2104 Nephi UT OLC or what I did on my summer vacation

The 2014 Nephi OLC meet is now in the logbook. And what a great event this thing is. Bruno Vassel has this vision and he is making it happen, and what a great vision it is. The Great Basin has some of the best soaring conditions in the world and the best part is that if you live in the USA you can hook up your glider and just drive there.
Nephi is located in the NE corner of the Great Basin and for those without a motor glider I don't think big air soaring gets any better than this.
Here are a few things that Nephi has over Parowan and Ely, not to say those aren't fantastic places to be based out of in there own right.
Nephi is up north so at the end of a typical day and you are on final glide home you have a tailwind and several conveniently places mountain ranges to work, airports and landable fields if you run out of altitude. Parowan you typically, but not always, final glide into the wind southbound. Ely has really turned into a motorglider mecca, well, because Ely is really the ultimate in boonie land.
For local flights when it is not booming Nephi is great. Super Scenic in all directions. You can fly a 500km OLC and never get out of glide of the airport.
Nephi has the best parts of Ely and Parowan without the funky parts. Like the south takeoff at Parowan. Or the extreme remoteness of Ely for pure gliders.
In Nephi we learned after 2 OLC meets there that you can get away early with a fairly close in 2000' or less tow. You need to get away early if you want to go far.
Nephi is a old school clean quiet historic Mormon town, no crime no traffic really friendly people.
Here is what The Nephi OLC Meet was for me:
A lot of ripping great pilots to fly with. This raises the bar.
No pressure to do anything. There was nothing at stake.
No Grid order, go when you want to go.
Everyday is a fresh start.
In so so weather you can do interesting local flights, like ridge soar up the faces of the Cu and get on top of the Cu. Huge Mt. Nebo is right there.
Big runway, big hanger, some evening dinners
Full weather briefing and a real task called and scored for those who wish to fly a racing task.
Excellent tow pilots and good ropes; since this was not a contest the tug pilots could circle in lift, resulting in very short tows, which was good for everyone, they make more $ and I got away quickly.
A CD, Ron Gleason, who is a make it happen, problem solver that is on a very even keel and not phased by much.
That chance to go Far and long.
A real retrieval officer who picks up his phone 24/7
Here are some OLC numbers that came out of the Meet:
BEST 10 SINGLE OLC SCORES

Ramy Yanetz 1,030 and 997 km
Robert Caldwell 942 km
Eric Rupp 921 km
Bob Faris 921 km
Nick Kennedy 917 km
Eric Rupp 908 km
Joe Simmers 894 km
Nick Kennedy 880 km
Bruno Vassel 855 km

Adding 3 OLC days here is the top 10
[ FWIW ]

Ramy Yanetz 2877 km
Nick Kennedy 2519 km
Eric Rupp 2508 km
Robert Caldwell 2361 km
Bruno Vassel 2304 km
John Weber 2108 km
Stuart Larimore 2088 km
Martin Dennis 2077 km
Richard Andrews 2052 km
Joe Simmers 2014 km

There were several pilots that flew everyday and those complete totals were higher, although we did have several close in days.
Many thanks to Bruno, Ron, Lynn, Lineboys, tug pilots, The Utah Club and volunteers and the Town of Nephi. it is nice to go somewhere that wants to see you and wants your business and asks what they can do for you rather than the other way around.

I believe there are still slots for the Region 9 North Contest in Nephi Ut starting next weekend. Nephi Rocks.
Nick Kennedy
Glider T

On Sunday, July 27, 2014 3:27:50 PM UTC-5, Nick Kennedy wrote:
The 2014 Nephi OLC meet is now in the logbook. And what a great event this thing is. Bruno Vassel has this vision and he is making it happen, and what a great vision it is. The Great Basin has some of the best soaring conditions in the world and the best part is that if you live in the USA you can hook up your glider and just drive there.

Nephi is located in the NE corner of the Great Basin and for those without a motor glider I don't think big air soaring gets any better than this.

Here are a few things that Nephi has over Parowan and Ely, not to say those aren't fantastic places to be based out of in there own right.

Nephi is up north so at the end of a typical day and you are on final glide home you have a tailwind and several conveniently places mountain ranges to work, airports and landable fields if you run out of altitude. Parowan you typically, but not always, final glide into the wind southbound. Ely has really turned into a motorglider mecca, well, because Ely is really the ultimate in boonie land.

For local flights when it is not booming Nephi is great. Super Scenic in all directions. You can fly a 500km OLC and never get out of glide of the airport.

Nephi has the best parts of Ely and Parowan without the funky parts. Like the south takeoff at Parowan. Or the extreme remoteness of Ely for pure gliders.

In Nephi we learned after 2 OLC meets there that you can get away early with a fairly close in 2000' or less tow. You need to get away early if you want to go far.

Nephi is a old school clean quiet historic Mormon town, no crime no traffic really friendly people.

Here is what The Nephi OLC Meet was for me:

A lot of ripping great pilots to fly with. This raises the bar.

No pressure to do anything. There was nothing at stake.

No Grid order, go when you want to go.

Everyday is a fresh start.

In so so weather you can do interesting local flights, like ridge soar up the faces of the Cu and get on top of the Cu. Huge Mt. Nebo is right there..

Big runway, big hanger, some evening dinners

Full weather briefing and a real task called and scored for those who wish to fly a racing task.

Excellent tow pilots and good ropes; since this was not a contest the tug pilots could circle in lift, resulting in very short tows, which was good for everyone, they make more $ and I got away quickly.

A CD, Ron Gleason, who is a make it happen, problem solver that is on a very even keel and not phased by much.

That chance to go Far and long.

A real retrieval officer who picks up his phone 24/7

Here are some OLC numbers that came out of the Meet:

BEST 10 SINGLE OLC SCORES



Ramy Yanetz 1,030 and 997 km

Robert Caldwell 942 km

Eric Rupp 921 km

Bob Faris 921 km

Nick Kennedy 917 km

Eric Rupp 908 km

Joe Simmers 894 km

Nick Kennedy 880 km

Bruno Vassel 855 km



Adding 3 OLC days here is the top 10

[ FWIW ]



Ramy Yanetz 2877 km

Nick Kennedy 2519 km

Eric Rupp 2508 km

Robert Caldwell 2361 km

Bruno Vassel 2304 km

John Weber 2108 km

Stuart Larimore 2088 km

Martin Dennis 2077 km

Richard Andrews 2052 km

Joe Simmers 2014 km



There were several pilots that flew everyday and those complete totals were higher, although we did have several close in days.

Many thanks to Bruno, Ron, Lynn, Lineboys, tug pilots, The Utah Club and volunteers and the Town of Nephi. it is nice to go somewhere that wants to see you and wants your business and asks what they can do for you rather than the other way around.



I believe there are still slots for the Region 9 North Contest in Nephi Ut starting next weekend. Nephi Rocks.

Nick Kennedy

Glider T

Nick, in my opinion it is in extremely poor taste and style to elevate one soaring site by putting down others in the same geographic area. Not sure if you have an agenda to push Nephi but your comments on Parowan and Ely were entirely unnecessary and fly in the face of what many other pilots with extensive experience will tell you. Why this polarization?
Herb

Herb

I doubt Nick meant to denigrate any soaring site. All have their pluses and minuses. Having flown all three, I think Nick's comments are roughly accurate but also not a big deal. I love being able to fly to the Grand Canyon and other national parks out of Parowan and Ely can support long flights in pretty much any direction. The strengths of Nephi are pretty much as described and it's refreshing to have so much operational and community support for a soaring site with access to the Great Basin. It's a blessing to the sport and I hope it continues.

Andy

On Sunday, 27 July 2014 22:39:19 UTC-6, wrote:
Herb



I doubt Nick meant to denigrate any soaring site. All have their pluses and minuses. Having flown all three, I think Nick's comments are roughly accurate but also not a big deal. I love being able to fly to the Grand Canyon and other national parks out of Parowan and Ely can support long flights in pretty much any direction. The strengths of Nephi are pretty much as described and it's refreshing to have so much operational and community support for a soaring site with access to the Great Basin. It's a blessing to the sport and I hope it continues.



Andy
As a soaring community we are privileged to have all of these sites to commit aviation from. If you are looking to plan a fun flying safari and/or vacation the Great Basin should be on your list.

Please support these sites so we can continue to have access to them. Some of these facilities are operated as commercial facilities and need pilots to support their investments.

Furthermore there are four other facilities in Northern Utah that have tows available; Cedar Valley, Heber (commercial operation), Morgan and Logan (private and commercial). You can find more information here http://utahsoaring.org/

Bottom line is that Utah and eastern NV has great soaring opportunities and we hope many folks come and experience it.

Ron Gleason

PS - I am not forgetting about ID, I just do not have good contact information and experience with these facilities

I am fortunate to be currently in a safari at Driggs, ID, flying an
ASH-30mi. The weather has not been stellar here this week; out of six
flights, 3 of them mine, we've had 3 shoot downs, 1 release by the tug,
and 2 relatively decent flights. If interested, look for the ASH-30 on
OLC for 7/27 and 7/28. We're sitting in the rental house right now
watching the rain drip off the roof.

All that said, we're looking at flying down to Nephi tomorrow or
Thursday and, if the weather does not permit, trailering the glider
down. I'll be leaving the safari on Saturday. I sincerely hope to get
a chance to fly this magnificent glider at Nephi!

Dan Marotta

On 7/29/2014 10:03 AM, Ron Gleason wrote:
On Sunday, 27 July 2014 22:39:19 UTC-6, wrote:
Herb



I doubt Nick meant to denigrate any soaring site. All have their pluses and minuses. Having flown all three, I think Nick's comments are roughly accurate but also not a big deal. I love being able to fly to the Grand Canyon and other national parks out of Parowan and Ely can support long flights in pretty much any direction. The strengths of Nephi are pretty much as described and it's refreshing to have so much operational and community support for a soaring site with access to the Great Basin. It's a blessing to the sport and I hope it continues.



Andy
As a soaring community we are privileged to have all of these sites to commit aviation from. If you are looking to plan a fun flying safari and/or vacation the Great Basin should be on your list.

Please support these sites so we can continue to have access to them. Some of these facilities are operated as commercial facilities and need pilots to support their investments.

Furthermore there are four other facilities in Northern Utah that have tows available; Cedar Valley, Heber (commercial operation), Morgan and Logan (private and commercial). You can find more information here http://utahsoaring.org/

Bottom line is that Utah and eastern NV has great soaring opportunities and we hope many folks come and experience it.

Ron Gleason

PS - I am not forgetting about ID, I just do not have good contact information and experience with these facilities