| Logan Survival Training Camp
Region 9 and 15 Meter Contests |
by Nigel Cripps August 1, 2011
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OK so that's a cheap shot at an event that took a lot of organizing by a
dedicated group of individuals, although at times that's exactly what it felt
like to the uninitiated, from the time we were dropped off low on the ridge for
the slow grind up the hill side with 60 of our newest friends, to running at
ridge top - or below - with little height to spare to reach potential landout
spots in the valley, and to the inevitable late night retrieves for self or
friends. It seems almost no-one was spared at least a little agony, although as
usual those who really knew what they were doing seemed to (mostly...) breeze
through the contest and even get back in time for some dinner in the evenings.
The Region 9 and 15 Meter contests were held concurrently at Logan in July 2011,
with about 60 pilots attending. More than usual rainfall in the spring had left
the contest area very green and spectacular to view from the air, with some snow
still visible at ridge tops, however the damp ground seemed to kill any hope of
thermals in the valleys, and for many days the fleet was not reaching the
hoped-for climb heights. Even so, a couple of days late in the contest period
gave the lucky survivors a taste of the promised land.
Much has already been written, commented on, censored, etc., about the
organization, tasking and landout opportunities (or lack thereof), and Frank Paynter's consistently interesting and entertaining
reports initially posted to the SSA site did well to catch the flavor of how pilots new
to the area were responding to the challenge; a little exaggeration for
entertainment could have been taken without offense, but some of the organizers
must have been concerned that it might be detrimental to Logan's chances for
future contests, and so they were removed.
Were the risks any greater than elsewhere?
Perhaps; I didn't feel any more vulnerable flying along the ridge
than usual, didn't have any close calls, and with some sensible planning it was
always possible to reach a reasonable field for landing. But that's because
I was flying in survival mode much of the time and not able to think much about
competing, so I was making sensible rather than competitive decisions.
There was some damage to a few gliders whose pilots knowingly carried on into
bad weather over inhospitable terrain, but not necessarily more than would occur
in a contest anywhere else. The real carnage was in the dwindling number of
competitors as the contest went on. Mass landouts, late night retrieves and
aggressive and inflexible tasking options relative to the actual weather conditions took their toll,
and by the end of each competition a very significant proportion of the
competitors had chosen to go home early, rather than risk becoming a statistic.
Otherwise, Logan was a very fine place to fly and with my new-found
experience of what to expect there I will jump at the chance to return for more
contests, hoping for better weather and a crew.
The ground infrastructure - airport, local hotels, the town, Starbucks,
restaurants (of which I can attest at least some will give you a table after
11pm) - was the best I have experienced at any contest site; the contest area is
rightly challenging, with numerous ridges requiring careful transitions, and the
weather was - well, it wasn't the best Logan can offer this year, but there was
no adverse wind or rain (correction: but of course yes there most definitely was on day 1; the
nice dry cut alfalfa field I landed in had been turned into a mud bath by more than one
passing thunderstorm by the time I returned, singlehanded courtesy of my WingRigger, for the retrieve. But that's another story).
Crews appeared to be enjoying the site enormously,
unfortunately punctuated by the need for the occasional retrieve. The
organizing team mostly met the many challenges thrown at them, and many thanks are due to
Micki Minner for suffering through the pain of having to deal with a bunch
of pilots, Karl Striedeck and Tim McAllister for stepping up to take on CD
duties, and Barb Smith for running the launch very effectively each day.
Ron Gleason handled the scoring very efficiently and will make an
excellent future CM/CD. And not forgetting the many other helpers who go into
running a contest.
In the regional contest, Tim McAllister strode away with the Sports class in his
beautifully-prepared SZD-55, and Bif Huss took the combined FAI class with ease.
In the 15 Meter Nationals, John Cochrane had to abandon the contest with a clear
lead after 5 days due to back problems, leaving the field open for local pilot
Tim Taylor to come through to win on the final day.
Arizona was sadly under-represented by just 3 pilots, yours truly, 1X and MM. We
all left before the end - I was exhaused after a couple of late night retrives
and left rather than fly in my sleep - but it was nice to see MM trying as hard
as always, both for 1 week of practice before the contest started, and then for
most of the contest week. He won the landout stakes with probably 7 or 8,
alternately keeping the tow pilots rich with expensive retrieves, or his crew on
the road for ground pickup. Good seeing you John, and looking forward to having you fly the
Discus/Ventus/Arcus M etc with us again. WA and PC were also there, Mike was choosing which
color hat to wear each day for the weather briefing, and PC was crewing for
another pilot.
See you all next year, hopefully, at another Logan contest.
PS: In the original version of this report I forgot to mention just how useful Dave Leonard's excellent
Logan scenery in Condor had been while preparing for the contest. Flying in real life at Logan for the
first time, it was uncanny just how familiar things looked. The only thing missing was those comforting green
and red blobs showing where the thermals are; can we have those next time please?
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