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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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Need a copy of the rules?Last Update: November 1, 1998
SSB Summer Soaring Series 1998 - Flight Stories
Gold Division
John Seaborn (1514)
4/12/1998 Ventus 2b 200 186
Start Point: Boulder AP
Turn 1: Owl Canyon AP
Turn 2: Ft. Morgan AP
Finish: Boulder AP
Note: This triangle, when measured directly, goes through DIA Class B airspace. The actual flight path as confirmed with a GPS trace stays well clear of this airspace.
The weather looked iffy with strong flow W aloft predicted. The Skew-T showed an unstable layer up to 9000 a small inversion and then more unstable airaloft. The satellite photo showed few clouds in the area and East while the 1 800 992- 7433 # * 212 soaring forecast was calling a great day. My biggest concern was for the predicted high winds.
Launched at around 12:45 into the best looking soaring sky I have seen in Colorado. I could clearly see Pikes Peak to the South in the near unlimited visibility. To the North and East only hard looking Cu at 14,000 were to be seen. Climbed to 13,000 just west of Boulder then headed to Owl Canyon arriving with 10,000 in a bit less than 1 hour. Turned toward Pine Bluff but abandoned this turnpoint after observing very strong surface winds and a large blue hole on course. Ran a street to the East South East to Ft. Morgan making the turn at 12,000. Winds were generally light out of the East at lower altitudes and slightly West at altitude.
The way back to Boulder was blocked by very dense verga. Observing almost no sun and very few convective clouds to the West I turned North out of Ft. Morgan to climb in a series of good clouds running back toward Ft. Colins. The trip home involved two good climbs and circumnavigating the verga near Greeley then a 100+ knot final glide into Boulder. Total distance 200.5 st miles in around 3:00 for a speed of 66.8 mph. Flight note: If measured directly this triangle passes through DIA Class B airspace. The actual flight path as confirmed with a GPS trace stays well clear of this airspace.4/12/1998 Ventus 2b 222 681
Start Point: Boulder AP
Turn 1: Owl Canyon AP
Turn 2: Pine Bluff AP
Turn 3: Greeley AP
Finish: Boulder AP
Pre declared St. Miles: 203.48 mi
Yes, I actually pre declared this task - both by telling Mel Holtzman and by making a electronic declaration on the GPS. I did power down the GPS in flight for a minute or so and it will be interesting to see what this looks like on the trace.
Undeclared St. Miles: 222.25 Total flight distance including the first
(undeclared) Greeley turnpoint.
Details:
The weather looked good but wet. The max temp was forecast to be 60F and the Skew-T showed a relatively unstable layer up to 13,000 with substantial drying of the airmass above this altitude. Winds were forecast to be from the NNW at 15 to 20 knots. A powerful low near Chicago was moving SSE with high pressure
building in the Salt Lake area. This is exactly the weather pattern needed for a long flight to the SE.
It turned out to be the best day I have seen in CO to date. While the start was slow at 2 kts to about 9,000 I finally connected 5 miles NE of Longmont to 12,000 at 6 knots and off to the races. The direct route to Owl Canyon was marginal so I decided use Greeley as my first turn and see how it looked from there. Rounding Greeley I headed into the teeth of the wind (15-18 kts) toward Owl Canyon. Having no water ballast (big mistake) the powerful cloud street running to Owl Canyon direct made this decision an obvious one. After a good run to Owl Canyon a turn cross wind to Pine Bluff, then and uneventful flight back to Greeley and on to Boulder. The remarkable feature of this day was the
early start at around 10:00 am and the very consistent clouds with little over development. This truly was a great day for a downwind dash for over 1000 km tothe SE. Flight Statistics: Total distance 222.25 st miles in around 4:00 for a speed of 55.56 mph. Water ballast would have put the speed in the high 60's.
4/23/1998 Ventus 2b 231 215
SStart Point: Boulder AP
Turn 1: Near Larime 41:12N / 105:28W
Turn 2: Near Mt. Evens 39:32N / 105:25W
Finish: Boulder AP
The weather looked very stable in the plains with a late start indicated. After looking at the weather I was not optimistic about the possibility of a good flight. In retrospect I should have looked at the Grand Junction sounding as well as the Denver profile. Taking a CFO tow at around 12:00 I found the air to be exceptionally smooth. Consequently I took a high tow into the mountains near antenna ridge. Working less than a knot and doing some serious rock polishing I was able to sustain my position waiting for additional heating to generate usable thermals. During this exercise I noted building but ragged cu to the North and South. Winds aloft were weak so I supposed the raged nature of the clouds was caused by a convergence effect. Finally after trashing around for an hour I connected with 4-6 knots to 16,000 and headed North to near Twin Sisters were a 6-7 knot climb took me back to 17,000 under cu. The day was booming by now so I set of to Larime. A very strong convergence zone allowed straight flight with little circling. I turned just short of Larime and headed South with one climb near Halagan Reservoir. Meeting up with OE (Bob Epp) we followed a convergence generated cloud street to near Boulder Canyon. Taking a 8 knot climb to 17,000 I made the run down to South of Evens then a final glide into Boulder as I had an early dinner date with my wife (and her co-workers). Flight time 4:08 minutes. Total distance 231 miles again flying with no water ballast. Will I ever learn?
6/14/1998 Ventus 2b 308 618
Start Point: Miller Field, TX
Turn 1: Clayton, NM
Turn 2: Boise City, OK
Turn 3: Campo, CO
Turn 4: Elkhart, KS
Turn 5: Liberal, KS
Finish: Miller Field, TX
Pre declared St. Miles: 221.61
Undeclared St. Miles: 85.89
Total flight distance: 307.5
Pre declared Tasks:
Task Completed: Yes
Task Witnessed: Yes
Type of Flight: Multi Turn
Witness: Bruce Hodgkins and Doug Weibel
Badge Legs Completed: None
Details:
My first flight from Dalhart TX Miller field. The weather looked like a winner with light winds and early cu. The airport buzz was to attempt the vaunted five state flight so I thought I would tag along. I launched just after noon trashed around a bit then connected to over 11,000 and headed for Clayton, New Mexico. The cu were well developed with little sign of over development. Lift was running in the 3-5 knot range with an occasional 6-8knots. Rounding Clayton and moving to Boise City, Oklahoma I could hear the fleet moving out on course from Dalhart. After Boise City it was an easy run through Campo, Colorado and Elkhart, Kansas. Normally it would be back to Miller field from Elkhart but I wanted to take a look at Liberal so tacked on the final turn bringing the flight distance to 307.5 miles. Total course time a bit over four hours. Try Dalhart, I highly recommend it.
As John added the undeclared miles before completing the last pre-declared turnpoint these miles did not count. Future competitors should be aware that you can only be awarded bonus points for completing the original pre-declared task, then it is ok to complete undeclared miles, as an alternative you can claim the whole task as undeclared miles (CJB - The brutal competition director)
Charles Collman (691)
6/11/1998 Nimbus 2 265 226
Flight at Moriarty NM (500k Attempt)
6/14/1998Nimbus 2 157 133
Flight at Moriarty NM (500k Attempt)
9/5/1998 Nimbus 2 136 290
Salida - Leadville/Salida return then down the Sangre's
9/6/1998 Nimbus 2 144 122
Salida , Buena Vista, Sand Dunes, Salida
9/6/1998 Nimbus 2 206 175
Salida , Sand Dunes, Salida, Sand Dunes, Salida
Bruce Hodgkins (620)
4/1/1998 Grob 102 80 240
Blue Day
Release 7,000 ft, Boulder within .5 mi of field
Turnpoint #1 - Golden, Hwy 93 & 6 clear creek
Turnpoint #2 - Carter Res Dam
Finish Boulder
4/30/1998 Duo Discus 152 240 *
Declared Boulder Arpt , Downtown FT Collins, Idaho Springs, Boulder Arpt.Flew undeclared from Idaho Spring to Mt Evans Summit and back (chickened out)
12/12/1998 Duo Discus 151 140
Start - Miller field
TP #1 Dumas
TP #2 - Miller
TP #3 - Clayton,NM
TP #4 - Miller field
Wimpy but need the third flight at the moment.
Phil Ecklund (579)
4/1/1998 Duo Discus 80 223
Turnpoint #1 - Golden, Hwy 93 & 6 clear creek
Turnpoint #2 - Carter Res Dam
Finish Boulder
4/30/1998 Ventus BT 129 356
Declared 1v5 , Downtown Ft Collins arpt, Idaho Springs, 1v5
Robert Barber (451)
4/30/1998 Mosquito 153 451
Declared 1v5, Downtown Ft Collins Airport, Mt. Evans Summit, 1v5
Smoked the Duo with two pilots to Ft Collins by 20 Miles!
Richard Hall (240)
4/30/1998 Duo Discus 152 240 *
See flight 4/30/98 with Bruce Hodgkins
Ed Cook (132)
9/17/1998 Duo Discus 142 132 *
Flying with CJB we released at about 8000ft on Nugget Ridge, we eventually scratched out by the shed on Gold Hill. We climbed to about 14,000 ft at the peak to peak and dove out around the Kossler start line at around 11,000. Heading north we threw in the towel at Trail Ridge Road as the sky looked over developed ahead. We then flew back to near Mt Evans and then to the Winter Park ski fields with a glide back from there for a finish at Kossler Lake.
Silver Division
Colin Barry (1527)
4/23/1998 Duo Discus 213 198
Post flight review indicates there was a problem with one of the turnpoints on Colin's declared Diamond Goal flight. Starting at Kossler, turning Idaho Springs, Halligan Reservoir, Idaho Springs with a remote finish at Kossler. The flight has been rescored as undeclared miles.5/30/1998 Grob 103 161 339
Starting at 3:00 Colin declared and completed. 1V5, Lyons, Mt Eldorado, Lyons, Mt Eldorado, 1V5. Conditions were remarkably good, with lift to 17,000. Colin then went on to fly an undeclared task of 1V5, Black Hawk, Eldora Ski Resort, Lyons with a landing back at Boulder at 7:00 pm
7/12/1998 Duo Discus 316 0
Launch at 12:00.
Declaration:-
Start gross Res.
Laramie
Gross Res.
Fairplay
FinishGross Res.
Time 6:30
Distance 316miles
Flying with 20 Gallons of water my speed was a slow 50mph. Once I got away the flight was spent mostly cruising between 13,000 an 17,000 ft. I got low in low in South Park (but climbed back out to 17,000 for a final glide home. I was unable to extract the trace from the data logger - hence the score of zero points for the Diamond distance and Diamond goal flight.
7/19/1998 Duo Discus 243 223
Launch at 2:00.
Declaration:-
Start Gross Res.
Laramie
Gross Res.
Halligan Res.
Finish Gross Res.
Time 4:30
I had to take a second tow to get away and hence flew without water. Was able to cruise at 17,900 to Laramie but on the way back that *!%$@ data logger started playing up again. The unit had been sent back to the manufacturer for repairs the previous week and trusting in the electronics I decided not to avail myself of any other means of documentation on this re try at a 500k diamond. Turning all of the other electrical instruments off I left the good lift to fly as quickly as possible to Gross - so that I would at least get my diamond goal. On this leg I was able to effect in-flight repairs and decided to press back to Halligan. Some storms on the way prevented progress to the North so I turned Twin Sisters and returned home. 150 Bonus points have been added for completing 6 badge legs (Silver, Gold, 1 Diamond).
I subsequently removed the bonus points as I felt that due to gaps in the trace I would not submit it
8/3/1998 Grob 102 200 446
Launch at 1:00.
Declared and completed (128sm):-
1V5
Idaho Springs
Twin Sisters
Idaho Springs
1V5
Not satisfied with this went on to fly 62sm undeclared miles
1V5
Mt. Thorodin
Intersection I72/Railway
Gold Hill
Intersection I72/Railway
1V5
Go to 15,300 in convergence zone along Peak to Peak highway.
Landing 6:00
9/8/1998Duo Discus 108 100
Salida
Blanca Airport
Silver West
Took Joe Brock for his first XC flight and showed him the pleasures of landing out.
9/9/1998 Duo Discus 177 164
Salida
Hagerman Pass(North of Leadville)
Blanca Peak
Mt Harvard
Salida
Completed all of the turnpoints, except Blanca. Stopped short at the Crestone Needles as I figured(wrongly) that the day was dying.
9/10/1998 Duo Discus 266 742 *
Declared and completed:
Salida
Hagerman Pass (North Of Leadville)
Crestone Peak
Mt Harvard
Salida
Flying with an old hang gliding friend after a scratch to get away was able to dolphin soar for a large part of the trip between 16,000 and 17,800. Time on course was 4:30 with an average speed of 60 mph.
This flight will be a claim of the Colorado free distance multi place record.
Mark Terry (1251)
6/12/1998 Grob 102 116 116
Declared Gross-Lar-Gross
blue-hole N of Horsetooth and strong west-winds aloft (30-40 knots)
Completed
Gross Res Dam
Owl Canyon
Boulder
6/19/1998Grob 102 134 134
Declared Gross-Lar-Gross
Completed
GrossResDam
ColoWyo Line Ranch 47.66
Boulder 1v5 0.00 216.4 6500 40,02.40,N 105,13.50,W 5300 0.00
took 5 1/2 hours - chickened out of going into Lar valley, cos I was spending most of my time below 11,000 nearly landed out at Owl canyon and Longmont
6/22/1998Grob 102 110 110
Declared Ids-Chyenne-Idahaosprings 300k O&B
Completed
GrossResDam
IdahoeSprings
DownTownFC
Longmont
Landed out longmont
7/12/1998 Grob 102 178 178
Gross Res Dam
Idaho Springs
Buford
Longmont
Was 300k but landed out at longmont on the return
7/13/1998 Grob 102 313 939
GoldHill.
IdahoeSprings
Buford
GoldHill
Halligan
GrossResDam
Total =504.66 k 272.33 nm 313.60 sm
If I use the release south of boulder field @ 2000 AGLthe whole flight was Total =536.90 k 289.73 nm 333.63 sm
I am downloading the badge forms from SSA - I think yesterday will count for Diamond Goal but not maybe as Diamond distance.
Due to the fact that Mark's photograph of Halligan failed. Mark scored 164 points for the documented legs of this flight.
Doug Weibel (1038)
7/14/1998 ASW 20 234 630
Miller Field, TX to Clayton, NM to Boise City, OK to Campo, CO to Elkhart, KS and return to Miller field at SSB encampment, declared and completed for 365km. A brutal flight as my vario with audio and averager went out on tow and I only had my mechanical Winter working. Got sick in KS due to looking at my non-audio vario too much but stuck with it and finished the flight. An ill planned badge claim (too many turns) but a rewarding flight.
7/18/1998 ASW 20 195 1 75
Miller Field, TX to Hooker, OK to West Base (Dalhart, TX), to Miller field, declared and completed for 305km. An uneventful flight with another botched badge claim - ineligible OO and my camera mount moved and put the vent window rails in the center of the frame making turnpoints unrecognizable.
9/6/1998 ASW 20 259 233
Salida to Leadville to Crestone peak to Buena Vista to Monarch pass and return to Salida. A beautiful and easy flight except for a very challenging blue hole for the last 10 miles in to Crestone peak. Got down to 13,000 in the Sangre's but finally persisted my way to the turn. Not declared. 404km.
Rod Smythe (475)
6/18/1998 SGS 1-34 103 135
Declared,
Miller Field (Dalhart,TX)
Guyman, OK
Castleberry Ranch
Miller Field
Made Guyman turnpoint (65 miles out), landed out at Stratford, TX 38 miles short of Dalhart.
8/1/1998SGS 1-34 68 93
Rod completed an undeclared task of:-
Tow Release (Near Boulder)
SugerLoaf Mtn
Krugar Rock (3 miles SE of Estes Park)
Button Rock Res.
Beaver Res.
1V5
8/12/1998 SGS 1-34 54 212
Flight from 1V5 to Owl Canyon glider port.
9/18/1998 Grob 102 128 128
Rod completed an undeclared task of:-
Tow Release (Near Boulder)
Camp Shwayder (Near Mt Evans)
Big Elk Meadow (SE of Twin Sisters)
Blackhawk
1V5
Rod says: This was the kind of day that I have heard other pilots tal about, but I hadn't experienced before. At 10,000 West of Lyons I hit a thermal to 14,500 and flew without turning to BlackHawk. I arrived at 13,500 pushing hard on the stick all of the way.
Flight Time 4:51
Gary Baughman (435)
4/1/1998Grob 102 119 119
Today was an interesting soaring day. Lots of virga causing me to divert a long distance around to get to the goals and with extremes in lift and sink. That kept it interesting!
My not declared flight in N127SS was:
Boulder field to Estes Park, to Idaho Springs, to Morrison, to Jeffco AP, to Boulder for a distance of 118.5 miles, 2 1/2 hours. I did have a barograph along but couldn't find the camera
4/23/1998Grob 102 95 95
Flight was Gold Hill to Idaho Springs, to Allenspark, to Carter Lake Dam, to 1V5.
7/28/1998 Grob 102 58 141
Today I was lucky enough to complete a silver distance flight. I started at 12:15, got off tow at 7200' in weak lift and worked for about 30 minutes before heading north along the foothills. The weather back at Boulder was not looking good, over developing, and I continued north to Horsetooth Resv, flew into the blue across Ft. Collins, got down to 6800' about 8 miles from Owl Canyon, had a field picked out, the gear down, check list complete, but found some zero sink and continued north with more good landing fields in sight. Finally spotted Owl Canyon and landed with my ground support crew ( Rod Smythe) only 20 minutes behind.
Distance 58 miles, 2 hours.
Note: 25 bonus points for completing a badge leg
9/4/1998 Grob 102 91 91
I flew south along the Sangre de Cristo range 30.5 miles, great lift, returned to Salida AP, flew north along the Collegiate range 15 miles in very weak lift, and returned for a total of 91 undeclared miles. (2.8 hours)
9/5/1998Grob 102 106 106
I declared Diamond Goal from Salida to Leadville to Crestone Peak to Salida. Had trouble getting away, tried flying up the east side of the valley several times but could not get past Buena Vista, returned to Mt Shavano to try the west side. I was only able to get to Mt. Princeton, turned and flew to Monarch Ski area, then south to the Sangre de Cristo range and flew to Hayden Pass and returned to Salida. Total miles 106, undeclared. (4.1 hours)
9/6/1998 Grob 102 175 175
Tried to fly the Diamond Goal again, nearly fell out after release but managed to get away after getting down to 800 AGL and flew up the east side of the valley to Leadville. The return to Salida looked better down the Collegiate range and crossed the valley to the Sangre de Cristos. I got to within 7 miles of Crestone Peak and made several attempts to go farther south but could not maintain reasonable altitude and finally returned to Salida. Total miles 175. (5.1 hours)
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