- Sun Sep 23, 2018 2:01 am
#405069
In the OZ Report Davis posts detailed results of the Santa Cruz Flats Race. Several lines after places 1 - 20 astute readers may note this casual comment:
"Fred Kaemerer won over all."
Notable that the overall winner went virtually unmentioned in a week of flying, and was not mentioned at all in the Final Results listing. For your edification I re-post these comments from the Rigid Wing Forum:
Posted by: miraclepieco:
Fred Kaemerer is currently the overall leader (this includes all classes and top comp pilots) on his Atos VR:
https://airtribune..com/santa-cruz-flats-race-mark-knight-memorial-2018/blog__day_3
Posted by Fred Kaemerer:
The new VR Race Results including the Open Class topless gliders - all flying the same task:
Day 1: 1st to goal by 10 minutes. Tied for fastest time on course.
Day 2: 3rd to goal. Fastest time on course by 1 minute.
Day 3: 2nd to goal. 21 seconds slower on course than the pilot in first (Robin Hamilton).
The new VR race is noticeably better than the topless gliders The VR Race still out-glides them at slow to moderate glide speeds and pull away when going fast.
Fred
Posted by miraclepieco:
I think the point that Fred has again proven is that day-to-day in all types of flying conditions a serious hobby pilot on a rigid wing can still beat a world class pilot on a flex wing. Where I notice the biggest advantage is actually not in densely-thermaled racing conditions (that flexies prefer because it hides their deficiencies), but in feather-light barely soarable conditions with widely-spaced thermals that a rigid wing's superiority really becomes evident. If you are into either boating over takeoff or high-speed desert racing, a rigid may not be for you. But if you want to go 20 miles when no one else can even stay up, get a RW.
Posted by Brad Gryder:
About 8 years ago I decided to take my lowly Axxess+ to the desert, just to see what desert flying was like. It was the Santa Cruz Flats Race, and I entered the comp with no intention of racing, but just to get back into flying after taking years off for my family.
What a great time I had there. I did feel a little guilty one day there at Casa Grande, as I was doing just as described above during the start of one race day. I was about 1/2 mile west of the Casa Grande Resort, just bubbling along at zero climb, with bits of energy hitting a wing here and there, like a buzzard does. Once in a while I would circle, but usually not. I'd been at this for a while, and a group of freshly launched flexi pilots saw me maintaining there. Before long they were on me. One by one they would drop through my level, then have to reach down deep into their skills basket to make weird approach and landings in between the cacti. I was glad to see them all safely land, even though some of them skidded and bonked in a little. It's probably hard to land exactly into the wind while dodging cacti. I wouldn't know for sure, 'cause I never had to land out there. Every day I'd just fly as long as I wanted to and land at will back at the resort with the pool, where my family was.
"Get a Life - Get a Rigid"
Brad Gryder
Posted by Martin Henry:
Well many of the top Flex guys will never switch it would be super cool to hear their thoughts on flying a rigid wing. Davis, Dustin, Zac, Johnny (many times I tried to get Brett Hazlet to fly my VR or VQR
Posted by Fred Kaemerer:
The Topless guys who are sponsored won't fly something else.
***
Current comp pilots have a vested interest in the status quo. To fly a new type of wing would mean changing the whole paradigm that they have spent years cultivating. That paradigm apparently is more important than the advancement of the sport as a whole.
"Fred Kaemerer won over all."
Notable that the overall winner went virtually unmentioned in a week of flying, and was not mentioned at all in the Final Results listing. For your edification I re-post these comments from the Rigid Wing Forum:
Posted by: miraclepieco:
Fred Kaemerer is currently the overall leader (this includes all classes and top comp pilots) on his Atos VR:
https://airtribune..com/santa-cruz-flats-race-mark-knight-memorial-2018/blog__day_3
Posted by Fred Kaemerer:
The new VR Race Results including the Open Class topless gliders - all flying the same task:
Day 1: 1st to goal by 10 minutes. Tied for fastest time on course.
Day 2: 3rd to goal. Fastest time on course by 1 minute.
Day 3: 2nd to goal. 21 seconds slower on course than the pilot in first (Robin Hamilton).
The new VR race is noticeably better than the topless gliders The VR Race still out-glides them at slow to moderate glide speeds and pull away when going fast.
Fred
Posted by miraclepieco:
I think the point that Fred has again proven is that day-to-day in all types of flying conditions a serious hobby pilot on a rigid wing can still beat a world class pilot on a flex wing. Where I notice the biggest advantage is actually not in densely-thermaled racing conditions (that flexies prefer because it hides their deficiencies), but in feather-light barely soarable conditions with widely-spaced thermals that a rigid wing's superiority really becomes evident. If you are into either boating over takeoff or high-speed desert racing, a rigid may not be for you. But if you want to go 20 miles when no one else can even stay up, get a RW.
Posted by Brad Gryder:
About 8 years ago I decided to take my lowly Axxess+ to the desert, just to see what desert flying was like. It was the Santa Cruz Flats Race, and I entered the comp with no intention of racing, but just to get back into flying after taking years off for my family.
What a great time I had there. I did feel a little guilty one day there at Casa Grande, as I was doing just as described above during the start of one race day. I was about 1/2 mile west of the Casa Grande Resort, just bubbling along at zero climb, with bits of energy hitting a wing here and there, like a buzzard does. Once in a while I would circle, but usually not. I'd been at this for a while, and a group of freshly launched flexi pilots saw me maintaining there. Before long they were on me. One by one they would drop through my level, then have to reach down deep into their skills basket to make weird approach and landings in between the cacti. I was glad to see them all safely land, even though some of them skidded and bonked in a little. It's probably hard to land exactly into the wind while dodging cacti. I wouldn't know for sure, 'cause I never had to land out there. Every day I'd just fly as long as I wanted to and land at will back at the resort with the pool, where my family was.
"Get a Life - Get a Rigid"
Brad Gryder
Posted by Martin Henry:
Well many of the top Flex guys will never switch it would be super cool to hear their thoughts on flying a rigid wing. Davis, Dustin, Zac, Johnny (many times I tried to get Brett Hazlet to fly my VR or VQR
Posted by Fred Kaemerer:
The Topless guys who are sponsored won't fly something else.
***
Current comp pilots have a vested interest in the status quo. To fly a new type of wing would mean changing the whole paradigm that they have spent years cultivating. That paradigm apparently is more important than the advancement of the sport as a whole.