For many years, the Stemme S-10 has been a star attraction in the exhibit hall at the (now biennial) SSA convention. At the 2012 SSA convention in Reno, Nevada, we asked Alexander Papenberg of Stemme USA to give us a tour of the Stemme S-10, arguably the most beautiful and luxurious touring sailplane on the…
The Café thanks Tilo Holighaus and Bernd Weber of Schempp-Hirth sailplanes for providing Tilo’s SSA 2012 presentation for publication in the Café.
The Café also published a short video of Tilo introducing the Arcus in the SSA 2012 exhibit hall.
Northern Utah provides a unique opportunity in the USA to truly fly “in” the mountains. Logan has often been compared to Rieti, Italy, Saint-Auban, France and Omarama, New Zealand for the true mountain and ridge flying experiences. The skills and techniques required as well as the potential for long cross-country flights will be explored.
The February 4th SSA Awards Banquet concluded with an address by Capt. Barry Schiff. Barry is a retired TWA airline captain, journalist, and author, who has compiled an extraordinary record of accomplishment in general and sport aviation.
The February 4, 2012 SSA Awards Banquet was well-attended. According to the SSA staff, 327 convention attendees registered for the banquet. SSA Chairman Al Tyler welcomed the crowd and Master of Ceremonies Bob Wander introduced the head table. Following the meal, Chairman Al presented the SSA Awards, with help from Awards Committee Chairman Jay Campbell, Ralph Kolstad, and OLC’s Reiner Rose.
We are delighted to provide the following images from Maria Szemplinska. She creates truly beautiful photographs with a unique perspective. Let us know if you would like a copy and we can put you in touch with her. We hope you enjoy them as much as we have. — Bill and Rand Photos by Maria…
Windward Performance, a U. S. sailplane design and manufacturing company based in Bend, Oregon, had a prototype of the DuckHawk, their new 15 meter sailplane on display in the SSA convention exhibit hall.
Few pilots in the world are as experienced as Jim in flying the Sierra mountain wave. In his presentation, Jim describes the hazards of long wave flights, the equipment needed to make these flights safely, and how to adequately prepare for and plan long flights in the Sierra wave. He also recounts several of his many successful flights.
Gordon Boettger has made some remarkable—and record-setting—flights in the Sierra wave, at first with his Kestrel and more recently with Hugh Bennett in Hugh’s Duo Discus. Gordon lives about five minutes from the Minden airport, which is an ideal launching point for long distance wave flights in the Sierra and Great Basin.
Uys Jonker, co-founder of Jonker Sailplanes, makers of the 18
meter JS-1 Revelation, gave a very well-attended talk at the 2012 SSA convention in Reno on how refinements in glide aerodynamic design can add up to significant gains in performance over the current generation of 18 meter sailplanes.
