Extracts from a report by the USA agent of the JS1 - Leo Benetti-Longhini (with some photo's)
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Crossing the finish line
"Dear Jonker Sailplanes personnel,
Excellent news from across the Atlantic and much to be thankful for - Bill Elliott of Huntsville, Alabama is the new 18m USA National Champion! Thursday 22nd May was the final day of the 10-day contest. It was the fifth day of racing due to wet and very challenging weather that saw several ridge tasks due to strong winds. The scores going in to the final day placed Bill at the front of the pack with a mere 4 point lead over US team member and former World Champion Doug Jacobs (DJ) [and the winner of the final day in the 2006 WGC in the standard class in Sweden - if i may add ;-). Up and coming Devin Bargainnier (OO) held third.
Roy McMaster, Bill Elliott, Doug Jacobs
Bill Elliott with the JS1
The final race-day brought more rain and strong winds. Many believed that we would not fly and some humorously teased Bill about doing a rain dance so that he could be assured of a win by having another no-fly day. Contest manager John Good had other ideas - pilots were instructed to rig and get ready. A pilot meeting was called on the runway at noon, a turn area task (TAT) with nominal distance of 205 miles was declared, and the launch was underway at 12:20.
The day’s grid resulted in JS1 launching first. Pilots faced a strong almost 90 degree crosswind. Multiple rain showers blew through, but the ridge was working, and other than the launch crews waiting for lulls in the gusts, the launch proceeded. Cumulus clouds were 4000 AGL. Some wave was present to lure contestants to try alternate ridge-jumping strategies. The weather cycled rapidly with rain-showers blanketing many areas of the task. Choosing a start time was definitely a roll of the dice.
Bill left the start gate early at 13:11 (unusual that he did not shadow DJ as a strategy). The first leg was a southwest ridge run of about 60 miles to a turnpoint about 7 miles off the end of the ridge out in the valley. This required three thermals to climb up sufficiently, step out to the valley, and to get back to the ridge. From there it was a northeast run past Mifflin County to a turnpoint called Mifflintown. This included a 10 mile run in heavy rain. Before being able to go to the next turnpoint (Wagner Gap) located about 25 miles downwind, Bill had to backtrack 20 miles to get clear of the rain in order to safely leave the ridge and fly downwind using thermals. From Wagner Gap Bill flew into the 30 mph headwind deviating from the course back to the finish line by 45 degrees to avoid new rain showers. Bill made it home first and this time his radio call “Juliet Sierra One, four miles” was music!
...
Bill came in 4th for the day, mostly driven by a less-than-optimum early start and the backtracking because of the rain showers. When the flight logs were in, a major reshuffling of the players became evident. The day’s weather was some of the most technically challenging I have ever seen. Contest positions were decided by whether pilots were even able to make it around the course and the day’s speeds were dictated by phasing with the tricky weather phenomena.
....
It was quite gratifying that the other contestants were definitely cheering for Bill and the JS1. The whole atmosphere at Mifflin was decidedly positive and humorous in spite of the damp weather. It is definitely a contest to recommend (for the location, the organizers, and the competitors). This summer (northern hemisphere) is definitely off to a fantastic start building on Attie’s success at the SA Nationals back in January. The next few weeks will see some major decisions regarding upcoming contests with this glider. Congratulations and thanks to you all for building a winning machine!
Leo"
EY
.jpg)
Crossing the finish line
"Dear Jonker Sailplanes personnel,
Excellent news from across the Atlantic and much to be thankful for - Bill Elliott of Huntsville, Alabama is the new 18m USA National Champion! Thursday 22nd May was the final day of the 10-day contest. It was the fifth day of racing due to wet and very challenging weather that saw several ridge tasks due to strong winds. The scores going in to the final day placed Bill at the front of the pack with a mere 4 point lead over US team member and former World Champion Doug Jacobs (DJ) [and the winner of the final day in the 2006 WGC in the standard class in Sweden - if i may add ;-). Up and coming Devin Bargainnier (OO) held third.
Roy McMaster, Bill Elliott, Doug Jacobs
Bill Elliott with the JS1
The final race-day brought more rain and strong winds. Many believed that we would not fly and some humorously teased Bill about doing a rain dance so that he could be assured of a win by having another no-fly day. Contest manager John Good had other ideas - pilots were instructed to rig and get ready. A pilot meeting was called on the runway at noon, a turn area task (TAT) with nominal distance of 205 miles was declared, and the launch was underway at 12:20.
The day’s grid resulted in JS1 launching first. Pilots faced a strong almost 90 degree crosswind. Multiple rain showers blew through, but the ridge was working, and other than the launch crews waiting for lulls in the gusts, the launch proceeded. Cumulus clouds were 4000 AGL. Some wave was present to lure contestants to try alternate ridge-jumping strategies. The weather cycled rapidly with rain-showers blanketing many areas of the task. Choosing a start time was definitely a roll of the dice.
Bill left the start gate early at 13:11 (unusual that he did not shadow DJ as a strategy). The first leg was a southwest ridge run of about 60 miles to a turnpoint about 7 miles off the end of the ridge out in the valley. This required three thermals to climb up sufficiently, step out to the valley, and to get back to the ridge. From there it was a northeast run past Mifflin County to a turnpoint called Mifflintown. This included a 10 mile run in heavy rain. Before being able to go to the next turnpoint (Wagner Gap) located about 25 miles downwind, Bill had to backtrack 20 miles to get clear of the rain in order to safely leave the ridge and fly downwind using thermals. From Wagner Gap Bill flew into the 30 mph headwind deviating from the course back to the finish line by 45 degrees to avoid new rain showers. Bill made it home first and this time his radio call “Juliet Sierra One, four miles” was music!
...
Bill came in 4th for the day, mostly driven by a less-than-optimum early start and the backtracking because of the rain showers. When the flight logs were in, a major reshuffling of the players became evident. The day’s weather was some of the most technically challenging I have ever seen. Contest positions were decided by whether pilots were even able to make it around the course and the day’s speeds were dictated by phasing with the tricky weather phenomena.
....
It was quite gratifying that the other contestants were definitely cheering for Bill and the JS1. The whole atmosphere at Mifflin was decidedly positive and humorous in spite of the damp weather. It is definitely a contest to recommend (for the location, the organizers, and the competitors). This summer (northern hemisphere) is definitely off to a fantastic start building on Attie’s success at the SA Nationals back in January. The next few weeks will see some major decisions regarding upcoming contests with this glider. Congratulations and thanks to you all for building a winning machine!
Leo"
EY
1 comment:
Well written article.
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