The Wobbles

Hello, and welcome to the 2024 SSA Open Class National Championship in Minden, Nevada!  I just got the job as your Contest Reporter, and I figure “Why should Rich Owen have all the fun?”  Let me bring you up-to-date on what’s been happening here.  Thankfully, Leigh Zimmerman has been posting the daily weather and tasks for the contest on the SSA Facebook Page.

First, our Contest Staff:

Contest Manager:  Jim Lee (pre-contest), Bob Trumbly (during the contest)

Competition Director:  John Good

Weatherman:  Dan Gudgel

Scoring:  Ron Gleason

Weighing:  Alan Coombs, Don Adams and Chris Gillespie

Air Traffic Control:  Steve Sliwa

Registration:  Kathy Lee, Susan Gillespie and Chris Gillespie

Retrieve Desk:  Linda Mae Hivert, Ruth Ann Van Vranken

Operations/Safety:   Brian Neff

Chief Tow Pilot:  Dan Flynn

Tow Pilots:  Patrick Parnell, Andrew Wood, Dana Pierson and Charlie Hayes

Line Crew:  Ruth Ann Van Vranken and the Civil Air Patrol Cadets

Flight Line Drinks:  Ruth Ann Van Vranken and Linda Mae Hivert

Soaring NV Staff:  Anders Clark and Cory Hoffman

Photographer:  Evelyn Tovar

We thank each of you for the gift of your time and energy in planning and running this contest!

And huge thanks to Gary Ittner for providing his hangar (again!) for our use for pilot meetings, an office for Weather, Retrieve and Task Planning, and for Dinners!

The weather here last week made for high and fast soaring conditions typical this time of year in The Sierra and Western Great Basin.   On Friday, Jim Lee won Practice Day 1 in a very-new-to-him EB 29R with Keith Essex in Second Place and Gary Ittner, Third Place.  Saturday, John Cochrane won Practice Day 2 in another EB 29, Thomas Greenhill placed Second and Jim Lee Third. 

We had a great Welcome Dinner in the “P7 Tap Room” followed by a Fundraising Dessert for the Junior U.S. Soaring Team.  Thomas Greenhill, one of our Junior Team Pilots, gave a presentation on the planning and preparation the team is making for the upcoming Junior World Soaring Championship In Poland. Pete Alexander reported $2,400 of contributions were made during the evening. 

The Mandatory Pilot’s Safety Briefing was held at the Sunday morning Pilot Meeting. Then, as Thomas Greenhill put it:  “The weather turned wobbly.”   This wobbliness kept all 17 competitors who launched yesterday on Day 1 of The Championship from achieving the 13,000’ benchmark mimimum altitude considered safe to set out on a racing task from Minden.  By 1500, CD Good had pushed the Start Line Opening Time back at least 8 times.  He also fell back to a shorter Task B, and then an even shorter Task C.  The soaring would end abruptly at 1700, said Dan Gudgel, and John canceled the day.

John Good sent the following message this morning:  "A close look at today's weather indicates a high chance of problems with the launch, any possible task, and especially landing.  Accordingly, we've decided to cancel flying today.  We'll try again Tuesday".

Not the news we wanted, but succinct and to the point.

More soon,

Dennis Linnekin