Josh Glaab, ready to fly his Organic 2M.
By Mike Bergerson
The threat of rain and thunderstorms didn't deter any of the pilots registered for the Quadfecta. The winches were strung and the pilots meeting commenced at 8:30.
CD Wayne Wimbish laid out the rules and gave us the order of business. Unlimited class flew first, followed by RES, then 2M. Last, but not least, was the Nostalgia (NOS) class. Flying began at 9:00. By 10am it was blistering hot.
The Unlimited pilots flew beautiful sailplanes. There were Maxas, Explorers, and Supras. Some were flying their RES ships in both classes. AVAs seemed to be the choice in RES with a few of the Nostalgia ships sneaking in there for double duty. 2M had a smattering of wood designs, but was mostly dominated by Sprites and couple of Organics. In NOS, there were quite a few different models, from Olympic 2s, a Viking, and Birds of Time. Tom Skully even brought his wonderfully built and covered Challenger.
The first launches were handled with ease. A good winch boss makes all the difference in the world. Thanks again, and yet again, Wally! Also a big thank you to Ed Dumas, our scorekeeper. The AMA provided pizza for lunch!
The first rounds of each class were completed. Then, we finished Round 2 of Unlimited and made it into Round 2 Group 1 of RES before lightning began its open-air display. The contest was stopped and we battened down for an approaching thunderstorm. Now, you could see the kiddies scrambling to get their precious sailplanes safe from the high winds that were coming.
The storm damaged two pop-ups (of course mine was one of them). Mine is repairable alas, Scott Black's was literally crushed by water and wind. Several years ago, a much more powerful storm came through and caught everyone unaware. That storm destroyed several sailplanes, a dozen pop-ups and toppled several porta potties. It was pandelerium!
This storm only knocked over one porta potty! Due to the storm, only the first-round scores are complete. We’ll pick up where we left off on Saturday morning, 7/26 at 8:30AM.
Noted highlights are the three-way tie in RES, with Jim Martin, Gordon Buckland, and Josh Glaab tied for first place, and the three-way tie in 2M, with Todd Anderson, Gordon Buckland, and yours truly. Stay tuned for tomorrow's report!
Complete scores can be seen at gliderscore.com. Blue Skies!
