A first solo is a memory that every pilot always remembers. The weather was hot today, but Mason was cool and confident.
The Central California Soaring Association conducted its 45th
Spring Contest from May 14 -18 at the Avenal Sailplane Facility.
Twenty-seven pilots participated in the contest that featured one practice session and four planned competition days. The competition was run on the handicapped Sport format, with the entries exhibiting a wide variation in sailplane technology. The field featured motor gliders and pure sailplane designs.
Spring brings some of the best soaring conditions to the
Avenal area. Contest tasks generally make
use of the convergence lines that usually run west of the airfield from the
Hollister area down to Taft. Long runs
along the Temblors are possible if the pilot locates the best lift.
Tasking for the May 14 practice session and the May 15 and
16 contest days made use of the forecasted lift along the mountain range. Contestants were required to make flights to turn
points in the San Benito range before running south to turns on Orchard Peak or
as far as Taft Ridge before running back to northern points such as Center Peak
or one of ELs located above New Coalinga. The finish for these days was a cylinder centered on the Avenal Facility.
The weather on May 17 brought lift along the mountains and
east out to the San Juaquin Valley. A north
wind was predicted to strengthen later in the day. The course ran from Avenal to Microwave
Towers north of New Coalinga, south to Elk Hills, then east across the valley
to Porterville. The valley was then
crossed again to Harris Ranch before heading back to a point on Kettleman hills
leading to an Avenal finish. As the
pilots made their way on the first legs, the predicted wind arrived and soon the
retrieve desk was receiving calls for crews or aero retrieves. Zach found himself on the ground near a cow
pasture; Jenna joined a farmer plowing the field she landed in for several
acres before her crew arrived. Several
others made landings west of Porterville or used the onboard engine to make the
return home. Five pilots managed to make
their way around the course, not enough for an official task but still an
impressive show of the possible.
One of the best features of the Spring Contest is the food prepared by Katrina and Darrell. Katrina prepared breakfast meals for all five days and assured lunch supplies and drinks were available. Darrell cooked hamburgers and hot dogs for the Friday night meal and Tri-Tip for the Saturday night BBQ. This, along with salads, vegetables, beans, and desserts donated by other contestants and families was one of the highlights of the gathering!
Evening dining
The weather on May 18 was forecast to be as windy as the day before, with lighter lift. Due to the effort put into the task the day before and the likelihood of retrieves, no task was assigned, and the contestants were invited to fly for fun.
The final results for the contest were: First Place: Thomas
(9), Second Place: Thorsten (KD), Third Place: Jenna (IC). This is the third victory in a row for
Thomas.
Thomas preparing to launch
It takes a crew to make this event happen. Thanks to Contest Director Zach, CCSA Club
President Larry, Food and Retrieve Desk operator Katrina, Cook Darrell, CCSA
Finance Officer and Ground Operations Manager Richard, Ground Crew Russ, John, Gabriel,
Peter, and tow pilots Dan, Jim, Theo, and Mason.
Various photos from the contest - thanks to contributors!
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| Mt Whitney |
The May 4 forecast looked interesting with lift predicted
over the mountains and clouds and rain in areas. This was apparent in the morning hours as
there was a large amount of cloud cover and developments to the south of the
field.
The sky at the start of the day
Special thanks to all who have spent time working on the field
and the clubhouse – the facilities look great!
Richard Walker was onsite aiding the flight operations.
The wind was from the south as training flights began with the
SGS 2-33 13F using runway 12. With Jim Rickey towing, Larry Suter and Mark Pomaville
made four flights after some ground instruction covering the relationship
between the center of gravity and the center of lift.
During these training flights, clouds were organizing over
the mountains, and the wind began a slow shift to the north-east.
During this period, Julie Butler (XD), Ollie Tedeschi (JG)
and Peter Sahlberg (06) made their ships ready at the south end of the field. This was a session that allowed them to get
some flying in before the contest and become more familiar with the navigation and
scoring programs in their ships.
Morgan Hall had supplied a task that directed the
participants to EL5, back to Orchard Peak, then onto Center Peak before an
Avenal finish.
Juile went first and returned shortly after a brief warm
up. Ollie and Peter then launched, followed by
Julie.
These three engaged is some gaggle flying near the Tar
Canyon start before the taking separate paths to EL5. The convergence and cloud cover over the
mountains made for interesting choices, with all three making the first turn
and Ollie and Julie making the second before coming home. There were areas of good lift and sink, with
some clouds in decay as time passed. Peter
was cut off by rain 3.5 miles short of Orchard and chose to return to Avenal.
The view from XD
Meanwhile… Darrell Eggert and Larry had launched in 13F, connected with lift, climbed to cloud base at 6,800 feet at Tar Peak, flew down near the Hwy 41/33 intersection, arriving home at 6,000 feet.
Darrell and Larry discuss where the tow plane should be...
All in all, a good day to fly!
Please keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all times
The contest is May 14 – 18, see you there.
A number of members got a lot accomplished on the March 1st work day.
This group (Jim, Richard, Morgan, Mark & Darrell) tore down the 1-26, did all of the routine maintenance and cleaning work, reassembled and generally got it ready for its annual.
We had a beautiful day on Saturday to kick off a new year of soaring at Avenal!
After we finished shoveling the snow (OK, maybe not), we got busy flying. Jim was kind enough to tow. A number of pre-solo and post-solo students flew, and Julie and Morgan each got some weak weather thermaling practice in XD. Richard was out, supervising some re-arranging of trailers and glider parts, and then administering some sort of aid to the tractor. Various other chores got attention.
All good signs of a quick start to 2025, with a gorgeous sunset to finish the day.
Photo credit to Mark P.
