Ben, That was a great story! I can just imagine ducking in and out of the trees, going up and down hills. You get a new appreciation of what cross country is all about. I was lucky enough to be with guys who had thick skin; when we turned around at the checkpoint and I was sitting backward looking over my disappearing plane at 2,000 feet and I wasn't happy.
It's a great feeling when you are on the final leg and you know you are going to make it. JE -- John Erickson LSF V #122 > From: Ben Wilson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: Mon, 16 Oct 2006 23:38:18 -0400 > To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>, LASS Soaring List > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: [RCSE] A good day in Louisville! > > I showed up the field yesterday (Sunday) on what one might consider our > real first "fall" day. I figure it's officially fall when either I have > to wear long sleeves to the field, you can call it "Fall". > > I noticed some electric stuff flying around the field, and upon further > inspection, I noticed it was one of those foam-core profile "3D" planes. > It was doing loops and rolls, level inverted flight, flat spins, > knife-edge stuff, the whole kit. I figured we must have pulled in one > of the acro guys from the the gas club from the North side of town. > Searching the field, I was surprised to see our own "little" Lee > Atchison tearing up the sky with this plane that I'd never seen him fly > before. 10 years old and putting us all to shame! He's told me before > that he uses RC flight sims quite a bit, and based on what I saw at the > field, I'd have to believe him. Amazing stuff. > > Lee left the wings to his Sagitta 600 at home (Lee is known for being a > little forgetful when it comes to that stuff - then again, I've seen > Gordy drive home to get his wing bolts on occassion), so Ed decided that > he'd let Lee try his Soprano RES. Lee was admittedly a bit afraid of > such a big plane, being that his Oly II is the biggest thing he's flown, > but Ed knew he could handle it. Ed threw it the first time for him, and > Lee guided it up the line - and picked up an 18 minute flight! That > fulfilled his LSF Level II thermal duration requirements, and he even > picked up a handful of landings, the last of which was 18" from the nail. > > Lee also has been doing his part to spread the soaring word, and brought > along a buddy of his ("Jake") who is just itching to get a plane in the > air. President Ed is putting the finishing touches on a ship for him. > We've also had quite a few folks stop by the field with their kiddos, > and President Ed helped a guy and his kid tweak a HobbyZone parkflyer > into shape. > > Meanwhile, I was scratching lift here and there, looking to maybe, just > maybe get a goal and return in. Ed predicted a "noon balloon", and by > the 30-40 degree temperature differential, I concurred. However, things > remained a bit overcast and it never developed into booming skies. It > *did* remain effervescent near the ground - I had a handful of saves > with my DLG and with my EZBD that turned out to be good, workable > thermals. What I wanted to make Dave Register proud and do a > goal-and-return with my XP-3.5 handlaunch glider, it's batteries were > down and I decided to switch to my other favorite Polecat product, the > EZ Bubble Dancer. Despite the fact that my EZBD #1 has been smashed > into the earth at Mach 1 (estimated) and spent 3 hours in a tree and was > beaten with sticks, I had taped and glued it back together for the World > Soaring Masters as a backup. It's got "character" now, and still > launches and flies like a champ. > > Tony, our club Jeep-driver and I pored over the street map and worked > out a few possible courses based upon wind-vectors. I kept getting into > lift, but it was so wide and soft that I didn't think I was going to get > high enough - but Tony wouldn't let it rest! Finally I summed up my > courage (with some prodding from Tony) and Tony opened the Jeep door and > I climbed in. Having never done XC stuff before, but always being > fascinated by it, I knew I was in for a trip. > > Kentucky, for those of you who haven't been here, is a predominantly > hilly state with plenty of stately oak and maple trees. That certainly > makes cross-country a bit of a challenge, especially when rolling along > the tree-lined streets of elder suburbia - which is where the LASS > flying field sits. We drove about a 1/4 of a mile to the entrance of > the park in a clearning and sat there for a bit while I gained a little > more altitude. Did I mention also that our park is in a hole? That > complicates factors a little, too, and I wanted to get all the altitude > I could before pushing my EZBD over a fairly steep treeline and onto the > course. > > The course was a fairly straight shot of 1.25 miles through residential > streets, often covered near-completely with trees. Tony let me know > when my view was about to obscured, and I made sure to "trust the plane" > while he gunned the Jeep under the obstructions. We made it to the > goal - a cul-de-sac, and turned around. Feeling elated to be heading > back downhill, we even had time to explain to the lady in her front yard > just what in the hell we were up to. Giving the EZBD just a hair of > down-elevator, I told Tony to "hit it" and we sped back to the field. > > We had to cross a fairly busy stretch of two-lane to get back into the > park, so that was a little tense as Tony had to wait for the cars to > pass, but I had to keep the EZBD going for broke to get back to the > field. Much to my surprise, when we entered the park, I had plenty of > altitude! We made a run towards the rear end of the park, just to make > sure we went past our goal distance. Only when we were back in the park > did I start to lose altitude - not that it mattered! I had still made > my goal and return! I landed inside the 656 feet prescribed by the LSF > voucher, and walked her back to the winch. > > We re-checked our distances, did the customary LSF voucher language > dissection and determined that everything was kosher. Tony signed on > the X -- and I had completed my LSF Level IV requirements! Awesome! I > was a happy man, and it was a fitting end to a great season. > > Taking a look at my sheet, I remembered the contests, flights and the > people that I flew with and helped me achieve this. President Ed > pledged to help me "become the second Level V in Kentucky - both of them > named Wilson", so sorry Gordy! Hah! Actually Gordy called me today to > tell me that he has been inspired by his RES win at the TNT to get back > on the LSF Level V horse, so maybe that *won't* happen. In any case, > it'll be a good time spent flying and pushing limits that otherwise > might not be. > > All things considered, it was a good day to fly in Louisville. Thought > I'd let y'all know :) > > http://louisvillesoaring.org/gallery/20061015lass > > -- > ben wilson ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) > louisville area soaring society > http://www.louisvillesoaring.org > http://thelocust.org/ > > RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and > "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that > subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME > turned off. Email sent from web based email such as Hotmail and AOL are > generally NOT in text format RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off. Email sent from web based email such as Hotmail and AOL are generally NOT in text format
