The 2011 XC Soaring Season

Fred Hermanspann

 

As the days are getting noticeably shorter and cooler, it is also very obvious that the 2011 XC soaring season in the Northwest is coming to a close.  That is less due to the fact that the OLC 2011 is ending on Oct. 10 than to the fact that XC flights of note (say at least 200 OLC points) from our various NW airfields have virtually stopped for several weeks.  Here is a list of the last major XC flights entered in the OLC for some of the airfields of interest:

 

 

 Comparing the XC soaring results from this year with the previous year shows a somewhat mixed tendency.  Overall the Arlington XC statistics from the OLC indicate a marked increase in cumulative achievement (15,096 vs. 12,964 XC km) despite weather conditions that were generally regarded as below average but achieved by fewer pilots (14 vs. 18) and in fewer flights (90 vs. 101).  With other words, the average flight distances went up considerably but participation dropped. As a matter of particular interest – several pilots set new personal high marks for flying out of Arlington.  And there was also more XC activity in Darrington and Twisp and ES pilots set new records for XC soaring in all 3 airfields.

 

                       

 

Note that Ron Clark got the best flight out of Arlington by points (thanks to a large triangle included in his flight) and Noel Wade got the longest flight by distance – now that is competition!  Ron also was the highest placed Arlington regular in the Region 8 list for OLC champion (counting the 6 best flights), coming in on place 12 against some stiff competition from pilots that got most of their mileage on the East side.  For example, number 1 this year was Vitek Siroky flying his venerable ASW-20 out of Wenatchee; Vitek also posted the  longest flight in Region 8 – 656 km. 

 

Together with the OLC the annual Willy Burhen Cup (WBC) is also drawing to a close.

This competition is for the best XC flight originating in western Washington by any pilot (not just ES) based on OLC points.

So, here is the list for this year:

 

WBC 2011

 

 

 

Congratulations to Ron Clark, who put his vintage LS-3 to good use and set new standards for the rest of us!  His winning flight took over 7 hours and went from Arlington to near Deming, to near the Tolt Reservoir, to near Mount Blum (NE of Baker Lake), to near Mount Pilchuck, to near Concrete and then back.  These 6 legs added up to a distance of 528 km and included an FAI triangle of 416 km, see the image.  The OLC evaluation gives now a bonus of 30 pct for such a triangle to make pilots get away from yoyo flights just to maximize points.  It proved to be the winning factor for Ron to beat Noel for first price as Noel got fewer points despite a greater distance. This triangle bonus makes sense especially for airfields like Arlington, where large triangles are more difficult.

For the first time several of the personal best flights were achieved from Darrington which has thus developed into a XC soaring field of its own.

And welcome to Kenji Ominato from the PSSA, who showed that XC soaring can also be done from Bergseth.

This is probably also the last year that we see the Apis and the G 102 represented – the Apis is gone and the Astir is up for sale.

Based on the above results it was a noteworthy season despite all the grumbling about the uncooperative weather; that seems to be just standard fare for flying on the west side.  Most of the better flight were made in April and May and did not involve flying deep into the mountains.  There were actually no cross-Cascade flights this year and very few flights went over 10,000 ft.  But each season is different and at the end of each season we can always hope for a better one next year. So let’s see whether we can raise the bar even more next year!

The winning flight for the WBC 2011