Hi,

The Albert Lea Soaring Contest has just learned that a few of the towplanes
that had given us commitments to support us at the contest have now backed
out. We are in need of 1 or 2 more towplanes and towpilots for the contest.

This is going to be an extremely fun and interesting contest. We are
hosting the US Open Class and 18 m Nationals and the Region 7 Sports Class
Contest. 65 sailplanes are registered to compete and there is a short
waiting list (down to only 1 pilot on the waiting list now). Many of best
soaring contest pilots in the USA and Canada will be at the event and the
weather is likely to be excellent. Yesterday 2 friends of mine flew a
DG-1000 around a 500 km FAI triangle! At a previous 15m Nationals contest
at Albert Lea on one contest day nearly every pilot made it around a 500 km
task.

We are doing our best to make it a good investment for towplane owners and
towpilots. We are paying $48 for tows to 2000 feet and offering a free
hotel room (dual occupancy) for towpilots, along with $30/day for food and
expenses. We will also pay ferry fuel costs for the trip to and from Albert
Lea, MN. Besides that - it is going to be a lot of fun!

The contest and practice days run from May 27th to June 7th. Details on the
contest are available here:
http://www.cumulus-soaring.com/contest.htm

Please let me know if you have any suggestions for towplanes, or if you
think you may be able to convince your club to send their towplane. The
revenue could be a real boost for a small soaring club.

Thank you,

Paul Remde
Contest Manager