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Each year the Soaring Society of Boulder runs a Summer Soaring Series. The purpose of the series is to encourage cross country soaring by SSB members of all abilities and to select a club champion.
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Last Update: October 10, 2002
SSB Summer Soaring Series 2002 - Flight Stories
| Gold Division | ||||
| Ivan Jaszlics ( 2315 points ) | ||||
| 9/2/2002 | Discus CS | 992 pts | 352 sm | |
| On September 2, at the Salida camp, declared: Harriet Alexander Field (Salida) - to Climax Molybdenum Mines - to Geary Ranch - to Leadville Lake County Airport - to Lake Creek (ex gliderport) - to Salida for a total distance of 566.9 KM. The first leg, after a lot of scratching on the N. Side of Methodist Mountain was quite fast, essentially hopping the Collegiate Peaks: Shavano - Antero - Princeton - Yale - Harvard - La Plata - Massive - Elbert, then cutting over to Fremont Pass. Return was slower, wasted some time at Mt. Massive (still elected the West side). The run down the Sangre the Cristos was great, then nosed out into the Wet Mountain Valley for turn at Geary. Coming back up the Sangre de Cristos was good, but then I again elected West side of the Arkansas, and got stuck at Mt. Antero. Switched to the East side, moved North, and run into CB and virgas 18-20 miles before Leadville. Cruised around the edge of the virga, then dashed into and out of Leadville. Came South on the West side, slowed down around Antero, then climbed in the Sangre de Cristos, made the turn and glided home. Landed at 7:13 PM. | ||||
| 6/7/2002 | Discus CS | 734 pts | 260 sm | |
| Declaration: Salida - Lake County - Lake Creek - Climax Moly - Salida On the first day of the first Salida camp (June 7, 2002) I declared a three-turnpoint flight with turnpoint sequences: Salida (start) to Leadville Airport (Turn 1) to Lake Creek ex-gliderport (Turn 2) to Climax Molybdenum Mine (Turn 3) to Leadville (finish). After a good initial thermal, crossed the start at Salida. From here on, except for a few thermals (19% of the task time) it was 81% straight flight (per SeeYou). Crossed the finish at 11500 ft., with an average speed for the task of 131.7 km/hr ( 81.8 mph). Max ground speed during the flight was 141 mph near Leadville cruising North on Leadville. The avergae speed could have been higher if I was flying "for speed", as shown by the relatively leasurely cruise home on the last leg. It was a good day in the air. | ||||
| Colin Barry ( 2178 points ) | ||||
| 9/2/2002 | Discus B | 970 pts | 423 sm | |
| From Salida. Declared Maysville, Tennesse Pass, Crestone Peak, Leadville, Salida (305 sm). Then saw a street forming over the Sangre's and then flew undeclared miles of 118 sm back to Crestone Peak, Maysville, 1/2 way to Buena Vista without making a 360 at 100+ knots. Great day! | ||||
| 5/5/2002 | Discus B | 670 pts | 238 sm | |
| Sounding looked good, but with a possibility of over development, so decided to launch as soon as I was ready at around 12:00 pm. Had 25 gallons of water on board which normally means I take a higher tow, but I could resist getting off at 7,300 ft as Mike Exner, piloting 08L, led me into a strong thermal. After a good read of the competition rules I cannily pre-declared a 380K out and return flight to the South utilizing turn points at Gold Hill, Canon City, Gold Hill with a return to Boulder for my finish. I climbed to 13,000 feet before my start and went through the gate with good-looking clouds ahead. I was instantly drilled and thought I was going to land before contacting a thermal over Eldorado Mountain. I proceeded cautiously for the next 10 miles as I saw 3 jets climbing out of DIA. Once past Meyer ranch it was a pretty easy run down to Pikes Peak with strong climbs to 18,000. Beyond Cripple Creek, which is to the West of Pikes Peak it was blue, so I tanked up on the last thermal and started a 35-mile glide to Canon City. I thought I had made a bad choice as there was just turbulence with no thermals. Fortunately as I got into sector over Freemont Count airport I stumbled into a thermal that let me climb from 12,000 back to 17,500 and I had plenty of altitude to head just west of Pikes Peak for my return home | ||||
| 6/7/2002 | Discus B | 538 pts | 191 sm | |
| Salida Camp. Declared and completed Salida, Tennesse Pass, Mt Massive, Aspen, Gunnison, Salida. Conditions were fantastic with climbs to 17,900 feet. Got to fly over the Maroon Bells. Completed task at 68mph. | ||||
| John Seaborn ( 2059 points ) | ||||
| 7/9/2002 | Ventus 2B | 822 pts | 310 sm | |
| Dalhart, TX Miller > Elkhart > Campo > Boise City > Clayton > Moore > Stratford > Miller | ||||
| 7/8/2002 | Ventus 2B | 804 pts | 303 sm | |
| Dalhart, TX Miller > Liberal > Gruver > Boise City > Stratford > Miller | ||||
| 5/3/2002 | Ventus 2B | 433 pts | 489 sm | |
| Summer Soaring Series Flight Declaration/Claim Form I will send the trace on Saturday Pilot:John Seaborn Date: May 3, 2002 Pilot Division: Gold Glider Type: Ventus 2b Reg.: N67AE Start Point: Boulder AP Turn Point 1: Turn in Space Turn Point 2: Turn Point 3: Finish/Goal: Boulder AP Pre-declared Statute Miles Claimed: 0 Undeclared Statute Miles Claimed: 489 st mi Complete this section only if the task was pre-declared: Task Completed?Yes No Task Witnessed?Yes No Type of Flight? O&R Witness: Badge Legs Completed:No Description of Flight - May 3, SATURDAY Flight: 489 miles, Duration: 7:53 Speed 62.29 mph Boulder > Turnaround 244.5 ( 94.11 Mph) Turnaround > Boulder 244.5 (50.0 Mph) Synoptic picture looked good and the morning forecast was looking excellent. Cu started building North and South of Boulder by 10:45. Wind was west on the field at launch. Launched at 11:20 behind Mike Exner in the mighty 08L and had a moderately interesting first 300 feet. The day looked very good with the first high cu just North of Longmont with cu going East as far as the eye could see. Plus there was a 22 knot tail wind so I made the decision to go straight out to the East. Climbed up to around 10,000 and pushed North to connect with the cu near Longmont then had an easy down wind run to Lake McConaughty. Past the lake the clouds died out and moved north over the difficult country so elected to turn around into the teeth of the 20+ knot headwind. Back towards home (244 miles distant at this point) there were numerous snow squalls. It looked bleak but there was sun on the ground ahead so I spent the next several hours weaving around and through rather heavy snow showers and arrived back at Boulder after 7:00 pm. My thanks to my very special and highly appreciated crew, Brenda Seaborn who hit the road on this occasion, plus all the help in radio and cell phone relays. This day would have been much easier and the distance further if I would have had the time to add water ballest before take off. | ||||
| Robert Barber ( 1194 points ) | ||||
| 5/26/2002 | Mosquito | 564 pts | 194 sm | |
| Triangle: Gold Hill, North of Poudre, Bailey, Gold Hill This was a 300 Km sports class state record attempt. The day was not perfect as some clouds had started to develope verga shortly after take off and a high (30 mph) wind from the north west was predicted. The day did not look too good, no pilots were at the field except Dave Dooley and the tow plane. Dave and I figured, What the heck, were're here lets fly. The only way to set records is to try every chance you get. Dave took me up 7800 ft NW of the field where I got off tow. I worked better than expected lift for 30 min and got to 16,000 ft. I dove into the remote start at Gold Hill at 13,764 ft and headed North. Things went well untill about 20 miles from the turn point North of the Poudre River where I ran into a big cloud of Verga between me and the TP. I worked around this cutting through the corner making the 50 miles at 60.5 mph. Heading South to Bailey I ran through two verga clouds but luckily found clouds with lift on the other side, so that I made the 97 miles at 67.9 mph. There was lift at Bailey so I climbed to near final glide alt. and smoked it 47.2 miles to Gold Hill at 91.3 mph. I kind of over-smoked it as I crossed the finish line 23 meters low (you must have only 1000 m drop from start to finish) so I had to climb and come back this time within the 1000m loss ( this cost me 2 minutes and 30 sec). When I landed, I thought that my overall speed was mid 60's but it turnrd out to be 70 mph. This is a new State Record. | ||||
| 5/30/2002 | Mosquito | 375 pts | 129 sm | |
| Gold Hill, West of Granby, Blue River Valley, Gold Hill This day was predicted to be great but a 180 degree wind shift at 12,000 ft. kept many from getting out of town. I was attempting a 200 Km state speed record (need to beat 74 mph). It took me almost 2 hrs. to break through the 12,000 ft barrier. I made it near Barker Reservoir. I planned not to get below 12,000 during the flight. I started at 15,000 ft at Gold Hill and headed Northwest into a 20 kn. head wind. I could not center any good lift until after I crossed the divide and was at the East edge of Grandby Lake at 10,000 ft. There was no wind shear layer on the west side of the Mt's. I made the first TP at 58 mph (too slow for a record) but didn't give up. Then headed South with a tail wind. I had a little trouble getting good lift over the Blue River Valley but made the 43.9 mile TP at 77 mph. Still having trouble climbing to cloud base I headed home 500 ft. below glide path hoping to make it up on the way. My luck turned bad and I hit an excess of sink and arrived at Gold Hill 10000 feet below goal (goal was 1000 metes below the start). I searched for lift but could not find any, thereby not being able to finish the speed task. If I would have been at the proper alt. at Gold Hill, the task speed would have been 73 mph, still not quite a record. In fact I made another error, my distance too short as it was not the 3% above 300 km needed to account for my handicap. O well, I have made the corrections and will pull it off some time. | ||||
| 6/2/2002 | Mosquito | 255 pts | 263 sm | |
| The day started slow, it was over an hr. before I went through the start gate at Gold Hill for an attempted 500 km state record. It went ok on the way to Laramie, I made almost 80 mph with a small tail wind. On the flight South conditions were not too hot. My averager showed sink as high as I have ever seen, almost -10 k. When I tried to center lift I would only get lift on 1/2 of the turn. I was in danger of landing out twice. My return speed to near Gold hill was less than 50 mph. Near gold hill I got my only wing bender and went to 17,500 ft. I decided to continue South even though it was 4:00pm. I had nothing but lift for 25 miles. I had to fly fast to keep from going above 18,000 ft. What a change. At Bailey I had 35 miles to go to my final TP, 11 Mile Res., and decided to turn back. I landed at 5:00pm. 5.1 hr flight for 263 miles. I was kind of bummed about the flight untill I heard that many others could not even get going this day. | ||||
| Ed Cook ( 161 points ) | ||||
| 5/23/2002 | Discus CS | 161 pts | 171 sm | |
| Farfunglide: Launch at Boulder landing at Jullesburg in NE Colorado | ||||
| Silver Division | ||||
| Pedja Bogdanovich ( 1666 points ) | ||||
| 7/31/2002 | Grob 102 | 1080 pts | 369 sm | |
| Declared task: Gold Hill - S Bald Mtn - Mt Evans - Poudre - Squaw Mtn - Lyons - Boulder : 530km / 329sm / 286nm Undeclared distance: Boulder - Carter Lake - Boulder : 40sm / 35nm Looked like a good day, but it turned out to be a great day. I launched around 11:30, and released in an 8kt thermal. After climbing to 17kft, I promptly got going to S Bald Mtn. On the legs to and from S Bald Mtn, I tried to work clouds above the divide, but that wasn't working great, there was good lift, but it was far apart, and I wasn't staying in a good lift band. After turning Mt Evans, I stayed more E in the streets that meanwhile became aparent there; that worked great, very little turning. Completing the rest of the task was easy. | ||||
| 5/26/2002 | Ventus B | 586 pts | 199 sm | |
| The day looked very good, and although it looked it might overdevelop, one could see that clouds were dissipating since it was very dry. It was too windy to launch, xw was too strong for either OGA runways, so I waited for winds to subside or change direction and finally launched dry at 1:30. Promptly got going West towards Kimball into the teeth of 20kt headwind. There were no streets, and thermals were spaced farther apart going West. Saw two gliders from Owl Canyon between Sidney and Kimball. Although I was drinking a lot of water, I got a pretty bad headache around Kimball and considered landing there, but a thought of trailering encouraged me to fly myself back. The lift was weaker going back, but I had a benefit of 15kt tailwind. At one point it took me a while to climb back up, otherwise the return leg was uneventful. This was a shakedown flight of the N5 computer system, and amazingly, all components of the system worked, and moreover worked together. Note: 50 bonus points for completing a gold distance and a diamond goal. | ||||
| Doug Weibel ( 1539 points ) | ||||
| 9/2/2002 | Discus CS | 957 pts | 322 sm | |
| 9/2 Declared and completed 500K Salida – Hagerman Pass – Crestone Peak – Tennessee Pass – Salida. Submitted for Gold distance and Diamond goal. A beautiful Salida day. I launched late in the grid and took a while to get going. Found a good 5000 foot climb over Poncho pass and headed up the Collegiates. Good cloud streets the first 30 miles and no turns. Made the first turn and thermalled my way back down to Salida. The Sangre’s were working and I connected with a beautiful cloud street that produced over 100 kts for over 20 miles. Third leg was a bit of work with two virga penetrations. Stopped for four thermals on the way home and really tanked up for an enjoyable 25 mile 100 kt final glide. Averaged over 70 MPH. A really fun flight. | ||||
| 8/30/2002 | Discus CS | 422 pts | 244 sm | |
| Declared Salida – Tennessee Pass – Crestone Peak – Hagerman Pass – Salida. Flew first 2 TP’s, then added on Buena Vista. This was a 500K day, but not for the task and start time I had. I did well on the task until the third leg when a veil of virga with solid overcast beyond cut me off. I decided that due to the late hour it was not likely I could complete the task. I tried the same task (with the Pass turnpoints reversed) 2 days later and completed the task. | ||||
| 5/23/2002 | Discus CS | 160 pts | 170 sm | |
| Farfunglide: I had the number 2 launch position, right after Charlie. Charlie headed into the mountains and reported good lift, but there was a promising looking Cu over Gunbarrel so I had 85F head NE to investigate. The Cu promptly evaporated and we continued on past Niwot. I got off at 9500 near Longmont without having really found anything, hoping I hadn’t made a big mistake by going east on tow. Shortly thereafter I found some zero sink and then a 2 knot thermal and after loitering a few minutes set off towards Greeley. Things progressed well past Greeley with the big decision being how far north to deviate from the course line, as the Cu looked better to the north. Past Keota, things looked a little rough on the ground (i.e. 10 miles to the nearest cultivated field sometimes) and things looked much better further to the north as I started to struggle. Never really had a fear of going down, but things sure got slow and the headwind was really annoying as I tried to balance deviating from course with using good lift. About 25 miles out from Sidney things started to improve and as I dog-legged at Sidney I lost most of the headwind. Had an easy run to Chappel. Now my problem was the late hour. With the large patches of high overcast the day looked like it would end early. I had spotted my crew on the interstate and radioed for Don to hold up at Chappel. John was already 40 miles ahead at Ogallala and loitering, but there were no clouds left past Chappel. Ed and Colin were headed to Julesberg, which I could have made easily, but didn’t see the point as it was 60+ degrees off course line from my present position. I continued towards Ogallala with a persistent sinking feeling. After 5 miles without any lift, and a quick check of the map verifying no paved runways between my location and Ogallala, I decided to turn back west and look for lift. I wandered back to Chappel finding no lift along the way. I was down to 1500 AGL at a mile out, and committed to landing. There appeared to be a 10 to 15 mile hour surface wind 45 degrees off the runway. The runway was 4000 by 50, so the runway lights kept my attention, but the landing went smoothly. We were in the box and hooked up with Ed (waiting on Colin) in Julesberg within 45 minutes. | ||||
| Gary Baughman ( 1396 points ) | ||||
| 7/9/2002 | ASW 28 | 616 pts | 222 sm | |
| Two Tasks Completed as One 1. Miller, Elkhart, Clayton, Miller (Diamond Goal) 197.4 miles 2. Miller, Elkhart, Campo, Boise City, Clayton, Miller (Five State) The cloud bases were up, winds down and good looking clouds made the task easy compared to the previous days flying. I got low at Elkhart and after that the cloud streets developed along the course lines. A final glide from Clayton to Miller averaged 89 mph. Submitted application for Gold distance and Diamond goal. | ||||
| 7/8/2002 | ASW 28 | 577 pts | 208 sm | |
| Dalhart, TX Miller, Castleberry Ranch, Spearman, Miller The winds were generally SSW at 18 to 20 mph and the leg to Castleberry was very slow, averaging 27 mph! Most of the flight was uneventful until late in the day when a large blue hole developed between Spearman and Miller and a near landout at Stratford. The final 27 miles from Stratford to Miller required 1hr 20 mins and a straight-in landing. | ||||
| 5/3/2002 | ASW 28 | 203 pts | 220 sm | |
| An exceptional looking day prompted me to tow the east end for a takeoff on runway 26 and take the new ship on a cross country trip. I got off tow at 7300' south of the field in a thermal that took me to 11700' and headed north to the cu's. It was easy going to the northeast and I was soon passed by RH (Richard Hall) who was trying out newly installed winglets. (They don't seem to have slowed him down!). Turned somewhere out in the countryside about 60 miles out and headed back toward the SW to explore the mountains. Near Georgetown the turbulence became a little uncomfortable and I decided to head back to the low lands and cruised to Loveland to burn off some altitude and then returned to Boulder. Only wished I had declared a task! | ||||
| Rod Smythe ( 291 points ) | ||||
| 7/10/2002 | Grob 102 | 155 pts | 148 sm | |
| Wednesday, July 10, 2002, I declared a 302 km triangle from Miller Field, to Guyman OK, to Middle Water Ranch (site of a previous land out), and back to Miller. This time I got away quickly. There were climbs of 5,000 and 6,000 feet in thermals of five or six knots. I made it to Guyman in 1:20, and was really cooking (for me) on the way back. However, the day weakened rapidly between Stratford and Miller. Nearing Miller Field. I heard Ken Baker, Elliott Crawford, and Gary Campbell, all trying to get high and stay high, in order to last another hour to make their Silver Badge duration leg. I could see that they were pretty high, but I couldn't climb up to them. West of the field at 5200 feet, I found some zero sink, and decided to try hanging out. It was very smooth, a pleasant time of day to fly. My zero sink turned into weak lift, and I began to climb. Pretty soon I had climbed 3,000 feet and drifted eight miles north west. The others completed their duration flights and landed, one by one. After hanging out for an hour and a quarter, I landed last, an honor usually achieved by the absent Bob Whelan. The elusive 300 km flight remains for another day. Analysis of the flight with EW3 shows a distance of 147.7 undeclared miles, worth 155 points. Tow release: N 36 03.40 W 102 25.20 Turn at Guyman: N 36 41.31 W 101 29.88 Turn at Dalhart:N 36 09.51W 102 34.41 Miller pattern:N 36 05.81W 102 24.53 | ||||
| 7/8/2002 | Grob 102 | 136 pts | 129 sm | |
| I declared a 322 km triangle: Miller Field, to Gruver TX, to Clayton NM, and back to Miller Field. I choose the east-west triangle because of the strong south wind. Thermals averaged about four knots and topped out at about 8,000 feet. They became scarce as I approached Gruver, and it looked like I might have to land there. About a mile west of the airport I ran into a thank-God thermal at 4,500 feet, and climbed to 8,500 feet, by which time I was about four miles north, and lost a thousand feet getting back to the observation zone. The route to Clayton passes near Stratford, and I got very low five miles east of Stratford, and limped from field to field for awhile, until I managed to get back up again. Around Conlen it became obvious that the day was beginning to die, so I abandoned the task and enjoyed myself flying over Dalhart and back to Miller field. It is clear that I need to learn to fly faster to cover 300 km in the soaring day. Using EW3 to analyze the flight, I found that it enclosed a triangle with vertices 6 miles west of Miller, near Gruver, and NW of Stratford. The perimeter of this triangle is 129.3 sm, for 136 points. The vertices are: 6 west of Miller: N 36 05.54, W 102 30.62 Near Gruver; N 36 13.89, W 101 25.69 NW of Stratford: 36 22.59,W 102 04.66 | ||||
| Bronze Division | ||||
| Bill Hoadley ( 1220 points ) | ||||
| 9/2/2002 | Ventus B | 571 pts | 252 sm | |
| Declared Alexander-Leadville-Crestone Peak-Alexander for a 300km flight, then added Alexander-Mt. Harvard-Alexander at the end for undeclared mileage. Classic, strong mountain flying day, with good streets along the ranges. | ||||
| 6/7/2002 | Ventus B | 352 pts | 186 sm | |
| I had planned a task to the South, but conditions to the North seemed much better, so I declared Salida-Leadville-Salida for my Silver distance, with plans to continue flying after the task as conditions permit. Released from tow at 1800 AGL and climbed up to start the task up the spectacular valley. I got a bit low over Buena Vista before deciding that I would take a big climb and stay high. That paid off as the lift was strong to 18,000', with 9 knot climbs common. After turning Leadville I deviated from my task to fly to Breckenridge with another pilot (never saw him), flying the 25 miles from Leadville to Breckenridge without turning, between 15-18 thousand. Returned via the Collegiate Peaks, then enjoyed cruising around in the Salida/Buena Vista area. Landed in the gusty Salida winds after a 3.5 hour flight. Note: points include 50 pts for the Silver Distance and Silver Altitude claim. Miles include approx. 50 non-countable miles from Leadville to Breckenridge and return. | ||||
| 5/26/2002 | Ventus B | 297 pts | 160 sm | |
| This was only my third flight in my "old" new sailplane, and my first real cross country, so I planned a task that would keep me within gliding distance of several airfields. Colin Barry also offered to retrieve me if I landed out, so I felt relaxed with the small task I had declared. I released from tow at 1200' AGL in lift, faltered a bit, then climbed up with the Blanik to over 9000' and headed south on task. Prior to my turnaround point I floundered in weak lift I should have ignored before finding the strong thermal that got me around the far point and headed home. A very strong thermal midway back allowed a very fast final glide to pattern altitude at Searle. I climbed back up and started another undeclared task to the Southeast that was 75 miles long (roundtrip), and finished the day in gentle lift near the airfield, joining Brian Hall in a thermal and we had fun finding the best parts and working on our thermal flying technique. I departed the thermal to experiment with the unusual Ventus speedbrakes before landing after a 4 hour, 45 min flight. A great time and a great learning experience. | ||||
| Elliot Crawford ( 846 points ) | ||||
| 9/2/2002 | Grob 102 | 367 pts | 116 sm | |
| Salida Camp When Monday morning at the Salida camp rolled around there was much talk of getting ready to go home. Pedja mentioned that he was going to try to thermal his way to Boulder and I heard myself saying ‘I’ll come too!’. I figured there was safety in attempting such a foolhardy venture as this if my instructor was close at hand. I reckoned I could be a puppy dog and play follow-my-leader all the way home. Reality was a little different! I towed aloft first. I had given a couple of rides in 13K early that morning so I was close to the end of the line and by the time I was ready to launch in our Grob 102 there was hardly anyone left in the staging area. I press ganged a bystander (thanks, Sheila) into running my wing and headed out behind the Super Cub. I I left Kenn in what seemed at the time to be lift after a two thousand foot tow, only to see my vario needle swinging around at the bottom of the dial. I turned for the field and on my way to enter downwind I flew through an area where as towpilot the day before I had found lift for many gliders. The vario uttered a beep or two - then a few more. I started the first of many turns. I looked below and saw Pedja and Dave Taylor in 13K on tow south of the field. That was the last I saw of them till we were on the ground in Boulder! After a while I remembered that I had a lever on the right of the cockpit that could be used to make flight quieter. So I gave it a goodly heave and the wheel tucked itself up out of harms way. I took this thermal to almost fourteen thousand feet before setting out for the nearest likely looking cloud and then headed for the slopes of Mt Shavano. I skirted the ridges of Antero and Princeton without losing much height and then took advantage of lift northwest of Buena Vista in preparation for a jump across the valley and the hills to the east and into South Park. There was a good looking cloud ahead of me and it turned out to be just north of Fairplay. As I headed north for Kenosha Pass I thought I’d see how far it was to Boulder. That was when I discovered that 1V5 was not in the database of my $88 GPS! So I reached behind me and pulled out my Airport/Facility Directory and with stick in one hand and book in the other I performed the incantations that GPS’s understand. The resulting information told me that I had 44nm to go as I approached Kenosha Pass. Saturday’s metal arithmetic still fresh in my mind, I figured I should just about be able to make Boulder on a straight glide from sixteen thousand feet. But the tiger country ahead of me was pretty daunting. Nowhere to land for a good 20nm! I looked at the smooth and level fields at the foot of Kenosha Pass. I had landed hang gliders there - I knew I could put SS down there. I couldn’t even see Boulder from where I was. Well - I could dip my toes in the water and if I found the dreaded Sink Monster I could come beetling back to those soft, inviting fields by Kenosha. I headed for the last of the clouds about 4nm north of the Pass. Ahh! The feeling in the seat of my pants as I settled into the lift beneath it. I let this thermal take me up to the beginning of the flight levels and when I turned once more towards the still invisible Boulder I began to allow the possibility that I might just make it all the way home. Though I found no more lift that day, the air was buoyant and as I followed Dr McCready’s orders and fixed the ASI needle on 65 kts I picked downtown Denver out of the inversion haze. Soon I could see Boulder Reservoir. I looked down at the few light green patches in the mountains below me relieved that the Sink Monster was napping. He would not get this glider today. Perhaps tomorrow, but that is another story. I arrived over the Flatirons at 13,000 feet. Just enough altitude for a pattern entry onto 08L. I rolled to a stop by Mile High and bent Alphonso’s ear double in my excited state. I had just flown into Boulder from the Other Side Of The World and I just had to tell him all about it! | ||||
| 7/20/2002 | SGS 1-34 | 350 pts | 70 sm | |
| Dalhart Camp Miller Field, Dalhart Muni, Stratford, Miller Field. All legs of the silver badge completed | ||||
| 8/31/2002 | SGS 1-34 | 129 pts | 99 sm | |
| Salida Camp The last day of August saw me pushing BC out to the flight line at Salida all ready to go soaring. I guess I already had it in mind to fly north and to see if Leadville was within my grasp. I should have mentioned this to Colin for extra SSS points before I took off, but in reality I don’t even know that this intention was fully formed. Once in the air and settled in a decent thermal the clouds towards Buena Vista looked sufficiently tempting for me to point the 1-34’s gleaming nose in their direction. Before long I was in no- man’s land between Harriet Alexander field and Central Colorado Regional Airport eying them both and wondering if I really could make either on a straight glide. Wrapping my brain around the complex mathematics of 4 miles per thousand feet of altitude I told myself I indeed had the choice to continue north in safety - and soon I found myself at around sixteen thousand feet gazing at far off Lake County airport and performing the same mental gymnastics. Suffice it to say that I made it to Leadville and hung out there with a few other gliders while I regained a head of steam for the return trip. I could see virga sweeping in from the west and I was determined not to get caught behind it, so I pressed forward from about sixteen thousand feet. I found that I could allow myself to approach the virga and it felt as if I was riding a wave in front of the oncoming clouds. Though I was not as high as I wanted to be, I was covering ground and not losing altitude. Buena Vista slid by on the port side and I could see the mesa ahead that is home to Alexander field. I arrived there with several hundred feet above a high pattern entry. I called downwind and base to final and was shortly thereafter pushing the 1-34 off the runway onto a taxiway that miraculously appeared right where I had stopped. | ||||
| Ken Baker ( 574 points ) | ||||
| 7/10/2002 | ASW 19 | 343 pts | 101 sm | |
| Take off: Miller Field (2E1) Miller Field (2E1) to Dalhart Municipal (KDHT) Dalhart Municipal (KDHT) to Sunray (Q43) Sunray (Q43) to Stratford airport (Q70) Stratford airport (Q70) to Miller Field (2E1) Landing: Miller Field (2E1) Note: 50 bonus points for completing silver duration and silver altitude. | ||||
| 7/8/2002 | ASW 19 | 231 pts | 71 sm | |
| Take off: Miller Field (2E1) Miller Field (2E1) to Dalhart Municipal (KDHT): 8.7 miles Dalhart Municipal (KDHT) to Stratford airport (Q70): 35.6 miles Stratford airport (Q70) to Miller Field (2E1): 27 miles Landing: Miller Field (2E1) Note: 25 bonus points for completing silver distance | ||||
| Gary Haynes ( 182 points ) | ||||
| 6/29/2002 | Grob 102 | 182 pts | 126 sm | |
| Delcared Gross Res, a GPS turnpoint north of Estes Park (62.2km for my Silver distance), Wilkerson, Gross. Completed the Gross – Estes Park and got to within about 60km of Wilkerson when the lift started shutting down. Also claimed Silver altitude. Note: 50 bonus points for two badge legs | ||||
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