Regional Racing (US) - Snailplane still in the lead

[KiloKilo[_2_]]

Dan Sazhin and his SGS 1-26 are still holding onto first place in the GCUP South contest - although he does have a big DG 808B flown by Chris Ungermann munching on his tail feathers. Still a few months to go - we'll have to see if skill and courage can prevail over technology and $$$.

http://designtekk.com/GCUP2/gc_home.php

Ken Kochanski
GCUP Webmaster

[Tony[_5_]]

On Wednesday, August 28, 2013 2:59:34 PM UTC-6, KiloKilo wrote:
> Dan Sazhin and his SGS 1-26 are still holding onto first place in the GCUP South contest - although he does have a big DG 808B flown by Chris Ungermann munching on his tail feathers. Still a few months to go - we'll have to see if skill and courage can prevail over technology and $$$.
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> http://designtekk.com/GCUP2/gc_home.php
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> Ken Kochanski
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> GCUP Webmaster

not to mention he is going into the last day of the 1-26 championships with a slight lead over fellow Blairstown pilot Ron Schwartz.

[KiloKilo[_2_]]

Skywalker vs. Obi Wan ... somebody should make a movie ... :-)


On Thursday, August 29, 2013 12:03:21 AM UTC-4, Tony wrote:
> On Wednesday, August 28, 2013 2:59:34 PM UTC-6, KiloKilo wrote:
>
> > Dan Sazhin and his SGS 1-26 are still holding onto first place in the GCUP South contest - although he does have a big DG 808B flown by Chris Ungermann munching on his tail feathers. Still a few months to go - we'll have to see if skill and courage can prevail over technology and $$$.
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> > http://designtekk.com/GCUP2/gc_home.php
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> > Ken Kochanski
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> > GCUP Webmaster
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> not to mention he is going into the last day of the 1-26 championships with a slight lead over fellow Blairstown pilot Ron Schwartz.

[Chris]

The G-Cup is a great way to get pilots in the Atlantic area together. Anybody can participate and join the friendly competition on a club and individual level. We are all grateful to the organizers and volunteers.

Its not perfect but its fun and that's what is all about. It is hard to keep a level playing field.Problems include the fact that some airports are advantaged, water ballast and ability to use the best days despite a working schedule to name a few.
The big one is the huge spread of handicaps and what happens on a strong day. A competent 1-26 driver on a strong day is hard to beat. The handicapped speeds of a high performance glider required to compete become absurd really quickly.
So courage and skill vs technology ? Its more complicated than that, but it makes things interesting.
Dan is hot this year and deserves a high finish, but there are still a few other pilots like P3, JW and 3M to name a few, who will give him a run for it.

D

[KiloKilo[_2_]]

Agree the 1-26 handicap is generous - but snail-planes typically get whipped soundly in handicapped meets.

I think Dan is flying his 26 flat out 110% of the time ... I think the rest of us have a more comfortable journey - and don't push that hard - thanks to the evolution of sailplane design and technology.

So I'm not saying we glass drivers don't fly with courage and skill - I'm just saying 50:1(technology)keeps us out of a lot of trouble.

Besides 'Skill and Courage vs Technology and $$$$' reads a lot better ..

:-)

DG 808B
Wingspan: 18.00 m (59 ft 1 in)
Powerplant: 1 × Solo, 40 kW (ca. 53 hp)
Maximum speed: 270 km/h (170 mph)
Maximum glide ratio: 50 (51.5 with winglets)
Rate of sink: 0.5 m/s (98 ft/min)

vs

SGS 1-26
Wingspan: 40 ft 0 in (12.2 m)
Maximum speed: 114 mph (182 km/h)
Maximum glide ratio: 23 at 53 mph (84 km/h)
Rate of sink: 174 ft/min (0.88 m/s)

[27pilot]

It would certainly be interesting to see the results if these two pilots would trade gliders and then fly against each other in the same Gcup contest.........

[Chris]

On Thursday, August 29, 2013 8:40:20 PM UTC-4, 27pilot wrote:
> It would certainly be interesting to see the results if these two pilots would trade gliders and then fly against each other in the same Gcup contest.........


That would be a hoot! And potentially embarrassing ;)

Point is the 1-26 handicap is 1.6, the DG's is 0.88. Put that 1-26 on a ridge or a cloud-street and a HP glass ship can't go fast enough.