On Thursday, August 6, 2015 at 7:35:37 AM UTC-4, XC wrote:
The 11 best things at the 2015 15m/Std Class Nationals

1. The weather. We flew 7 out of 10 days in Elmira. We could have possible even squeaked in another but the CD wisely called a rest day. One of the practice days was fantastic soaring. Thanks to God, Alleluia.

2. FLARM used in the stealth mode, already mentioned in another post. It really worked well.

3. The flying was tough but the atmosphere was relaxed and enjoyable. Thank you pilots for the sportsmanship. Not one pilot left this contest early, in a huff, with a broken glider, or otherwise. Very rare.

4. The dinners were excellent. Thanks go to my wife, Rebecca, and many volunteers.

5. Beer consumed was more than most contests. We killed a 1/2 keg of Stella, 2 1/4's of Yuengling and 1/4 of Labatts. Thanks to those HHSC members who bought the beer.

6. The National Soaring Museum issued a press release for us. We gave about 4 TV news interviews and we were in newspapers all over the region. Thank you NSM for all your support.

7. We flew a finish line. Tons of spectators, thanks the the press release above, were watching from the fence. Crews, juniors and pilots enjoyed it, too. It felt like you were at a race.

8. We had a PA system to announce pilot meetings, task sheets available, "P7 4 miles out", etc. This is a nice detail to include in contest planning..

9. We had the contest during the summer so young people could attend. I estimate we had 20-25 young people involved in the contest in one way or another. The HHSC juniors did a great job with the line. We also had several young people come to visit. Daniel Sazhin competed as a junior. Noah Reitter flew as a guest in the Standard Class and as sniffer.

10. We spaced the grid spots far enough away from each other that every glider could easily get to their spot. Then we compressed the grid. I really recommend this detail to other organizers.

11. Monty Sullivan as CD was outstanding. The overall tone for the contest was perfect. The task setting was spot on. Thanks Monty.

XC

This was my 27th year of flying races and 26th years since I first flew at Elmira. It was a great contest all around.

Another important point is the number of folks who came to fly knowing they weren't going to win. There were an LS4, a Standard Jantar, and a Pegasus in the Standard Class, while an ASW-20 (sans winglets or water) competed in the 15M. These guys all learned a ton and competed just fine with the top pilots. Just a great attitude all around.

P3