Man, I love Glider Camp! Mike's smilin' face!
By Mike Bergerson
There is just something magical about driving onto the AMA grounds for the beginning of Glider Camp. It's like entering that magical place where you can be a kid again and fly your creations with your friends and go back to a simpler time when all that existed was your latest plane and the need to fly… Well y’all, I got me one of those for XC!
Opening day for the AMA/LSF Soaring Nationals begins today, Wednesday July 15, with the Cross Country (XC) event taking place just a few miles down the road at Monroe Central High School in beautiful Parker, Indiana. We will be flying until Friday July 17, so come out and join us. League of Silent Flight (LSF) vice president, master sailplane pilot, and all-around great guy, Ed Dumas, is your CD for this priority attend event.
I happen to know there will be others bringing new aircraft to put up on the winch as well. There will be a veritable myriad of sailplane designs, ranging from a gorgeous nostalgia-legal Challenger to a super spiffy purpose-built TD Explorer.
Several of the registered pilots are looking forward to completing a few of their LSF level goals for fly-and-return. I'm going after my 2K. Yeah, there's the 10K fly-and-return goal. 20K total! Going for that is the crown jewel of XC for Level V.
There are two categories that the LSF honors, electric launch and winch launch. They are separate and require separate tasks. Although electrics offer an easier launch, among other advantages, I feel it diminishes the pure sailplane aspect by giving a pilot the comfort to take greater chances and be able to power out of trouble. With a pure sailplane, you are going to live with your choices. Although, last year, we did rescue an electric from a bull pen. That was interesting.
There are LSF goals to achieve, but the most fun is going for distance. Every kilometer you chalk up while heading down the course brings you closer to the podium. The one with the most distance wins. So, multiple runs down the course is the goal.
Any Unlimited-class TD ship is worthy of running the course. I would even say that some of the composite RES ships like an AVA or Pulsar would work as well. It’s just going to take you longer.
My advice would be to come out to the field and bring your plane. Let's get it in the air and put you into the back of the Hot Rod Lincoln. It's really just a pickup truck with a super-comfy chair in the back. It’s there solely so you can ease on down the road to, as I mentioned before, the best-kept secret of the Soaring Nats. Oops! I need to stop saying that.
Blue Skies!!!
