Competition Instruction at Minden

It has been a real pleasure to do the Open Class Nationals at Minden. The excellent infrastructure and capabiliies of Laurie Harden and the Soaring NV operation and staff

really makes it easy to conduct the contest on a public airport. Having the enthusiastic support of airport management is a big advantage.

One really great thing that is happening is that one of Soaring NV's Duos is competing. Russ Holtz, one of the instructors, is flying the tasks with "students" each day.

Below is the report from yesterdays flight by Kevin Mather, who took time from his triathlon training to fly.

"Flying in the open class nationals has been the opportunity of a lifetime. While being surrounded by some of the greatest names in soaring was a little bit

intimidating, having Soaring NV’s Russell Holtz in the back seat coaching me through things helped ensure that we got the task completed, and not horribly slower than the

super-ships (and pilots) out there. The day I flew was a great soaring day – thermals everywhere. So, the challenge was trying to find the strongest ones, center

quickly, stay in the strongest part (don’t get spit out) and know when it’s time to head on – as one extra circle that doesn’t gain altitude can really start to hurt your

score if you do it enough. The best thing about flying the contest was the learning that took place. A MAT (modified assigned task) was called for my day, so – we had to

figure out what turnpoints (after the initial assigned) would be the best strategy. I also learned a lot about navigation, and managing speed to fly (and actually flying

the speed to fly one has selected). Several times Russell had to -remind me- 'if you fly faster the vario will shut up, and so will I.'

While I’m not ready to step into a national event on my own, it was incredible that Soaring NV gave pilots the opportunity to buy a seat for a day in the event. This is a

great way to get into the contest arena and really learn how to manage things in a contest situation."

Mighty kudos to Russ and Soaring NV for supporting increased participation.

QT

We received a note from another of Russell Holtz's "students" (Al Simmons) who rode with Russell the second practice day and the first two contest days:

"Thanks for a really super fun and a great learning experience. For me, the contest experience was priceless. I have really wanted to at least “back seat” with someone competing for a couple of years now, but the very few potential opportunities have been blocked by weather or schedule conflicts. So to be able to actually do the flying and learn the basic ropes was perfect. We really cannot wait to get back out there and do some more soaring at NV. Special thanks to the ground crew and the tow pilots. You have the best Glider Operation I have ever experienced, and probably the best in the country, especially now that Russell is running the training. His instruction really helped me find and core thermals. We watch Russell’s results every night on the SSA site. Keep up the good work."

This is good stuff, John. Glad to hear its happening!

Up in Ephrata, WA we hold an annual even called the "Dust Up" (due to
the prolific Dust Devils in that area). Its a 3-day event over
Memorial Day weekend and we run it like a mini Sports-Class-
Regionals. We hold seminars both in-person and online ahead of the
event, have night-time discussions and round-tables at the event, and
fly interesting-but-not-difficult tasks, to ease folks into contest-
flying and take away the fear-factor. Its worked very well, with
average annual participation up around 25-30 pilots.

This year we switched to an XC & Badge camp, as we have a good crop of
new pilots and post-solo students in our region right now. We lined
up 4 two-seat gliders and did a lot of mentor-flights to give folks
their first taste of real cross-country soaring (moderate 90-150
minute flights out to turnpoints ~30 miles from the home airport, so
we could launch each two-place ship twice a day). People really raved
about the dual XC mentoring and seemed to pick up a lot from these
sessions. With over 35 pilots and over 120 tows in 3 days, it was a
great success and we hope to continue it.

The plan now is to alternate the event format each year: We mentor a
bunch of pilots in XC flying on the first year, then they go off and
spend the season honing those skills... The following year we do a
mock-contest and give them a taste of that experience. By cycling
between these, we hope to keep the event fresh and keep pumping out XC
and/or contest pilots.

Would love to see more clubs and regions doing stuff like this! The
more we challenge pilots and give them things to learn and do, the
longer they seem to stick around in the sport. I'm happy to pass
along tips, seminar materials, or other info to anyone who wants to
try to put on something similar.

--Noel

Region II in Wurtsboro this year will be featuring the Bus Class. We have 5, possibly 6, mid-performance 2 seaters (ASK-21s and Grobs) lined up with experienced front seaters and newbies in back. The local clubs plus the host FBO have gone out of their way to make this happen, and we should be introducing at least a dozen new folks to the sport.

Thanks to Hank Nixon (UH) for being the sparkplug (AKA really annoying pest) who has made this happen.

P3



On Monday, June 18, 2012 5:25:59 PM UTC-4, noel.wade wrote:
This is good stuff, John. Glad to hear its happening!

Up in Ephrata, WA we hold an annual even called the "Dust Up" (due to
the prolific Dust Devils in that area). Its a 3-day event over
Memorial Day weekend and we run it like a mini Sports-Class-
Regionals. We hold seminars both in-person and online ahead of the
event, have night-time discussions and round-tables at the event, and
fly interesting-but-not-difficult tasks, to ease folks into contest-
flying and take away the fear-factor. Its worked very well, with
average annual participation up around 25-30 pilots.

This year we switched to an XC & Badge camp, as we have a good crop of
new pilots and post-solo students in our region right now. We lined
up 4 two-seat gliders and did a lot of mentor-flights to give folks
their first taste of real cross-country soaring (moderate 90-150
minute flights out to turnpoints ~30 miles from the home airport, so
we could launch each two-place ship twice a day). People really raved
about the dual XC mentoring and seemed to pick up a lot from these
sessions. With over 35 pilots and over 120 tows in 3 days, it was a
great success and we hope to continue it.

The plan now is to alternate the event format each year: We mentor a
bunch of pilots in XC flying on the first year, then they go off and
spend the season honing those skills... The following year we do a
mock-contest and give them a taste of that experience. By cycling
between these, we hope to keep the event fresh and keep pumping out XC
and/or contest pilots.

Would love to see more clubs and regions doing stuff like this! The
more we challenge pilots and give them things to learn and do, the
longer they seem to stick around in the sport. I'm happy to pass
along tips, seminar materials, or other info to anyone who wants to
try to put on something similar.

--Noel

On Monday, June 18, 2012 6:12:23 PM UTC-7, Papa3 wrote:
Region II in Wurtsboro this year will be featuring the Bus Class. We have 5, possibly 6, mid-performance 2 seaters (ASK-21s and Grobs) lined up with experienced front seaters and newbies in back. The local clubs plus the host FBO have gone out of their way to make this happen, and we should be introducing at least a dozen new folks to the sport.

Thanks to Hank Nixon (UH) for being the sparkplug (AKA really annoying pest) who has made this happen.

P3



On Monday, June 18, 2012 5:25:59 PM UTC-4, noel.wade wrote:
This is good stuff, John. Glad to hear its happening!

Up in Ephrata, WA we hold an annual even called the "Dust Up" (due to
the prolific Dust Devils in that area). Its a 3-day event over
Memorial Day weekend and we run it like a mini Sports-Class-
Regionals. We hold seminars both in-person and online ahead of the
event, have night-time discussions and round-tables at the event, and
fly interesting-but-not-difficult tasks, to ease folks into contest-
flying and take away the fear-factor. Its worked very well, with
average annual participation up around 25-30 pilots.

This year we switched to an XC & Badge camp, as we have a good crop of
new pilots and post-solo students in our region right now. We lined
up 4 two-seat gliders and did a lot of mentor-flights to give folks
their first taste of real cross-country soaring (moderate 90-150
minute flights out to turnpoints ~30 miles from the home airport, so
we could launch each two-place ship twice a day). People really raved
about the dual XC mentoring and seemed to pick up a lot from these
sessions. With over 35 pilots and over 120 tows in 3 days, it was a
great success and we hope to continue it.

The plan now is to alternate the event format each year: We mentor a
bunch of pilots in XC flying on the first year, then they go off and
spend the season honing those skills... The following year we do a
mock-contest and give them a taste of that experience. By cycling
between these, we hope to keep the event fresh and keep pumping out XC
and/or contest pilots.

Would love to see more clubs and regions doing stuff like this! The
more we challenge pilots and give them things to learn and do, the
longer they seem to stick around in the sport. I'm happy to pass
along tips, seminar materials, or other info to anyone who wants to
try to put on something similar.

--Noel

These are both great efforts. The Competition Committee has authorized the use of the surplus sanction fees to promote participation, including financial support for organizations wishing to conduct X-C/Competition camps. The recent camp conducted at Caesar Creek served as a prototype for us to test the concept.

If your organization is interested in pursuing this please contact me.

QT