2012 Open Class Nationals Update Day Two First place for the day, Ray Gimmey in ASG-29-18 with 335 miles at 83 MPH. He reported that he found lift in Gimmey’s bowl when he needed it on the way back. Second place was Rick Walters & Pete Alexander in the Arcus with 346 miles at 83…
Tag Archive for 2012 US Open Nationals
Leftovers from Day 2
by Bill Elliott •
A couple things from Day 2 that I didn’t fit into the earlier post:
Contest director John Godfrey is from Pittsburgh, and gave an introductory Pittsburghese lesson at the morning pilot’s meeting.
Later on, things got hot on the ramp. A s…
Day 3 at Minden
by Bill Elliott •
Report for today: better than expected. Strong north winds and high cirrus clouds left everyone wondering whether we would have a task at all today. After a number of pre-launch amendments—and finally the contestants’ discovery of better-than-expected lift in the Carson Valley—the contest director called the task out over the radio. A 2.5 hour-minimum modified […]
Day 2 at Minden
by Bill Elliott •
So far, each day at Minden has brought something new. Today’s novelty: Well, those clouds weren’t quite so big when we got started. At the weather briefing, we learned that the atmosphere south of Minden had grown moist enough to support the formation of rain and thunderstorms. These would build above the Sierra Crest and […]
2012 U.S. Open Class Nationals Update – Day 1
by Bill Elliott •
The winner for the day was the Arcus flown by Rick Walters & Pete Alexander. The task was to fly from Minden to Hilton Ranch to Benton and then a free turnpoint. They flew 283 miles at an average speed of 81 MPH. Rick reported that they were slow to make it to Hilton Ranch, as the conditions were weak, but after that it was good. Blue thermals all day, and they were never below 13,000 feet MSL. They continued to Boundary peak. He said the best soaring was from Mount Grant to Lucky Boy Pass.
