A Perfect Day!

When pilots talk about a perfect contest day, they would probably love today. The weather had good Cu, great lift, and the tasks still had a level of toughness to them. The day started like any other at Perry International Airport. The dogs were walking, tow pilots were checking their ships, the early birds were getting ready to tow down to the grid and the weather was sunny and a little bit warmer than earlier. Simply speaking, it was a perfect day!
After the early birds were on the grid, we took off for breakfast at the Little Bakery Shoppe. Imagine our surprise that we found a bunch of glider folks there. The owner said this was the best week in a long time. See, soaring does have a positive impact on the economy of a small town. These ladies have been so nice to all of us, we plan to adopt them as honoree sailplane pilots.
Heinz and Karen have a watcher for Curtis (Heinz’s dog) when they are flying. Olivia just happens to run the Junior program at Harris Hill and is a glider pilot herself. She is a very nice young lady that had a chance to fly her first contest flight yesterday. Today, we all asked her to tell us about her experience. She had a ball and could not thank everyone enough who had been so gracious with their time talking about competitive soaring. Please stop by and say hi to Olivia, she would get a kick out of it.
Hugh Granstaff did the safety talk today at the pilot’s meeting. Of course, he is better known as the wife of a US World Team member and a sometimes pilot for Cal Fire. Today he talked about transponders and the necessity for having them in gliders. It is a cheap investment for the safety of the pilot if something bad happens.
Today we found out a very devoted husband put the contest ID of his wife’s glider (that was just sold) on one side of the vertical stabilizer, and his ID on the other. What a great gestor of love for a fellow pilot and life partner. Way to go Heinz!
On the next to last day of the contest, the Ed Byars Sportsmanship Award was resented to Chris and Gary Carter. This couple does so much for the sport in soaring in Region 5 and richly deserved the recognition. I never met Ed Byars but from what I’ve heard, he was an outstanding pilot and a southern gentleman. Ed and his wife once flew a 65hp Piper Cub from Clemson to Savannah and then to the west coast with a dog on the hat rack of the ship. Chris and Gary also work very hard in a rescue shelter for horses so I’m sure Ed would be proud to have them honored in this way.
Today was really nice at the pilot’s meeting, since Seminole-Lake Gliderport had three pilots who finished on the podium for the day in 3 different classes. Gregg Shugg (Yes, we adopted him at SLGP) finished first in Sports, Billy Kerns first in FAI Combined and Rich Owen finished first in 18 Meter Class.
The Sports Class and FAI Combined Classes had the same task. They left from Start 4 and then went to, Saluda, Allendale, Mc Neil, Fogles and then Finish. This was a 3hr Turn Area Task with a minimum time of 3 hours. The pilots said it wasn’t as good as yesterday. The Cu’s appeared late in the afternoon and were significantly more spread out. The first leg to Saluda was good until nearing Aiken. Totally blue conditions greeted the pilots on their way to Allendale. The Cu got more sparce and they were short cycled. Just when you think you have a good climb coming, the Cu dried up and you were left with just a raggedy wisp with no lift. In first place was Kevin Anderson with a raw speed of 52.97mph. This is Kevin’s second regional day win. Congratulations my friend!!!!! In second place was Greg Shugg and third belonged to Jason Arnold and Tim McGowin who tied for the day. Jason has a controlling lead in the Sport Class but you never know what may happen tomorrow. Second and third place is only separated by 35 points. I’m in a dilemma since the top three pilots are all good friends. Do well guys and fly safe.
In FAI Combined, Jared Granzow finished in first place with a raw speed 58.43mph. In second was Billy Kerns with third belonging to Sylvia Granstaff and Tom Holloran in a tie. Tom Holloran only has a 45-point lead over Jared for first place. Sylvia moved into third place overall but may find it difficult to move up significantly.
The Open and 18 Meter Class shared the same task that was changed at the last minute. It was a Turn Area Task that began at Start 3 and then went to Don Bells, Twin Lakes, Bamburg, Allendale and Finish. The first two legs were rocking! I was going so fast, all my circles on the LX-9000 were colored red, depicting I would be under time no matter how far I went in the circle. It was awesome! The leg to Bamburg was ok but the last turn was in very weak air. But in the end, Robin Clark (another Floridian) won the day with a speed of 75.08mph which was again faster than the Open Class. Take that big wingers! In second place was Erik Nelson while third was taken by Jae Walker. In the overall race, Robin Clark has a slim 29 point lead over Sean Murphy with Segei Morozov trailing Sean by only 31 points.
In Open Class, Dick Butler is taking my comments personally from last night and won the day handily with a speed of 69.66mph. In second place was Team Striedieck & Arnold with third belonging to Sam Zimmerman of Team Perry West. Henry has a narrow lead over DB with Team Nixon & Tyler within a hundred points of the lead. Could be a lot of movement in all the classes tomorrow.
Tonight, we had a great pulled pork bar-b-que dinner with all the trimmings.. The food has been great and the flying fantastic. Rhonda puts on a tremendous contest; you all should come down. Well, that’s all for tonight. See you for the wrap up report tomorrow night. Hope you enjoyed these reports, it was my pleasure to provide them for you.

Good night,
Rich Owen
ZO

On Friday, April 22, 2022 at 10:39:26 PM UTC-4, stil...@aol.com wrote:
> A Perfect Day!
>
> When pilots talk about a perfect contest day, they would probably love today. The weather had good Cu, great lift, and the tasks still had a level of toughness to them. The day started like any other at Perry International Airport. The dogs were walking, tow pilots were checking their ships, the early birds were getting ready to tow down to the grid and the weather was sunny and a little bit warmer than earlier. Simply speaking, it was a perfect day!
> After the early birds were on the grid, we took off for breakfast at the Little Bakery Shoppe. Imagine our surprise that we found a bunch of glider folks there. The owner said this was the best week in a long time. See, soaring does have a positive impact on the economy of a small town. These ladies have been so nice to all of us, we plan to adopt them as honoree sailplane pilots.
> Heinz and Karen have a watcher for Curtis (Heinz’s dog) when they are flying. Olivia just happens to run the Junior program at Harris Hill and is a glider pilot herself. She is a very nice young lady that had a chance to fly her first contest flight yesterday. Today, we all asked her to tell us about her experience. She had a ball and could not thank everyone enough who had been so gracious with their time talking about competitive soaring. Please stop by and say hi to Olivia, she would get a kick out of it.
> Hugh Granstaff did the safety talk today at the pilot’s meeting. Of course, he is better known as the wife of a US World Team member and a sometimes pilot for Cal Fire. Today he talked about transponders and the necessity for having them in gliders. It is a cheap investment for the safety of the pilot if something bad happens.
> Today we found out a very devoted husband put the contest ID of his wife’s glider (that was just sold) on one side of the vertical stabilizer, and his ID on the other. What a great gestor of love for a fellow pilot and life partner. Way to go Heinz!
> On the next to last day of the contest, the Ed Byars Sportsmanship Award was resented to Chris and Gary Carter. This couple does so much for the sport in soaring in Region 5 and richly deserved the recognition. I never met Ed Byars but from what I’ve heard, he was an outstanding pilot and a southern gentleman. Ed and his wife once flew a 65hp Piper Cub from Clemson to Savannah and then to the west coast with a dog on the hat rack of the ship. Chris and Gary also work very hard in a rescue shelter for horses so I’m sure Ed would be proud to have them honored in this way.
> Today was really nice at the pilot’s meeting, since Seminole-Lake Gliderport had three pilots who finished on the podium for the day in 3 different classes. Gregg Shugg (Yes, we adopted him at SLGP) finished first in Sports, Billy Kerns first in FAI Combined and Rich Owen finished first in 18 Meter Class.
> The Sports Class and FAI Combined Classes had the same task. They left from Start 4 and then went to, Saluda, Allendale, Mc Neil, Fogles and then Finish. This was a 3hr Turn Area Task with a minimum time of 3 hours. The pilots said it wasn’t as good as yesterday. The Cu’s appeared late in the afternoon and were significantly more spread out. The first leg to Saluda was good until nearing Aiken. Totally blue conditions greeted the pilots on their way to Allendale. The Cu got more sparce and they were short cycled. Just when you think you have a good climb coming, the Cu dried up and you were left with just a raggedy wisp with no lift. In first place was Kevin Anderson with a raw speed of 52.97mph. This is Kevin’s second regional day win. Congratulations my friend!!!!! In second place was Greg Shugg and third belonged to Jason Arnold and Tim McGowin who tied for the day. Jason has a controlling lead in the Sport Class but you never know what may happen tomorrow. Second and third place is only separated by 35 points. I’m in a dilemma since the top three pilots are all good friends. Do well guys and fly safe.
> In FAI Combined, Jared Granzow finished in first place with a raw speed 58.43mph. In second was Billy Kerns with third belonging to Sylvia Granstaff and Tom Holloran in a tie. Tom Holloran only has a 45-point lead over Jared for first place. Sylvia moved into third place overall but may find it difficult to move up significantly.
> The Open and 18 Meter Class shared the same task that was changed at the last minute. It was a Turn Area Task that began at Start 3 and then went to Don Bells, Twin Lakes, Bamburg, Allendale and Finish. The first two legs were rocking! I was going so fast, all my circles on the LX-9000 were colored red, depicting I would be under time no matter how far I went in the circle. It was awesome! The leg to Bamburg was ok but the last turn was in very weak air. But in the end, Robin Clark (another Floridian) won the day with a speed of 75.08mph which was again faster than the Open Class. Take that big wingers! In second place was Erik Nelson while third was taken by Jae Walker. In the overall race, Robin Clark has a slim 29 point lead over Sean Murphy with Segei Morozov trailing Sean by only 31 points.
> In Open Class, Dick Butler is taking my comments personally from last night and won the day handily with a speed of 69.66mph. In second place was Team Striedieck & Arnold with third belonging to Sam Zimmerman of Team Perry West. Henry has a narrow lead over DB with Team Nixon & Tyler within a hundred points of the lead. Could be a lot of movement in all the classes tomorrow.
> Tonight, we had a great pulled pork bar-b-que dinner with all the trimmings. The food has been great and the flying fantastic. Rhonda puts on a tremendous contest; you all should come down. Well, that’s all for tonight. See you for the wrap up report tomorrow night. Hope you enjoyed these reports, it was my pleasure to provide them for you.
>
> Good night,
> Rich Owen
> ZO

>> Hope you enjoyed these reports, it was my pleasure to provide them for you. <<
Thank you very much, ZO! Reading these reports was very enjoyable, indeed.

Uli
'AS'