| Moriarty Super Regional June 13-17, 2011 |
Report by Cliff Hilty June 28, 2011
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In my usual style and with the enormous help from my crew, I decided to try and fly to Moriarty on
Friday before the contest. I launched from Coyote Run (PSS home field) in Prescott Valley at 11:00am
hoping to get an early start.
I struggled for a while off tow and finally got up to 13+ K at Mingus and thought I was on my way.
Rose and granddaughter Megan didn't leave till 12:00 noon when I was about over the middle of Verde
valley heading for Sedona. I managed Radio contact but knew that if all went well I wouldn't probably
get to talk to them again. After getting low at Sedona and again over lake Mary I managed to make the
rest of the flight without too much incident.
Talking to EX, Mitch Hudson on the radio around Holbrook gave me hope for a fine week of soaring ahead
as they were on a 500k+ cu filled sky flight out of Moriarty and little wind. The elation was replaced
by skepticism as the next two days were practice and the CD, Mike Carris, and Weather man Brian Resor
forecast high winds and precautionary notes about cross wind landings at Moriarty with Broken thermals.
I decided not to fly on the practice days and since it was Rose’s birthday (what a gal crewing on her
birthday do you think I should keep her?) we decided to go to Albuquerque and see some sites. 66 and
1X showed up on Saturday night and 66 managed to give himself the ultimate curse by winning the second
practice day. Winds on practice day 2 were sustained 28, gusting 34 and kind of set the tone for most
of the contest.
First day of the contest the CD called Tierra de Dios (15 mi) and Corona (25 mi), 2.5 hour minimum time.
The nominal distance was 155 miles and local knowledge really paid off here. With EX, Mitch Hudson taking
first in club class and 1X, CH, and 66 respectively in 12, 13 and 14 place and a low 700's score. For my
part I got extremely low on the first turn and spent a while scratching out, and knew it was going to be a
long haul to get back in it. The day ended with a BBQ dinner by the Commemorative Air Force in there hangar
with old airplanes always fun!
Day 2, weather was not much better with wind from the NW at 20-25 and the task was a TAT San Cristobal (15),
Palma (10), and Mountainair (15). This task for me proved much better as I found the line I needed and didn't
get low. I managed a 4th place finish at 932 point with 66 and 1X 8th and 9th still in the low 900's I should
mention here that the Air force were there with 4 planes in modern class and lots of crew. They were invaluable
as we gridded off the runway in 7 rows of 6 planes and had to push gliders out on to the runway for takeoff.
These guys were GREAT! It could not have worked without there help.
Day 3 the wind calmed down a bit and the call was Las Vegas (20 mi), Gallinas Peak (15 mi) and a 3 hour minimum.
This proved to be the fastest day so far and everyone was starting to find the groove and land outs were
starting to diminish. 66 and I were still neck and neck with 1X not far behind but Sean Franke in his LS1f
kicked butt and blew most everyone away I managed 910 with 66 at 907 and 1x in the mid 800's. I was amazed to
see Dave Leonard flew almost 80mph in modern class (a good reason to separate out the classes).
Day 4 the wind was back and there was concern whether or not we would fly. Ops was concerned if we would be
able to tow safely and the Air force's limits were 25knots max and 15 cross, but the wind turned almost
straight down the runway. Once in the air however we were all amazed at how well the lift organized and
I saw lift (and sink) in the 15 knot range to 17k and it turned out to be my best day with 83.40mph raw
and 937 points. But local knowledge had EX kicking but again with 85 mph raw and another 1000 point day.
66 managed to get suckered by the cloud street to the west and on the ridge line that turned out not to
be working. 1X managed to do what I did on the first day and got stuck low more than once and paid a
heavy price. It was still amazing to me that I could se 35-40 mph wind at altitude and still have that
kind of lift. And as Billy Hill said later “Welcome to New Mexico soaring”!
Day 5 or not! The winds picked up and were blowing, although straight down the runway, at 30 gusting to
38 they didn't want to risk having an incident and called the day. With in minutes of calling the day a
DG 800 rolled into Rick Culbertson's 27 and put a good dent on the rudder. That was the only bad news for
the entire week including all of the land outs, the good news was that there were plenty of repair people
around between Robert and Fidel to choose from for a Jiffy Fix!
As a side note there was some discussion about club class and the attempt to hijack the class and expand
it upward to include the higher performance gliders in a attempt to secure positions on the national team
and compete in the worlds. The argument is that people with gliders with handicaps lower than club class
allows (ie. Ventus 2, ASW 27 ect.) would be able to compete in their ships and secure a position in the
worlds having never flown a club class glider, at least in the year they are competing in. The counter
argument was that if you want to compete in club class, you should buy/borrow a club class glider to
compete with. Stay tuned for more on this in the US glider community.
Well at the rate I was going I just needed one more day and I could have moved into 3rd or 2nd place
after the dismal start. Final standing for the AZ pilots were CH 5th, 66 8th and 1X 12th. With a field
of 19 in club class, it was an interesting mix and very rewarding format. EX won the club class and ZL
won the Modern class. As one would expect, the lower the handicap the more advantage there was in
windy conditions but without wind the others seemed to kick butt. I would definitely do that again!
As always a super job by the organizers and staff! Too many to mention here (and I am afraid Ill miss
someone), but a great job by everyone. Did I mention that we had the pilots meeting and banquet in the
SW Soaring Museum? What better place to have meetings surrounded by the wondrous history of our sport!
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