Congratulations to the Minden Soaring Club

Hi Pilots,

The MSC just won the OLC US Gold League and the OLC World League speed competitions. The Soaring Society of Boulder started the season with substantial leads in both competitions only to watch those leads disappear as MSC pilots regularly posted handicapped speeds above 150 kph. The SSB had a chance to catch Minden this last weekend in the World League if the wild fires shut them down but their fast speeds again didn't allow it. We tried hard but the wildfire smoke and TFRs kept most pilots home.

Again, congratulations and here's to some miracle that allows the wild fires, especially prevalent in California and Colorado, to be brought under control and save the rest of the soaring season for the western US.

Fly safely, Bob

Bob,
Thanks for the gracious note.

In soaring, we are at the mercy of the weather. The last 10 weekends at Minden were all good to excellent. (Last Wednesday the smoke was very bad but it abated on the weekend. I second your hope for a miracle end to the fires.) Given Boulder’s fantastic start to the season, the final result would have been different if the Colorado “monsoon� had not played havoc with Boulder’s score on two weekends.

To show how unusual the weather was, Moriarty Soaring (formerly Albuquerque) never finished lower than 4th in the World League during OLC 2.0 (2007 and on) until this year when they had an unusual number of weekends with thunder…their desert must be very green this year.

Boulder and Minden are two of the best sites in the world, especially if a pilot wants to be near “civilization� in a beautiful setting. The “Boulder Convergence� is a very reliable phenomenon that makes it especially attractive for fast flights.

A goal of the OLC Leagues is to inspire pilots to fly more and to that end, Boulder, LSV Rintein, Minden, and many other clubs and the entire sport are winners.

Soar Safe, Have Fun, Go Fast and Far,
Jim Payne

On 8/25/2020 1:56 PM, wrote:
…their desert must be very green this year.
Green, indeed!Â* But "green" is relative...
--
Dan, 5J

Thunder- Yes. Gust fronts- Yes.

Rain? Not so much.

New Mexico won't ever be mistaken for a golf course, but it's even a bit browner than usual for this time of year.

I find that the best way to make New Mexico appear green is to gaze at the terrain through a Heineken or Beck's bottle.

Hi Jim, number two. Thanks for your enthusiasm this season. I too was playing, although no one would know. However you guys provided a fun game for me as well. When you, Uve and Gary run 161, 160, and 159 points one can bet you got the best of day and set a solid benchmark for anyone else who took the opportunity to run the same “course�.

The fan boy in me just has to say: the most impressive things I saw this season was not running fast on booming days, but the dedication to fly to sunset and the mad morning skills you guys exhibit.

On Tuesday, August 25, 2020 at 12:56:39 PM UTC-7, wrote:
A goal of the OLC Leagues is to inspire pilots to fly more and to that end, Boulder, LSV Rintein, Minden, and many other clubs and the entire sport are winners.

On Tuesday, August 25, 2020 at 12:56:39 PM UTC-7, wrote:

In soaring, we are at the mercy of the weather. The last 10 weekends at Minden were all good to excellent. (Last Wednesday the smoke was very bad but it abated on the weekend. I second your hope for a miracle end to the fires.)

Jim Payne

What large scale weather conditions made Minden so good over that period of time? Was it consistently good or did it cycle? Were those conditions predicted by SkySight or other soaring weather applications?

Regards,
Ken

Ken,
Good questions!

For the 4 years before 2020, I was involved with Perlan trips to Argentina during July and August so I cannot definitively say that 2020 was better.

In 2019, MSC was 3rd in the OLC World League without any organized effort to score well so 2019 would have to be rated a good year for soaring weather..

Minden is fortunate to be located on the western edge of the Great Basin with relatively easy access to the Mono Lake Convergence, the White/Inyo Mountains, and Central Nevada. We have gotten spoiled and tend to cherry pick the best days which has gotten easier due to Skysight and other great forecasting tools.

The weather tends to go in 5-to-7 day cycles from good to excellent back to good. During the last 10 rounds in 2020 the weekends mostly coincided with the excellent portion of the cycle. Thus, during the last 10 weekends, MSC scored 1st in 8 rounds and 2nd in 2 rounds including 1st in the last 6 rounds.

Some years smoke is a factor…this year we had smoke only on the last weekend…people complained but the visibility for most of the day was probably over 20 km and was about 8 km (5 sm) when we returned to Minden.

Probably the big difference is that when travel restrictions forced the cancellation of the 2020 Perlan campaign, I took it upon myself to spam MSC. Beginning with Round One, I sent weekly messages with explanations of rules, tips, weather information, pep talks, and results. It turns out that the club has some pretty competitive pilots who responded with a passion.

We are really thankful that OLC has Leagues…for instance, on August 1st, a totally blue day except for a single cu near Mono Lake, 4 of us made flights over 156 kph (97 miles per hour) on a day we otherwise might have gone fishing…

Soar Safe,
Jim Payne