Oz Report

July 4, 2016, 9:04:20 MST -0600

2016 Green Swamp Sport Klassic

Alan's video

Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2016|video

https://youtu.be/t7GPwEaNsiw

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May 18, 2016, 10:27:31 pm EST -0400

2016 Green Swamp Sport Klassic

Bob's video

Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2016|video

https://youtu.be/XBjN-UFYFUw

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Mon, Apr 11 2016, 1:00:20 pm MDT

Much better days with lots of cu's

Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2016|Ken Kinzie|Mark Bourbonnais

It appears that we had the Green Swamp Sport Klassic one week too early (and we'll remember that for next year). Unlike during the competition with its predominantly north winds, we've had skies full of fluffy cu's and lighter winds. The cu's that we had on the day with east south east winds during the comp were nothing like we are seeing now.

Ken Kinzie and Mark Bourbonnais are flying north northwest.

Looks perfect:

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April 9, 2016, 11:59:38 pm EST -0400

2016 Green Swamp Sport Klassic - day 7

The winds die down

Fausto Arcos|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2016|Niki Longshore

The day started with strong north winds and pilots very unhappy about the prospects for the day. On the previous two days the winds were light out of the west in the morning and it was quite launchable only to have very strong winds in the afternoon. If the direction had been north or southeast we would have flown, but west pushes us in the wrong direction.

Today the forecast was for lighter winds in the afternoon and after much discussion we came up with a shorter task to the south going with the forecast as the winds began to diminish by the 11 AM pilot meeting. The launch was set to open at 1:30 PM after much discussion.

My team, the topless gliders, were set to launch first. We were concerned whether there was lift at 1:30. We had sent up a wind dummy, but he didn't last long. Then another with a broken weaklink at 500 feet.

Alan Arcos went next, then I took off. The tug coughed and Timothy waved my off at 600 feet. Back in line I took off after Fausto Arcos. There was 1,300 fpm on tow right above the club house and when I went back to it the lift was there. The two Arcoses joined me. Soon Mark and Ken were there also and we also climbed up. Mick was a little lower.

We drifted in the 10 mph winds from the north as we climbed to about 3,400'. The first thermal was 290 fpm. But after that the lift was light and patchy. We all flew together only once getting over 3,800'. Often the average lift was less than 100 fpm. Mick went back north early and landed and had to relaunch.

It was about an hour into the flight that we found 180 fpm south of highway 474. We are able to climb to almost 3,800'. A little further south we climbed at 200 fpm to almost 4,300', the best of the day.

I headed out in the lead again and raced this time to the south toward a small fire. Our glides had been very short but now I went 9 kilometers to get over the fire and down to 1,800'.

The lift was light at 90 fpm, but we were only 7 kilometers from goal. We all hung out in and around the smoke when I lead out toward goal. The goal cylinder was 12 km with a cylinder crossing in a field just east of the Fantasy of Flight. The large cylinder made it difficult for pilots to calculate their final glide as the calculation goes to the center of the cylinder.

I had changed my goal point to the Fantasy of Flight which was close to our goal so I had a better idea of how we were doing. The other four pilots joined in right behind me. The mentor is supposed to lead out.

The field was huge and every one had a good landing. Kermit, from the Fantasy of Flight, came up in his float plane and did three passes of us. It turned out that he also owned the field we chose to land in also. He drove over the greet us later.

Niki came in later and was by far the first king posted glider to get to goal. She was just a bit slower than Kelly who came much later. We score sport class distance and time only, not arrival position or time etc. Niki gets a 6% bonus as she is flying a glider equivalent to to a Wills Wing Sport 2 (two sprogs, four luft lines).

April 9, 2016, 10:59:07 pm EST -0400

2016 Green Swamp Sport Klassic - day 7

The last day

Andrey Solomykin|competition|Facebook|Fausto Arcos|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2016|Kari Castle|Ken Kinzie|Mark Bourbonnais|Niki Longshore|PG|Wills Wing T2C

Niki Longshore wins the King posted group. The first women to win an overall hang gliding competition (in the US at least) since Kari Castle.

http://karicastle.com/kari-castle-world-champion-hangliding-and-paragliding-pilot/

In 1993 Castle made headlines when she became the first woman in history to win a major competition (the Sandia Classic) over a mixed-gender line-up, and when she entered the Canadian Nationals in 1995 – the sole woman in a field of elite men – she won the gold there, too.

Kelly was second, Andre third and Niki first.

https://airtribune.com/gssk2016/results

Topless, task 5:

#	Name	Nat	Glider	Time	Distance	Total
1	Alan Arcos	ECU	Wills Wing T2C 144	01:06:29	40.92	920
2	Ken Kinzie	CAN	Wills Wing T2C 144	01:06:43	40.92	906
3	Mark Bourbonnais	CAN	Wills Wing 136 T2C	01:06:51	40.92	901
4	Fausto Arcos	ECU	Wills Wing T2C 154	01:07:07	40.92	892
5	Mick Howard	USA	Wills Wing T2C 144		34.62	309

Final results:

#	Name	Nat	Glider	T 1	T 2	T 3	T 4	T 5	Total
1	Fausto Arcos	ECU	Wills Wing T2C 154	897	884	1000	1000	892	4673
2	Mark Bourbonnais	CAN	Wills Wing 136 T2C	668	787	784	308	901	3448
3	Mick Howard	USA	Wills Wing T2C 144	828	1000	798	448	309	3383
4	Alan Arcos	ECU	Wills Wing T2C 144	371	916	767	310	920	3284
5	Ken Kinzie	CAN	Wills Wing T2C 144	93	743	460	137	906	2339

King posted, task 5:

#	Name		Nat	Glider	Time	Total
1	Niki Longshore	F	USA	Icaro 2000 Orbiter	01:20:02	1022
2	Kelly Myrkle	M	USA	Aeros Discus	01:19:37	980
3	John Maloney	M	USA	WW Sport 2 155	01:25:25	945
4	Andrey Solomykin	M	RUS	Aeros Discus	01:28:27	864

Final results:

#	Name		Nat	Glider	T 1	T 2	T 3	T 4	T 5	Total
1	Niki Longshore	F	USA	Icaro 2000 Orbiter	283	951	1060	399	1022	3715
2	Kelly Myrkle	M	USA	Aeros Discus	287	545	978	800	980	3590
3	Andrey Solomykin	M	RUS	Aeros Discus	467	500	723	591	864	3145
4	John Maloney	M	USA	WW Sport 2 155	262	442	655	166	945	2470
5	Greg Sessa	M	USA	Wills Wing U2 160	193	514	243	900	474	2324

April 8, 2016, 1:48:21 pm EST -0400

2016 Green Swamp Sport Klassic - day 6

Another rest day

Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2016

Launch conditions were okay as we had two pilots launch around 1 PM. The task was called off at the pilot meeting at 11 AM based on forecasts and upper level wind speeds being measured at air fields.

West winds. Blue at 1:30 PM. Southwest winds at 12 mph gusting to 22 mph at Leesburg air field to our north about 30 miles at 1:45.

Conditions look good for Saturday. 9 mph, north northwest at 2,000' at 2 PM.

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April 7, 2016, 5:16:59 pm EST -0400

2016 Green Swamp Sport Klassic - day 5

A rest day

Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2016

With a west wind we were primed to not fly. The forecast was for 14 mph winds on the surface, but the actual winds were quite light and a test flight showed the launch conditions were mild. The mentors decided that they didn't want to fly thinking that landing conditions would be difficult at Quest Air given the wind direction.

A major problem with west winds is that you are pushed toward the airspace 11 kilometers to the east. We had set a north south out and return task. The upper level winds were supposed to be 15 to 24 mph. The task would require pilots to fly upwind then drift back in the thermals. This would be quite difficult for the pilots flying Sport 2 type gliders.

We face similar conditions tomorrow, but light winds on Saturday.

https://airtribune.com/gssk2016/blog__day_5

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April 6, 2016, 10:37:05 pm EST -0400

2016 Green Swamp Sport Klassic - day 4

Two topless gliders at goal

Andrey Solomykin|competition|Fausto Arcos|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2016|Mark Bourbonnais|Niki Longshore|Risk Retention Group|Tom Lanning|video|Wills Wing T2C

The wind from the east was pretty consistent all day, 8 mph gusting to 14. The forecast was for cu's, strong lift and a high cloud base. The forecast was again overly optimistic. It also forecast the wind turning south easterly, and it did turn east south easterly. There was actually a convergence to the north with a southwest wind.

We started from the west launch heading east and towing was going great. My crew was third in line and everyone before us was staying up, even the Sport 2 group that launched first.

When I took off there was strong lift right away and almost every where I towed to the east. I pinned off under the topless pilots who launched just before us and climbed out to 3,300' at 250 fpm. Since my mentees were launched right after me, I decided to head up wind to get back to Quest to stay with them. There were plenty of good looking cu's ahead and since I had experienced such strong lift on tow I figured no problem getting up back east of Quest.

I landed without hitting anything after going under all the cu's. Problem was most of my mentees also landed.

Took another tow later, got off early in 1,100 fpm. It disappeared as soon as I pinned off and turned around.

Now I was the last to tow. Stayed on to 2,200' in no lift, pinned off and ran for a cu over the black greenhouses to the west and down to 1,600' found lift. The wind was 10 mph out of the east southeast so the thermal moved fast. I was looking for any of my mentees and climbing at a little over 200 fpm.

Lost the lift at 2,400' and went downwind to see what was available, if anything. There were plenty of cu's about. Down to less than 1000' I found 350 fpm average to 4,800'. The cu's looked good.

The wind at increased to 12 mph and was pushing me and another pilot too far toward the west. Heading north I found 250 fpm to 5,000'. Things were looking up.

There was a blue hole to the north and the cu's were over a forested area to the west south of the prisons. I had to go there despite my desires and floundered around until I got next to the small fires from land clearing. I was joined there by my mentee, Kelly Myrkle. We climbed at 225 fpm to 4,100'. Not high enough given the bigger and denser forested areas  (swamps) to the northwest.

Kelly followed along the edge of the swamp to the north. I headed for a big dark cu and could smell the smoke under it but didn't find much lift. There was a distance cu further north, but there was not much to recommend it and restricted landing fields under it. Kelly headed that way. I took a right hand turn for better cu's nearby to the east, but they were weak and after a long struggle I went down.

Kelly continued on and was almost able to make it to the turnpoint for second for the day. Greg Sessa went 85 kilometers for first.

Larry and Fausto were able to make it to goal. We went and picked up Tom Lanning who went down with his mentees. Greg went down with Nikki.

https://airtribune.com/gssk2016/results

King posted day 4:

#	Name		Nat	Glider	Distance	Total
1	Greg Sessa	M	USA	Wills Wing U2 160	85.22	900
2	Kelly Myrkle	M	USA	Aeros Discus	71.88	799
3	Soraya Rios	F	VEN	Wills Wing Sport 135	47.92	662
4	Andrey Solomykin	M	RUS	Aeros Discus	45.24	604
5	Richard Elder	M	USA	Bautek Fizz	36.78	521

Cumulative:

#	Name		Nat	Glider	Total
1	Niki Longshore	F	USA	Icaro 2000 Orbiter	2715
2	Kelly Myrkle	M	USA	Aeros Discus	2609
3	Andrey Solomykin	M	RUS	Aeros Discus	2294
4	Greg Sessa	M	USA	Wills Wing U2 160	1850
5	Richard Elder	M	USA	Bautek Fizz	1569

Topless:

#	Name	Nat	Glider	Time	Distance	Total
1	Fausto Arcos	ECU	Wills Wing T2C 154	03:00:40	108.27	1000
2	Mick Howard	USA	Wills Wing T2C 144		45.47	413
3	Alan Arcos	ECU	Wills Wing T2C 144		22.77	280
4	Mark Bourbonnais	CAN	Wills Wing 136 T2C		22.50	277

Cumulative:

#	Name	Nat	Glider	Total
1	Fausto Arcos	ECU	Wills Wing T2C 154	3781
2	Mick Howard	USA	Wills Wing T2C 144	3039
3	Mark Bourbonnais	CAN	Wills Wing 136 T2C	2516
4	Alan Arcos	ECU	Wills Wing T2C 144	2272

April 6, 2016, 8:51:39 pm EST -0400

2016 Green Swamp Sport Klassic - day 4

Larry says best day yet

Facebook|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2016

She wasn't at goal:

Larry says that we missed this convergence with our task taking us to Williston, which I assume was off to our west:

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April 5, 2016, 9:48:19 pm EST -0400

2016 Green Swamp Sport Klassic - day 1

Preliminary results

Andrey Solomykin|competition|Fausto Arcos|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2016|Ken Kinzie|Mark Bourbonnais|Niki Longshore|Timothy Ettridge|video|Wills Wing T2C

https://airtribune.com/gssk2016/results

I asked Timothy Ettridge to score the day based on the IGC files produced by pilots flying with their phones and using the Airtribune App. Not the most reliable IGC files, but since the pilots were so far away I thought that it would be a good start.

Kingposted:

#	Name		Nat	Glider	Time	Distance	Total
1	Niki Longshore	F	USA	Icaro 2000 Orbiter	03:43:39	110.55	1060
2	Kelly Myrkle	M	USA	Aeros Discus	03:51:33	110.55	951
3	Burke Schnedl	M	USA	Wills Wing U2 145		89.54	640
4	Pete Wall	M	CAN	Wills Wing Sport2-155		45.30	479

Cumulative

#	Name		Nat	Glider	Total
1	Niki Longshore	F	USA	Icaro 2000 Orbiter	2294
2	Kelly Myrkle	M	USA	Aeros Discus	1783
3	Andrey Solomykin	M	RUS	Aeros Discus	1321
4	Richard Elder	M	USA	Bautek Fizz	1058
5	Burke Schnedl	M	USA	Wills Wing U2 145	1022

Topless:

#	Name	Nat	Glider	Time	Total
1	Fausto Arcos	ECU	Wills Wing T2C 154	02:41:04	1000
2	Mick Howard	USA	Wills Wing T2C 144	02:58:34	798
3	Alan Arcos	ECU	Wills Wing T2C 144	03:02:30	769
4	Ken Kinzie	CAN	Wills Wing T2C 144	03:57:29	460

Cumulative:

#	Name	Nat	Glider	Total
1	Fausto Arcos	ECU	Wills Wing T2C 154	2781
2	Mick Howard	USA	Wills Wing T2C 144	2626
3	Alan Arcos	ECU	Wills Wing T2C 144	1994
4	Mark Bourbonnais	CAN	Wills Wing 136 T2C	1455
5	Ken Kinzie	CAN	Wills Wing T2C 144	1296

These scores have errors in them.

April 5, 2016, 7:13:11 pm EST -0400

2016 Green Swamp Sport Klassic - day 1

Later, better

Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2016|Niki Longshore

111 kilometers to the south. A turnpoint at highway 192 and 27 to keep us out of the Bronson property and get us over highway 27, the Florida ridge. Then goal at Avon Park air field.

The forecast was for very high top of lift at 6,000' or maybe even 8,000' and no cu's. Winds out of the north at 8 mph or so. And 700 to 800 fpm lift. Actually the top of lift was much lower earlier and the lift was quite poor at first as we started too early (1 PM). Things improved greatly as the day progressed.

Most of the first team off had to take relights. Apparently there were plenty more relights later. Tom, the team leader was able to hang on.

We almost suspended the launch with Niki at the front as so many were low. But the word was the other pilots were finding strong lift so we kept it open and that turned out to be perfect for the next few pilots.

I was the mentor for the last team and we got off with at about 1:40 PM. I found lift downwind under one of the topless gliders but I could not get up to him and the other three gliders that came in over me and launch just before us. The lift was about 200 fpm and got me to 4,200'. The other pilots were over 5,000'. Very frustrating.

While other pilots were going back to relights I was struggling while I watched the other four topless glider pilots (Arcos, Larry, Greg)
head off or stay high above me.  Finally after searching every where and twice going over a circling sail plane I got too low and had to land.

The high pilots found strong lift to the east and got to the turnpoint and down the course line.

Check out the Live Tracking for a replay at https://airtribune.com/gssk2016/blog__day_3 to see how they did. Looks like Niki got first place again in the kingposted group. Kelly was apparently second in. Andre landed a kilometer short. All the topless guys made it in.

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April 4, 2016, 10:34:21 pm EST -0400

2016 Green Swamp Sport Klassic - day 1

Light winds, a few very thin and very short lived wispes

Andrey Solomykin|competition|Fausto Arcos|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2016|Ken Kinzie|Mark Bourbonnais|Niki Longshore|Wills Wing T2C

With a forecast for light northerlies winds we expected blue skies but a higher top of the lift than the previous 4,100'. The mentors got together for a task meeting at 10 AM before the pilot meeting at 11 AM. There was quite a bit of dissension as Larry called for a big task and I felt that the smaller box of 46 kilometers was certainly long enough. We reached an agreement that allowed for anyone who made it around the task twice to receive a 10% bonus. Larry was sure that he would at least get around twice if not more times.

We launched as teams at 1:30 PM with my team of U2-type glider pilots second. Larry's other team of U2-type pilots was first, Tom with the Sport 2 type glider pilots after me, and Greg with the topless pilots last. There was a spare cu or two every now and then near the launch area but it was essentially blue and would stay that way all day.

The lift was over 200 fpm and my team and Larry's team worked our way up to 5,400' without drifting to the east outside the 3 KM start cylinder. I waited until all or almost all of my team mates got over 5,000' then had everyone head for the first turnpoint at Sawmill 8 KM to the southeast.

Most of the pilots went with us and a gaggle formed just to the west of the turnpoint. I went and got the turnpoint and then headed further west to see if there was lift other some wispies. While everyone else was slowly climbing back east of me by the turnpoint, I found 250 fpm at 1,800' and worked that for a while as all the kingposted glider pilots and their mentors behind me stayed in their thermal as best that they could. Tom and Larry and Greg were back there.

Back at 3,800' I went back to join up with my team mates as no one apparently wanted to join me up wind. I didn't find much lift back under them so went up wind again to the west and climbed out at 150 fpm again back to 3,800' and decided that I would just lead out and see if I could find some better lift for the team.

Crossing west of highway 33 on my way to the turnpoint at Bay Lake at the edge of the Green Swamp I found some nice lift at 230 fpm. The pilots behind noticed this and a few higher mentors, probably Larry or Greg, so the gaggle moved west from the first turnpoint and we all climbed up together as we are supposed to in this Sport Class competition with mentors.

The wind was mostly out of the north at about 5 mph. Climbing to almost 5,000' I again headed out to test the waters ahead and report back to the crew. Almost everyone was doing well just behind me.

There was only light lift before the turnpoint so after a few turns I took the turnpoint and headed north toward an open field area that looked bare and hot. At 2,100' I found almost 200 fpm with a 3 mph west northwest drift. Numerous pilots joined in, but strangely enough it was now all the topless gliders. Larry had gone back to help out his team mates but was now getting up from well below us.

Tom was behind us helping out the Sport 2 glider pilots. I was upset that only the topless gliders were near me, but my guys were not that far behind. One had landed.

When the lift weakened at 4,600' I headed out first to the north toward the next turnpoint. I hadn't had any problem finding lift to that point so I wasn't too concerned about being out front again. In the end I did not find a lick of lift and landed in a big dry field.

I got on the radio with my pilots and talked with Rich Elder. He was just coming to the Bay Lake turnpoint and I told him about the field to the north with the good lift. He later was able to climb to 5,000' there.

I could watch the topless gliders circling to my west and after a very slow climb, move over and four pilots climbed quickly very high. I saw a few others low further toward the turnpoint but then they found lift and were getting up. Then I saw Larry low near my field. He landed with me soon after I saw him.

Larry could see on the Airtribune web site that Tom was with Nikki and helping her along toward the turnpoint. As we packed up and headed back to Quest we could see that she was doing well and heading toward goal. We got back in plenty of time to see her and Tom make goal. She won the day as the only king posted glider to make goal.

https://airtribune.com/gssk2016/results

Topless results:

#	Name	Nat	Glider	Time	Total
1	Mick Howard	USA	WillsWing T2C 144	02:09:34	1000
2	Alan Arcos	ECU	Wills Wing T2C 144	02:13:48	916
3	Fausto Arcos	ECU	Willswing T2C 154	02:16:22	884
4	Mark Bourbonnais	CAN	Wills Wing 136 T2C	02:26:36	787
5	Ken Kinzie	CAN	Wills Wing T2C 144	02:32:02	743

King posted:

#	Name		Nat	Glider	Time	Distance	Total
1	Niki Longshore	F	USA	Icaro 2000 Orbiter	02:45:57	42.67	1018
2	Richard Elder	M	USA	Bautek Fizz		36.77	706
3	Dan Lukaszewicz	M	USA	Wills Wing U2		25.60	575
4	Kelly Myrkle	M	USA	Aeros Discus		24.65	563
5	Richard Westmoreland	M	USA	Wills wing Eagle 164		18.64	537
6	Owen MB	M	CAN	Wills Wing U2		22.76	534
7	Nick Jones	M	CAN	Wills wing U2 145		22.71	533
8	Greg Sessa	M	USA	Wills Wing U2 160		22.57	530
9	Andrey Solomykin	M	RUS	Aeros Discus		21.99	516
10	Alex Skyride	M	USA	WW U2 144		20.06	489

April 4, 2016, 0:03:13 EST -0400

2016 Green Swamp Sport Klassic - day 1

A post frontal weak day

Andrey Solomykin|Belinda Boulter|competition|Fausto Arcos|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2016|Greg Dinauer|Ken Kinzie|Larry Bunner|Mark Bourbonnais|Niki Longshore|Quest Air|Steve Kroop|Wills Wing T2C

A front came through on Saturday with rain and high winds. The winds were still a bit strong on Sunday morning, but the forecast was for the winds dying down substantially in the afternoon.

Belinda takes a photo that shows that the winds are much lighter.

NAM was showing top of lift at 3,000' - 4,000' at 2PM on XCSkies. 4,000' - 5,000' at 5 PM. Not real high. Of course, with a post frontal north wind there was a forecast for no cu's. While the lift was predicted to be 600-700 fpm, it did not look like it would be that strong with temperatures much lower than before the front now in the upper seventies.

The task committee called a short opening task to the south and southwest. The nominal distance for the Sport Class here is 30 km in light April conditions and the task distance was a little over that. They put a 9KM radius around the goal point it get us near good landing fields and easy retrieval at Dean Still road.

The task was to fly south along highway 33 to the intersection of 474 and 33 then head off the south east corner of the Green Swamp over open fields toward the intersection of Rockridge and highway 98. A little tricky heading south on 33 with kingposted gliders as the fields are there but you have to be choosey. It is not totally open like it is to the north and northwest of Quest.

There are four mentors in the competition, Larry Bunner, Greg Dinauer, Ton Lanning and myself. Our payment consists of free tows. We spend considerable time with our teams and switch every two days.

Steve Kroop from Flytec USA came on Saturday night to help pilots understand their instruments. He and the mentors split up the pilots into instrument groups and a two to three hour discussion ensued. Thanks to Steve for all his expertise and kind help.

Because of the wind forecast for reduced winds later in the afternoon the task committee called on us to open the launch at 2:30 PM. The task was "elapsed time" so your time started when you crossed the 5 KM start cylinder. This is how we run Sport Class competitions, without start gates.

Since we had five pilots flying Wills Wing T2C's I decided to score them separately than the king posted gliders. Normally we would just provide a substantial handicap to the topless gliders but with so many I determined that it would be fairer just to score them separately even though everyone flew the same task. This is still a sport class competition, with two separate groups being scored.

The king posted hang gliders were handicapped, actually anti-handicapped, with the Wills Wing U2 and similar configured gliders having no handicap, and gliders equivalent to the Sport 2 with a 6% bonus. The Wills Wing Eagle pilot got a 29% bonus.

We divided the pilots into teams of five with a couple of extras in the S (Sport 2) team. The T (T2C) team launched first in the hope that they could stay up on a weak day and show the rest of us the lift. The two U teams were next and finally the S team. Each mentor launched just in front of their team, again hopefully they would radio to their team members where the lift was.

Getting ready to launch in team order. Photo by Belinda.

I found lift that averaged 105 fpm on the southwest corner of the Quest Air field and radioed my position and climb rate to my team members. Hard to know who heard as they basically listen. At 105 fpm conditions were not really great and I was not climbing that high. There were plenty of pilots nearby so markers were the order of the day.

I hung around in the 5KM start cylinder for 35 minutes attempting to gather up the team and then move them south toward the first turnpoint. One of the team headed further south when I went back north to gather more. I really could not tell where most of the team was.

Finally moving further south there were a few markers ahead so I encouraged my pilots to go on the course and use the markers ahead to show them the lift. I had been able to climb to 3,900' before heading south and that was the highest I was to get all day.

The ground was flooded below us from the heavy rains on Saturday and days before. The lift was weak and we just weren't getting high, but it was fun. We found lift pretty readily but it was rarely coherent. We'd hit a little here and a little bit there. One of my pilots ahead of me and a couple behind.

The markers ahead showed me the lift at the Seminole Glider Port and I waited there for the two pilots just behind me to catch up. Mick Howard, Greg Dinauer, Larry Bunner, (so two mentors and a topless) were waiting around with me. Andre Solomykin, from Russia, flying a nice looking Aeros Discus, was there also.

One of my pilots was too low just behind me and couldn't make it to our lift and landed. As we headed south another pilot was on the north side of the glider port getting up, so I told him that there were markers ahead not far and not flying fast, so get up and use us to get to the next thermal.

That thermal a few kilometers south of the glider port was the best of the day at 300 fpm. Andre got above me there and Greg and Mick were high.

Heading further south west now that we had tagged the waypoint, I came in under these guys again and found lift that averaged 65 fpm. I was calling out my position and lift values ahead so I think one of my pilots came in under me, but was too low and landed.

Larry Bunner, who was supposed to be transmitting on his team frequency, was in fact transmitting on ours and not communicating with his team mates at all. But we appreciated all the extra help. He had already gone back again to help Kelly Myrkle, but again could not communicate with him.

Finally I had to leave the weak lift low at 1,700' and just head out toward the goal looking at massively flooded fields ahead. It seemed to me that I would never find lift over such fields and that I was on final glide to the edge of the goal cylinder with no team pilots in tow. A complete failure in the mentoring business.

But it was just one kilometer and I found 200+ fpm at 1,400'. The wind was only 4 mph out of the north northwest and I climbed 1000'  in the much welcomed lift before some black vultures came through heading north further into the Green Swamp. I decided to follow them away from the goal and see if they could find something even better. They were definitely following a lift line and I kept hitting little bits, but didn't gain any altitude as I kept watching them hoping for them to start turning.

After this game for one kilometer, I turned around and lost all by 400' of what I had gained and again headed out over the flooded plains. The sink wasn't that bad and it looked like I could just glide to the edge of the goal cylinder. Down to less than 1000' AGL a little over 3 km from goal, I found some sweet little lift that was actually very coherent. 109 fpm.

It was over a nice open field with a paved road nearby and there was no reason to leave it, just hang in there and maybe get to the center of the goal cylinder. Lots of birds came over the play so this must have been the best lift in the neighborhood.

It was easy to make to the goal cylinder with 1,800' of altitude and once there I spotted Andre and Mick at the north end of a long field. I figured that I might as well land there on the south side of Dean Still road. Turned out that the field was soaked and the water was full of cow poop. We all smelled awful.

All the mentors landed in or next to this field so it was an easy retrieval.

Kingposted results:

https://airtribune.com/gssk2016/results/task1297/day/sport-class

#	Name		Nat	Glider	Time	Distance	Total
1	Andrey Solomykin	M	RUS	Aeros Discus	00:59:42	34.24	433
2	Nick Jones	M	CAN	Wills wing U2 145		26.70	311
3	Kelly Myrkle	M	USA	Aeros Discus		20.10	266
4	Niki Longshore	F	USA	Icaro 2000 Orbiter		17.35	261
5	Richard Elder	M	USA	Bautek Fizz		17.23	246
6	John Maloney	M	USA	WW Sport 2 155		15.60	242
7	John Blank	M	USA	WW Sport 2 175		12.53	204
8	Richard Westmoreland	M	USA	Wills wing Eagle 164		8.91	192
9	Greg Sessa	M	USA	Wills Wing U2 160		11.84	184
10	Owen MB	M	CAN	Wills Wing U2		9.23	153

 Topless results:

#	Name	Nat	Glider	Time	Distance	Total
1	Fausto Arcos	ECU	Willswing T2C 154	01:03:11	34.24	897
2	Mick Howard	USA	WillsWing T2C 144	01:06:00	34.24	828
3	Mark Bourbonnais	CAN	Wills Wing 136 T2C	01:19:56	34.24	668
4	Alan Arcos	ECU	Wills Wing T2C 144		26.11	309
5	Ken Kinzie	CAN	Wills Wing T2C 144		5.71	93

The mentors score by getting their pilots to goal. We'll get the topless scores up on Airtribune in the morning.

March 9, 2016, 5:52:06 pm EST

2016 Green Swamp Sport Klassic

Registration fees rise on Friday

Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2016

You need to have registered, sent in your waivers and medical forms, and paid your entry fee by Friday.

On March 11^th at noon EST the entry fee for the Green Swamp Sport Klassic goes up $25 to $250

http://ozreport.com/2016GreenSwampSportKlassic.php

We've got twenty pilots signed up and we think that two more are also attending. We've got four mentors (maybe a fifth).

If you want to come to the only Sport only competition in the US in 2016 sign up right away.

Payments are fully refundable if we receive a request by email by noon Eastern Time, March 15^th. Refunds may be available after that date. $15 PayPal fee is not refunded.

Discuss "2016 Green Swamp Sport Klassic" at the Oz Report forum   link»

February 26, 2016, 8:36:53 EST

2016 Green Swamp Sport Klassic

News

Belinda Boulter|Facebook|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2016|Steve Kroop

Steve Kroop will give a talk on using Flytec varios in competition at 7 PM on the evening of April 2^nd, the check in day for the Green Swamp Sport Klassic.

Plan to arrive in plenty of time to check in and meet the other pilots. Dinner at 6 PM.

Pilots, check the Green Swamp Facebook page to see about drivers or to look for them. You can also contact Belinda directly (her email address is found here: http://ozreport.com/2016GreenSwampSportKlassic.php.

Green Swamp Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1623939197848202/permalink/1672626842979437/

Discuss "2016 Green Swamp Sport Klassic" at the Oz Report forum   link»

February 18, 2016, 9:18:26 EST

2016 Green Swamp Sport Klassic

Larry Bunner and Greg Dinauer and I will be mentoring Sport Class pilots

CIVL|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2016|Greg Dinauer|Jeffrey "Jeff" Lawrence Bohl|Larry Bunner|Quest Air|Russell "Russ" Brown|USHPA

This is the only Sport Class only competition in the US and is sanctioned by the USHPA for the National Championship series and by CIVL for Sport Class World ranking. You can earn the right to be the US Sport Class National Champion and ranked number 1 in the World. You gotta start somewhere.

http://civlrankings.fai.org/?a=326&ladder_id=9&

Currently Jeff Bohl and Cory Barnwell, USA pilots, are ranked 1 and 2 in the world.

And the US is ranked number 1: http://civlrankings.fai.org/?a=328&ladder_id=9&ranking_date=2016-02-01&

Go to register here: http://ozreport.com/2016GreenSwampSportKlassic.php

Quest Air is preparing heavily for the upcoming competition season with six Dragonflies maintained on site by Russell Brown. A huge launch area in any direction, plenty of mellow Florida air, great camping spots in our park/forest.

Register soon to keep your costs low. At a mere $300 for aerotowing and now $225 for registration this is the lowest cost tow competition in the US.

Get ready to sharpen your cross country, racing, and competition skills with the help of experienced high level competition pilots.

February 6, 2016, 3:14:16 pm EST

2016 Green Swamp Sport Klassic

The registration fee increases next Friday

Davis Straub|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2016|Jamie Shelden|Larry Bunner

Davis Straub|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2016|Greg Dinauer|Jamie Shelden|Larry Bunner

Davis Straub|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2016|Greg Dinauer|Jamie Shelden|Larry Bunner

http://ozreport.com/2016GreenSwampSportKlassic.php

We have three mentors for the competition. Davis Straub, Larry Bunner, and Greg Dinauer.

Sign up soon and get all your paper work in and fees paid to keep your registration costs down. Aerotow fees are only $300, less than Jamie's Santa Cruz Flats Race, for example. Quite a bit less than the aerotow fees in Big Spring. It makes sense to fly competitions at flight parks.

Discuss "2016 Green Swamp Sport Klassic" at the Oz Report forum   link»

February 2, 2016, 8:28:19 EST

2016 Green Swamp Sport Klassic

The registration fee increases on February 12^th

Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2016

http://ozreport.com/2016GreenSwampSportKlassic.php

Your completed waivers and medical form, completed on-line registration, and entry fee must be received by us in the following amounts given the dates (noon Eastern Time for the dates below) below:

February 12th,	March 11th,	After March 11th,	After April 1st
$200,	$225,	$250,	$275

If we have not received all your completed and accurate forms, on-line registration, and entry fee by the time and dates above, you will be charged the later date's entry fee.

Discuss "2016 Green Swamp Sport Klassic" at the Oz Report forum   link»

January 27, 2016, 8:47:13 EST

2016 Green Swamp Sport Klassic

The weather is so nice in Florida the first week of April

Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2016|weather

I can't promise that it was be as perfect as last year, but the odds are good as April and May are the best flying months in Florida.

Aerotowing into the wind, so we don't have to have the perfect wind direction for launching.

Mentors for all the pilots.

Camping on site and a kitchen available to all at the clubhouse.

http://ozreport.com/2016GreenSwampSportKlassic.php

Discuss "2016 Green Swamp Sport Klassic" at the Oz Report forum   link»

December 16, 2015, 11:15:46 EST

2016 US competitions open for registration

Noon December 16^th

competition|Facebook|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2016|Quest Air

http://ozreport.com/registration.php

2016 Green Swamp Sport Klassic

2016 Quest Air Open National Championships

2016 Big Spring Nationals

https://www.facebook.com/events/489712967869547/

https://www.facebook.com/events/460166974154441/

https://www.facebook.com/events/1623939197848202/

October 14, 2015, 7:30:19 MST -0600

2016 US competition calendar

Don't see the Midwest competition on it

Adam Elchin|Belinda Boulter|calendar|CIVL|competition|Davis Straub|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2016|Jamie Shelden|Krzysztof "Krys/Kris" Grzyb|Quest Air|Terry Reynolds|USHPA

http://www.ushpa.aero/compcalendar.asp

Apr 3-9	2016 Green Swamp Sport Klassic HG Race To Goal XC Nationals National Championship Event* if approved	Belinda Boulter and Davis Straub	Sheets Field Groveland, FL
May 7-13	2016 Quest Air Open National Championships HG Race To Goal XC Nationals National Championship Event* if approved	Belinda Boulter and Davis Straub	Sheets Field Groveland, FL
May 15-21	Flytec Americus Cup HG Race To Goal XC Nationals National Championship Event* if approved	Jamie Shelden	Souther Field Airport Americus, GA
Jun 5-11	East Coast Hang Gliding Championship HG Race To Goal XC Nationals National Championship Event* if approved	Adam Elchin	Ridgley Airpark Ridgely, MD
Jun 26 - Jul 2	Dinosaur 2016 National Championships HG Race To Goal XC Nationals National Championship Event* if approved	Terry Reynolds?	Dinosaur, CO
Aug 7-13	2016 Big Spring Nationals HG Race To Goal XC Nationals National Championship Event* if approved	Belinda Boulter and Davis Straub	Big Spring Airport Big Spring, TX
Sep 11-16	Santa Cruz Flats Race - Mark Knight Memorial 2016 HG Race To Goal XC Nationals National Championship Event* if approved	Jamie Shelden	Francisco Grande Golf Resort Casa Grande, AZ

The Dinosaur meet requires a new meet organizer. These meets haven't yet been sanctioned by the USHPA or CIVL. USHPA sanctioning will happen this coming weekend for those competitions that are lucky enough to receive it. CIVL sanctioning will follow. Registration opens December 16^th.

http://ozreport.com/calendar.php

Includes the proposed dates for the Midwest competition.

Krzysztof Grzyb <<doitkg>> writes:

I did not send in our USHPA sanctioned application yet. We are not decided yet. I will let you know about final decision.