US Soaring Team WGC Reports & Results

Yesterday we had good news and bad news. The bad news was that Garret & Mike were a bit disappointed to come in 18th and 20th respectively, but the good news is that they were only 105 and 121 points out of first. Both flew very well, but left 20 minutes earlier than many others and that was the difference on a very short task. The winners speed was 92.3 K/hr and Garret's speed was 79.4 so there was not a great difference. Since the day was forecast to fall apart at any time their decision was sound, but the day lasted better than expected so we didn't get a good break. Both Garret and Mike carried water the entire way which helped them on the final glide into a strong 20 Knot head wind. Hopefully good and bad breaks will even out over the course of the contest. Mike's IGC log. Garret's IGC log.

Today they are out on course on what seems to be an excellent day and they have topped off with full water ballast. The forecast is for 5000 feet and 4-5 knots. Both pilots have left at 2:32 which is after many of the others by about 30-40 minutes. The call is for a 370 K task with 3 turnpoints going first to the Southwest to Kingham, then northeast to Norman Cross, then southeast to Stradishall, and then home. At this point both are team flying very well and team flying is the order of the day with teams such as the British, the French, and the Germans landing within a minute of their teammates.

Today's task had to be changed since the original task took the fleet into a rocket firing range. The CD didn't want gliders coming home with holes through their wings and so the task was modified to everyone's approval. Aside from staying out of the low altitude control areas that are scattered all about the task area, they will need to avoid a parachute jumping operation at Hinton in the Hedges. The very name conjures up images of parachutists coming to a pleasant soft green landing, but also disappearing into very large hedges.

Ryan, our erstwhile crew, had been demonstrating his artistic ability in laying out our tow ropes into artistic designs. Yesterdays was a map of the USA with the word America written in it. Today it is a Texas cowboy with a ten gallon hat. They really are quite artistic, but since he is an art student I am not surprised at his talents. Speaking of towropes, Garret has the shortest tow rope in the contest (about 100 feet) as that came with his borrowed glider. We offered to rent him one from the local club for the modest price of Ten Quid, but since the team is on a tight budget he decided to save the team the money. On tow he is so close to the tug that he looks like an insect trying to mate with the towplane. I told him I would ask for a Ten Quid donation from the US pilots on our website, but he said he could endure the comments from other pilots. However, the rest of the team is embarrassed so if anyone has a loose Ten Quid lying about send it along : )

In an earlier report I mentioned the finish line which is about a quarter of a mile east of the A/P. Almost all pilots come in low over the line and then go on to land straight in. Between the finish line and the landing area there is a field of thick and high Flax plants. Yesterday one pilot had a low energy final glide and seemed to be hovering above the Flax field as he tried to make the A/P. He almost made it, but put his tail in the flax and just managed to clunk his glider onto the edge of the landing area. He didn't damage the ship and finished, but he was called up to the stage and given a special award: a pair of new clean underpants to replace his own.

As I write and am waiting for word about the two pilots. I find that being Team Captain is rather nerve wracking. I don't like the suspense and since they are quickly out of radio range all I can do is wonder and fret. As always my parting words to both are "Have a good time"

Cheers from the UK,

Bob Leve, Team Captain

. See the Junior Team web page here and the WGC official site here.

Captions for photos: From top to bottom: 1. Pilots and coach at our daily pre-takoff briefing. 2. Mike Westbrook finishing his final glide over the Flax field. 3. Ryan's latest towrope artistry. About the pictures. Images are taken by the U.S. Team Captain and other U.S. Team Members. Some of the images used here can be found on the official website and were taken by one of several excellent contributors.
U.S. Soaring Team Standings
Class	Pilot	Sailplane	Contest Number	Day Place & Points	Overall Place & Points
Junior	Garret Willat	LS-8 18	L58	23rd 481	21st 882
Junior	Mike Westbrook	ASW-28	C6	23rd 481	23rd 866
				See the official scores here
Points of Interest
ABOUT DAY REPORTS The U.S. Team Day Reports are brought to you by the US Soaring Team and hard working volunteer Frank Whiteley. Thank you Frank!
YOUR TEAM SUPPORT All US team members would like to thank those of you who have contributed to make participation in these international events possible. If you have not contributed to the team please consider making one! To see how, visit the U.S. Team Funding page here and the Robertson Trust Web here.
U.S. TEAM COMMITTEE The U.S. Team Committee has been working to establish a more stable management structure and better resources for our soaring teams. The objective are more transparent, accountable, sustainable and competitive United States soaring teams. See the full information on the new U.S. Team Committee here.
U.S. TEAM E-NEWS Sign up today for the U.S. Team E-NEWS. This electronic newsletter is sent out roughly quarterly and covers all the team news. The sign up process is simple - start by clicking here.
TEAM NEWS, HISTORY & ARCHIVE To catch up on all the news for the U.S. World Soaring Teams see the U.S. Team News. See the U.S. Team Archive for team background since 1950. As part of the Archive tour see the U.S. Team History page for a complete listing of US Teams since 1950 or the World Champions page for a complete listing of champions since 1937.
2005 Junior Team Sponsors & Helpers

The Junior Team would like to thank their sponsors who are providing products for the team's use.

Roy McMaster, as the US distributor for SeeYou, the flight planning, analysis and in-flight software is personally is sponsoring copies of SeeYou for the Junior Team. Contact Roy directly via email by clicking here.

Kevin Brooker of Peetot Pants is supplying the team uniforms and several pairs of his innovative pants. See Kevin's web site for more on these pants that allow you to watch your P's and Cu's here.

Many thanks to the Jaguar and Land Rover Engineering teams in England for arranging crew vehicles for the US Junior team. This went a long way toward helping the junior team finances.

Country and Contest Site

In 2005, The Soaring Centre, in association with the BGA, will be hosting the 5th Junior World Gliding Championships. This will be the first International gliding championships to be held in the UK in over a generation. The Soaring Centre, has with 400 members and a large fleet of modern glassfibre sailplanes.

Situated in the heart of the Midlands, the airfield is only 3 miles from the major motorway networks, and 1/2 mile from Husbands Bosworth village, making access easy from any part of the country.