Leo Benetti-Longhini
June 6th 08, 05:29 AM
Steve Arndt of New Hampshire flew a 500 km declared distance goal today in
his homebuilt "Magic Dragon". The glider he built is a modified Carbon
Dragon (longer span, winglets, etc) with really beautiful attention to
detail - I recall an empty weight of around 180 lbs! Steve launched on the
northbound flight from Malcom Jones' Wallaby Ranch in Florida (between
Orlando and Winterhaven) with a declared goal of Montezuma, Georgia (South
of Atlanta). His phonecall was short so I don't have all the details yet -
he has been planning this attempt for several years (motivated by a stong
desire to do his 500k in this special glider) and has been waiting for the
right weather to allow an early launch, favorable convergence along the
spine of Florida, and decent tailwind. His launch was at 9:30am. Wallaby
chief tug-pilot Carlos Bessa crewed for him. Congratulations Steve! Hope
you pick up your pen when the dust settles - this is worthy of an article
for Soaring or Gliding International.
his homebuilt "Magic Dragon". The glider he built is a modified Carbon
Dragon (longer span, winglets, etc) with really beautiful attention to
detail - I recall an empty weight of around 180 lbs! Steve launched on the
northbound flight from Malcom Jones' Wallaby Ranch in Florida (between
Orlando and Winterhaven) with a declared goal of Montezuma, Georgia (South
of Atlanta). His phonecall was short so I don't have all the details yet -
he has been planning this attempt for several years (motivated by a stong
desire to do his 500k in this special glider) and has been waiting for the
right weather to allow an early launch, favorable convergence along the
spine of Florida, and decent tailwind. His launch was at 9:30am. Wallaby
chief tug-pilot Carlos Bessa crewed for him. Congratulations Steve! Hope
you pick up your pen when the dust settles - this is worthy of an article
for Soaring or Gliding International.