PW-5 World Class Glider

The longest flight in the 2008 OLC season as a PW-5 Team member was accomplished by:

Staff Reporter: "JC, tell me about your 2008 flying season. What were your goals?"

JC: "I had a slow start this year. I normally fly in March and April on the coast, but for whatever reason, mostly weather related and some personal commitments, I did not have a single flight on the coast. It was not until the middle of May when I had my first flight of the season in Ephrata. For those who are not familiar with flying in Washington, we have two distinctly different flying conditions.  Coastal flying; very green, lots of water and moisture, low cloud base, in general weak thermal conditions, versus interior flying, just east of the Cascade mountains which is very dry, desert type conditions, much higher cloud base and very strong thermals. On a good day, cloud base is well above 10,000 feet. My goals for this year were to set some new records, compete and place well in the region 8 competition and compete in the World Class Nationals in Midelothian in Texas. Unfortunately due to personal commitments, I was unable to go to Texas."

Staff Reporter: "So what were your accomplishments this year?"

JC: "I did OK in the Region 8 competition, finished 2^nd in the sports class. I set two State Records a 200 and 300 km speed triangle, set a new National speed record for the 300 km out and return at just over 82 km/hr, improving the old record by 10 km/hr, plus I finally finished my gold badge. The altitude requirement for the Gold Badge alluded me for several years. Finally this year, I think it was in July, I found a little tiny "wavelet" that got me over 16,000 feet just Northwest of Ephrata accomplishing Gold Badge requirement, plus I placed first in the OLC Classic and the OLC FAI for the Region 8."

Staff Reporter: "You were busy!"

JC: "Yes I was! It is worth noting how much fun one can have with a PW-5. We need to continue to publish achievements accomplished by PW-5 pilots, for the world to see what a great little plane this is."

Staff Reporter: "Indeed, when did you first learn about the Arcade Cup?"

JC: "I learned about the Arcade Cup from the World Class Bulletin Board. Richard Kaleta posted a comment, announcing the Arcade Cup with the $1,000 prize money for the longest OLC flight as a PW-5 Team member. Of course, I was ready for the challenge. I knew it would not be easy for me here in the Northwest. The guys in Texas and New Mexico have better conditions, but I would try my best."

Staff Reporter: "You flew the winning flight on August 3. Tell us about the conditions."

JC: "August is relatively late in the season, in general we have forest fires that cause problems, plus it can be very stable in Ephrata. We call it the summer doldrums. Not this year. I had several fantastic flights late in the season. On that day the conditions looked good, light winds and a cloud base at about 12,000 feet. When there is a 12,000 foot cloud base, it's time to file for a long flight."

Staff Reporter: "What do you mean by filing for a long flight? Do you have to file a declaration for the Arcade Cup?"

JC: "No, No... Whenever I go flying, I try to beat a record. I don't like to fly without a goal. Sometimes it's small 100 or 200 km speed triangles, sometimes an out and return, but I always file for something. What I mean by filing is, in order to be able to claim a record, I have to have certain documents. A flight declaration, an official observer etc., so on just about any flight I have all required documents ready. With today's high tech equipment we have on board, it is much easier to be ready for a record flight. I normally just hand a printed flight declaration to a fellow pilot. Most of my peers in Ephrata know what I am doing and they are happy (promise of a few beers helps) to be the official observer. For the Arcade Cup there was no flight declaration required, whatever is scored on OLC counts."

Staff Reporter: "Tells us a bit more about the OLC."

JC: "OLC stands for OnLine Contest and it's the best thing that ever happened to soaring. Essentially it is a place where every pilot in the world can uplaod his or her flight. He or she will then be instantly scored against every other pilot in the world uploading a flight on that day. The rules for the OLC Classic are simple, there is a handicap factor adjusting the scoring. So after a great day of flying, a pilot can go online and check how other pilots did on that day, how he did worldwide or narrow it down to North America, US or the region.

Staff Reporter: "What kind of flight did you file for on that day?"

JC: "I filed for a 500 km FAI triangle."

Staff Reporter: "Wow, 500 km FAI triangle, that is a big triangle for a glider with short wings!"

JC: "Don't make fun of my PeeWee! It can handle a 500 km triangle just fine."

Staff Reporter: "Sorry! I am not making fun of the PW-5, actually I think it is an amazing glider. Anyway, you filed for a 500 km triangle, then what happened?"

JC: "A 500 km triangle task is not easy to fly here in eastern Washington. There are three distinctive different areas to navigate through. The high plateau, the low plateau and the mountains. On any given day, each of those areas are different"

Staff Reporter: "How do you mean different?"

JC: "Each of those three areas work different. The plateau works, in general, the best, the mountains can be tricky and the low plateau works the least. The 500 km triangle is so big it covers all three areas and it is very unlikely to hit a day where all three areas work well. There is also the time element to think about..."

Staff Reporter: "What do you mean by time element?"

JC: "On any given day, I have a set number of hours I can fly, at the very least limited by sunset. So, a 500 km triangle, average speed of 100km/hr will take me 5 hours to fly. 100km/hr would be a good average speed, but it is just a bit over optimistic. A reasonable average speed is about 80km/hr or about 6 1/4 hour of flying. In August we reach the trigger temperature roughly at around 1 or 2 pm. If I am launching at 1pm I could be on course at about 1:30pm, meaning I would not be back until 7:45, clearly pushing the limits of the day. On August 3rd, I was able to take off at about 12:45pm and I was on course at 1pm. If all goes well, I should be home for dinner just after 7pm."

Staff Reporter: "Well? You did not complete the task so what went wrong?"

JC: "The first portion of the leg went very well. I flew North to the mountains, and the high plateau worked very well, giving me good climbs. Crossing into the mountains was a challenge. I got some good altitudes, over 11,000 feet, but there was rain coming in from the Northeast making things very challenging. My northern turnpoint was in rain and out of reach. I went as for north towards the Canadian border as I dared, then I headed Southeast, never reaching the Northern turnpoint. Heading for my Eastern turnpoint did not work out very well either, again over-development shut off a big aera to the East. Now I am getting a bit nervous abut getting out of the mountains. This is not easy territory, an Indian reserve and very difficult access. So I started to head West, trying to get back onto the plateau. Made it back onto the high plateau. Things were really cooking there; lots of dust devils, great climbs and great altitudes. I knew I blew my 500 km triangle attempt, but I thought, let's race West into the Cascade mountains, let's see if I can make it to the coast. Heading West was actually very easy and I had a good XC speed close to 100 km/hr. I went West, crossed the Columbia River and flew into the Cascades and kept going West as far as I dared. Just before 6pm I decided it's time to head home. The day was getting softer..."

Staff Reporter: "At this point, did you know that you had it made? That you achieved the longest flight of the year?"

JC: "No! I knew I had a great flight, but I did not know how many kilometers I flew."

Staff Reporter: "Will you attempt that same 500 km FAI triangle again?"

JC: "Yes, I will continue with my attempts, but I think next time I will head for the SE trunpoint first, then head North towards the Canadian border before heading home.

Staff Reporter: "Well good luck, I am sure we will have an opportunity to talk again when you accomplish this task, and congratualtions again in winning the Arcade Cup."

JC: "Thank You, and let me take this opportunity to thank the sponsor and the spokesperson, Richard Kaleta, of the Arcade Cup for the very generous pirze money. I am thrilled to be the first recipient of this cup, and I hope many others will join the PW-5 Team and have an opportunity to compete for the Arcade Cup."