Konrad
Very Strong User
The Northern California Slope Soaring (NCSS) International Slope Race (ISR) for 2019 is in the history books. This is a great open Man on Man (MoM) racing format. Other than some safety constraints it is anything goes. In very general terms most guys were flying their back up or dated FAI F3F ships. Most folks don’t want to risk their number one ships in MoM racing. This is understandable as there is a risk of midairs. While one might think that racing 3 meter moldy sailplanes would result in a stressful atmosphere. It for the most part wasn’t the case. Yes, there was the classic it can’t be “my” flying it must be the flaggers fault. And yes there was also the cry; what, that couldn’t have been a cut. But then what would a race be without those complaints or controversy. (Full discloser I was one of the two Base “B” judges/flaggers).
What I like about the NCSS group is that they make time for the Novice flier. That is they make sure new guys have their own heats. And to help speed up the progression of new talent, they pair the new pilot with a seasoned "pro" as the caller. This caller is also the flying coach. I will say that from the perspective of a Base “B” judge I could see the new pilots getting better with each leg they flew. I also need to be honest there were a few legs that scared us down at Base “B”. This has to be excepted as new pilots try to find the coarse. By the second round it was hard to tell the novice class from the open class. Ok, this isn’t true, but the novice pilot to a man was much improved!
Another great thing about the ISR is to camaraderie and international scope. I have to say I heard a few accents (I think I heard Swiss or German accents). I’m not sure were anyone came from, but under the current climate I was happy to hear any accents.
A big draw for me, besides the great racing is that the NCSS awards prizes to the workers not the pilots. The pilots get trophies and bragging right. But it is the workers that get all the donated loot! This isn’t a tube of glue kind of prize but real desirable prizes. Doc. James Hammond of Aeroic gave a Gremlin (full inspected by Doc.), from Aloft Hobbies I saw a very new Mini-Q, from Dream Flight I counted two Ahi’s , from Plane Quiver a Plane Quiver bag, and I saw a box of merchandise from Soaring USA.
https://alofthobbies.com/aeroic-gremlin.html (Sorry, I don’t do Facebook)
mini “Q” (So new it isn’t on Aloft’s web site)
dream-flight.com
www.soaringusa.com
I’m not a member of NCSS though I’ve tried. (I think my reputation may proceed me.
) So, I'm not sure who all the players were. You will have to look elsewhere for race standing. I will say that as a working judge I had the best seat in the house to watch all the action. And there was a lot of action!
All the best,
Konrad
What I like about the NCSS group is that they make time for the Novice flier. That is they make sure new guys have their own heats. And to help speed up the progression of new talent, they pair the new pilot with a seasoned "pro" as the caller. This caller is also the flying coach. I will say that from the perspective of a Base “B” judge I could see the new pilots getting better with each leg they flew. I also need to be honest there were a few legs that scared us down at Base “B”. This has to be excepted as new pilots try to find the coarse. By the second round it was hard to tell the novice class from the open class. Ok, this isn’t true, but the novice pilot to a man was much improved!
Another great thing about the ISR is to camaraderie and international scope. I have to say I heard a few accents (I think I heard Swiss or German accents). I’m not sure were anyone came from, but under the current climate I was happy to hear any accents.
A big draw for me, besides the great racing is that the NCSS awards prizes to the workers not the pilots. The pilots get trophies and bragging right. But it is the workers that get all the donated loot! This isn’t a tube of glue kind of prize but real desirable prizes. Doc. James Hammond of Aeroic gave a Gremlin (full inspected by Doc.), from Aloft Hobbies I saw a very new Mini-Q, from Dream Flight I counted two Ahi’s , from Plane Quiver a Plane Quiver bag, and I saw a box of merchandise from Soaring USA.
https://alofthobbies.com/aeroic-gremlin.html (Sorry, I don’t do Facebook)
mini “Q” (So new it isn’t on Aloft’s web site)
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I’m not a member of NCSS though I’ve tried. (I think my reputation may proceed me.
) So, I'm not sure who all the players were. You will have to look elsewhere for race standing. I will say that as a working judge I had the best seat in the house to watch all the action. And there was a lot of action!All the best,
Konrad
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