Thanksgiving (belated) Contest Oct 14, 2017 Results

[Andy M]

Well what an unusual day. A lot of us remarked that it was raining when we left home and most of the way to the field. But the entire time at the field we did not see a drop of rain. There was however a very low cloud base, and on first launches of ALES the planes disappeared into the cloud at or before the top of the climb. There were even puffs of cloud below the base and the planes would disappear for a few seconds before re-emerging.

For the above reasons we decided not to hold the line launch event as, with no control before line release, we might lose sight of the model and not find it again soon enough!

The ALES event boiled down to Adam and Mike's Radian Pros vs Bob's Lanzo Bomber. The no wind conditions really highlighted the superb characteristics of the Lanzo Bomber. With no lift I calculated a sink rate over 685' of 1.6 ft/s.

Lyle, Terry, Jim and Craig also attended and helped. We were all sorry we did not also get a chance to fly line launch.

Unfortunately Adam had an Rx glitch that caused him to only fly the last 2 of the 6 rounds.

Results:
______________Time__Ldg__Total
Bob Hammett__1934__195__2129
Mike Sherlaw___1239__85___1324
Adam Maas______512__75___587 (2 rounds only)

Andy (CD)
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Comments from Lyle:

Early this morning as I drove down hwy 6 south towards our field thought to myself, r/c sailplaners must be the most optimistic bunch around. The sky was grey, overcast, my windshield wipers were flapping away and the cloud ceiling was probably no more than 300’. I was thinking what the heck am I doing? To my surprise, Andy and Adam were already at the field and getting ready to go! Soon we were joined by Craig Packham, Bob Hammett, Terry Dawson , Mike Sherlaw & Jim Laslett. Andy Meysner was the cd for today’s contest and quickly went over the rules for the ALES contest. As there were only three pilots flying electrics, it was agreed to have sequential take offs starting with Bob & his Lanzo Bomber, then Adam and his Radian Pro and then Mike with his Radian Pro. And then there were two! Adam’s Radian developed a glitch so he was out. After some fiddling, Adam was able to solve the problem and get in two flights. There were some hairy moments as the planes would become lost in the low hanging clouds! Amazingly, all pilots left the field with their planes intact! In total, we were able to get in six rounds of 8 minutes before the grass cutter showed up to cut the field! A decision was made to call it a day and head to Tim Horton’s in nearby Caledonia for coffee and treats.

In the end, I’m glad I decided to go despite the less than perfect conditions. Lots of good flying and great camaraderie!

Cheers!
Lyle