Canadian Nationals - Final Scores

On the final flying day of the contest - flying day 4 - for the FAI class, the day was devalued by a 2 hr task for max points of 682 for the day.

Day winners were Dave Springford and Sergei Morozov, tied for first with a difference of 0.03 km/hr between them.  Close behind was Jerzy Szemplinski 0.22 km/hr behind.

This made for no change in the overall scores for the top 3 places making the final results

1. Dave Springford

2. Jerzy Szemplinski

3. Sergei Morozov

In the Club class, not enough pilots were able to complete the minimum task distance of 80 km on day 4, so the day was not a valid contest day.  This left the club class with only 3 contest days and unfortunately no contest.

The organizers and members at York did a great job hosting the Nationals, and Doug Scott did a great job as the CD.  Thank you to all the organizers and York members who allowed us to use their field and facilities to hold the contest.

 

Dave

Canadian Nationals Wrap-up

As I am sure most people have already heard, our Team Member Derek Mackie was fatally injured in an off-field landing accident on Day 7 of the Nationals.  We are all deeply saddened by his untimely passing and have lost a good friend and wonderful person.  He will be dearly missed by all of his soaring friends.  Many thanks to all who have emailed to express their condolences.

After Derek's accident, Wednesday was called as a rest day.  Today, the weather is not conducive to soaring - in fact - the club PW-5 just landed 10 minutes after release.

The weather for Friday does not look good either and it has already been called so the contest has come to an end. We will all meet at the banquet Friday night to remember Derek and close out the contest.

Dave

Canadian Nationals - Day 7

The word of the day is WIND! 

The wind was a little lighter than yesterday, but we were seeing over 20 kts from the NW at altitude at the end of the day.  Sniffers at launch time reported wind around 15-18 kts and lift to 5500 MSL, so we launched.

The task was changed on the grid to a 2 hr MAT with one mandatory turn at New Hamburg for the FAI class.  The original tasks all had turnpoints to the north, but the conditions looked much better to the south in the direction of Kitchener.

My goal for today was to "not lose", so I flew conservatively to keep high and away from the shredded thermals down low.  I was able to cover 173 km at 84 km/hr by staying south around the SOSA area where conditions were better.  I had one climb, over Cambridge, to 7000 MSL at 6.1 kts average.  I saw 10 kts on the window average during that climb.  It was well timed as it allowed me to get within reach of final glide.

Wednesday looks to be a good day with the winds dropping off.  We also have a 100 year celebration of flight at Juergensen field tomorrow.  Hans' grandfather flew the Wright Flyer B on 17 June1912!

Any one in the area that is thinking of attending should email Hans and see if he can add you to the count.

Dave

Canadian Nationals - Days 5 and 6

Sunday (day 5) was scrubbed at the pilots' meeting due to an approaching cold front and completely overcast sky with no chance of convective activity. 

Monday (day 6) was scrubbed around noon due to high winds.  the sky actually looks superb with nice cu and some streeting, but the wind is being measured as 33018G26KT by the Waterloo AWOS about 30 km south of York .

As I type this, the wind is howling and the RV is buffeting from the gusts.  Everyone is happy to be on the ground and not struggling in broken thermals.

Tuesday looks like it could be a good day., but the public forecasts for Waterloo and London are calling for "Wind north 30 km/h gusting to 50".

Dave