holiday 2017 ho, ho, merry christmas 2017! happy new year ... eagle/eagle-2017/holiday 201… ·...
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Holiday 2017
Ho, Ho, Merry Christmas 2017!
Happy New Year 2018!
Congratulations to the following!!! 41th Tournament Winner! Tom Culmsee
Season Points!
Jim Frahm- First in Open
Ken Eaton – First in RES
Tom Brightbill – First in 2 Meter
Dave Johnson – “Special Award”
Other Awards!
Tim Lynch, Lee Urbaniak, Ken Eaton “Top Team”
Tim Lynch “Top Competitor”
Kevin Martin “Top RES”
Don Stewart “Most Improved”
Jim Pugh “Cliff Mink Service Award”
Sandie Pugh “Silver Cup”
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NWSS Eagle
Holiday 2017
Volume 2017 The Eagle is the official newsletter of
the Northwest Soaring Society. More
information about the NWSS can be
found at our website:
www.northwestsoaringsociety.org
Newsletter Editor: Jim Pugh
[email protected], 253-874-2429
Hardcopy production and mailing:
Kevin Martin [email protected]
503-469-0234
Contact Jim Pugh for address
corrections, technical issues with
electronic editions and information
about receiving The Eagle.
Send articles, classified and photos to
Jim at [email protected]
Flyers for NWSS contests should be
sent to Richard Van Dijk, NWSS Contest
Coordinator [email protected]
360-891-2188) who will proof them and
forward to the newsletter editor and
webmaster.
Two delivery methods are available for The
Eagle: hard copy, or email copy of the
newsletter (PDF format).
2018 NWSS Calendar/Coming Events Board Meeting
Tentatively in March 2018 at central
location.
June 1, 2018 Nominations for 2017 Board
of Directors and Nominations for Cliff Mink
Award are open.
August 1, 2018 Nominations Closed for
Board of Directors.
August 1, 2017 Masters Class paperwork
due for consideration for 2017.
August 15, 2018 Nominations for Cliff
Mink Award closed. Masters Class
nominations closed.
September 14, 2018 Board of Directors
meeting before the Tournament at the flying
field.
September 15, 2018 42nd Annual NWSS
Tournament
September 15, 2018 Board of Directors
meeting reconvened after flying for election
of Officers for 2018.
Board Meeting
Tentatively in March 2019 at central
location
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2018 NWSS
Board of Directors
President
Kevin Martin
[email protected] 503-358-4424 Vice President
Richard Van Dijk [email protected]
360-891-2188
Jim Pugh [email protected]
253-874-2429
Ken Eaton 541-206-7344
Jim Frahm [email protected]
509-443-2716
Rex Grace
208-929-0135 Tom Culmsee
503-358-8421 Anne Stimers
509-270-8648 Don Stewart
509-946-0915 Officers
Art Boysen, Secretary
[email protected] 509-927-8611
Colleen Bumgarner,
Treasurer/NWSS Archivist
[email protected] 208-882-7126
Jim Pugh, Newsletter Editor
[email protected] 253-874-2429
Rex Grace, Scorekeeper
[email protected] 208-777-8533
Kevin Martin, Newsletter
Production. Assistant Newsletter
Editor.
503-358-4424 Richard Van Dijk Contest
Coordinator
[email protected] 360-891-2188
Dave Portwood, Webmaster
[email protected] 503-381-6992
NWSS Membership Application --- 2018 New Member/Renewal
Name: ______________________________AMA/MACC #_____________
Address: ____________________________Phone: ____________________
City: _____________________State/Provence: ___________Zip: _________
E-Mail Address: ________________________________________________
Can we publish your email address on the NWSS webpage? (Anti-spamming measures are taken) Y/N
Dues: Individual $20.00/year Family $25/year Junior $12.00/year
Please select the type of newsletter delivery you want.
Please mail me a hard copy: Y/N
Please send me and email telling me when a newsletter is available to download from the NWSS webpage, (Acrobat pdf format): Y/N
Please email the newsletter directly to me, (Acrobat pdf format): Y/N
Use email address above: Y/N
Use an alternate email address: Y/N
Mail application and Check made out to the NWSS to:
Colleen Bumgarner, NWSS Treasurer
1020 Eid Road, #8
Moscow, ID 83843
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Dave Johnson Honored at Awards
Banquet By Tom Culmsee
At this year’s NWSS season ending awards banquet, the
NWSS conferred a very special award to Dave Johnson . . .
our “Greatest Open Class Champion”. Over his 40+ year
soaring contest career, Dave managed to win an
unprecedented eight Open Class Seasons Points awards,
surpassing all other winners over the entire history of the
Northwest Soaring Society. Dave was very moved and
gracious in his acceptance speech, recounting how
wonderful it was to fly with and against some of the best
competitors he has ever met. Although he has retired from
flying model gliders, Dave will find his record to be very
difficult to surpass.
Shavings from The Editors Desk By Perry White
Well folks here it is the end of 2017 and the building season is upon us, or the repair our favorite
glider season is upon us. This is the last of the Shavings for 2017, but never fear, it will return
with gusto for 2018. (You were afraid of that)
So, to really start the column, here is a big thank you to Robin Kirkpatrick and Ken Eaton for
the 41st Annual NWSS tournament pictures that you will see elsewhere in the newsletter and do
we have pictures. Thanks also to Art Boysen for the board of directors meeting minutes. Thanks
to Tom Culmsee (sometimes spelled Clumsee by the turkey that writes this column) 😊 for the
tournament writeup and the Dave Johnson Special Award write-up, Lee Urbaniak for the North
Idaho Championships write-up, Ken Eaton for the Visalia write-up, Rex Grace for his Visalia
report, Richard Van Dijk for the 2018 NWSS contest schedule and Kevin Martin for the awards
banquet write-up.
Speaking of Visalia, Congratulations to Jim Frahm for taking 1st place in open. Way to go, great
flying. More of the NW Glider Guiders fun and games at Visalia later in this issue.
Here’s wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, plus great building and flying in
2018.
One more bit, yours truly will hear about the 41st tournament and wife person’s 3rd place finish
all winter long, believe me, all winter long. Also, Sandie can now be called the “Flying Great
Grandma”. Great Grandson Mark came flying in in late September 2017. 😊
Fair Winds and Strong Lift.
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North Idaho Soaring Championships 2017
As usual Farragut handed out thermals reluctantly and they never seemed to go where they
should. The wind at ground level indicated one thing but the thermal at altitude was doing
something else. It was Rex Grace that figured it out on the first day. His first time to lead the
pack going into the second day.
The second day the weather held but thermals were still elusive. Others were catching on to the
rhythms on the air, John Burke, Ken Eaton, Tom Culmsee, and Jim Frahm were still in the hunt
for the lead. Rex hung on for one round but later dropped down. Ken Eaton jumped into the lead
and held on. It came to the last round and any one of the top five could have taken it with a high
score. It was about as exciting as a sailplane competition can get and felt a lot like the finals of
the Tournament. Jim Frahm and Tom Culmsee had good scores but Ken scored just high enough
for the win.
It was a good contest for Ken as he also easily won R.E.S. by 1400 points. Kevin Martin was
breaking in a new (for him) plane and took second place followed by Art Boysen.
Two meter just won’t die. There is always someone to fly this class. I like two meter and wish it
would get more popular…maybe f3-res. Anyway, Tom Culmsee is a master in this class and had
very respectable scores that would have placed middle pack in Open Expert. Really good flying!
Robin Kirkpatrick, he’s been around for a long time, flew his Radian well enough to get second
place, way to go Robin and Rex got third.
We get an occasional competitor class entrant. This year we had one, John Boughton. John has
some nice planes, moldies and woodies, and is an excellent builder. Congratulations on a good
contest.
Thanks to all who attended and helped us have a successful contest. Let’s do it again next year!
Lee Urbaniak
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41st Annual Tournament Awards Banquet -by Kevin Martin After a beautiful day of Tournament flying on Saturday, folks adjourned to the annual awards banquet at
Roundtable Pizza in Kennewick.
Election Results
The results of the Board election and selection of officers for 2017 were announced:
Board Members: Board members will remain the same for 2018 as in 2017:
Ken Eaton, Tom Culmsee, Don Stewart, Jim Frahm, Rex Grace, Anne Stimers, Richard Van Dijk, Jim
Pugh and Kevin Martin.
Officers: Officers will also remain the same for 2018 as in 2017:
Collen Bumgarner, Treasurer
Art Boysen, Secretary
Richard Van Dijk, Vice President
Kevin Martin, President
Jim Pugh again graciously agreed to stay on as newsletter editor, and Rex Grace as official scorekeeper.
Cliff Mink Service Award
The Cliff Mink service award is given to an individual who has supported soaring in the Northwest. This
year’s recipient is Jim Pugh. He was nominated by Tom Culmsee for his long-time service to the NWSS.
He has long served in the unsung role of newsletter editor, parliamentarian and all-around knower of all
things NWSS.
Competitor to Expert
There were no promotions from Competitor to Expert this year.
Special Award
Dave Johnson was presented “Greatest Open Class Champion” award. (See write-up elsewhere in the
newsletter.)
Steve Yurchevich Most Improved Flyer Award for 2016
This award is presented to the pilot who had the greatest improvement in season points over the previous
season. This went to Don Stewart. Don’s season points score increased by 15.67 to 90.65 percent for
2017.
Silver Cup 2017
Sandie Pugh was this year’s Silver Cup Winner
Two Meter Season Points
Three pilots flew the 6 contest days needed to qualify for this award. One trophy was awarded:
1. Tom Brightbill 96.06 (13 days flown)
RES Season Points
Seven pilots flew more than the 6 contest days needed to qualify for this award. Trophies were awarded to
the top three finishers. The results were:
1. Ken Eaton 98.34 (11 days flown)
2. Richard Van Dijk 94.89 (10 days flown)
3. Kevin Martin 93.75 (12 days flown)
Open Class Season Points
Fourteen pilots flew the 8 or more contest days needed to qualify for this award. Trophies were awarded
to the top five. In a closely contested season, the results were:
1 Jim Frahm 99.90 (15 days flown)
2 Tom Culmsee 99.79 (20 days flown)
3 Tom Brightbill 98.90 (12 days flown)
4 Anne Stimers 98.38 (18 days flown)
5 Duane Cassidy 98.21 (8 days flown)
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Hell Freezes Over. . Culmsee Wins Tourney Pasco, WA - September 16 &17, 2017
By Tom Culmsee, CD
Well the unpredictable and mysterious universe lined up just right and allowed the unthinkable to
happen . . I won this year’s Tournament. It only took 41 tries, but perseverance and a whole year
of flying the same glider paid off. Swiss wunderkind Martin Baumer finished in second place
and that Flying Grandma Sandie Pugh was third. Yes, you read that right . . . Sandie flew out of
her mind and finished on the podium for the first time in her flying career. She was the happiest
person on the field and I later learned that her ecstatic glow lasted for several weeks (uhh, just
ask Jim . . 😊 ). Rounding out the top five were Lee Urbaniak in fourth and Ken “KYS” Eaton
fifth.
This tournament turned out to be one of the best in terms of weather in recent memory. Warmish
temperatures and low winds (essentially completely calm on Sunday) allowed us to log nine
rounds. At that point a low-score throw-out was invoked giving each contestant 8000 points
possible. The top ten pilots then moved on to the finals which consisted of four rounds of 10-
minute international duration scored man-on-man, allowing 4000 possible points.
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There were fortunately no disastrous launch explosions, gliders toasted on power lines or wicked
mid-airs so everyone seemed to have a great time. Thermals were regular but spaced widely
apart in some cases so it was easy to miss one if you chose to turn the wrong direction at a
critical time. But most were able to hitch rides that gave that max score we were all seeking.
Many many thanks to everyone that attended and particularly those that helped in some way,
making it such a memorable tournament. Particular kudos to Mary Ann Parker for scorekeeping,
Rex Grace for IT duty, Cathy Boysen for team scorekeeping and Kevin Martin for his general
assistance and for running the final rounds. And my gratitude to all those that assisted with the
winches, retrievers, batteries, lines and the crew that helped set-up and tear down. You go un-
sung for the most part, but not to me as we could not have had a tournament without you. Finals
1 2 3 4 Total
Tom Culmsee E 964 997 1,000 1,000 3,961
Martin Baumer E 1,000 1,000 901 689 3,590
Sandie Pugh E 866 863 889 911 3,529
Lee Urbaniak E 876 987 990 539 3,392
Ken Eaton E 854 970 578 975 3,377
Jim Frahm E 1,000 930 357 1,000 3,287
Anne Stimers E 548 907 916 853 3,224
Art Boysen E 958 290 1,000 807 3,055
Tom Brightbill E 669 1,000 554 739 2,962
Tim Lynch C 301 540 664 777 2,282
Preliminary (w/throw out in red)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Total
Jim Frahm E 998 993 1,000 971 1,000 990 748 984 997 7,933
Tom Culmsee E 975 976 993 988 864 983 968 1,000 995 7,878
Lee Urbaniak E 993 981 572 1,000 990 905 990 991 986 7,836
Tom Brightbill E 918 983 974 959 998 974 985 995 959 7,827
Ken Eaton E 938 943 971 981 979 984 978 983 993 7,812
Anne Stimers E 960 978 529 955 1,000 991 975 990 957 7,806
Tim Lynch C 960 979 943 974 941 598 975 998 983 7,753*
Art Boysen E 893 981 984 972 981 943 980 993 0 7,727
Sandie Pugh E 985 978 895 971 988 957 965 933 943 7,720
Martin Baumer E 973 991 867 997 988 872 988 902 988 7,699
==================================================================================
===
John Burke E 1,000 783 986 983 929 926 973 986 853 7,636
Kevin Martin E 978 952 993 998 995 721 808 826 990 7,540**
Steve Adams E 990 626 1,000 962 976 822 893 822 990 7,455
Rex Grace E 998 784 810 814 960 893 948 959 990 7,372
Rob Skiba C 900 964 817 947 931 969 808 824 959 7,311
Jim Pugh E 818 641 995 748 998 966 925 891 824 7,165
Glen Reiboldt C 815 988 988 745 0 853 735 981 998 7,103
Don Stewart E 978 841 984 624 474 824 993 824 1,000 7,068
Duane Cassidy E 930 674 979 567 991 621 963 998 595 6,751
R. Kirkpatrick C 708 824 484 821 291 0 953 650 557 5,288
* Top Finishing Competitor
** Top Finishing RES
Team (after throw out, 24,000 possible)
1) Blue (Eaton, Urbaniak & Lynch) – 23,401
2) Green (Frahm, Brightbill & Skiba) – 22,701 (Corrected)
3) Yellow (Culmsee, Burke & Reibolt) – 22,617
4) Red (S.Pugh, Baumer & Stewart) – 22,487
5) Orange (Stimers, J.Pugh & Grace) – 22,343
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2017 Tournament Pictures
(Banquet)
Tom Brightbill – 1st 2 Meter
Ken Eaton – 1st RES
Kevin Martin – 3rd RES
Duane Cassidy – 5th Open
Anne Stimers – 4th Open
Tom Brightbill – 3rd Open
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Tom Culmsee – 2nd Open
Jim Frahm – 1st Open
Sandie Pugh – Silver Cup 2017
Jim Pugh – 2017 Cliff Mink
Service Award.
Most Improved 2017
Don Stewart
Looks like a MAXA
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Sunday Finals Flying
Anne and Sandie make the flyoffs!!!
Score Card Runner/Rider – Rex
Score Card Walker – Duane
Its lonely out here – Kevin Assistant
CD
Flight line activity
More Flight line activity(sort of)
Waiting to fly
Top RES Flyer – Kevin Martin
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Top Competitor – Tim Lynch
Team Winners-Lee Urbaniak, Tim
Lynch and Ken Eaton
Ken Eaton – 5th Place
Lee Urbaniak – 4th Place
Sandie Pugh – 3rd Place
Martin Baumer – 2nd Place
The Winner -Tom Culmsee
The Top 5 Flyers for 2017!!!!
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Journey of Excellence – by Ken Eaton
As soon as the awards were handed out at the 2016 Fall Fest in Visalia, CA the PASS group
headed home. With trophies safely packed away the rig was quickly filled with chatter of plans
for the return trip in 2017. Back home excitement filled the air as memories were shared
throughout the winter and this year’s flying season. The contagious "Visalia Virus" infecting
those getting trapped too close to the group. At first there were six, then eight, then more than a
dozen planning to go... But sometimes unfair things happen to good people and the evil Knight
of reality rode up to snatch pilots away. You know - cut them with surgeries, stab them with
family emergencies, slash their finances (but no one really cares about finances as long as TC is
going🤗💸) and then there are things like having a JOB. And then the Dragon of Confusion
reared its ugly head over the actual dates of the 2017 Fall Fest, breathing fire on some who
planned to attend. Thankfully most had time to extinguish those flames and make adjustments to
their schedules. In some cases, others stepped up to fill in spots left vacant. So, at this point I'm
writing this on the trip down - somewhere between Sacramento and Stockton - I'm not even sure
who or how many PASS and NWSS members are in route or still getting ready to leave. We left
yesterday in the RABBIT rig with Slick (Jim Frahm) and 41-Tries (Culmsee). Hoody Pants
(Jason) and I were shanghaied into timing for them in the ALES contest on Friday. The
TURTLE and SLUG rigs will show up sometime tomorrow. For now, all I want to do is sleep.
Last night TC set us up in a motel with construction workers in the room above us with them
dragging their gear around constantly till after 10pm. Starting again at 4:48am and then cooking
their breakfast on camping grills outside our door. Cripes! At least at this motel the check-in
clerk was not behind bullet-proof glass with an armed guard - memories of that trip still haunt
me. Will it take TC 41 tries to get this right too? One has to wonder.... JUST KIDDING Tom -
We all truly appreciate all you do to make these trips happen!! Like the Israelites, we wandered
the desert for our remaining trip. It was filled with hours and hours of total boredom interrupted
by brief moments of sheer panic. Thank God Slick Jim was driving. Our fearless leader, TC was
able to lead us to the Promised Land once again. Green and lush this year, the water famine of
last year had passed, greeting us now with an oasis for flying and landing. No dust covered
planes this year, no dirt caked legs either. The perfect conditions of previous years were back.
Securing spots for pop-ups and parking completed, we continued on to our usual
accommodations and dinner. The Turtles and Slugs would check-in tomorrow afternoon. There
is literally nothing to say about timing ALES for TC - he didn’t fly. I’m also not going to talk
about Slick Jim’s ALES flying on Friday, he can explain that to you if he wants. Later in the day
the Slugs and Turtles joined us at the field...
Finishing this now that I am safe at home:
Next time I think we’re gonna have name tags identifying which group you belong to. You
know, so you can ask “are you a turtle?” And if they don’t respond with “you bet your sweet a$$
I’m a turtle” they owe you a drink 🥃
So nice having Kevin with us again, he loves bringing coffee to everyone’s room in the early
morning. Thanks Kevin! As I mentioned, flying conditions were perfect this year, both days.
With a total of 138 entries across all classes, 10 rounds were flown. That’s a total of 1380
launches, flights and landings. Hard to believe it is so relaxing and so much fun, but it is!
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Everything is taken care of for the pilots and this year they used a self-entry computer scoring
system. OMG it was so easy for the pilots, timers and scorekeepers. The competition however is
not so easy, fun, but not easy. The NWSS represented itself well from one end of the scoreboard
to the other. Yes, we had finishers in 1st and last place with Jim Frahm taking top honors for the
second time (dang he is good). Grandpa and Jason took 2nd and 3rd in 2-meter respectively. The
rest of us are pretty much in the top third of the classes somewhere (well, except for one... and he
has his own story to tell about that). Once again, we loaded up the gear and trophies and headed
for home but not before juggling who was going to be a Rabbit, Turtle or Slug. We did stay at
the same construction zone motel but after significant whining during check-in TC got our rooms
switched to the other side of the complex. Of course, that meant the Turtles got our scheduled
rooms since they were arriving later - nice work TC, very very nice! Four or five years ago I
made my first trip to Visalia. It was so awesome it got added to my “never miss it” list. From the
comments I’ve heard it now seems to be on that same list for a few other Rabbits, Turtles and
Slugs from NWSS. The “Visalia Virus” is spreading. Make plans to join us in 2018, you won’t
regret it!
Post Falls to Visalia - & back
By Rex Grace
Getting on Board Every year I hear some of the Portland pilots taking about going to Fall Fest, the annual TD
contest in Visalia, CA. Held in the first weekend of Oct each year, 2017 being the 44th annual
edition. The sponsoring club is Central Valley RC. The stories about this contest are always
interesting with talk about how many pilots participate, the nice open field, weather, etc. For 5
years I’ve promised myself to go to this contest but, being as it is late in the season and over
1,000 miles away, I haven’t been able make it happen for me.
This year things were different somehow. I was flying new airplanes, doing better at contests,
flying more contests and so the effort to go to this contest seemed smaller than before. I
discussed the trip with a few of my flying buddies that I thought I might want to go. Usually
most of them can't make the commitment and the whole thing falls apart before it gets going. But
, again, this year things seemed to be different for them as well. Curtis Headrick had attended
Visalia before and he was eager to return. The two of us could make the trip so I knew we were
going even if no one else agreed to go. I tried to get John Burke to take us in his new motor
home but that didn’t work out. But with a little nudging Don Stewart threw his hat in the ring.
And the threat of missing out on a fun trip and some great flying motivated Duane Cassidy into
riding along as well.
We collaborated with the PASS pilots to assist in our planning as they have made the journey to
Visalia every year for 10+ years to date. Tom Culmsee acted as “travel agent extraordinaire”, as
he has for many years past, making most of our motel reservations going down, there and back.
This was big help for us to not have to find lodging and handle all the details in an unknown city.
There were 7 pilots in their caravan, taking 2 different vehicles. Making the journey was Tom
Culmsee, Jason “Hoody Pants”, Ken Eaton and Jim Frahm in Jim’s truck. In the third vehicle
was Kevin Martin, GD Portwood and Grandpa Brightbill riding in Kevin’s car pulling his small
trailer with their gear. With our group of four in my truck we had a total of 11 pilots in 3
vehicles from the NWSS making the journey. Each group had a leader, so we would know
exactly who to blame if we got off course.
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The Drive
Our group, the east side group, started traveling on Wednesday afternoon before the weekend of
the event. Duane arrived at my home in Post Falls, ID that afternoon after driving 6 hrs. from
Great Falls, MT. This was the beginning of our journey heading south. His planes and gear
easily fit into the back of my pickup truck along with my planes and gear. I had added a shelf
that horizontally divided the space under the canopy. The upper compartment was for our
sailplanes while the lower compartment stored our heavier gear and clothes.
Thursday morning at 5:15am Duane and I set out to pick up Curtis Headrick in Medical Lake,
WA, the third member of our 4-person crew, it was still 0 dark thirty when we arrived at Curtis’
house. We stuffed his planes and gear in the truck and we were off again, just 15 minutes off our
target time frame. So far, so good!
After Medical Lake we drove to Richland, WA where we boarded our last team member, Don
Stewart. With all our gear neatly wedged in the rear of my pick up, our crew of 4 began the
main part of our journey.
We took a different, more central route, than the other 2 Groups. They traveled on I5 further
west while we went through the center of Oregon’s high desert, past Mt hood and through bend.
We stopped for lunch in Klamath Falls then on to Chico, CA. Only 4.5 hours left to Visalia.
We had no hotel reservations for the first night because we were not sure exactly how far we
would get before we were ready to quit driving for the day. It’s always interesting traveling by
the seat of your pants. But with the aid of our smarter-than-we-are phones, a decent, inexpensive
motel was located easily. The group voted not to eat dinner since we ate a late lunch that day. By
the time we hit the sack it was 11pm.
Friday’s wakeup call was around 5:00am with the intent to be on the road by 6am. Duane was
still in his little clothes when I knocked on his door at 5:45a. A little bit of a scramble later and
we were on the road by 6:14am. We stopped for breakfast before we went too far. Then on to our
destination, along the way dodging a semi that tried to end our journey. Gotta love Californian
traffic.
It was 80 degrees and sunny when we arrived at CVRC’s contest/club field, around 12:30pm on
Friday. Jason Hoody Pants flagged us into our landing spot and WE, WERE, THERE!! And an
hour earlier than we anticipated.
CVRC Fall Fest
The flying field is surrounded by orchards of pecans or walnuts or almonds or all three. This
setting provides unrestricted air space to fly. Light winds made for comfortable conditions under
our pop ups. There was plenty of space for parking, RV parking/camping, space for pop-ups for
hanging out plus the club’s large pavilion, permanent winch area and large landing area.
Additional space was available to the east of the winch and landing area where several high starts
could be set up and used for practice. What a great club/contest field.
Friday
An ALES only contest was held on Friday starting around 1pm so our group arrived just in time
to see that event. There were 30+ pilots competing including our own Tom Culmsee from PASS.
Each fight group had about 7 or 8 pilots that launched within about a 30 second window. I had
not seen many man-on-man launches so it was a treat for me to see the ALES launches. It also
inspired me to add an ALES plane to my squadron for next year.
16
While the ALES contest progressed, and after we investigated the winches/landing areas, we
unpacked our planes and set out to do a few practice flights. It was very convenient to be able to
practice on the same field while the ALES contest was still in progress.
That evening 11 of us converged on Applebee’s for dinner, sharing stories of the past 2 days trip,
our impressions of the contest field and the ALES contest that day. We were all clearly in our
element and enjoying every minute.
Saturday & Sunday
For 4 of us from NWSS this was our first time at Visalia. Another 100+ pilots were registered to
compete, so this also made it the largest contest for us newbies. At its peak in years past, I was
told, as many as 350 pilots have flown in this event. That was a little mind boggling as the 100+
pilots that were there seemed to be a pretty big crowd. Hard to imagine 3+ times that many at
that field. I really wish I had attended this contest 10 years ago.
As with all TD contests a Pilots meeting was held right off. That began with a local Boy Scout
Troop raising the colors and leading us in our National Anthem. Nice touch CVRC!
Flight classes for Pilots this year were Open (83 Pilots), 2M (5), RES (28), Woody (7) & ALES
(12) classes on Saturday and Sunday. Flight groups were used in past years but this year, with
the lower number of pilots, they switched to flight windows for each round. We picked up our
score cards after the pilots meeting and then scanned them with a cellular iPad. Scanning the QR
code brought up a website for each pilot to enter their scores after each round. This eliminated
the back and forth of handing in and retrieving score cards after each round. Using this system
with mobile entry of pilots scores was also a first for this contest. I know that I had not seen this
method of entering scores before and probably most of the pilots there had not seen or used this
method for entering scores either. But it worked perfectly from our perspective. I’d like to
incorporate that capability in the NWSS scoring system someday.
Six rounds were flown on Saturday - 5, 8, 10, 10, 10, 8 min tasks. Flight windows of 60 to 85
minutes for each round were very adequate for the 120 flights. Weather was sunny with light
winds. Lift was good generally, so most pilots were getting their times. There were some
interesting situations at the landing spots from time to time. Standing in line was the norm and on
one occasion I was timing for Curtis, he was making his approach just 20 seconds behind the
pilot in front of him on the same spot. Luckily Duane was right there with us taking pictures, so
he helped the pilot in front of us to quickly move out of the landing circle. On another of Curtis’
flights a pilot walks through our landing circle in the last 10 seconds of the flight resulting in
Curtis landing upside down and an interference call by landing judge. Gotta wonder what some
people are thinking when they do stuff like that.
On Sunday the weather was nearly the same as on Saturday and we got in four rounds - 5, 8, 10,
10 min tasks. Launches went smoothly with 4 winches. At least 3 were operating most of the
time. Each winch retriever was manned by a CVRC volunteer, so the timers were free to focus
on their pilot. The winch boss told us to be ready once we stepped up to the winch and hooked
up. NO sand bagging once you were at the winch. The winch boss called for each pilot to launch
in turn by calling the number of the winch they were hooked up to. On one occasion I was
hooked up for launch, the winch boss called my winch number, I wound up the winch tension
and just when I was about ready to let go the winch boss yelled “don’t launch, don’t launch!!”. I
stopped the winch but with all the tension on the line I could not hold my plane. I lurched a
couple of steps down the winch line then had to let go of my plane. There was still enough
tension on the line to launch my plane to about 50’ altitude. I quickly gained control, circled
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right and landed smoothly out in the practice field. No harm, no foul. When I retrieved my plane,
and returned to the winch I discovered that the pilot next to me had incorrectly launched at the
same time I was supposed to launch. Had I continued to launch we would have been going up
side by side and of course that could have been a disaster. For the record, no one in our NWSS
group damaged, lost or otherwise trashed their airplane at the contest. Kevin had a plane issue at
the end of the day on Saturday, so he did not fly on Sunday. But no major carnage.
Breakfast and lunch on both days were easy due to the excellent food vendor that was on site.
They had breakfast sandwiches and great cheeseburgers along with water and soft drinks.
We finished the last round by 1pm on Sunday, awards and raffle were completed around 2pm
and we were on the road home by 3pm. The remote score entry system and the flight windows
worked without issue on both days.
The contest results are posted on the CVRC website. There is a link at the bottom of their
homepage. In OPEN Jim Frahm from Spokane took first place (second time he has taken 1st at
this contest) and the rest of us filled in from 21st to 65th representing the NWSS from the top to
bottom.
Going Home
On Sunday afternoon we drove 5 hours to Redding, CA where we stayed at the same motel as
one of our other groups. After a GPS goose chase the next morning we all enjoyed breakfast
together at a Black Bear diner. We all seemed to agree that this had been a great event and we
all had a really good time.
The remainder of our journey took us back through central Oregon the way we came 4 days
earlier. Fortunately for us we left the Sacramento area Sunday. The devastating fires that burned
for days broke out Monday not far from Visalia. The remainder of the return trip was
uneventful, but seemingly longer then the trip down somehow. Dropped Don and his gear in
Richland, then Curtis in Medical Lake. Duane and I pulled into my house around 9pm Monday
evening. What a trip. I could relax but Duane had another 6-hour drive on Tuesday to get home.
The four of us in our group agreed that this was way more fun than we should be allowed to
have, and we must do this again, and again, and again, and...
My rendition of this trip does little justice to the whole experience so, I encourage you, if you
enjoy TD contests, Fall Fest is a must attend at least once.
Smooth Landings.
18
NWSS BOARD OF DIRECTOR’S MEETING MINUTES
ELTOPIA, WA
SEPTEMBER 15, 2017
I. With a quorum of members present, President Kevin Martin called the fall meeting of the
NWSS Board of Directors to order.
Board Members present: Kevin Martin – President, Art Boysen – Secretary and proxy
for Richard Van Dijk, Rex Grace – Scorekeeper, Jim Pugh – Newsletter Editor, Don
Stewart, Jim Frahm, Anne Stimers, Tom Culmsee – Tournament CD and Ken Eaton.
II. MINUTES OF LAST MEETING
A motion was made, seconded and passed to approve the March 25, 2017 minutes as
written.
III. TREASURER’S REPORT
Colleen Bumgarner reported that there was $2,828.46 in the treasury. This is prior to
Tournament fees and expenses plus Seattle not paying their contest fees. The contest fee
is currently $10 per 2-day contest. A motion was made, seconded and passed to accept
the treasury report.
IV. OLD BUSINESS
1. IEQF EQUIPMENT EXPENSES
Jim Frahm reported that IEQF was able to rebuild their current equipment without relying
on shared expenses from other clubs. It is recommended that all clubs use a minimum of
#24 line for the winches and #18 for the retriever to eliminate line breaks.
V. NEW BUSINESS
1. MASTER CLASS NOMINATIONS FOR 2017
No Master Class nominations were received for 2017.
2. COMPETITOR TO EXPERT
No competitors met the qualifications to move up to Expert Class for 2017. A motion
was made, seconded and passed to keep the current qualifications.
3. STEVE YURCHEVICH MOST IMPROVED FLYER
Don Stewart had the biggest increase in season points from last year to this year so he
was presented the Steve Yurchevich Most Improved Flyer Award for 2017.
4. CLIFF MINK SERVICE AWARD
With some behind the scenes work by Tom Culmsee and Sandie Pugh, a motion was
made, seconded and passed to present Jim Pugh the Cliff Mink Service Award for all of
his hard work he has done for the NWSS all these years.
5. APPOINTED BOARD MEMBERS
A motion was made, seconded and passed to keep the following Appointed Board
Members for 2018: Rex Grace – Scorekeeper (Richard Van Dijk being assistant), Jim
Pugh – Newsletter Editor, Dave Portwood – Webmaster, Kevin Martin – Newsletter
Production, Richard Van Dijk – Contest Schedule Coordinator and Colleen Bumgarner –
Archivist. It was noted that volunteers are being looked at for Newsletter Editor and
Webmaster.
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6. CONTEST SCHEDULE
No preliminary Contest Schedule for 2018 was made available. Recommendations are
being made that one of the Carnation contests and one of Spokane contests be eliminated
from the current schedule. It is also being looked into that the Sun Fly contest in Pasco
be moved out so it does not fall on the 4th of July weekend. Finally, the schedule will
also be looked at such that the contests are more evenly spaced throughout the flying year
(more breaks). The final schedule is planned to be available by the end of the year.
7. GIFT CERTIFICATES
The following will be presented gift certificates for all their hard work in this year’s
Tournament: Tom Culmsee for being CD, Mary Ann Parker for keeping score and the
Sod Farm owners for allowing us a beautiful place to fly.
8. 2018 TOURNAMENT LOCATION
It will be discussed at the next Board of Directors meeting on possibly moving the 2018
Tournament to Brooks, OR to increase participation.
9. OUTGOING BOARD MEMBERS
The following are the outgoing Board Members after serving the last three years (2015-
2017): Jim Frahm, Anne Stimers and Don Stewart.
10. INCOMING BOARD MEMBERS
With no other nominations made, a motion was made, seconded and passed for the
following Board Members for 2018-2020: Jim Frahm, Anne Stimers and Don Stewart.
11. OFFICERS FOR 2017
A motion was made, seconded and passed to keep the same officers for 2018: Colleen
Bumgarner – Treasurer, Art Boysen – Secretary, Richard Van Dijk – Vice President, and
Kevin Martin – President.
12. DAVE JOHNSON SEASON POINT CHAMPION
Tom Culmsee reported that Season Points Champion will be renamed the Dave Johnson
Season Points Champion.
13. MEMBERSHIP REPORT
During the next Board Meeting, a report will be given on the health of the NWSS
membership.
VI. SCHEDULE NEXT BOARD OF DIRECTOR’S MEETING
The next Board of Director’s meeting will be in late March. Date/location/time to be
determined.
VII. ADJOURNMENT
With no other business before the Board, a motion was made, seconded and passed to
adjourn the meeting.
Respectably Submitted by:
Art Boysen
NWSS Secretary
20
Final Season Points Standings – 2017
2-Meter Class 2017 Final Standings Qualified pilots only Name Class Days Days season pts % of perfect seas pts flown counted for all days avg
Brightbill Tom E 13 6 96.06 88.95 91.78 Culmsee Tom E 11 6 92.20 78.91 82.13 Grace Rex E 12 6 76.65 56.58 58.99
RES Class 2017 Final Standings Qualified pilots only
Name Class Days Days season pts % of perfect seas pts flown counted for all days avg
Eaton Ken E 11 6 98.34 92.11 95.76 Van Dijk Richard E 10 6 94.89 89.00 92.19 Martin Kevin E 12 6 93.75 79.83 82.25 Hood Jason E 6 6 92.11 90.42 92.11 Boysen Art E 10 6 91.58 78.97 82.17 Pugh Jim E 10 6 84.74 76.81 79.34 Urbaniak Lee E 9 6 83.02 68.68 70.10
Open Class 2017 Final Standings Qualified pilots only Name Class Days Days season pts % of perfect seas pts flown counted for all days avg
Frahm Jim E 15 8 99.90 95.35 96.78 Culmsee Tom E 20 8 99.79 88.69 91.15 Brightbill Tom E 12 8 98.90 94.06 97.30 Stimers Anne E 18 8 98.38 89.18 92.47 Cassidy Duane E 8 8 98.21 94.19 98.21 Eaton Ken E 10 8 96.27 90.84 94.31 Headrick Curtis E 11 8 95.88 86.87 91.22 Grace Rex E 17 8 95.85 85.81 89.75 Urbaniak Lee E 12 8 95.25 87.18 90.74 Stewart Don E 15 8 90.65 78.42 81.38 Burke John E 11 8 90.25 77.35 81.87 Pugh Sandie E 10 8 86.89 81.47 84.29 Adams Steve E 8 8 86.45 84.03 86.45 Boysen Art E 10 8 85.78 77.04 79.16
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2018 Contest
Schedule
Draft
Version 3
Month Date Location Contest CD
May 5/6
Lewiston,
ID
Bruce Bumgarner
Memorial
Duane
Cassidy
12/13
19/20
Brooks,
OR
Barry Kurath Memorial
2M/RES
David
Portwood
26/27
Farragut,
ID Pioneer Memorial
Robin
Kirkpatrick
June 2/3
Spokane,
WA Soar at Paradise
Curtis
Headrick
9/10 Pasco, WA Fry Fly Don Stewart
16/17
23/24
Brooks,
OR Thermalitis
Tom
Culmsee
July 30/1
7/8 Pasco, WA Sun Fly Joe Campbell
14/15
21/22
Brooks,
OR Thermal Search Kevin Martin
28/29 SASS SASS (ALES) SASS
August 4/5
11/12
Carnation,
WA Dennis Otter Memorial Jim Pugh
18/19
Eugene,
OR Rippin’ Thermals
Tom
Culmsee
25/26
September 1/2
Farragut,
ID N. Idaho Championships Lee Urbaniak
7/9
15/16 TBD NWSS Tournament
Tom
Culmsee