Updated 2006-04-01 Rand, what a great report, thanks. Congratulations to Leo, Sarah, and Jeff Laughery who were flying their first competitions. (Someone should shoot the guy that called Mark Anton for a TP on Saturday!) Jeff, when I can get your file, I will be able to adjust the scores to reflect your apparent win. Again, I apologize for not being able to download it for you. I also want to add my congratulations to Peter Pfortner who flew an excellent flight on Sunday and say that it is really awful to have it reduced because of penalties; but, that is what GTA is all about, making us race to the rules and getting the bugs out before we get to the Regionals. There were a number of penalties this weekend relating to the Start Gate Height, the Finish Gate Height, and a couple for not quite making into the turn area. In some cases, we can take an earlier start time, as long as it is still after the official opening of the gate, and make the penalty only an earlier start time. The 25 point penalty for being over the gate height is a big one ... note: your altitude is what is shown in the logger, not the one in the computer and certainly not the altitude shown in the altimeter. To avoid this penalty, you need to understand which altitude to look at. For Glide Navigator, it is showing the GPS pressure altitude but the resolution of the Cambridge Model 25s is something like 100 feet. The finish gate is the same as it relates to the altitude discussion above, but the penalty is rolling finish plus 3 minutes. That is huge! Finally, I was surprised to see that you can actually miss the turn area and still get credit, but the penalty is huge. We had some great flying out there, everyone that is going to Perry will be way ahead of those who have not competed yet this year. In my opinion, I think everyone's flying is improving and speeds are getting faster and scores closer. WE -----Original Message----- From: GTA-Racing@yahoogroups.com [mailto:GTA-Racing@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Rand Baldwin Sent: Wednesday, March 29, 2006 6:02 PM Subject: [GTA-Racing] Chilhowee Contest Report The lucky pilots who competed in last weekend’s GTA races at Chilhowee were treated to excellent soaring weather. Fourteen pilots, ten in A class and four in B, braved the cold to enjoy the third and fourth races of the season. Saturday, March 25: A moderate northwest wind made for good ridge soaring but humidity aloft caused a lot of spreadout, resulting in broken to overcast skies dominated by stratocu at ~5-6K. Despite the extensive cloud cover, the fast pilots averaged 3-4 knots in thermals. A class The A class flew a TAT: North Start – Eton (15mi) - Corn Tassel (15mi) – Georgetown (15 mi) – Chilhowee with a three-hour minimum task time. Bill Elliott made the best of the day, narrowly (by three points!) edging out Chris Ruf, who finished four minutes early. Chris did a masterful job, driving his Mosquito around the course at 51.7 mph. On the way from Eton to Corn Tassel, he ran the ridge almost to the Lookout Tower, where he found a five-knotter that lofted him high enough to confidently penetrate the second turn area. Snow showers and weaker thermals under the overcast slowed him down, but he climbed near Monroe, then ran toward Georgetown. He got low in the last turn area, but managed a final glide to Chilhowee. Bill had a good run throughout the task, averaging ~four knots overall. He flew well into the Corn Tassel turn area, then returned to the ridge and flew south until he found a good thermal that allowed him to glide west toward a sunny area in the Georgetown TA. He arrived to find a general effervescence in the area, but no well-organized lift. Using the bubbly thermals, he got high enough to final glide with a McCready setting of four knots. The sink monster then attacked with a vengeance, forcing Bill to reduce his McCready setting until he was at max glide near the end, barely making it over the 1,000’ minimum finish height. B class B class pilots were assigned a MAT, beginning at the North Start and including six designated turnpoints: Microwave Tower – Lookout Tower – RR Bridge – Microwave – McMinn Co. – Mark Anton. Jeff Laughery won the day in his Ka-6, with Leo Bennetti-Longhini in second place. Sarah Kelly and Chuck Patterson placed third and fourth, respectively. All four pilots made it to McMinn Co., but getting to Mark Anton at a decent altitude proved an insurmountable challenge under the overcast. Sarah made two valiant attempts that got her halfway and Leo made it to within ~five miles of the turnpoint before heading home. Sunday, March 26 With warmer temperatures and less wind, Sunday was more comfortable on the ground and the forecast was better than Saturday’s. The air was drier, especially to the south, so sky cover was generally scattered to broken, with cloudbase at ~6,500’ in much of the task area. The northwest winds remained, but with diminished strength, so there was no workable ridge lift. A class With better conditions forecast to the south, the A class was assigned a 2:45 TAT with the first control point at Rome: North Start – Rome (30mi) – Cub Haven (15 mi) – Rostex (15 mi) – Chilhowee. The A class task had barely opened when Bill announced his start. He was soon followed by most of the other A class pilots. Bill decided to fly over the forest toward some good clouds near the big peaks. That tactic worked well as evidenced by the six and seven-knotters he found all along the way into the eastern part of the Rome TA. Peter Pfortner, meanwhile, took a different tack, following the good-looking clouds over the valley west of the ridges. The lift improved as he flew south, culminating in a seven-knot thermal just north of Mercer. On the way back, he stayed well to the west, following streets angling off to the NW, then transitioning to an adjacent street to the north. Peter averaged 5.4 knots for the day, which would have won the day had he not undershot the finish cylinder by mere feet! Even with a rolling finish and the three-minute penalty, he average 63.4 mph (58.6 handicapped). On the second leg, Bill flew back over the mountains to near Eton, then edged out to the valley. Past Rostex, he deviated west and took advantage of streets as he headed toward western edge of the Cub Haven TA. On the way to the Rostex TA, he averaged ~74 mph before turning SE of Rostex to start his final glide. Bill flew almost 190 miles at an average of 67.4 mph (59.3 handicapped). B class TAT: North Start – Eton (15 mi) – Cub Haven (15 mi) – Rostex (15 mi) – Chilhowee: Minimum Task Time: 2:00 SEX made a very good run throughout the task. Closely followed by Leo in his Silent 2, she flew deep into the Eton TA, then turned around and repeated her performance along the second leg . Chuck nipped the top of the Eton TA, then compensated by going well into Cub Haven, also at a good speed. Sarah ended up on top, logging 106 miles at 52.5 mph (49.3 handicapped), and Chuck captured second with 51.4 mph (46.3 handicapped) over nearly the same distance. Unfortunately, Leo didn’t make the last TA. Final scoring awaits the receipt of flight logs from a few pilots who have been duly notified. Acknowledgements Thanks to Sarah for hosting this event, to the tow pilot for getting us all airborne in a timely fashion, to Chris Ruf for managing the contest, to Bill Elliott for serving as weatherman, task-setter, and scorer, and to all the crews who provided creature comforts and moral support, conducted retrieves, and put up with endless hangar flying. Congratulations to everyone who competed for your skill, good judgement, and professionalism. Rand Baldwin, "NN" GTA 03 Chilhowee "Saturday, March 25, 2006" Preliminary A Class Day 1 Task: ID Name Distance (Miles) Radius 53 NorthStartPt 0 3 14 Eton 29.66 15 8 Corntassel 87.35 15 17 Georgetown 131.61 15 1 CHILHOWEE 151.76 1 Minimum Time 03:00 Cumu lative Day Sp eed Di stance Remarks Rank Points ID Name Glider Rank Points Hndcp Actual Hndcp Actual Code Penalty Points ---- ----- -- ---- ------ ---- ------ ----- ------ ----- ------ -- -- ------- ------ 1 1000 WE "Elliott, Bill" ASW-27 1 1000 50.37 57.23 156.34 177.66 2 996 H6 "Ruf, Chris" 303 Mos 2 996 50.19 51.74 150.25 154.90 MT 3 890 ELF "Stevenson, D" Elfe 3 890 44.83 40.75 133.16 121.06 MT15 4 824 6I "Deutsch, Mitch ASW-27 4 824 41.53 47.19 124.08 141.00 MT 5 767 NX "Richard, Bob" ASW-24 5 767 38.65 41.12 115.18 122.53 MT 6 839 NN "Baldwin, Rand" LS-8 6 839 42.27 45.70 125.98 136.20 MT,FG,TP 70" 7 541 TJ "Drury, Bill" VentusB 7 541 27.24 31.31 79.70 91.61 MT15 8 509 FP "Pin, Francois" ASW-27 8 509 25.65 29.14 73.52 83.55 MT15 SP 187 9 140 1FL "Fox, Bruce" 304CZ 9 140 40.17 42.49 Codes: MT Flight time less than minimum time. MT15 Time > 15 Min. under minimum. task time. W Withdrew from contest. TP Turnpoint penalty SP No Valid Start penalty F No flight log. GTA 03, Chilhowee Saturday, March 25, 2006 B Class Day 1 Task: Modified Assigned ID Name Distance (Miles) Radius 53 NorthStartPt 0.00 3.0 28 Microwave 8.50 23 LookoutTower 24.72 32 RR Bridge 38.83 28 Microwave 44.27 27 Mcminn Co 62.79 25 Mark Anton 84.12 1 CHILHOWEE 109.48 1.0 Minimum Time 02:30 Cumulative Speed Distance Remarks Rank Points ID Name Glider Hndcp Actual Hndcp Actual Code Penalty Points 1 1000 DS Laughrey, Jeff Ka-6E 40.30 33.03 99.28 81.38 MT15 2 702 SEX Kelly, Sarah Discus B 28.25 30.08 69.60 74.12 MT15 3 667 ZF Patterson, Chuck ASW-20B 26.89 29.88 66.06 73.41 MT15 4 395 LEO Longini, Leo Silent 55.94 66.01 MT15 Codes: MT15 Time > 15 Min. under minimum. task time. Created on Saturday April 01, 2006 - 12:07 by Winscore Rev 0 "GTA 04" Chilhowee "Sunday, March 26, 2006" Preliminary A Class Day 2 Task: Turn Area ID Name Distance (Miles) Radius 53 NorthStartPt 0 3 35 Rome-Russell 70.54 30 10 Cub Haven 161 15 36 Rostex 202.58 15 1 CHILHOWEE 220.87 1 Minimum Time 02:45 Day Speed Distance Remarks ID Name Glider Rank Points Hndcp Actual Hndcp Actual Code Penalty Points -- ---- ------ ---- ------ ----- ------ ----- ------ ---- ------- ------ WE Elliott, Bill" ASW-27 1 1000 59.30 67.39 166.78 189.52 PF Pfortner, PeterLS-8 2 989 58.62 63.38 183.64 198.53 ELF Stevenson, DavidElfe 3 927 54.98 49.98 164.66 149.69 6I Deutsch, Mitch" ASW-27 4 899 53.33 60.60 145.92 165.82 "MT, W" NN Baldwin, Rand" LS-8 5 867 51.44 55.62 145.99 157.82 NX Richard, Bob" ASW-24 6 804 49.16 52.30 144.41 153.63 SP 25 H6 Ruf, Chris" 303 Mos 7 787 46.69 48.14 139.26 143.57 TJ Drury, Bill" VentusB 8 235 84.59 97.23 AB FP Pin, Francois" PW-5 9 215 86.58 71.79 Codes: MT Flight time less than minimum time. W Withdrew from contest. SP Start penalty AB 25pt Airfield Bonus. F No flight log. Preliminary B Class Day 2 Task: Turn Area ID Name Distance (Miles) Radius 53 NorthStartPt 0 3 14 Eton 29.66 15 10 Cub Haven 79.99 15 36 Rostex 121.57 15 1 CHILHOWEE 139.86 1 Minimum Time 02:00 Day Sp eed Di stance Remarks ID Name Glider Rank Points Hndcp Actual Hndcp Actual Code Penalty Points -- ---- ------ ---- ------ ----- ------ ----- ------ ---- ------- ------ SEX Kelly, Sarah DiscusB 1 1000 49.29 52.49 99.46 105.93 ZF Patterson, ChuckASW-20B 2 939 46.28 51.42 95.64 106.27 LEO Longini, Leo Silent 3 285 102.03 86.47 "AB,SP,TP 450" DS Laughrey, Jeff Ka-6E 4 TBD/0 0 F Codes: AB 25pt Airfield Bonus. SP Start penalty TP Turnpoint penalty F No flight log. "Created on Thursday March 30, 2006 - 09:04