Nova Mentor 2 – Not just a rumor!

Mentor 2

Today, Hannes Papesh gave me the honor of flying the final 2 prototypes of the Mentor 2. While staying in the middle of the 1-2 category, this glider offers performance equal to that of many 2-3 gliders. To say it was impressive is an understatement. We met at an incredibly picturesque site, Achensee, Austria. One of the most beautiful places in Europe and it is just 20 minutes from Nova’s headquarters. For our first flight I was given the final prototype to fly!

Our first flight was early in the day and the air was perfectly still. According to my Flytec 6030, I had an average glide of 9.3:1. Yes, 9.3:1!! I was 75% into the weight range and I had an Advance Impress 2 pod harness. The handling was very nice and maybe a bit more dynamic than the original Mentor. On our second flight, the thermals had turned on and we were able to dial up to cloudbase and cruise around the valley, over the lake and make a bunch of turns! I thought that the Mentor 2 climbed very well, handled very well and inspired confidence in the air. Everything I look for in a glider. This one should be a real winner.

Construction details are – 3 riser, same aspect ratio as the original mentor, shorter lines than the original Mentor and no mylar in the leading edge – only nylon “weed whacker” cord. This makes for a much lighter glider and softer re-openings from deflations. All in all, a major improvement from the Mentor and quite possibly setting the performance bar for the 1-2 and 2 class gliders.  I really wanted to take it with me on my continued flying safari through Europe but sadly, I could not.

Your’s truly at cloudbase.

Jeffrey Farrell – Reporting from Austria.

Rat Race 2010 Final Results

If you have never been to the Rat Race in Oregon, you really should put it on your calendar for next year. Mike and Gail Haley do an excellent job of creating a fun, organized and well run competition. The mentoring sessions each night add to the learning environment and make better and safer XC pilots. The locals are also very supportive and love watching it. You can’t go wrong. Here are some results for the week.

1		Jack Brown	M	USA	Ozone R 10.2
2		Cliff Curry	M	USA	Ozone Mantra R10
3		Paul Murdoch	M	USA	Niviuk Icepeak 3
4		Justin Elliott R	M	USA	Mercury 2009
5		Francisco Henriquez	M	USA	Axis Mercury 3
6		Meredyth Malocsay	F	USA	Gin Boomerang GTO
7		Riss Estes	M	USA	Trango XC
8		David Wheeler	M	USA	Gin Boomerang GTO
9		Chris Galli	M	USA	Gin Boomerang GTO
10		Arnold Frankenberger	M	USA	UP Summit XC
11		Jeff Farrell	M	USA	Gin Boomerang GTO

Rat Race Day #7 Final Task

“Stay away from the clouds” – that’s what I told my mentees. It looked like it was going to be a strong day. At just 11AM, there was already impressive vertical development in the sky. Today’s task was a 1:40 exit cylinder start at Woodrat Launch then a long into wind leg to Mt. Isabella -> Cemetary turnpoint -> Dark Hollow – > Donato’s goal = a 39km task.

I began the race 1,000’ above the LZ climbing in 100 ft/min. lift at the start. Not quite where you want to be. Meanwhile, my buddies were all at cloudbase and on there way to the first turnpoint. I struggled for about 15 minutes until I was able to get to 4,000. One advantage of having 100 gliders in front of you is that you can see exactly what the air was doing and where the lift was.  It became clear that the windward side of Rabies Ridge was where you wanted to be. The crux was getting to it. Even on ½ speedbar my groundspeed was in the single digits. However once there, myself and a few others were rewarded with a continuous lift line to Mt. Isabella. Tagging the cylinder and onto the next turnpoint I found a riper of 1,600 fpm and made 2 circles that took me to cloudbase.  Once there, I found a lift line that kept me at base and direct to Cemetery with a 65km groundspeed at ½ bar. I met up with Justin Elliot, Conrad Kriek and Frank Hernandez there. We made some turns in a slow climb to cloudabase and I watched my final glide to goal drop from 11:1 to 8:1. I departed the thermal and hit the bar. Conrad took a slightly different line than me out towards the valley. I was at base and getting slammed around so I had to come off speed for a while. Paul Murdoch came in low from the west and Conrad came in from the East and the 3 of race raced for goal. It was damn good fun!

On a side note, we had team scoring this year.  A high five for my fellow team mates – Rob Hecker, Jim Hull and Sandy Coleman. On the last day all four of us made goal. Way to go boys.

Here are today’s top 5.

#	Id	Name		Nat	Glider
1	15	Jack Brown	M	USA	Ozone R 10.2
2	73	Paul Murdoch	M	USA	Niviuk Icepeak 3
3	61	Conrad Kreick	M	USA	Ozone Mantra M3
4	31	Jeff Farrell	M	USA	Gin Boomerang GTO
5	24	Cliff Curry	M	USA	Ozone Mantra R10
5	29	Justin Elliott R	M	USA	Mercury 2009

Rat Race Day #6

Task cancelled due to wind.

Rat Race Day #5

Without a doubt the best day of the week! The wind backed off, base rose to 7,000′+ and the clouds were quite friendly. Clearly, great racing conditions. A 50km task was called – Launch to Entry cylinder at Rabies Ridge to FlyAir to Burnt to Squires Peak to Rabies Peak to out in the Medford Valley – Jacksonville Lz to Dark Hollow to Donato’s LZ. I had decided before launch to attack the cylinder from the upwind side. A quick climb at launch and I transitioned to Burnt ridge with a  few other pilots (Rick Ray & Paul Murdoch) a quick trip to cloud base and I transitioned to Rabies alone. A few pilots had gone directly to Rabies from launch and we worked to cloudbase together. We had an absolutely perfect start – at cloudbase, upwind of the cylinder and 1 minute to go.

I crossed the entry cylinder line 3 seconds after the start with Jack Brown, Meredyth Molocsay and a few other pilots – it was without a doubt one of my best starts ever. I tagged the turnpoint and had a great glide to FlyAir and an equally great glide to Burnt Ridge – all without stopping to climb! A quick climb at Burnt and I cruised to Squires. I had an altitude advantage of about 1,000′ above my fellow leaders so I slowed down and let them show the way ahead. Paul Murdoch struck out ahead of me and his glide indicated that the convergence was setting up on the right hand side of Rabies Ridge. I adjusted my line to the right and was rewarded with a convergence ride to Rabies Peak without stopping to climb. I got to the turnpoint and realized that I had caught up to Jack Brown who was in the lead.  Pushing out to Medford Valley and a sky without clouds, I again slowed down. After a few years of flying here, I knew that the Medford Valley has slower, smaller and less frequent thermals. Sure enough, I started getting low near Dark Hollow and Chris Galli and I were in survival mode together on a low ridge. Meredyth came in just above us and showed a small thermal on ridge top. I was able to stick it and race into goal with her. Total 29 in goal. Todays top ten.

#	Id	Name		Nat	Glider
1	15	Jack Brown	M	USA	Ozone R 10.2
2	70	Tom Moock	M	USA	Gin Boomerang GTO
3	29	Justin Elliott R	M	USA	Mercury 2009
4	31	Jeff Farrell	M	USA	Gin Boomerang GTO
5	24	Cliff Curry	M	USA	Ozone Mantra R10
6	67	Meredyth Malocsay	F	USA	Gin Boomerang GTO
7	46	Francisco Henriquez	M	USA	Axis Mercury 3
8	30	Riss Estes	M	USA	Trango XC
9	53	Chin Chien Huang	M	USA	Ozone Addict 2
10	11	James Bradley	M	USA	Gin Boomerang GTO

Rat Race Day #4

It was the worst of times, it was the best of times, then again, it was the worst of times, it was the best of times. Today started off looking quite good and we were all psyched. Thinking I was being smart, I lined up in the far left line which was downwind of the cross wind and optimized for the best launch potential. The only problem was that the top 25 pilots with priority launch realized the same thing and jumped in front of me. I ended up sitting there until 2 minutes before the start. I had resolved myself to not racing and only limping into goal sometime very late in the day. However, after launching I realized that I had a carpet of gliders extending in front of me from the start cylinder to the second waypoint. I launched and was able fly straight to the stat cylinder in a straight line thermal after thermal, connecting the dots without circling in lift. Woodrat launch to Woodrat LZ to Rabies Ridge to Rabies peak without making a circle and on 1/2 speed. To my surprise I was within striking distance of the lead gaggle by the time we went Rabies Peak to Burnt Ridge to Woodrat Peak. Chris Galli was crushing it with Jack Brown, Paul Murdoch, Meredyth Molacsay and suddenly me on the course to the Cemetery Turnpoint. The lift 500′ below cloudbase was strong and it was quite a struggle to stay out of the clouds. It went like looking as a dismal task for me to quite hopeful. Then – again, taking a shorter line on course put me in sink out near Dark Hollow and I ended up ridge soaring a small hill for 15 minutes until a ripper came through and I was able to climb and continue to goal at Donato’s. 35.8km of racing fun!

#	Id	Name		Nat
1	15	Jack Brown	M	USA	Ozone R 10.2
2	73	Paul Murdoch	M	USA	Niviuk Icepeak 3
3	30	Riss Estes	M	USA	Trango XC
4	24	Cliff Curry	M	USA	Ozone Mantra R10
5	70	Tom Moock	M	USA	Gin Boomerang GTO
6	34	Arnold Frankenberger	M	USA	UP Summit XC
7	11	James Bradley	M	USA	Gin Boomerang GTO
8	105	Peter Warren	M	USA	Airwave Magic 5 Medium
9	29	Justin Elliott R	M	USA	Mercury 2009
10	4	Greg Babush	M	USA	Gradient Bi-Golden 2
11	101	Steve Thibault	M	USA	Ozone Mantra 3
12	57	Brian Kerr	M	USA	Niviuk Artik 2
13	67	Meredyth Malocsay	F	USA	Gin Boomerang GTO
14	2	Chris Amonson	M	USA	Gin Boomerang 5
15	21	Sam Crocker	M	USA	Gin Zoom small
16	46	Francisco Henriquez	M	USA	Axis Mercury 3
17	31	Jeff Farrell	M	USA	Gin Boomerang GTO

Rat Race Day #3

Another day of wind was predicted so the task committee wanted to get the group off of the hill and on the ground early. The forecast called for increasing wind around 3PM. Launch window opened at 12:08 and a start at 12:50 was called. Conditions were less than ideal but by some miracle, 7 minutes before the start – myself, Paul, James, Meredyth, Dave W., Chris G., all climbed to base and crossed the line about 10 seconds after the start. We were rewarded with an instant plummet of 2,000′. Scratching up from mid-launch for a long time until we were able to transition to Burnt Ridge the next turn point.  Getting up on Burnt was a an ass kicking battle but if you were able to hold on you were rewarded with a beautiful cloudstreet directly to the Jacksonville LZ turnpoint. Unfortunately, I made an incredible rookie mistake and did not activate my route on my Flytec 6030 and I lost valuable time going 2 KM further than I needed to. However, with perfect racing conditions and riding the same street back to Cemetary -> Dark Hollow -> to Doanato’s Goal.

A 25.9  km task with 18 in goal. If you were able to get out of the Ruch valley, it was a great task.

#	Id	Name		Nat	Glider
1	24	Cliff Curry	M	USA	Ozone Mantra R10
2	37	Chris Galli	M	USA	Gin Boomerang GTO
3	46	Francisco Henriquez	M	USA	Axis Mercury 3
3	57	Brian Kerr	M	USA	Niviuk Artik 2
5	67	Meredyth Malocsay	F	USA	Gin Boomerang GTO
6	2	Chris Amonson	M	USA	Gin Boomerang 5
7	31	Jeff Farrell	M	USA	Gin Boomerang GTO
8	107	David Wheeler	M	USA	Ozone Mantra R09
9	73	Paul Murdoch	M	USA	Niviuk Icepeak 3
9	66	Martin Machacek	M	USA	MacPara Envy
11	53	Chin Chien Huang	M	USA	Ozone Addict 2

Rat Race Day #2

A windy day was predicted so a short 24.9 km task was called. Woodrat LZ was the entry cylinder then on to Rabies Peak which was the crux move. With a strong WNW wind coming directly from Rabies Peak this really separated the pack. The few pilots that were able to get over Rabies ridge were able to continue on course. Unfortunately the strong headwind put 86 of 105 competitors in the LZ with minimum distance. 11 Pilots tagged Rabies Peak and continued on course line to Woodrat Peak -> Cemetery ->  to Goal at Dark Hollow. 10 Pilots made goal.

#	Id	Name		Nat	Glider
1	73	Paul Murdoch	M	USA	Niviuk Icepeak 3
2	30	Riss Estes	M	USA	Trango XC
3	105	Peter Warren	M	USA	Airwave Magin 5
4	15	Jack Brown	M	USA	Ozone R 10.2
5	37	Chris Galli	M	USA	Gin Boomerang GTO
6	107	David Wheeler	M	USA	Ozone Mantra R09
6	29	Justin Elliott R	M	USA	Mercury 2009
6	8	Matt Bonney	M	USA	Niviuk Artik 2
9	70	Tom Moock	M	USA	NBoomerang GTO
10	25	Jacques De Villiers	M	USA	Gin Boomerang GTO

Rat Race Day #1

Fantastic first day with approximately 50% in goal. We had a 32.8 km task with an Exit Start cylinder at the LZ  -> Rabies ridge -> Burnt -> Woodrat Peak -> Rabies Peak -> Ruch -> Purcells Goal in Applegate Valley.  Here are the

1 15 Jack Brown M USA Ozone R 10.2 2 2 Chris Amonson M USA Gin Boomerang 5 3 67 Meredyth Malocsay F USA Gin Boomerang GTO 4 4 Greg Babush M USA Gradient Bi-Golden 2 5 46 Francisco Henriquez M VEN Axis Mercury 3 5 37 Chris Galli M USA Gin Boomerang GTO 7 11 James Bradley M USA Gin Boomerang GTO 8 30 Riss Estes M USA 9 24 Cliff Curry M USA Ozone Mantra R10 10 101 Steve Thibault M USA Ozone Mantra 3

Conditions improved greatly after the lead gaggle got to goal as the convergence set up and base rose to 7,500′. There were lots of smiling faces, including Super Fly pilot Jim Hull – first competition ever, first real XC flight and he made goal his first day. Way to go Hully!

Full Results are available here – http://flyxc.org/2010ratrace.html

On glide to Rabies Peak

Rat Race 2010

The 2010 Rat Race begins today in Ruch, OR. It looks like 110 pilots are participating and conditions look stellar for the next 7 days.

Yesterday we had an optional practice day with a short 23.2 km task with Longsword Winery as goal. Conditions were much nicer than expected and there were lots of smiling faces in goal.  More from Oregon tonight.