by Chuck Lohre 6V
21 Contestants came from as far away as San Diego, Nevada, Michigan, New England, Florida and Texas to compete for bragging rights. Some very unique gliders attended as well: a Front Engine Sustainer (FES), the only one in the world, on FP Francois Pin’s ASW 27 and the jet powered HPH Shark of DC Dave Caffey shown with Andy Breeze-Stringfellow helping him assemble. Photo by Chuck Lohre.
My 6V ASW-15 was the lowest performance glider in the field. Henry Retting’s R ASH-31MI-21 came the week before and was rewarded with some great soaring Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. On Sunday ZR1 Manfred Maurer, DR Dan Reagan, two Juniors from the Philadelphia Glider Council, VB Julia Karasinski’s Discus 2b & OH Pat Cernuto’s ASW-28, borrowed from Hank Nixon, joined them along with one of our favorite club members, BS Rob Cluxton flying a 304CZ-17.
May 13, 2024 The first official practice day on Monday also delivered excellent soaring. As usual the CCSCers rose to the occasion with a welcome dinner on Monday by Maury Drummy and Jerry Diersing. All orchestrated by Linda and LX John Murray who was the sniffer on some days.
Then the weather moved in for Tues, and Wed.
May 16th we got a contest day in. Having some World Class pilots in our midst, it wasn’t surprising, nine-time World’s competitor, P7 Gary Ittner came in fourth; preceded by FP Francois Pin, seven-time World’s US Competitor; and then by Columbus, OH at Central Ohio Soaring based WR Jared Granzow’s ASW 27; and first went to R Henry Retting, also the winner of the Seniors this year. Also at the top of the leaderboard were two pilot’s practicing to fly Team in the Uvalde World’ Competition this year: XC Sean Murphy flying a JS3-1, hailing from Harris Hill as Chief Flight Instructor; and 7T Sean Fidler, representing the US since 2015, in his ASG-29-18.
Thanks to Dick Holzswarth for heading up the Contest Crew Chief duties, which gave member 63 Rolf Hegele a chance to fly Dick’s ASW-20.
May 16, 2024 First contest day
13:10 Gate opens, BS quickly leaps out of the start cylinder, quickly followed by FS and 6V
13:25 The majority of the pack is 1/3rd of the way to the first turnpoint cylinder.
13:37 FS is the first to reach the 1st turnpoint cylinder.
13:45 FS circled at the entry point until DR, FP, ZR1, OH and BS could catch up.
14:06 The pilots split up with ZR1 and DR going to the north west and FP, XC, and 7T going to the west, nearly to the far side.
14:25 most of the field has made the turn and exited the first turnpoint cylinder and racing to catch up with 6V who just nicked the cyclinder.
14:51 6V is stuck out side of the second turnpoint cylinder while everyone else wizzes buy.
15:03 No one went to the far side of the 2nd circle except for R
15:22 BS makes the first turn at the 3rd, with most everyone else midway.
15:32 XC goes the deepest into the 3rd and turns.
15:41 2B goes to the far side of the 4th.
15:53 The second wave makes the turn. 6V nicks the 3rd.
16:11 R goes to the back of 4th. Leaving 3 pilots left 6V, 54, and VB
16:19 VB lands at the 4th as 6V struggles to nick the 4th.
16:36 6V turns and the day is done.
1st R Henry Retting, 2nd WR Jared Granzow, 3rd FP Francois Pin
May 16, 2024, Sport Class Nationals SeeYou flight track animation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5H2r5eRR9Bg
Rolf Hegele (63) thermalling on Contest Day 2. Photo by Jack Derrickson from Dan Reagan’s ASG-32 MI.
The second contest day, Saturday May 18, was another great Team Flying practicing opportunity for the two Seans who came in 1st and 3rd.
May 18, 2024, Second contest day
13:29 The gate opens
13:35 VB and FP make it to the 1st circle
13:46 Half of the pack has entered the 1st circle
13:57 FP turns at the far side of the circle. ZR1 1/2 way in.
14:15 R is the second farest into the circle just past ZR1. 2B, BS, P7, XC, 7T and 55 of are approaching the second circle.
14:38 Even though 2B just nicked the 1st circle he went to the extreme of the 2nd along with P7.
14:48 R, DC and ZR1 enter the second circle. Most all are within it but 55 is approcahing the 3rd. To make up for nicking the first two 55 turns right over the center of 3rd, the farthest any will do today.
15:22 XC turns deep into the 4th and heads home. DC and WB haven’t left the 2nd yet.
15:43 R, DC and ZR1 leave the 3rd
16:03 WB is the last to finish.
1 P7 Gary Ittner (2), 2 WR Jared Granzow (3), 2 R Henry Retting (1)
May 18, 2024, Sport Class Nationals SeeYou flight track animation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTPKPDEJMDQ
Julia Karasinski (VB) taking off on Contest Day 3. Photo by Jack Derrickson.
May 19, 2024 Third contest day
12:40 the gate opens. VB, 55 and DC take off for the long slough to Grimes.
13:17 The front pack of WB, 55, XC, DC, VB, 2B and XC are approaching the 1st.
13:27 55, DC and BS nick number one and head to Fayette.
13:41 2B goes the fartest into the 1st followed by R and VB.
14:04 P7 is the last to turn at the 1st except for 6V.
15:14 Most of the competitors are strung out from the 1st to the 2nd. DC has just turned for the 3rd.
15:37 DC is taking a cloud street to the southwest while the first wave of BS, WB, 7T and 55 are to the northeast.
15:50 BS and XC fly over CCSC and head for the last turnpoint.
16:13 R, WB and 55 are together in the second wave.
16:25 DC, 2B and DR are lining up to the southwest energy line.
16:35 R and WB turn and head for home short of the furthest into the circle.
16:54 P7 makes the last turn
17:40 VB and 54 are the last to land.
1 FP Francois Pin (2), 2 WR Jared Granzow (3), 3 R Henry Retting (1)
May19, 2024 Sport Class Nationals SeeYou flight track animation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXKoXU8pAK8
Dudley Mead photo of R Henry Retting’s ASH-31MI-21
Monday 5/20 WR Jared Granzow won. Dave Wrinkle photo.
May 20, 2024 Fourth contest day
13:08 Gate opens
13;20 Two tracks for the leaders: DR takes the northern route and XC, WB, BS, R and 7T goes strait to the 1st turnpoint
13:36 the western pack breaks up into two branches r and BS taking the center path and P7, WB, XC and 7T going to the east
13:51 R turns at the limit of the 1st circle, P7 turns at the limit 5 minutes later
14:24 BS, 2B, 2B, 63, 7T and FS are the first to pass through Green County
14:56 The first wave is approaching the back of the Richmond turnpoint as another pack passes through Green County
15:06 XC makes the 2nd turn at the back side followed by FS and R
15:35 BS is the first to turn at Lebanon followed by 2B, Xc, 7T
15:44 A lot of the contestants land as the last wave of DC, VB, 54, WB, AZ, 55, ZR1 and OH approach Lebanon.
16:22 54 is the last to land.
1 WR Jared Granzow (2), 2 R Henry Retting (1), 3 P7 Gary Ittner (3)
May 20, 2024, Sport Class Nationals SeeYou flight track animation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gcp7EZJBpiU
Tuesday 5/21, Fifth and last contest day
13:10 Start
13:17 FS, XC and 7T take off first
13:21 Everyone takes off except for R, 6V, DC & WB
13:26 R takes off
13:39 Most of the fleet are midway along the first leg with 7T and P7 in the lead.
13:47 DC and 6V finally start.
13:51 WR, FS, and Practice Team Flying for the World’s Guests 7T and XC turn in the first circle but P7 continues deeper.
13:56 P7 finally turns
14:06 2B Lukas Furdal goes even deeper into the first turnpoint and turns
14:17 Most of the fleet are half way to the second turn with AZ Steve Vihlen in the lead.
14:23 FS Fernando Silva takes the lead
14:31 FS stops to thermal and the twins 7T and XC go deeper ito the second turnpoint showing how collective decision making happens.
14:36 6V finally makes the first turn with YN and 63 Rolf Hegele just getting to the first turnpoint. XC Sean Murphy is headed for the last turnpoint.
14:48 Most of the herd have turned for the last circle with XC still in the lead.
14:59 XC makes the last turn with three pilots still making their way to the 2nd. A large bunch halfway into their last leg.
14:15 A dense pack is headed for home. 6V Chuck Lohre & DC Dave Caffey are still on the second leg.
15:54 Everyone home except for VB Julia Karasinski, DC and 6V bringing up the rear.
16:38 Everyone is down except for 6V who just made the Green County turn.
17:00 John Lubon sends a text to 6V, “R u ok.” I reply, “On final.”
P7 Gary Ittner wins the day (3), WR Jared Granzow 2nd (2), and R Henry Retting 3rd (1).
May 21, 2024, Sport Class Nationals SeeYou flight track animation:
https://youtu.be/6mfvaPE8uDw
May 22, At the next day at the pilots’ meeting, Harolyn Burns, retrieve desk, said, “She lost one year off of her life worrying about 6V, me!” I gave a description on how I had avoided landing out, rain showers and then found the last bubble of lift over Green County to take me home after 4 and a half hours to do a 2-hour task!
Since we didn’t fly 54 Mark Miller gave a presentation on his flight to the stratosphere in a Lockheed 104 Starfighter as the technical second. Similar, to the dead stick landings from 25,000 feet another club member, Don Green, did, practicing on how to land the Space Shuttle at Edwards Air Force base. Photo by Chuck Lohre.
We stared at the low clouds for two days and prayed they would lift to allow us to race Friday but the day ended up being canceled. It turned out to be a great chance for all of us to imbibe in P7’s brews, and cheer on our Team Flying contestants this summer at the World’s.
Contest Juniors sitting before grid launch on Friday, May 24. (People from L to R, Jack Derrickson, Christian Maurer, Pat Cernuto, Julia Karasinski, and Michael Hayter) Photo by Mike Keltos. I learned from Second Place, Michael Hayter at the 1-26 Regatta in Hinckley, IL, the following week, that he, Julia and Pat had practiced with Daniel Sazhin on Condor during the winter.
Scorer Jack Derrickson said this about the contest, “The contest was an exhilarating event that exceeded my expectations, and I am thrilled to have been a part of it. It provided not just enjoyment, but also a remarkable learning experience. I want to thank John Lubon and Linda Murray for giving me the opportunity to score, Guy Byars for mentoring me throughout the competition, and all the contestants for being patient with the scoring. I also want to thank Julia Karasinski for letting me use her camera for some of the photographs I took.”
At the awards the following day Chuck presented an award to Harolyn Burns for 30 Years of Service at the Retrieve Desk. Photo by John Lubon.
The highest ranking CCSCer was Manfred Maurer in 9th Place awarded by John Lubon. This was Manfred’s first contest. Photo by Chuck Lohre.
The winners: l-r, WR Jared Granzow 3rd Place, R Henry Retting 1st Place, P7 Gary Ittner 3rd Place. Photo by Chuck Lohre.
2024 Sports Class Nationals – Contest Summary
We’d like to thank all the club members that helped.
Ground crew: Dick Holzwarth Crew Chief, Brian Stoops, Jim Fox, Poul Pedersen, Andy Breeze-Stringfellow, Richard Cedar, Thatcher Brown, Jim Dudley, John Dudley, Andrew Stryker, Jordan Stryker, Matt Guenttner, Josiah Guenttner, Mike Keltos, Tony Rein, Henry Hayter, Mike Hayter, Joe Jackson, Steve Statkus, Kevin Kelly , Dudley Mead, Tim Lynch, Ian Lynch
Towpilots: Larry Kirkbride Chief Towpilot, Tim Christman Asst. Chief Towpilot, Christian Maurer, Dieter Schmidt, Andy Swanson, Guy Byars, Tony Bonzer, Sami Rintala, Al Quinn, Henry Hayter, Bob Anderson, John Armor
Others: Harolyn Burns, Retrieve Desk; Maury Drummy & Jerry Diersing, Welcome Dinner; John Murray, Sniffer; Nicole Derrickson; Mike & Sue Karraker, Housekeeping; Andrew Dignan, Wi-Fi and Electric; Jack Derrickson and Guy Byars, Scorer and Programmer; Dave Wrinkle, Jack Derrickson and Dave Mead photographers; Manfed Maurer Task Advisor; Johnny Stewart for constant water support; Dan Regan as Weatherman; John Lubon Contest Director; and Linda Murray as Contest Manager.
Chuck Lohre 6V, 513-260-9025, [email protected]. Photo by Chuck Lohre.