Well the first official day went off well. Hook up crew managed to get everyone airborne in just under an hour. The Japanese guys are great, they work hard and don't seem to tire but neither did I at 19 or 20. I was standing with three of them on my side of the grid prior to launch and asked...

Day 4 at the 2011 Seniors dawned with thick ground fog hanging over the field. As I made my way around the field this morning on my morning ‘run’, the resident hawk family made its displeasure at my intrusion known by screeching at me for a while, and then flying away. The fog burned off fairly...

Well, today dawned foggy again, but at least I wasn’t accosted by the hawk family on my run. I think I was early enough so they couldn’t see me go by in all the fog. At the morning meeting, weatherman Ray Galloway told us that the synoptic weather conditions were pretty much the same as...

Day 2 of the 2011 Seniors is in the bag, and we all had a pretty good time of it. Weather seemed to be better to the south, so the CD called a 3-turn TAT; south to Myakka Head with a 15 mile radius, then ENE to Frostproof with a 20 mile radius, then NW to Blackwater Creek with a 20 mile radius,...

Sailplane racing junkies of all experience levels, please come join us for three days of fun in the sun at the 2011 Southwest Soaring Championships, Sept 3 - 5 at Turf Soaring! SSA handicaps will be used, but ballast allowed. Please email me if you plan to attend so I can keep Turf appraised...

It’s Saturday morning at 0700, and I’m sitting in my camper at Seminole Lake Gliderport, sipping my coffee and watching the airport take form through the dawn and the fog. Right now I can just see the top of Bob Spitz’s camper, but in a few minutes the office, the runway, and the trailers on the...

Day 3 here at the 2011 Seniors was a boomer in every sense of the word. Clouds to die for in all quadrants. Cloud bases at about 4500’ at the start, rising to above 6000’ in the last turn area. Cloud streets and 5-6kt climbs were common. There was an early concern about a band of mid-level...

At the morning meeting today, Andreea Alexandrescu received a standing ovation from the assembled pilots and crews for the outstanding job the entire Alexandrescu family has done hosting the 2011 Seniors. Ace weatherman Ray Galloway gave us the news on the weather for the day. Basically more of...

Should this contest be called the first US Club Class Nationals? See http://race.chilhowee.com/contestants.html . 65% of the current registered pilots are flying Club Class gliders under the old rules! Looks like there was no need trying to add new D2's and ASW27's as Club Class eligible...

Do we have the dates for this contest yet? I know it is in May... Tim EY

Where and when? Thanks, 5U

http://www.ssa.org/myhome.asp?mbr=6310235857 Thanks to all for their thoughtful participation and comments. Come on out and join the fun! John Godfrey (QT) USA Competition Rules Committee

I'm looking for a complete list of all USA competitions for 2011, including those with tentative dates. Lots of major upcoming meets are not listed on SSA site (18m nationals, open nationals, Uvalde pre-worlds). Can anybody point me at this info ? Thanks, Best Regards, Dave "YO electric"

We have updated the SSA Guide to Competition for 2011. If you are new to competition this is a "must read" and even if you are an experienced competition pilot it is a great refresher on all the things you need to know to participate safely and have fun in...

Discussion invited. http://www.ssa.org/files/member/2011%20Rules%20Changes%20Summary%20101227.pdf John Godfrey (QT) SSA Competition Rules Committee

I’m writing this report after stuffing myself silly at the superb Welcome dinner hosted by Andreea and Florin Alexandrescu in the ‘back hangar’ (which, according to rumor, is also where many of the Bass Pro Shop commercials are shot). You know Mike Fuller the owner is a real fishing nut because...

For the US based competition pilots. There have been a number of changes and enhancements made to WINSCORE for 2011 (WINSCORE is the program used to score US based competitions). 1 - some nice enhancements for new and experienced scorers 2 - A few YOUTUBE tutorial videos to demystify how to get...

Announcement just came in from SSA. Hosted by Texas Soaring Association. (used to be TSA, but that name was hijacked) Has anyone built 13.5m tips for their V2C, ASG29, etc yet? Jim

Hi Pilots, Save the date; 3/10/12 at 9:00 AM MST. It will be at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder. If you want to attend in person, please send me your email address and I will add you to the Evite list. Watch the RAS for details about the webinar if you wish to attend...

Hi Pilots, The 2012 Colorado Performance Soaring Seminar is less than two weeks away. We have a large response with over 100 pilots signed up on Evite. If you haven’t reserved a spot, please RSVP to the site ASAP. If you haven’t received an Evite, please contact me and I will send one...