I too got my first sampling of XC at the NATS this year and it was a very surprising, and unexpected I might add, experience. In as few words as possible...What a BLAST! NO, I didn't fly however I volunteered my Avalanche as a chase vehicle for several Teams and, while driving/spotting, had the opportunity to share in part of the experience with them:
1) Dr. Dan - Now here's a guy that is going to have fun, no matter what/how he's flying. Rolls on tow, inverted tows...Let's have some fun. 2) Jim Bacus - Nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rockers...He'd only flown his scale ship, for the first time, the weekend before. Always on the lookout to learn more and share what he knows with others. No matter what your level, Jim will "push" you to do better. You'll have fun doing it and you'll learn a lot along the way. 3) TK - What can I say...Relaxed, knows his stuff, don't sweat the small stuff. His sense of humor, open attitude, and willingness to help are infectious. When he's helping you, he doesn't tell you what to do...He nudges you in the right direction and, when the light comes on for you, he's the one that has a grin from ear to ear - mission accomplished! 4) Peter Goldsmith - Peter, finessing his XC plane around the course is art! If ever you get the opportunity to fly/learn from Peter, 2 words, DO IT! I drove for Peter during his 1st Place run and understood more, during that run, just listening to him explain what he was doing, why he was doing it, and the thought process behind it all. With the back of the AV open, I could clearly hear/see him explaining to Bacus everything that was going on. The look on Jimmy's face was like an apprentice standing before the master (and Jim's no slouch on his own!). I hope that sometime in the future I get the opportunity to fly with him myself. I got to meet a lot of new people, people that really support this aspect of soaring, and now I have a little more understanding of why they're so passionate about it. Heck, they even hooked me...I came away with TK's 4M Discus after he decided to purchase a Nimbus4! On the surface XC may not sound all that exciting however, if you get the opportunity, try it...I think you'll be surprised! Oh yeah...On last thing...My Teams came in 5th, 3rd, and 1st...Maybe the Avalanche helped, maybe not??? <G> All I know is I came away with a new interest and respect for XC which was totally unexpected! Thanks to all of the above for letting me be part of the experience! -Sheldon- YNT uDesign -----Original Message----- From: John Derstine [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, September 29, 2004 7:33 AM To: 'Joe Wurts'; 'RCSE'; 'Bill Rakozy' Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [RCSE] XC story Actually a great narrative Joe. I had my first taste of XC (of any kind) at the NATS this year. Granted, the inbound course that was finally adopted for the scale guys was more like driving around a NASCAR track, but it opened my eyes to the potential fun and challenges of XC flying. Before acting as spotter for Pete Goldsmith with his 7 meter Nimbus 2 on the "race track", I went for an attempt on the outbound FAI course. The wind was blowing 15+ and I was flying an old beat up 5 meter Ka6E. This was really stupid, but oh what fun. I made it exactly 1 mile out into a soybean field, clocked forward speed at 5 mph at one point. In contrast, spotting for Pete later in the day on the closed course we were driving 55 mph and Pete was putting in camber so not to fly too far ahead. The potential for scale ships on XC tasks is phenomenal. Pete flew 6 laps on the course without stopping to thermal. There was some lift, but this was almost all aspect ratio and L/D. We were blowing by other competitors struggling to stay aloft. It always seemed to me rather silly to be standing in one spot and flying a 6 meter Nimbus which had an L/D of 40+, now I am hooked, but the problem here in the East are the wooded hills and developed real estate prevent us from setting up adequate courses with safe land outs. JD PS: a very scale like LET Albatross 4 meter won the winch FAI XC in the very windy conditions. Endless Mountain Models http://www.scalesoaring.com email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -----Original Message----- From: Joe Wurts [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, September 28, 2004 10:56 PM To: 'RCSE'; Bill Rakozy Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [RCSE] XC story Not much of a story here. 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. 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.
