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31st FAI WGC
- Szeged, Hungary |
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Ron
Tabery: Open Class Bill Elliott:
18-Meter Class Tom
Kelley: 18-Meter Class John
Cochrane: 15-Meter Class Allison
(Al) Tyler:
15-Meter Class Dennis
Linnekin: Team Captain Dick
Butler: Open Class (Reserve)
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Multi-Class Background |
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This event started it all. The first World Soaring Championships was held on Germany's Wasserkuppe in 1937 making this event the official grandfather of all World Soaring Championships. Up until 1950 all competitors flew in the open class regardless of glider type. In 1950 the two place class was added. In 1958 the two place class was replaced with the Standard class. In 1978 the 15-Meter class was added to this event creating what most pilots think of as the three traditional FAI classes. The 18-Meter Class was added in 2001. Recently new FAI classes have been added including Junior, World (PW-5), Women's and 18-Meter championships. There are currently three classes making up the Multi-Class including the Open, 18-Meter and 15-Meter. The Open Class is the "unlimited" class, home to the world's highest- performing and most expensive gliders. There are no design restrictions placed on the open class so wingspans range up to 100 feet in length. In the 15-Meter Class the wingspans are limited to 15 meters (49.2 feet) with no other design restrictions. This is the class that, worldwide, includes the greatest number of gliders. The 18-Meter Class grew out of interest in sailplanes that fit between the Open class and the 15-Meter class and could easily carry a motor and is the newest FAI class. The only important restriction is on span, which must not exceed 18 meters (59 ft). This class is the only one to admit motorized gliders; some models include an engine that can be extended to launch and retrieve the glider or stowed away for pure soaring flight. See how the US Teams have done over the years or view the list of World Champions.
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Working
started at an early age for Tom Kelley. Flipping hamburgers
@ 14 years old, for 95 cents an hour, he came across a
Flying magazine ad showing an Airline Captain, with
several pretty flight attendants, saying "How to make 1
million dollars in your career as an Airline pilot". Well,
shortly after, Tom's flying career took off.
Bitten
by the bug by a ride at age 7, John Cochrane soloed at 14 at
the Windy City glider operation in Chicago. After a brief
detour to hang-gliders during graduate school in California,
John returned to flying sailplanes in 1988 when he moved
back to Chicago and discovered a serious lack of mountains.
He soon started flying cross-country. His first contest was
in Uvalde in 1995, and he's been flying regionals and
nationals ever since. John is known to many pilots as the
author of numerous articles on contest flying strategy,
rules, and safety, and currently writes the Soaring Magazine
"contest corner" column. Some of the articles don't have
too many equations or greek letters in them either. John
serves as a member of the US Rules committee. He helps to
organize and scores the Northern Illinois Soaring
Championships, a great venue for practicing, and he recently
became a CFIG to help the next generation at his home in the
Chicago Glider Club. In "real life" John is a professor of
finance at the University of Chicago Booth School of
Business, whose dean has not yet figured out why John never
seems to teach classes in the spring or summer quarter.
Al
is a 58 year old third generation retail merchant from
Wagener, SC. From childhood he has loved airplanes and
started building models at the age of five. Free flight led
to control line and the early 70’s were spent competing at
the national level in R/C pattern. Models led to a power
rating in 1978 and a glider rating in 1982. Al entered
competition in 1984, flying in the regional contest at
Chester, SC. He was smitten not only by the racing bug, but
the interesting people involved. He has been competing ever
since in regional and national competitions.
Dennis
became interested in soaring when he helped crew for Bob
Klemmedson at the Standard Class Nationals at Minden in the
early 1970's. As a student in the Aeronautics Department at
San Jose State University, Dennis was hired to tow gliders
by Bud Murphy at Sky Sailing Gliderport in Fremont,
California. Soloed in gliders, but without a rating, Dennis
left soaring until 1989 when he joined the Atlanta Soaring
Club. Dennis is now the President of the Mid-Georgia
Soaring Association and a member of the Blue Ridge Soaring
Society. He has competed in many regional soaring contests
and two Nationals. Dennis currently flies the Boeing 777
for Delta Air Lines.
Residing
in Tullahoma, Tennessee, Dick Butler, (62) is a five time
Open Class National Champion, and is highly respected by his
fellow competitors. As a retired aeronautical engineer, Dick
is that rare competitor who can blend the theoretical with
the practical. Some will remember Dick's very successfully
modified Glasflügel 604 in which he flew to several national
championships in the 1970s. More recently his extensively
modified ASW-22 rolled out of the hanger after an intensive
development program. Dick won the 2003 Open Class Nationals
flying this glider. One would be hard pressed to find a more
intensely completive and focused pilot than Dick. Like some
in the sport, Dick has had two soaring careers. He was on
the U.S. Soaring team four times from 1976 to 1983 but did
not participate in completive soaring from 1984 to 1999. He
is now back flying in both the 15-meter (ASW-27) and Open
(ASW-22) classes. After his solo flight at age 25 in a TG3,
Dick has an estimated 1500 gliding hours and participated
in eighteen national championships and four World
Championships. While a rated power pilot, its soaring that
appeals to Dick's competitive nature. "The competitive side
and being able to blend this with my life long love affair
with aviation and aerodynamics makes soaring a special part
of my life" he says.