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During the weekend of August
23 & 24, 2003, the Mid Missouri Modelers of Warrensburg held their
23rd Annual sailplane regatta. The number of pilots was down slightly
from previous years, but that may have been due to the fact that their
webpage had gone down, probably because of the Blaster virus, so word
about the event didn't get out as much as it could have. In any case it
was a really nice event that was well organized. To top it off all of
the guys who attended were really nice and friendly, which isn't always
the case with the "sailplane group" I hate to stereotype, but
I have been to other events where the people weren't nearly as friendly as
the folks who attended and ran the Warrensburg event.  Their club members came
out in force to help with the event, setting up tents, cooking food,
running the launch winches. I think everyone of them brought out a
4-wheeler. They could easily organize a 4-wheeler club too. They used
the 4-wheelers to recover airplanes that didn't make it back to the
field and to bring the launch line  back to the launch area.
The Warrensburg flying field
is located on private land owned by one of their members. The field is
actually 10 1/2 miles north of the city. They usually fly on Wednesday
& Saturday. Take Hwy 13 to County Road
1150, go east 1/4 mile and you're there. It is a beautiful field with a
grass strip that
appeared to be very well maintained. They had tables similar to the ones at
our field and their field faces east like ours as well, however they had a
separate area setup for the Regatta since so much room was needed to
properly set up the winches. They had two winches launching planes all
day, both days. A small landing area was setup just west of the launching area.
I was only able to attend Saturday, which was the 2 meter sailplane
events, both unlimited and RES (Rudder, Elevator, Spoiler - no ailerons
or flaps). Sunday was Unlimited & Unlimited RES where some of the
sailplanes had wingspans up to 14 feet! |
I took along my Goldberg Gentle
Lady, which is the 2nd airplane I bought way back in 1992. It is
probably close to 15 years old,
made of balsa & Monokote. It has been patched, refurbished, modified
over the years, but still flies great! Since this was the first
sailplane competition I had ever joined in, I participated in the RES
event, even though my plane doesn't even have spoilers.  They started off
with the Pilot's meeting with Steve Gooseman going over the details
(left) and Stanton Runyan, a former employee of Ace R/C, ran the
event. The idea was precision flying and timing. In RES we had to fly a
5, a 10 and a 15 minute flight, then you get more points depending upon
your landing and how far away you are from the designated landing spot.
A rope is placed on the ground and you have to try to land on the rope.
For each inch you are off a point is deducted. On the rope equals 100
points. My best landing was a 96, which must have been my saving grace
in the competition. My longest flight was 7:01, another 6:08. Some
people may consider sailplanes to be boring, but I can tell you that
there are big thrills, starting off with the winch launch which is
something akin to a rocket launch (just watch the video at right of this
unlimited carbon-fiber ship going up), then nothing can compare with the
feeling of catching an invisible thermal and watching your airplane gain
altitude and soar without an engine. Landings are also a big part of the
excitement because you get one shot, no engine to "go around and
try again" you've got to make it count the first time!
As always click on the thumbnails to view larger versions of the photos. Click here to go to Warrensburg Regatta - page 2 Last modified 8/26/2003 |
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