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josh_glaab
50 Posts |
 Posted - 07/16/2013 : 09:02:13 AM
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2013 Hampton Roads Silent Flyers/Blue Ridge Area Soaring Society (HRSF/BRASS) ESL Unlimited
The HRSF/BRASS ESL Unlimited was held in Ladd, VA, during weekend of 7/27 and 7/28. A total of 28 pilots competed on Saturday, with 20 on Sunday. This is a pretty good turnout, but the weather forecast probably kept a few pilots away. Many pilots who braved the rainy conditions during a rain-shortened contest on Saturday, did not return for Sunday and missed out on a beautiful day of soaring.
Friday was perfect weather with a beautiful sky of cumulus clouds. We had a great turnout on Friday afternoon for practice as well as to take part in an unofficial ALES event. The ESL winches were setup at the end of the day and we were ready to go for Saturday�s contest.
On Saturday we got things setup and ready to go by 8:30am. Steve Lucke got the winches setup with some help and Team Bustamante got the scoring tent setup and ready to go. Tom Broeski managed to work a deal with a local ATV dealer and we �test drove� the most impressive retrieve cart I have ever seen at an ESL event. Steve really liked the ride and we could hardly get him off of it. The first launch was at 8:40. Saturday�s CD, Josh Glaab, called for 3 rounds of 8-minute duration random MOM with 100-pt C-delta landings to get the contest �official�. After the first 3 rounds were completed, we would switch to seeded MOM. Flying 3 rounds of random MOM with 8 minute tasks saved us about 20 minutes overall and bought us some time from the incoming weather.
After we completed the 4th round, we decided to start a lunch break at about noon. During the lunch break an extensive review of the weather radars indicated that the light rain we were experiencing was going to get a little heavier with a good likelihood of some very heavy rain around 2pm. After some discussion, it was decided to conclude the contest at that time. Neal Huffman was sharp, especially in the last round, when he moved from 4th to 1st place due to his fantastic last landing with his Maxa. Tony Guide was 2nd and Lenny Strickland was 3rd in Expert flying his Maxa. In Sportsflyer we had several visitors from North Carolina. Frank Dumas, from Durham, flew his Agita very well and took top honors in Sportsflyer. Kyle Clayton, from Petersburg, VA, took 2nd in Sportsflyer also flying an Agita. Josh Glaab Jr took 3rd in Sportsflyer flying his �Big Red� Supra. Everyone loved the hand-made ceramic over wood plaques that Trish Glaab made for our event.
We packed up and dried out a little. Most started taking care of some shopping needs. At 4pm many of the ESL pilots went to the movies to see RED-2, then, continued out to dinner. It was a laid-back damp afternoon and evening. However, it was apparent that everyone was thinking about Sunday and frequently checking the weather updates. When we turned out the lights, the forecast was not too promising.
When we woke up Sunday, the radar was clear (yay!), but the forecast was not great. We setup and again got flying around 8:45. Sunday�s CD, Chuck Pinnell, called for the same game plan as Saturday but specified truncation of flight times. We had some light rain during the pilots� meeting. By the end of the first few flight groups of Round-1 the rain stopped and by the end of the 2nd round, the sun was starting to peek out. By the end of the 3rd round we were under partly cloudy skies with excellent soaring conditions. Many pilots were working lift down wind and had trouble getting back to the in-bounds section of the field (i.e. the cut grass) and ended up in the beans. The last 2 flight groups of the last round (Round 8) were challenging with a bit of a down-cycle and some excellent battles were had in the skies over Ladd. In end, Lesek Zyga was steady all day long in the landing circle and took 1st place Expert with his Explorer 4.0. Lesek�s last flight was impressive and it seemed like he missed the better lift and spent a lot of time down low over the trees but he pulled it out. Dave Beach was 2nd with his Spread Tow Supra. Josh Glaab was 3rd with his glass Supra Pro. Josh Glaab Jr flew a great contest on Sunday and took 1st in Sportsflyer with his �Big Red� Supra. Regis White, who had a 10:01 with a 83 point last landing took 2nd with a Supra Pro. Jim Carrol took 3rd, also flying a Supra Pro. Dave Beach was the Overall Grand Champion for the weekend which earned him a nice Level-V win! Way to go Dave!
Tom Broeski setup and ran a nice auction/raffle to generate some more funds for the local clubs. Horizon Hobbies and Josh Glaab donated a PNP Radian that was auctioned off. Several Airtronics servos were also auctioned off.
I want to thank all the folks who contributed to the success of the contest. Joanne Bustamante did a great job with scoring and keeping Luis in-line. Steve Lucke setup the winches and drove the heck out of the retrieve cart. Eric Grove came up from Hampton, VA, to help time and we put him to work all day long on Sunday. We had several others help-out who names I did not get.
Posting images of the awards to get things going. These plaques feature hand-made ceramic tiles that Trish Glaab created. Trish is an accomplished potter and artist and offered to help us out with the awards this year. I think your wives may let you hang them in the house since they are works of art!
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Edited by - josh_glaab on 07/31/2013 10:34:50 AM |
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tbroeski
24 Posts |
Posted - 07/23/2013 : 06:44:20 AM
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| There will be ALES contests on Friday afternoon and Saturday after main contest. Chuck Pinnell is CD. info@pinnellcustomleather.com |
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josh_glaab
50 Posts |
Posted - 07/28/2013 : 9:56:10 PM
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HRSF/BRASS 2013 ESL Unlimited (Draft Report, more to come)
Overall we had a great time this weekend soaring in the scenic Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia. Saturday was wet as we had a lot of rain, but we were able to get 4 quality rounds with 28 pilots completed before it was obvious we needed to quit. Sunday started wet but after the first couple of flight groups in round 1, the rain stopped and by the end of round 2 the sun was out. We had some very good lift much of the day. However, the last couple of flight groups of round 8 were a little challenging.
Dave Beach was the overall grand champion for the weekend and earned an LSF-5 win. Neal Huffman won Expert on Saturday and Lesek Zyga won on Sunday.
Neal Huffman: 1st place Expert on Saturday:
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Anthony Procino and his Supra:
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ljb0001
37 Posts |
Posted - 07/31/2013 : 11:03:05 AM
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Waynesboro did not disappoint. It dished out a nice watering on Saturday while still allowing us to fly an official contest. Then it rewarded us with a beautiful flying day on Sunday! Gotta love it!
The contests were the usual, super-competitive, "down to the last landing" events that ESL has become known for. Great drama in that last group each day!
Highlights of the weekend for me: David Beach getting his second LSF level V win by winning the overall and Leszek making a mad dash across the field, in the last round of Sunday's contest, to avoid being buried by David Beach. That move, and the excellent landing that followed, preserved the win for Leszek.
Attached are the scoring details for the contests.
See you all at Charles River!
Luis
Download File: BRASS Saturday Standings
Download File: BRASS Saturday Report Cards
Download File: BRASS Saturday Scoring Detail
Download File: BRASS Sunday Standings
Download File: BRASS Sunday Report Cards
Download File: BRASS Sunday Scoring Detail
Download File: BRASS Weekend Standings
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2013 HRSF/BRASS Unlimited
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