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2009 Schweizer 1-26 Championship/ World Class Championship (Part 3)
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from the PW-5 Championship after a disastrous landout.
Friday, June 26
Both the Schweizer 1-26s and the PW-5s turned in impressive performances on Friday, despite the less than optimal conditions. Even the sniffer, Hugh Grandstaff, flew a not too shabby 177 miles at 55.5 mph in his standard Libelle, 1UV.
The contest director called a modified assigned task (mat) with the first turnpoint at Estancia East and a minimum task time of two and a half hours for the 1-26ers and four hours for the PW-5s.
It was the second contest day for the Schweizers. Ten of the fifteen 1-26s finished the task and fourteen achieved credited distance. Ron Schwartz won the day with an average speed of 43.5 mph over a distance of 146.6 miles. Local pilot Pete Vredenburg finished second averaging 39.1 mph over a distance of 104.4 miles. Four of the 1-26s failed to make it back to Moriarty Airport and landed out.
Friday was the fourth contest day for the Pee-Wees. Five of the six PW-5s achieved credited distance. Patrick Tuckey (4K) received the high score for the day, achieving 871 points for an average speed of 54.03 mph over a distance of 221.73 miles. Francois Pin (FP) came in second with 843 points for a speed of 52.3 mph over a distance of 208.1 miles.
The first (and hopefully last) casualty of the contest was John Barr in PW-5 OL. Landing on a road is seldom a good option even when it is the best option as John found out the hard way. John landed on a road and caught a power pole with his wing tip. This pirouetted him off the road and into the barbed wire fence that bordered it. The fuselage ripped out three fence posts before coming to a stop with the barb wire fence stretch out across the canopy trapping John inside until help arrived. Fortunately, John was uninjured. The glider was substantially damaged with a large dent in the wingtip from the power pole and compression damage at the root along the trailing edge. The tail boom was split near the tail wheel. The fuselage suffered numerous dings and scratches from the fence posts and barbed wire. The canopy was scratched but miraculously did not break.
Southwest Soaring Museum fundraising dinner.
Saturday, June 27
“It’s raining gliders.” That was Rick Kohler’s comment as 1-26s fell out right and left less than twenty minutes after the launch. The weak soaring conditions made for many harrowing landings as some gliders skimmed the hangars to make the turn to final at breathtakingly low altitude. Fortunately, all fifteen gliders were recovered without incident. But the day was over for the Schweizers.
The PW-5s, on the other hand, continue to make a contest out of even the worst days. The task for the day called for a minimum time of three hours with turnpoints at Lamy Junction and Cedarvale. Bill Snead (6W) was the only competitor to finish the task with a speed of 50.3 mph over a distance of 168.51 miles. Two other competitors, Francois Pin (FP) and Tom McKnight (67) achieved credited distance.
Friday evening several competitors and their crews attended a fund raising dinner for the Southwest Soaring Museum where the 1-26 associated presented a $1000.00 check to George Applebay, the president of the museum board. After enjoying a buffet dinner and swing music courtesy of the Dukes, attendees were treated to a presentation on the jet powered Super Salto glider by it’s developer and pilot, Bob Carlton
Bob Carlton put on a quite a show in the Super Salto.
Sunday, June 28
Sunday was a day of rest. Very little blue sky was evident at the field and dark threatening clouds hovered low over the Sandias and Manzanos north and west of the field. The day started with pancakes, fruit, and sausages served up by the Albuquerque Soaring Club.
After breakfast contest participants were invited out to the runway to inspect the Super Salto jet powered sailplane as pilot, Bob Carlton, and crew chief, Mark Mocho, fueled it up. After firing up the engine, Bob took off and kept the aircraft in ground effect as long as possible to build up speed for a spectacular vertical takeoff to inverted flight. Bob then made several high speed passes down the runway before treating the spectators to an impromptu aerobatic routine performed over the emergency runway at the west end of the field. Bob performed loops, rolls, wing-overs and tail slides to the oohs and aahs of the crowd.
Then the contest pilots and their crews dispersed to enjoy the many points of interest available locally including Sandia Peak, the Santa Fe plaza, and the artist colony at Madrid.
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