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Aviation History
1960
1960 - 2001.PDF
FLIGHT, 16 September 1960 "The clouds streeted at 3 p.m. . . ." after covering in all 329 miles, of which 3221 scored along the line. Schreder was a few miles farther on, with the Skylark lying second. This was pretty good in conditions of this kind. The only surprise of the day had been when South on his LO-150 came sailing by me in absolutely level flying, the Sky- lark doing 60kt and the LO at least five knots better. This was a machine with wings smoothed with micro-cell plas- tic, and the improvement this treat- ment brings about is undoubtedly tremendous, for Jensen's standard LO-150 which I met from time to time performed in relation to the Skylark no better than it should have done. So—my Diamond was home, after a dozen tries in nearly as many countries. To make sure of it I did it again the next day. . . . August 4 was really the major triumph of the task-setters, indeed one of the best tasks I have ever seen set. It was an out-and-return flight along almost the same track (without the first westerly leg) east to Stanford and return. If successful, this would be a world record, but in case anyone getting back should still be hungry for more, they could overfly Odessa and go on west, scornfully thumbing their noses at the FAI. In the event, this measured the day with micrometric precision, for two pilots (Schreder and Smith) got back, two (Cards on the RJ-5 and myself) missed it by one thermal (my speciality) and landed 18 miles short, and the rest of the field spotted the line back to the turning point. The day could have been better than the one before from the weather point of view, because around 4 p.m. some cumulus built up into sweet little cu- nim, and if I had been able to use them there is no doubt that the Skylark, and some others, would have joined the HP-8 and LO-150 at Odessa. But in two consecutive days to do 329 and 328 miles on virtually the same course emphasizes the absence of uncer- tainties of weather or skill—one felt that an electronic pilot could have done the job just as well. However, they were two grand days I would not have missed for worlds although, having spent 15i hours of the previous 32 in the Skylark cockpit, I almost endorsed John Randall and Fritz Sebek, both large and splendid airline pilots, who, as they hobbled out of the somewhat exiguous cockpits of their Ka-6s, said "Our pilots' association would not approve of this!" * + * After this triumph I regret to say the standard of task-setting deteriorated, for the age-old reason that it became distorted for non-contest reasons. The sponsors of the meeting were a body called the Chuck Wagon Gang, who were not at all what one might think, but a branch of the Odessa Chamber of Commerce, devoted to publicizing this remarkable city. In return for their support, for which naturally we were all most grateful, they had required an air display on the Sunday. This now caused the task setters to give us short and easy tasks on the next two sizzling days, so that we should be young and fresh when we came to don our spangled tights for Sunday. Even in Texas the weather won't be mucked about like this and so, by the Monday and the longed-for Free Distance task, a giant front which had been hovering about up north during the week had descended to place a curtain within 200 miles of us. Free distance was I fear a disappointment, and as the front then continued south we only had one final short day. On short days we had almost reached the point where we could jot up the marks before take-off. If these last sentences imply that by now I was bored, however, I have written badly. My own free-distance flight was so memor- able that it must form the subject of a separate article [To appear in a forthcoming issue—Ed]. And even a plug-round on a short task in these sizzling conditions, to an Englishman with a variometer suffering from years of repression within the confines of English thermals, was as good as a course of psychoanalysis 483 to a neurotic. I am simply saying that caviare is wonderful, but it is not a whole diet. The final positions of the first 20 contestants were as follows: — 1, Schreder, HP-8, 6,945 points; 2, Carris, RJ-5, 6,516; 3, Smith,LO-150, 6,374; 4, Wills, Skylark 3f, 6,121; 5, Drew, Ka-6b, 6,095; 6, Oates, Skylark 3b, 5,883; 7, Coder, SISU, 5,852; 8, Moore, 1-21,5,666; 9, Ivans, 1-29, 5,538; 10, Allemann, Ka-6cr, 5,534; 11, Thomson, Ka-6cr, 5,462; 12, Ryan, 1-23G, 5,435; 13, Compton, LK-10A, 5,114;14, Yeates, 1-23H, 5,099; 15, Randall, Ka-6br, 5,095; 16, Coverdale, Ka-6br, 5,001; 17, Johnson, LK-10A, 4,901; 18, Sebek, Ka-6br, 4,695;19, Starr, 1-23D, 4,630; 20, Mix, 1-23H, 4,586. This pretty clearly reflects the relative performance of each glider flying in clear-air strong-thermal conditions. I would say that Drew (ex-Cambridge club) sneaked a place up by exceptional skill on his cleaned-up Ka-6; Coder, on the fantastic SISU, would have been higher if he had had more experience on this brand-new machine. The accuracy with which one could assess relative perform- ances was extraordinary. Oates on his Skylark 3b glided it out with me on my 3f over 20 miles. At 60kt my new tail produced without any doubt at all the pre-calculated advantage. More surprising, the famed RJ-5 and I glided it out one evening over 6,000ft and 30 miles: I started 200ft above and ended 300ft below Bernie Carris, and we landed together. On several occasions prior to the last day I met Kit Drew's Ka-6 and could just beat it on the straight glide (my extra three metres span ensured of course that there was no serious argument with the standard Ka-6s). On the last day, however, due to cow- trouble on the Free Distance day, I was flying with one wing panel and half my rudder covered with untautened and nib- stitched fabric, ballooning in the most vulgar way for all the world like a be-buttoned cushion in the drawing-room of a fat mistress. On this day I could not hold Kit in straight flight. This last flight consisted of a dash from one well-populated thermal to the next. In each I would climb up inside the SISU, which would come sailing past my flapping tail on the next glide, to be outclimbed again under the following cloud. We finished almost together. . (concluded on p. 489)
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