unusually late in the spring too! The front did bring some storms of course and we had pea size hail at the airport but other than the noise on camper roofs, no damage. The wind stayed reasonable. The cool air showed on the next mornings sounding as the temperature at 6000 ft was quite cold!! There was some serious excitement in the flight center. All commercial forecasts, Walt, John, Phil, and our towplane sounding all said it was going to be good. Hugh set a 226 mile Assigned Task to take advantage of an awesome day. The beginning of the task was tough though as we headed up the path of the previous nights storms and rainfall. After limping past Lyons though it got AWESOME. Lots of 5 kt average climbs, Cu as far as the eye could see, streeting, etc etc. All the good stuff. Most of us were pretty anxious after the slow start to go as fast as we could the rest of the task. The nice thing about these days though is they work late and Mike Brooks finished about 7 PM. A few others couldn't get what they needed for the final leg and landed at Kingman, the final turnpoint. Ron Leonard flew 7 hrs and 8 minutes in his HP-18!

If you're wondering how the scoresheet has been going, Mike is maintaining his lead. He's on rails, rising up to every challenge presented and staying cool. Tom Holloran and Danny Sorenson are swapping 2nd and 3rd and there are a handful nipping at their heels for the podium. Day winners have included Mike, Danny, and Jacob Fairbairn in his Libelle on the Grand Prix day.

If you're into the standard soaring forecasts like most of the pilots, you would've figured that this was the last day of the contest and we'd all pack up on Thursday, have the banquet, and go home. However Hugh was determined to make every effort to have us finish the day with a flight and a competition day to determine the champ. We had a thick band of mid level clouds approaching from the west. Two tasks were set. A Task a short Assigned Task to the east to get in ahead of the clouds. B Task was similar but to the west in case the clouds moved through fast. The sniffer was pleasantly surprised as was everyone else with decent lift to 3500 AGL. The fleet was soon launched and we were climbing to 4000+ AGL in 3 kts. The clouds were approaching and the task opened. It was another grand prix-ish day with a couple gaggles forming. We had a glider convention at 2000 AGL over Burrton before heading into the wind for Andale. Castleton was the next turnpoint and it was just under the edge of the overcast. Then we retreated to sunlight for Haven and a climb to get final glide. I found a Bald Eagle on the way who showed me the way to 3.5 kts. This got me high enough for a comfortable final glide, a fast finish, and a day win to close out the contest.

Mitch Hudson turned 43 during the contest. We found a wheelchair for him to sit in while we sang Happy Birthday at the morning meeting. Many of you remember when Mitch was a young kid at contests. At this years Club Nationals I'm pretty sure he was in the top half of the age range. David McMaster was the youngest at 19. His brother JT celebrated his 26th birthday during the contest. Other people younger than Mitch included John Bird, Phil Chidekel, Jacob Fairbairn, Sylvia Grandstaff, Mike Westbrook, Danny Sorenson, Daniel Sazhin, and myself. JT and Phil borrowed gliders from Hank Nixon to compete. David had Harris Hill's Discus. John bought a Libelle 2 weeks before the contest for $6000! Steve Leonard loaned Daniel the FJ-1. This young group has some major talent up and coming and I for one am excited to see our Junior Team in the next few years.

Mike Westbrook is the 2019 Club Class Champion. Tom Holloran 2nd and Danny Sorenson 3rd. Sunflower is back on the contest circuit. We flew 3 Assigned Tasks, a MAT, and 2 TAT's. We finished across a line every day. We raised money for Sylvia and the rest of the Women's Worlds Team. There were no protests and no complaining. Everyone enjoyed themselves and the flying was top notch. Each day had a great challenge and was a good test of our skill.

Tony Condon
Contest Mangager - 2019 Club Class Nationals


Thanks for write up and great to hear Sunflower is back on the map! Congrats for winning the last day. Now get yourself a 18M machine and come join your peers in Nephi in 2020.
  #5  
Old June 18th 19, 11:06 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Tony[_5_]
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Posts: 1,965
Default Club Class Nationals at Sunflower

Never know it might work out but I currently plan to fly with my peers at Chilhowee 2020
  #6  
Old June 19th 19, 12:14 AM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
[email protected]
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Posts: 2,124
Default Club Class Nationals at Sunflower

On Tuesday, June 18, 2019 at 6:06:21 PM UTC-4, Tony wrote:
Never know it might work out but I currently plan to fly with my peers at Chilhowee 2020


Me too.
OH
  #7  
Old June 22nd 19, 06:39 AM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
RW[_2_]
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Posts: 70
Default Club Class Nationals at Sunflower

On Saturday, June 15, 2019 at 11:34:41 PM UTC-4, Tony wrote:
RAS,

22 Pilots gathered in Yoder, KS starting June 3rd to determine this years Club Class Champion. I was the Contest Manager. Hugh Grandstaff did a fantastic job as the CD.

Yoder is the closest town to the Sunflower Gliderport. It was originally built as Hutchinson Naval Air Station in WWII, was home to the Kansas Air National Guard in the 50's and 60's, and was purchased by Bill Seed in early 1970's. I'm sure many of you remember the Regional & National Championships held there. The most recent Nationals was the Open Class in 1989. Since then we've had a handful of Regionals including 3 in the last 5 years or so.

Sunflower has gone through quite the transformation recently. As you can imagine, time has taken its toll especially on the old concrete ramp. The 200 x 7000 ft Asphalt runway is still in pretty good condition though. The Sunflower Soaring Foundation has, in the last couple years, made some major investments, including cleaning up the remains of the old wings on the Tower, leveling bumps in the runway, leveling a big heave on the ramp, and most importantly, finishing construction of a 50'x 65' state of the art Soaring Center!

We took possession of the new building the week before the contest. There was a mad scramble to get it furnished, move in, and put up the flagpole and lay down some sod, but by the opening ceremonies all was in order. With the new building we now had an air conditioned space that comfortably held all the competitors, a kitchenette for preparing lunches and serving meals, plenty of seating for pilots meetings and dinners, Mens & Womens bathrooms with four toilets each, and private meeting space for task advisors & CD to brief with the weathermen and set tasks. All of this is positioned about 100 yards from the grid so especially on south wind days we could easily grid squat in complete comfort.

In May 2019, the state of Kansas, like many others, experienced record or near record monthly rainfall totals. This is the sort of thing that keeps contest managers up all night and tends to nudge several competitors to withdraw. By the beginning of the contest the rivers were mostly back in their banks but the fields still had standing water in low spots. The local hosts were mildly nervous about the effect this would have on the soaring conditions of course but stayed optimistic.

The practice provided a couple of good soaring days. We flew a 3 Hour TAT on the first day and on the second Practice day we had a 71 mile Assigned Task. This task took advantage of the many close in turnpoints in our database and gave us the opportunity to race head to head but never get more than 15 miles from Sunflower.

We had a nice opening ceremony with speeches from Andrew Peters representing the Sunflower Soaring Foundation, Myself with a welcome from the host club, Kansas Soaring Association, and Morris Yoder who represented the local community and declared the contest open. Kinsey Peters sang the National Anthem while the flag was raised and Andrews kids cut the red ribbon across the front door of the Soaring Center.

The first contest day forecast decent soaring but with a strong south wind. Unfortunately we got a little optimistic with the task and the cloud field did not set up as forecast. The end result was a non contest day with some gliders never getting away, seven landing at the Kingman airport, and a bunch of landouts in flat dry Kansas farm fields (including me).

The next day showed promise. Our morning towplane sounding confirmed the forecasts and the wind was light out of the NW, always a good direction. The problem was a pesky high layer was slowing things down. The sniffer had found some hope but the first four on the grid fell out. As a last ditch effort Phil Chidekel and I were launched as we could see the edge of the sunshine to the southeast. However the shadow would not clear in time. I knew this was our last chance so i took the downwind glide to the sunshine just to see if it was working. There was bumps out there but I arrived too low to work anything. The day was cancelled as I landed out in another nice dirt field. It wasn't too hard finding a retrieve crew and about 12 people showed up to help me put the Cirrus in its trailer.

The next day was a rainout so many of the pilots visited the Strataca Salt Mine and Cosmosphere in Hutchinson and a large proportion of the contest enjoyed a private tour of the B-29 "Doc" in Wichita in the afternoon.

June 7 would be the first official contest day. We had a solid forecast and early development. Paul Sodamann and his crew got the fleet launched quickly. We had a fleet of all Cessna towplanes: A 150 hp 150, 180 hp 172, 230 hp 175, and a 182. The task was a 3 hr TAT to the northwest and back. We weaved between Quivera and Cheyenne Bottoms wildlife refuges between Lyons & Great Bend. The soaring day was pretty good and Mike Westbrook set the pace at 59 hmph.

The following day the commercial soaring forecasts did not look good but the towplane sounding looked alright. John Bird & Phil Chidekel, our excellent on site weathermen, along with Walt Rogers who was providing remote weather support, expected good soaring once a "squelch line" passed through. The day popped earlier than we expected and the satellite picture quickly filled with cu so we set a 3 hr TAT to the west to get us to the cloud field and work the wind line. While we were out there running between Pratt & Great Bend the way home blued out and the wind picked up to 20 mph. This made it a tough go for many and we ended up with 6 finishers and the rest of the fleet scattered along Highway 50 between St. John, KS (including me) and Sunflower.

With two contest days in the record we had another day off due to storms.

With its giant runway and wide open spaces plus non-public status, CD Hugh gave us a finish line at Sunflower. I think the competitors all enjoyed it and Hugh was out there each day watching finishes and providing feedback to the pilots. We set the finish point about 1/3 down the runway which gave you plenty of space to land straight in if you didn't have enough energy to pull up into a pattern.

So now we have two days in the books and four days remaining. The forecast shows good on Mon/Wed and iffy on Tue/Thurs. Very few of us probably actually thought we would fly out the rest of the contest but that is exactly what we did!

On Monday we had a blue day but 4 knot averages to 5000 AGL. The task was a 90 mile Assigned Task to the south and just a little west. Cirrus was approaching from the west so there wasn't much start gate roulette and the task ended up being a really fun balls to the walls race. It very much reminded me of the fun I had flying the Formula 1.0 Grand Prix last year in Australia. We were all in a pack and everyone was pushing hard. It was great. The bulk of the field crossed the finish line within 10 minutes of each other.. Even the slowest pilot had a big smile on their face after landing. Dinner that night at the Soaring Center was enjoyed by all.

Tuesday was not a great forecast but the sniffer found a little lift and we were soon up in the air and on task for a close in 2 hr MAT. There were 4 assigned turnpoints that would get you minimum distance. Most finishers added a few more tunrpoints along the wind line. There were 6 landouts, all safe. Walt sent a text to us saying we pulled a rabbit out of the hat!

During the contest we used the Calling Post app for contest communication.. Each pilot registered in our Calling Post group at registration then we could send them all emails or texts as needed. Walt used this at last years Standard Class Nationals for distributing his weather briefings. It came in really handy for getting out notices to changes of grid times, dinners, or the fact that storms were headed towards Sunflower.

Tuesday night we had those two words that every glider pilot loves to hear pass, a COLD FRONT. This was the real deal, polar air diving in from the north, and unusually late in the spring too! The front did bring some storms of course and we had pea size hail at the airport but other than the noise on camper roofs, no damage. The wind stayed reasonable. The cool air showed on the next mornings sounding as the temperature at 6000 ft was quite cold!! There was some serious excitement in the flight center. All commercial forecasts, Walt, John, Phil, and our towplane sounding all said it was going to be good. Hugh set a 226 mile Assigned Task to take advantage of an awesome day. The beginning of the task was tough though as we headed up the path of the previous nights storms and rainfall. After limping past Lyons though it got AWESOME. Lots of 5 kt average climbs, Cu as far as the eye could see, streeting, etc etc. All the good stuff. Most of us were pretty anxious after the slow start to go as fast as we could the rest of the task. The nice thing about these days though is they work late and Mike Brooks finished about 7 PM. A few others couldn't get what they needed for the final leg and landed at Kingman, the final turnpoint. Ron Leonard flew 7 hrs and 8 minutes in his HP-18!

If you're wondering how the scoresheet has been going, Mike is maintaining his lead. He's on rails, rising up to every challenge presented and staying cool. Tom Holloran and Danny Sorenson are swapping 2nd and 3rd and there are a handful nipping at their heels for the podium. Day winners have included Mike, Danny, and Jacob Fairbairn in his Libelle on the Grand Prix day.

If you're into the standard soaring forecasts like most of the pilots, you would've figured that this was the last day of the contest and we'd all pack up on Thursday, have the banquet, and go home. However Hugh was determined to make every effort to have us finish the day with a flight and a competition day to determine the champ. We had a thick band of mid level clouds approaching from the west. Two tasks were set. A Task a short Assigned Task to the east to get in ahead of the clouds. B Task was similar but to the west in case the clouds moved through fast. The sniffer was pleasantly surprised as was everyone else with decent lift to 3500 AGL. The fleet was soon launched and we were climbing to 4000+ AGL in 3 kts. The clouds were approaching and the task opened. It was another grand prix-ish day with a couple gaggles forming. We had a glider convention at 2000 AGL over Burrton before heading into the wind for Andale. Castleton was the next turnpoint and it was just under the edge of the overcast. Then we retreated to sunlight for Haven and a climb to get final glide. I found a Bald Eagle on the way who showed me the way to 3.5 kts. This got me high enough for a comfortable final glide, a fast finish, and a day win to close out the contest.

Mitch Hudson turned 43 during the contest. We found a wheelchair for him to sit in while we sang Happy Birthday at the morning meeting. Many of you remember when Mitch was a young kid at contests. At this years Club Nationals I'm pretty sure he was in the top half of the age range. David McMaster was the youngest at 19. His brother JT celebrated his 26th birthday during the contest. Other people younger than Mitch included John Bird, Phil Chidekel, Jacob Fairbairn, Sylvia Grandstaff, Mike Westbrook, Danny Sorenson, Daniel Sazhin, and myself. JT and Phil borrowed gliders from Hank Nixon to compete. David had Harris Hill's Discus. John bought a Libelle 2 weeks before the contest for $6000! Steve Leonard loaned Daniel the FJ-1. This young group has some major talent up and coming and I for one am excited to see our Junior Team in the next few years.

Mike Westbrook is the 2019 Club Class Champion. Tom Holloran 2nd and Danny Sorenson 3rd. Sunflower is back on the contest circuit. We flew 3 Assigned Tasks, a MAT, and 2 TAT's. We finished across a line every day. We raised money for Sylvia and the rest of the Women's Worlds Team. There were no protests and no complaining. Everyone enjoyed themselves and the flying was top notch. Each day had a great challenge and was a good test of our skill.

Tony Condon
Contest Mangager - 2019 Club Class Nationals


Tony,this was the best ever fun competition in my life !
Ryszard
  #8  
Old June 23rd 19, 01:21 AM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Tony[_5_]
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Default Club Class Nationals at Sunflower

Glad you enjoyed it Ryszard!
  #9  
Old June 23rd 19, 01:37 AM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
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Default Club Class Nationals at Sunflower

RW buy or borrow a 1-26 and come join us in KS next year for the 1-26 Championship. You'll have a ball and never fly more than 150 miles each day! Fantastic group of guys, fierce equal competition, and an absolute blast!
Dan 1-26 #225
 




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