OLC CAMP AT MORIARTY, NM, JUNE 1 TO JUNE 15, 2014

Sundance Aviation, in conjunction with the Albuquerque Soaring Club, will conduct a cross-country soaring camp from June 1st through June 15th. The soaring conditions at Moriarty, 0E0 (zero-echo-zero) are known and respected worldwide and tend to peak during June. Moriarty pilots have placed in the top ten worldwide from 2008 through 2013 for distance and no lower than 5th in the OLC League Speed rankings with 4 first place finishes. As an airfield Moriarty consistently ranks in the top 20 worldwide for speed and distance. Between Sundance Aviation and the Albuquerque Soaring Club there are five powerful towplanes available. At an elevation of 6200 feet ASL the paved main runway 08/26 is 7700 feet long and 75 feet wide. The crosswind runway 18/36 is 6200 feet by 75 feet of brand new pavement. The gigantic intersection Delta on 08/26 allows simultaneous staging of many gliders and is suitable for both east and west fully ballasted operations. The intersection also allows multiple gliders to land in rapid sequence giving each a safe place to coast off the runway. Two runways guarantee a maximum 45 degree crosswind and provide for multiple simultaneous landings in light winds. There is a large paved tie-down ramp with cables on a first come, first served basis and plenty of trailer parking. Pilots should provide their own tie downs ropes or straps for best results. Ballast water is available from multiple points on the field and free wi-fi is available in the Terminal building adjacent to the ramp and a bathroom with shower. There are two glider repair shops on the field and multiple A&Ps and IAs. Other airport tenants provide full machining, welding, and composite fabrication facilities for aircraft, gliders and trailers. Weather that accommodate any soaring ambition and airspace restrictions that are few and distant allowing for the maximum freedom to pursue any soaring ambition.

Due to the already high take-off elevation of 6200 feet and June cloud bases well above 18,000 feet every glider must have oxygen equipment in good working condition. Oxygen refills are available on the field at a moderate cost. Oxygen refill systems are on carts so gliders may be serviced anywhere on the field. Pilots are encouraged to use glider ground handling equipment in good condition due to the large size of the airfield. A landing on runway 36 results in a retrieve of almost two miles back to the main staging area.

Moriarty is located on historic Route 66 and boasts 9 motels, three truck stops and several restaurants. It is located in the center of the state 45-50 minutes from Albuquerque and Santa Fe. There are many other interesting places to visit within one hour of Moriarty including the Quarai Ruins, Salt Mission Trail, Single Action Shooting Society Founders Ranch, Santa Rosa Blue Hole, Conchas Lake State Park, The Sangre DeCristo, Sandia, Manzano, Ortiz, and San Pedro, and Mountains, Paa Ko Golf Course, Wildlife West Nature Park, The towns of Cerrillos, Galisteo and Madrid, and many others. There is plenty of room for camping at the airport but hook-ups are not available..

The purpose of the camp is to accommodate pilots from every skill and experience level allowing each pilot to pursue his or her soaring dreams from basic FAI badge flying to long and fast OLC flights to pursuit of State and National records. Pilots new to cross country soaring will be introduced to preflight planning, flying techniques, and post-flight debriefing of flights for submission to the Online Contest or successful completion of FAI badges. Each day will start with a pilots meeting to discuss safety, weather, and issues unique to flying at Moriarty. Local experienced mentors familiar with the soaring conditions in the general area will be available for lead-follow flying as desired by attendees. Mentors will be assigned to attendees based on the attendees responses to a questionnaire that will be submitted as part of registration. The assignments will take into account the attendees equipment, experience level and desired goals from the camp.

The non-refundable fee for the event will be $150.00 for early registration prior to March 1, 2015 increasing to $200.00 thereafter. Tows will be available from Sundance Aviation and supplemented by the Albuquerque Soaring Club at Sundance tow rates (see www.soarsundance.com). Evening debriefings will be scheduled to analyze and view flights using SeeYou accompanied by adult beverages from the local brewery. Gas grills will be available for bring-your-own-meat style dinners. Pilots may attend any portion of the event they wish and by registering early with the dates they will attend organizers will be able to properly schedule towplanes and personnel to ensure a quality experience. Moriarty is truly a rare place in soaring where it is possible to combine a family vacation with some extraordinary flying - and running the camp over 15 days makes that practical.

For information and registration contact: or
505-832-5072 505-832-2222

I was planning on coming in June anyway!

Every cross-country soaring location should have two repair stations and a brewery! (Nephi, take note!)

Mike

Well done, Billy! I think you said it all...

Dan Marotta

On 11/7/2014 4:12 PM, wrote:
Sundance Aviation, in conjunction with the Albuquerque Soaring Club, will conduct a cross-country soaring camp from June 1st through June 15th. The soaring conditions at Moriarty, 0E0 (zero-echo-zero) are known and respected worldwide and tend to peak during June. Moriarty pilots have placed in the top ten worldwide from 2008 through 2013 for distance and no lower than 5th in the OLC League Speed rankings with 4 first place finishes. As an airfield Moriarty consistently ranks in the top 20 worldwide for speed and distance. Between Sundance Aviation and the Albuquerque Soaring Club there are five powerful towplanes available. At an elevation of 6200 feet ASL the paved main runway 08/26 is 7700 feet long and 75 feet wide. The crosswind runway 18/36 is 6200 feet by 75 feet of brand new pavement. The gigantic intersection Delta on 08/26 allows simultaneous staging of many gliders and is suitable for both east and west fully ballasted operations. The intersection also allows multiple gliders to land in rapid sequence giving each a safe place to coast off the runway. Two runways guarantee a maximum 45 degree crosswind and provide for multiple simultaneous landings in light winds. There is a large paved tie-down ramp with cables on a first come, first served basis and plenty of trailer parking. Pilots should provide their own tie downs ropes or straps for best results. Ballast water is available from multiple points on the field and free wi-fi is available in the Terminal building adjacent to the ramp and a bathroom with shower. There are two glider repair shops on the field and multiple A&Ps and IAs. Other airport tenants provide full machining, welding, and composite fabrication facilities for aircraft, gliders and trailers. Weather that accommodate any soaring ambition and airspace restrictions that are few and distant allowing for the maximum freedom to pursue any soaring ambition.

Due to the already high take-off elevation of 6200 feet and June cloud bases well above 18,000 feet every glider must have oxygen equipment in good working condition. Oxygen refills are available on the field at a moderate cost. Oxygen refill systems are on carts so gliders may be serviced anywhere on the field. Pilots are encouraged to use glider ground handling equipment in good condition due to the large size of the airfield. A landing on runway 36 results in a retrieve of almost two miles back to the main staging area.

Moriarty is located on historic Route 66 and boasts 9 motels, three truck stops and several restaurants. It is located in the center of the state 45-50 minutes from Albuquerque and Santa Fe. There are many other interesting places to visit within one hour of Moriarty including the Quarai Ruins, Salt Mission Trail, Single Action Shooting Society Founders Ranch, Santa Rosa Blue Hole, Conchas Lake State Park, The Sangre DeCristo, Sandia, Manzano, Ortiz, and San Pedro, and Mountains, Paa Ko Golf Course, Wildlife West Nature Park, The towns of Cerrillos, Galisteo and Madrid, and many others. There is plenty of room for camping at the airport but hook-ups are not available.

The purpose of the camp is to accommodate pilots from every skill and experience level allowing each pilot to pursue his or her soaring dreams from basic FAI badge flying to long and fast OLC flights to pursuit of State and National records. Pilots new to cross country soaring will be introduced to preflight planning, flying techniques, and post-flight debriefing of flights for submission to the Online Contest or successful completion of FAI badges. Each day will start with a pilots meeting to discuss safety, weather, and issues unique to flying at Moriarty. Local experienced mentors familiar with the soaring conditions in the general area will be available for lead-follow flying as desired by attendees. Mentors will be assigned to attendees based on the attendees responses to a questionnaire that will be submitted as part of registration. The assignments will take into account the attendees equipment, experience level and desired goals from the camp.

The non-refundable fee for the event will be $150.00 for early registration prior to March 1, 2015 increasing to $200.00 thereafter. Tows will be available from Sundance Aviation and supplemented by the Albuquerque Soaring Club at Sundance tow rates (see www.soarsundance.com). Evening debriefings will be scheduled to analyze and view flights using SeeYou accompanied by adult beverages from the local brewery. Gas grills will be available for bring-your-own-meat style dinners. Pilots may attend any portion of the event they wish and by registering early with the dates they will attend organizers will be able to properly schedule towplanes and personnel to ensure a quality experience. Moriarty is truly a rare place in soaring where it is possible to combine a family vacation with some extraordinary flying - and running the camp over 15 days makes that practical.

For information and registration contact: or
505-832-5072 505-832-2222

Great to see other places taking notes from Nephi. I think OLC camps are a fantastic idea and I can't imagine better place than Moriarty and Nephi (Minden should consider this as well).
I hope flam will be encouraged and that all participants will fly with PowerFlarms assuming large number. Personally I would only consider this if all gliders are flarm equipped. After sharing the sky with 65 flarm equipped gliders at Nephi last year I would not do this without It.

Ramy

Actually Steve Hill deserves credit for the final version of this post which in turn was tweaked by Bob Hudson before it was submitted to RAS.

On Saturday, November 8, 2014 3:31:06 PM UTC-7, Ramy wrote:
Great to see other places taking notes from Nephi. I think OLC camps are a fantastic idea and I can't imagine better place than Moriarty and Nephi (Minden should consider this as well).
I hope flam will be encouraged and that all participants will fly with PowerFlarms assuming large number. Personally I would only consider this if all gliders are flarm equipped. After sharing the sky with 65 flarm equipped gliders at Nephi last year I would not do this without It.

Ramy

Ramy-

Flarm is great but I wouldn't let some ships sans-Flarm keep you away. Additionally, Xponders might be even more useful at 0e0.

Best Regards,

Gary Osoba

On Sunday, November 9, 2014 11:33:18 AM UTC-8, wrote:
On Saturday, November 8, 2014 3:31:06 PM UTC-7, Ramy wrote:
Great to see other places taking notes from Nephi. I think OLC camps are a fantastic idea and I can't imagine better place than Moriarty and Nephi (Minden should consider this as well).
I hope flam will be encouraged and that all participants will fly with PowerFlarms assuming large number. Personally I would only consider this if all gliders are flarm equipped. After sharing the sky with 65 flarm equipped gliders at Nephi last year I would not do this without It.

Ramy

Ramy-

Flarm is great but I wouldn't let some ships sans-Flarm keep you away. Additionally, Xponders might be even more useful at 0e0.

Best Regards,

Gary Osoba

Transponder is most useful IF you plan to spend a lot of time hanging around near the ABQ approach/departure corridors AND if less than around 10 gliders attend. If you have more than 10 gliders, Flarm is the better bet. If you have several dozen gliders participating pilots should consider Flarm essential - especially if there are cu. Cu are magnets for glider traffic and at 17,999' the TAS at cruise makes fast converging collision threats nearly impossible to pick up in time. Ask pilots who've flown the Nephi event. They learned a lot about what happens in real-world conditions at XC events with lots of gliders.

You can always equip with both of course.

9B

I would like to clarify that, at Moriarty, there is much less tendency
for all the gliders to follow the same routes since we don't have a
stunningly good ridge as at Nephi.

We have great soaring in all directions so the concentrations of gliders
are not as great. At Moriarty you can go south to Alamogordo or El
Paso, southeast to Roswell or Hobbs, east to Amarillo and beyond,
northeast to Dalhart, north-north east up the east side of the Rockies,
north up the middle of the Rockies. A bit west of north and you can go
up the west side of the Sangre de Christos and continue to Leadville.
Northwest will take you over the Jemez mountains to Abiquiu and on to
Chama, Pagosa Springs and further. You can head out west to the Mt.
Taylor volcano north of Grants and on to Gallup or southwest past
Socorro and down into the Gila mountains.

There are too many directions to name and they can be flown straight out
or out and return. If there conflicts between gliders it will be
because too many people want to fly as a group rather than exploring
what's available here.

Dan Marotta

On 11/9/2014 2:17 PM, Andy Blackburn wrote:
On Sunday, November 9, 2014 11:33:18 AM UTC-8, wrote:
On Saturday, November 8, 2014 3:31:06 PM UTC-7, Ramy wrote:
Great to see other places taking notes from Nephi. I think OLC camps are a fantastic idea and I can't imagine better place than Moriarty and Nephi (Minden should consider this as well).
I hope flam will be encouraged and that all participants will fly with PowerFlarms assuming large number. Personally I would only consider this if all gliders are flarm equipped. After sharing the sky with 65 flarm equipped gliders at Nephi last year I would not do this without It.

Ramy
Ramy-

Flarm is great but I wouldn't let some ships sans-Flarm keep you away. Additionally, Xponders might be even more useful at 0e0.

Best Regards,

Gary Osoba
Transponder is most useful IF you plan to spend a lot of time hanging around near the ABQ approach/departure corridors AND if less than around 10 gliders attend. If you have more than 10 gliders, Flarm is the better bet. If you have several dozen gliders participating pilots should consider Flarm essential - especially if there are cu. Cu are magnets for glider traffic and at 17,999' the TAS at cruise makes fast converging collision threats nearly impossible to pick up in time. Ask pilots who've flown the Nephi event. They learned a lot about what happens in real-world conditions at XC events with lots of gliders.

You can always equip with both of course.

9B

On Sunday, November 9, 2014 3:30:43 PM UTC-8, Dan Marotta wrote:
I would like to clarify that, at
Moriarty, there is much less tendency for all the gliders to
follow the same routes since we don't have a stunningly good ridge
as at Nephi.

The Nephi (Mt Nebo) ridge is 17 miles long and doesn't affect XC flight selection. Pilots typically fly away from the SLC metro area to the north. I don't know if flying directly over Albuquerque is more popular than flying over the metro area around Salt lake City - the flight traces I've looked at indicate not so much. On most days most soaring sites have a directions that are preferred for a variety of reasons. Once you get more than a handful of gliders it becomes much more a function of lift indicators and the raw number of people flying. Because - math. Because - human behavior.

Dan has a point - if, like him, you are more interested if seeking the path less travelled (e.g. weaker conditions that are less attractive to the majority of pilots) on some days you can get away from the crowd by flying away from cu, away from cloud streets and away from convergence lines. But most pilots don't fly the way Dan does. If you are looking to make the most distance by flying where the conditions are strongest, intend to fly with buddies or with fly with an XC mentor - get a Flarm because you will have company. If you fly where other pilots are without a Flarm expect some disapproval. If you persist and something happens, it is possible that you or your estate may be vulnerable to legal action for negligence.

9B

On Sunday, November 9, 2014 7:02:56 PM UTC-6, Andy Blackburn wrote:
If you fly where other pilots are without a Flarm expect some disapproval.. If
you persist and something happens, it is possible that you or your estate may
be vulnerable to legal action for negligence.

9B
Andy,
Don't get me wrong. I fly with FLARM. But could you please show me where anything is said about the Moriarty OLC Campp being FLARM Manditory? Your legal threat is the sort of thing that will put people off from attending such events. Encourage people to participate, don't threaten them. If someone says they aren't going to fly with FLARM, the organizer can deal with how to handle the person. Far as I know, you are not the organizer, so please, back down on your threats of legal action because you feel that flight without FLARM is dangerous. I have flown Moriarty. I have gone the same directions as the big guys, and never seen them. Played the traces back from OLC uploads, and I didn't miss seeing them, we never got within FLARM range of each other.

Let the Moriarty Group speak for their requirements for attendance. If you don't like it, tell them. If they won't change, don't go at that time. Pick another time to go fly this amazing site when it won't be so crowded.

Steve Leonard
VJS