On Jul 31, 9:52 am, nimbusgb wrote:
What is the soaring like in the US Midwest? From the SSA state records
I see that the distances covered and the speeds over standard courses
seem less than impressive.

Are there significant weather, airspace or other factors that limit
the soaring in Minnessota, Illinois, Indiana and the central midwest?

I also notice that the club fleets in these areas seem to revolve
around a couple of 2-32's and a 40 or more year old two seater with
very few glass ships in evidence, not promising for someone facing an
international assignment in the area

Ian M

Serious cross country soaring is very possible in the midwest. Yes, we
don't get booming conditions like they have out west, nor ridges like
they have in the east, but you can land anywhere so you can do a lot
of flying in medium weather. In the northern illinois area we do a
serious racing task at least one day of each weekend from early April
to mid October. And the airports are a pleasant places to be, located
conveniently near major metropolitan areas.

We have gotten out of the habit of turning in state records, and OLC
participation is low because it's discouraging to turn in our typical
300k 50-60 mph flights, so you may not get a good idea of what's
possible from these sources. For a better idea of what we do on a
regular basis, take a look at the season-long northern illinois
soaring contest results

http://faculty.chicagogsb.edu/john.c...ntest_2007.mht

Our club produces serious pilots, including 2nd, 3d and 6th at sports
nationals and 3d at 15 meter this year.

Some clubs are marginal operations with old equipment. Others are not.
My club, the Chicago Glider Club,

www.chicagogliderclub.org

has two towplanes, ASK21, Blanik, Duo Discus, Pegasus and soon an
ASW24, plus many glass private gliders. Cross country and contest
flying in club gliders is encouraged. The other operations near
Chicago (Windy city at HInckley, Sky Soaring, and Beloit) also have
good facilities, equipment and pilots.

And we're centrally located a 1 day drive from the ridges, and 2 days
from texas (Uvalde, Hobbs) or Utah (Parowan, Ely), so trips to
contests in these superb locations are relatively convenient.

No, don't move to the midwest because of the soaring. But if other
things take you here, your life as a soaring pilot will continue just
fine, and your skills in weak weather cross country will definitely
improve!

John Cochrane