Mike the Strike
October 11th 11, 04:26 PM
The European pilots and, not unexpectedly, the Germans (who invented
the sport), dominated the 2011 results. However, Two US pilots made
the top three for OLC Champion (Gordon Boettger of Minden and Jim
Payne of Tehachapi) for some extraordinary long wave flights.
For those rest of us flying thermals, Tuscon Soaring Club's Randy
Acree amassed over 43,000 points by flying over 38,000km in 117
flights to take third place in All Flights, a hair behind Spain's Pepe
Gresa. Alfredo Giretti of Italy somehow accumulated over 57,000
points in 108 flights - a pretty amazing achievement. Other US
appearances in the top rankings included Gary Ittner at number 13 with
27,500 points and Billy Hill at number 21 with just under 26,000
points.
US Clubs had some notable appearances, with Albuquerque Soaring taking
first place in the OLC League with Texas Soaring Association in fourth
and my own Tucson Soaring Club in eighth. For overall flights,
Albuquerque is in third place (209,800 points), TSA in eighth (164,788
points) and TUSC in ninth (157,887 points).
The new rules awarding higher points for triangle flights has had some
interesting results - our Tucson pilots are flying more FAI triangles
and pushing out further into previously unflown terrain (some of it
pretty ugly), but scoring higher as a result. This may be one reason
for the relative US improvement, since FAI triangles are more
difficult in some areas.
The major contribution of OLC has been the ability to rate your own
flying in a non-contest environment and to encourage and promote cross-
country soaring. I know that mine has improved as a result.
Mike
the sport), dominated the 2011 results. However, Two US pilots made
the top three for OLC Champion (Gordon Boettger of Minden and Jim
Payne of Tehachapi) for some extraordinary long wave flights.
For those rest of us flying thermals, Tuscon Soaring Club's Randy
Acree amassed over 43,000 points by flying over 38,000km in 117
flights to take third place in All Flights, a hair behind Spain's Pepe
Gresa. Alfredo Giretti of Italy somehow accumulated over 57,000
points in 108 flights - a pretty amazing achievement. Other US
appearances in the top rankings included Gary Ittner at number 13 with
27,500 points and Billy Hill at number 21 with just under 26,000
points.
US Clubs had some notable appearances, with Albuquerque Soaring taking
first place in the OLC League with Texas Soaring Association in fourth
and my own Tucson Soaring Club in eighth. For overall flights,
Albuquerque is in third place (209,800 points), TSA in eighth (164,788
points) and TUSC in ninth (157,887 points).
The new rules awarding higher points for triangle flights has had some
interesting results - our Tucson pilots are flying more FAI triangles
and pushing out further into previously unflown terrain (some of it
pretty ugly), but scoring higher as a result. This may be one reason
for the relative US improvement, since FAI triangles are more
difficult in some areas.
The major contribution of OLC has been the ability to rate your own
flying in a non-contest environment and to encourage and promote cross-
country soaring. I know that mine has improved as a result.
Mike