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Continued on Page 8

     You can compete in ANY sailplane.  The lower-performance your sailplane, the more advantageous your handicap.  Last year's winner flew a 1-26.  In 2003 the winner flew an LK-10 (a WW2 two-seat trainer).  In 2002 it was a Nimbus 4D.  Every sailplane has a chance to win.  More important, every pilot has a chance to fly a personal best.  If you can glide 3 miles, you could land at the other Tehachapi airport, and appear on the scoresheet.  Fifteen to 20 miles will get you to California City or Rosamond.  Stretch yourself to 40 miles for Inyokern (an honest Silver distance) or 150 miles to Bishop (almost an honest Gold) or 550 miles to Twin Falls ID.  How about Jean, Nevada, or Avenal or Hollister?  Take your pick, fly the mountains or the desert or the farmlands.
     You are worried about the retrieve?  The usual problem with them is the uncertainty.  You find a willing crew (no easy feat in itself) and get him/her enthused - then you land back home and it's an anti-climax.  Or, you are so anxious not to over-tax your retriever that you repeatedly find reasons to abandon cross-country tasks.  On the Dust Devil Dash there is no uncertainty -- you know in advance that you will need a retrieve, so you can plan accordingly.  With that decision made, you and your crew can make sure that all the retrieve preparations are well-organized, and you can fly/drive with an easy mind.  It is the perfect introductory retrieve - there are even good dinner stops along the highways in all directions, and the day after is Sunday, so there is no problem with getting home late.
     Which brings me to the other great feature of the Dash -- it takes only one day.  Tehachapi is within 3 hours or so of LA, Riverside, all of the Central Valley.  You can drive there, assemble, fly, get your retrieve and go home in one (admittedly long) day.  Breakfast is available right on the airfield.  The briefing is after breakfast.  Thermals typically start by 11 am.
     So put your flimsy excuses aside and come soar for a day.  Afterwards you will have bragging rights for a year, regardless of where you end up on the scoresheet.
     This year's Dust Devil Dash will be on Saturday September 10 at Mountain Valley Airport, Tehachapi, CA.  Registration starts at 9:00 AM, followed by a pilot's meeting at 10:00 AM in the Raven's Nest Coffee Shop.  For more information, contact me (Ian Cant) at (661) 821-6609, or iancant@inreach.com.


Ian is in charge of this year's Dust Devil Dash, taking over from Rich Gillock, who ran the contest for many years.  Kudos to Ian for taking over this job - it is volunteers like him who making soaring enjoyable for the rest of us.

Cindy suddenly put her hand on her forehead and exclaimed:  "Oh my God, Pete, it just hit me.  You can claim the PASCO Egg!"  I had no clue what she was talking about, never having heard of the PASCO Egg.  But Cindy told me just enough to convince me that I had somehow accomplished a great feat, by coming from Bishop which is in Region 11, to Cal City which is not, to the place where the Region 11 PASCO Egg was resting.
     Cindy never really did tell me how the Egg got to Cal City.  I recall asking about that, and she suddenly changing the subject, and my forgetting to ask her again.  All I was told was that this Egg had to be taken back to Region 11.  Since I was going to be going back to Bishop -- either by glider, or some other means so that I could get my trailer -- Cindy more or less ordered me to take the Egg to the Bishop Airport.
     I stayed at a local motel that evening.  The next morning at the Cal City airport, Cindy showed me the PASCO Egg, in its little carrying pouch.  I filled out the log book at her direction, and then took custody of both the log book and the Egg.  A friend from Reno flew a power plane from Reno to Cal City, and flew me to Bishop.  There, I entrusted the Egg and its log to the FBO, who promised to have it displayed in the glass case at the Bishop terminal building.  I then flew home with my friend to Reno, and forgot all about the Egg, until Lee Edling of Air Sailing told me that the Egg had been captured by Peter Kelly and taken to Truckee.  Lee asked me to write this story of how it got from Cal City to Bishop. 

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Southern California Soaring

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