Second Annual Gene Carapetyan Turkey Dash

     On Saturday, November 29, 2003, the Second Annual Gene Carapetyan Turkey Dash will occur at the Hemet-Ryan gliderport.  This is a straight out, cross country event.  Registration is at 10:00 AM, with the "Turkey Meeting" (also known as pilots meeting) at 10:30 AM.  There is no entry fee, but please bring a few light brunch items such as muffins and donuts to share with the other "turkeys" and crews.  Please pre-register with Don Johnston at marsci@gte.net by November 21st so that he may arrange for the appropriate number of towplanes.


Soaring Magazine Needs a Few Good People

     Chip Garner (a former Region 12 member who now is the Vice Chair of the SSA Publications Committee) and Howard Banks are looking for members who would like to offer their time and expertise toward improving SOARING Magazine.  In particular, they are looking for SSA members who have experience in the newspaper and (especially) magazine fields  - as editors or writers, or in production, graphics, or advertising (either selling advertising for a publication, or working for a corporation with responsibility for placing advertising).  These are volunteer activities, not paid consulting positions.
     You would participate in discussions and act as a resource on the Publications Committee.  Interested?  Please contact Chip Garner at chip@cnsp.com, Howard Banks at hbsoar@comcast.net  or Cindy Brickner at cindyb@caracolesoaring.com.


Thanks to Our Contributors

     We would like to thank all the soaring pilots who have contributed to this and the previous issues of Southern California Soaring.  Without them, this newsletter would not exist.  We apologize to anyone we may have left out:

Doug Alberg
Greg Arnold
Jane Barrett
Del Blomquist
Tom Brabeck
Cindy Brickner
David Britton
Ian Cant
Kevin Cousineau
Robert Danewid
Afandi Darlington
Richard Depinay
Peter Donath
Doug Easton
Lee Edling
Roger Felton
Don Finnell
Sean Ford
Larry Forqueran
Doug Fronius
Bill Gawthrop
Rich Gillock
Milt Hare
Mike Havener
Terry Honikman
Brian Iten
Kemp Izuno
Doug Jacobs
Jim Ketcham

Gary Knapp
Joshua Knerr
Andrej Kolar
Hans Langer
Terry Lankford
Derek Lisoski
Bob Maronde
Cam Martin
Al MacDonald
Paul McDonald

Mark Navarre
Jim Norris
David Nye
Jim Payne
Fred Robinson
Paul Robinson
Leonard Rosenthal
Bertha Ryan
Mark Saunders
Jim Skydell

Ed Slater
John Stickelmaier
Karl Striedieck
John Templeton
Ola Rer Thorsen
Larry Tuohino
Arthur Wallace
Mike Warshaw
Ray Warshaw
Garret Willat

rain.  I tried the rock quarry, which had always worked in the past, and spent 20min to climb 500 feet or so.  That doesn't sound like much, but I started at only 1000', and so ended up 50% higher than when I started.   
     Off to the cooling towers at the power station, but not even a bump.  Across the valley, and I arrived on the upwind side of a ridge (if it can be considered upwind when there is only a 2 mph wind) at about 800 feet.  There are a lot of good fields below.  I determine which one I will be visiting, and how I can land with 5 other gliders already there.  One of my worries had been that the LS8s would have the advantage during weak weather climbs.  However, my Discus 2a had no problem keeping up with the LS8s.  In fact, I saw one land below me. 
     Flying close to the small mountain, I suddenly felt sorry for the pilots that were not used to looking at rocks and trees this way.  Most of the pilots knew that I had some mountain experience, and a few of them would follow me into the little canyons and against the trees.  But they must have thought I was nuts, because after 10 minutes of that they stayed a little farther from the mountain.  This gave me a little more altitude than everyone else. 
     So far, we had been in this location maintaining about 800 feet from the valley floor for 20 minutes.  Then the other Discus 2a and I found a bump, and spent 25 minutes to climb 800 feet.  This gave us enough height to move farther into the mountains.  It had been almost an hour since I heard anything from the British standard class pilots, so I figured they were so far ahead that they were going into the second turn.  However, to my surprise, as I crossed the mountain pass there were a dozen gliders sprawled out on the side of a hill.  As I flew over the gliders, I could see 3 LS-8s next to each other, and determined they were British. 
     At the next saddle in the mountains, it looked like I might have 75 feet of clearance.  However, the other side did not taper off fast enough for my comfort level (it looked like the slope of the glide of a 2-33), which meant I was going to be at 75' for a while.  Not my choice, and seeing all the top pilots in the field behind me, I joined them.  I had the third longest flight at 70km.  And the whole ordeal took around 3hours. 
     One of the German pilots who had landed earlier had hitched a ride with an English speaking local, and had convinced him to drive to the store for cookies and beer.  Since we will not be flying out, the beer is opened.   We decided that landing out with the Germans really wasn't that bad of an idea. 

     The second to the last day was a memorable day.  We were sent into the mountains on a 531km assigned speed task.  I started 4 minutes after the British and 2 minutes after the Germans.  I gaggle hopped, and just before the first turn caught the British.  The French also were there, and they had started 5-7 minutes ahead of me.  I figured today was MY day. 
     By the second turn I was in front of the British.  Going into the third turn I found the Germans again.  The Brits had made a wrong turn, and now were struggling to make up the lost 5 minutes.  I climbed to cloud base, and glided into a dead sky to make the turn.  Rather than making a 180 degree turn toward the last turnpoint, I headed 90 degrees toward the sun, and 15km later found a 2-3 knot thermal.   I figured I had everyone beat, but the Germans took a 3-4 knot thermal 3 miles away.  I charged off to catch them, but by the time I got there they were 100' above me and reaching cloudbase.  I couldn't catch them for all I was worth. 
     Clouds were forming back on course, and the Brits started catching up again.  By this time, the Germans had a substantial lead.  I tried to push hard to catch them again, driving at 100 knots just 50-100 feet off the ridge spine, waiting for THE thermal.  Going back into my favorite airport of Martin, I finally get a good climb.  However, it died quickly, and I didn't have enough altitude to glide across the blue valley.  That was the last thermal I worked for the day.  I made the last turnpoint, but didn't make it home.

     On the last day I decided to go for it.  I left late and flew with the Germans to the first thermal, which was over 10 knots.  There, I split with the Germans, and we met up again at the farthest extreme of the first sector, averaging around 90mph.  Out of the first sector, I stopped again in 11 knots, and charged off southwest in some air that was slightly wave induced.  WinPilot said that I would be undertime even if I hit the full extremes of each sector.  So off I went into the second sector.  I figured as long as I didn't hit sink I should keep going, because I was averaging zero sink at 85mph.  If I could keep working this little wave I would be fine.  As luck would have it, the wave disappeared.  The third leg was a decent towards the ground.  I nicked the fourth sector and hit the ground shortly after.  If I had flown a little more conservatively I could have finished with another 500 points for the day.  I was the only person to land out that day.

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     It takes a huge adjustment coming from the US to race in a World Championships.  For example, it was taken for granted that at the finish you would go over the power lines 4 fields out, and then dive for the deck and cruise across the ground at 90 knots.  If you encountered more power lines, it was OK to go under them.  You would cross the finish line at the end of the runway, and then land straight ahead and stop before you got to the other end.  This is safer than pulling up and try to fit into a pattern while 30 other gliders are all landing at the same time.
     The towplanes were turbine powered, and averaged a 12 knot climb fully loaded with water.  A 500 meter tow was 3.5min round trip for the towplane.  The pilots claimed that they never used full power, but instead kept the throttle at less than 75%.  The climb attitude was so steep that you would have to fly in a slip just to see a huge blue winglet.  And whatever you do, don't go through the propwash!!!

     All in all, I had a wonderful experience.  With my many land outs, I got to meet many people, and ate some good food.  The flying was incredible as far as the competition was concerned, though the soaring conditions are better here at home.  The conditions we saw, however, suggest that you can fly basically every day of the year there.
     Slovakia is a country that is just starting.  The soaring clubs are not as well equipped as in France, but the price is good, and the people are happy to see you.  The country is beautiful and the scenery is always changing.  It is much more enjoyable to fly low when there are landable fields everywhere!  A 750k flight is do-able if you just run around the country a few times. 
     I learned a lot.  George Lee had warned me about being too laid back.  I still remained laid back, but also was aggressive.  One thing I learned was that you need to slow down as the day slowly dies!  Don't keep waiting for the booming thermal again.  I landed out two days when very few others did; both landings were near the end of the course. 
     I gratefully appreciate all of you that donated your time and money to help send the pilots to fly in the World Gliding Championships.

Skies were mostly cloudy.  I looked at Andy and said "Doesn't look too red hot, does it?"  His reply floored me!  "Its a great day!  Good wave today." Since it didn't look like the textbook conditions from the day before, my assumption was 180 degree's off!
     It was about 70 degrees outside. I had my on my jeans, a tee shirt, with socks and running shoes on my feet.  Little did I know what I was in for!  By the time Annie let us off tow four minutes away at the base of Mt Horrible, we were briskly slope soaring up to its 4500 ft peak. Once there at the base of the rotor clouds my real lesson began. "Tom, tighten the turn! You're falling out of the upside of the rotor!" "Tom, push forward, get your speed up! Push through the down, pull up in the lift. The bottom of the wave is just ahead.  If we're not high enough we'll never hook it!" I have to tell you, it was the first time I ever got queasy in a sailplane. I could not count the number of  times we were weightless while in the rotor. Up down, up down, climbing higher and higher, working it for every meter we could get.  As we approached cloudbase, pushing into a 45 knot headwind, Andy kept assuring me it was just ahead.  "How do you know?" I asked.  "Just look for the wisps of vapor getting sucked into the leading edge of the cloud. We have to be on the other side."  Sure enough, there they were, little streaks of water vapor forming before my eyes. Forming and getting larger, multitudes of them. Just watch the clouds, right at the edge.
     Then it was time to push forward, into the blue. Keep the faith, it's out there.  After a couple of good jolts, suddenly the air became very smooth.  "Tom, look at your vario," said Andy.  Sure enough, it  was pegged at 10 kts and we were going up like a jet!!!  It was quite a feeling that first day!  Smooth as silk, humongous lift accompanied by a feeling of euphoria! 
     This is why I came to Omarama.  Wave flying is to gliding as big wave riding is to surfing, as Heli-skiing is to snow skiing.  It is the ultimate form of flying!  Before I knew it we were riding directly above Mt. Cook at 19,000' (unrestricted airspace) with a 90 knot headwind!  What a sight to behold! The place where George Mallory trained to climb Mt. Everest was directly beneath me.  It was incredible.  "Get your speed up Tom!  You're falling out the back side of the wave!"  "Andy, I'm doing 80!"  "But the headwind is 90" he said. "We're going backwards, look at your GPS!"  Sure enough, he was right. 
     There was so much to learn in so little time.  After a while, a little chill set over me. Oops, the outside air temp is -28C!!! And I am lightly dressed.  I didn't plan well for this one. As you know, here in California in the summer, it can still be comfortable in the cockpit at 18,000 ft. After cruising farther north, we decided to head back as my feet were becoming numb from the cold!! We had 150 km to get back home. With the tail wind we did it in a record 14 minutes, including slowing every 4000 ft of descent to let the gel coat warm to keep it from cracking!  Now that's "jet" flying!
     While thawing out, I went to the local store for Ugh Boots (sheepskin lined) and two pair of wool socks.  For the rest of my time at Omarama, I flew with a long sleeved t-shirt, covered by my fleece shirt, followed by my lightweight Gore Tex rain jacket. 

Continued on Page 20

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Southern California Soaring

Radio Frequency Update     by Cindy Brickner

     Are you still are annoyed with the airplane flight school conversations on 123.3 and 123.5 in the southern Region 12 area?  Relief will be coming.
     With the June issue, the glider frequencies were due to be removed from the flight training areas on the Los Angeles TAC chart.  That didn't happen.  I recently learned that all of the changes submitted for June languished on a desk in Washington, D.C.  I visited with the airspace committee in October and confirmed that the instructions for the changes are indeed in the pipeline.
     Meanwhile, please be courteous, patient, and brief, in our use of the correct frequencies.  Recall that these frequencies are primarily intended for air-to-ground conversations, even for us.  They are NOT air-to-air thermal strength reporting frequencies.  The pilots flying from Santa Ynez have no interest in thermal locations at Warner or Hemet.
     If you "need" to have air-to-air thermal strength and location reporting conversations, consider doing so on 122.75 or 122.85. Or get a Nextel chat phone for your buddy.
     We can cross our fingers and hope that the LA chart will change in this December update cycle.  I will not give up on the process.   

Cindy Brickner is a Region 12 Director.

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Southern California Soaring

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