This is (probably – you never know for sure!) my last Soaring Cafe post. Last month, at the Minden 18m Nationals, I was disqualified for ‘unsafe thermalling’ in response to a written complaint from Dennis Linnekin (DL). In addition to being disqualified from that event, I was prevented from competing in the 15m Nationals at Montague.…
— Weekly Digest
FLIGHT MH 17!!!
by Bill Elliott •
With the tragic end of flight MH 17 from Malaysia Airlines above the East of the Ukraine, EVERYTHING seems unimportant. I started this blog a couple of days ago, when the beginning of the 33d WGC was one of the high leveled items for this blog. Now it is all totally unimportant, totally not relevant!!!…
Ireland’s First 500km Flight by Kevin Houlihan
by Bill Elliott •
My mother always claims that June 22nd is really the longest day. It certainly was for her in 1954 because on that day in that year I, her firstborn, arrived. I’m not sure if she has recovered yet. June 22nd this year was, for me, the longest day ever – in a glider. I pedaled…
Patience, patience….
by Bill Elliott •
I had tonsillectomy at the end of June but after that I felt great (just pain in my throat, but no fever, etc.) So, one week later, I decided to fly again as I felt super-healthy… although I was a bit tired. No surprise, it is natural after a surgery. We had a task called…
Sunseeker Duo’s first XC-Flight
by Bill Elliott •
Three weeks after their maiden dual flight the Raymonds now tried a first cross-country flight in their new machine. On June 21st Eric Raymond sent out an e-mail reporting: “Irena and I just returned from an overnight trip in our new plane, our first experience traveling in it. We set our goal to be easy,…
1-26 Championships Wrap-Up
by Bill Elliott •
No update for a few days, I know. I hate it when that happens, so here is the rest of the story. Thursday was, I think, the 5th attempt at Day 2. The morning meeting wasn’t very optimistic on the weather and Hutch called a 12:30 grid time. We decided to squeeze the annual 1-26…
July Photo Contest — Cast Your Votes
by SC Admin •
It is time to start voting! The highlights of the Rules regarding voting are: Voting by registered Café members will determine the top 10 photos each month. Registered members can cast one vote per photo each day. You can vote for as many photos as you want each day. The Café editors will review the voting and award a…
‘Unofficial’ Minden 18m Nationals Waypoint Database – Rick Walters Update
by Bill Elliott •
A couple of days ago, I got the chance to sit with Rick Walters and add his local knowledge of Minden landout options into the ‘unofficial’ Minden database. Rick has been flying here forever, and knows many of the off-field landing sites by their first names (literally – I kid you not!). He has many…
Minden 18m Nationals and looking back at a picnic on a wing at Lake Tahoe!!!
by Bill Elliott •
Qualifying GRAND PRIX in France The qualifying Grand Prix in France flown from Rennes Saint Sulpice is over and the winner is Christophe Ruch, who started on “lucky Friday the 13th” with 42 points whilst runner up Christophe Abadie had 28. They had then, 7 days out of 7 and tasks between 103 km and…
Kawa-Biter or Happy Winner? Didier Hauss talks about his Success
by Bill Elliott •
The exciting Grand Prix Final of 2014 in Sisteron is not just history, it is historic: 8 days of soaring weather – maybe not all of them perfect. But still this is quite a sensation for European conditions! The excitement became bigger and bigger after every contest day, and when last morning had broken six…
