Doug Adams-Anatol Polillo and Tom Skully show off their Nostalgia class-legal Challenger sailplanes.
By Mike Bergerson
Togetherness is the theme for this year's winch-launched events. AMA introduced its new competition rules for flying electric and winch together this year… mixed launch!
CD Wayne Wimbish began the festivities at 8:30 on Saturday morning. It was a beautiful day with light and variable winds and plenty of lift from the get-go! Seriously, I had to pinch myself that we weren't dreaming and actually in Muncie! We managed to fly four total rounds of Unlimited Thermal Duration (TD) and three complete rounds of Nostalgia (NOS). There were only a few pilots flying electrics.
In TD, Don Richmand flew his Ultima 2, Tom Skully flew his 3M Yellow Jacket, and Ken Bates flew his original Nostalgia-legal design JLS (“Jonathan Livingston Sailplane”) in both events. I flew an electric Foxbat in Nostalgia as well, but managed to eliminate it from competition after a round-3 landing. It will need a new center section.
Wayne had meticulously measured the winch line lengths to match the electric’s shutoff altitude of 150 meters. The winch-launched gliders had the advantage of a high energy “ping” at the end of their climb to gain a significant altitude edge. The electrics could “zoom” their launch, if they had the power to do so.
Explorers had the numbers in TD with five entries, followed by three Supras and a beautiful custom-built Prestige 2PK winch model. There was even an old Pike Perfect in use!
Nostalgia had three Challengers! These behemoths are truly “balsa overcast!” Tom Skully, Anatol Polillo, and Doug Adams flew them with great precision and skill. Most unfortunately, Anatol lost his on a round-3 landing, damaging the fuselage. Garry Oglevie flew his Oly 2, Pete Russel flew a gorgeous Aquila, Jon Garber flew a sweet example of a Legoinaire 140, Scott Black had his pristine Merlin, and John Lawyer flew his beautiful John Deere-themed sailplane with his granddaughter timing.
Ed Dumas and Mike Lachowski flew their respective Mirages. Wayne sadly lost his Maestro Megan in an aggressive launch and my Foxbat snapped its center section on a high energy landing, with a sudden most-abrupt stop (insert “I can't believe all that just happened!” emoji face here).
We flew rounds late into the day (with a questionable forecast on the horizon for day 2) and really got it done! You couldn't have asked for a finer day to fly sailplanes. Take that “Muncie Madness!”
Blue Skies!
Scott Black of Sky Bench Aerotech presents raffle winner, Fred Maier, with a Little Bird.
Scott Black says a few words at the pilots’ meeting.
Tom Skully with his Challenger. Tom flies this sailplane in Nostalgia with great skill.
Wayne Wimbish is campaigning his Maestro Meghan in Nostalgia.
Saturday Nostalgia scores
