Waynesville, OH
April 17, 2003
The Annual 1-26 Championship Sailplane Contest will be held July 7 through 17, 2003 at the Caesar Creek Soaring Club. The contest is part of the Dayton, Ohio, area's 100th Year Celebration of the Wright Brothers First Powered Flight. The two-week Centennial Celebration in Dayton runs from July 3 through July 20, and includes a four-day International Air Show, featuring the Navy's Blue Angles, the Air Force's Thunderbirds and the Canadian Air Force's Snow Birds.
The 1-26 Championship is sponsored by the 1-26 Association, part of the Soaring Society of America. A focal point of the activities of the 1-26 Association is its annual 1-26 Championship. The contest site atmosphere is a unique mixture of serious competitors, socializing and Association business. The Annual meeting of the Association is scheduled to coincide with the Championship. The competitors range in age from first timers, in their teens, to experienced "veterans," in their late 70s. The Championship is organized to recognize this mixture of pilots and to insure that a true Champion is declared without compromises to safety or the spirit of the Association.
Contestants come from every part of the world. Last year's event, hosted by the 94th Flight Training Squadron at the USAFA Bullseye Auxiliary Field. near Ellicott, Colorado, attracted 32 participants. Contest tasks for each day typically range from 50 to over 100 miles around a course selected specifically for the day's weather patterns and usually includes several turnpoints. Because glider planes have no engines, competition emphasizes the skills required to locate thermals, rising currents of air caused by convection, to stay aloft. All contestants launch within a short time period and the task opens after all ships have been launched and the contest director declares the start. Launching is an especially interesting part of the contest with tows provided by powered aircraft made every few minutes. Once they are flown to a height of 2,000 feet, the gliders release the tow rope and sail through the air, with the pilots looking for the cumulus clouds that show where the air is rising. Hot air can come from a dark-colored field, a patch of trees and almost anything including roads and villages. Within several hours contestants start to return to the field to land. If a contestant can't complete the course, the pilot will opt to land in a local farmer's field or one of the many county or other airfields in the Dayton area. The pilot with the best speed around the course wins the day. A pilot's crew will then retrieve the aircraft by taking it apart and towing it back to the field on a specially designed trailer.
There are many activities at a sailplane contest of interest to the general public. Besides enjoying the beauty and craftsmanship of this unique one design contest, everything from the early morning pilots meeting at which the previous days winner relates their experiences to a fascinating weather report focused on the special requirements of the art of soaring. Evening events include cookouts, music, award presentations, bonfires and lots of hanger flying. Please check the contest web site for the latest schedule of events.
The Schweizer 1-26 was designed in 1954 by Paul Schweizer and 700 ships were delivered up through 1979. With a wingspan of 40' and empty weight of about 400 lbs., it was designed originally as an inexpensive sailplane capable of modest soaring tasks, but its popularity has grown over the years and now the SGS 1-26 represents a unique class of sailplane in which many pilots have accomplished amazing flights of up to 425 miles. With a modest lift over drag (L/D) performance of 1:23, which means the sailplane will fly 23 miles from an altitude of 1 mile, the SGS 1-26 is no match for the latest racing sailplanes, which offer L/D ratios of over 1:60. Because of that fact, flying the Schweizer 1-26 provides a special challenge and many sailplane pilots enjoy achieving international soaring award rankings in the SGS 1-26. The top soaring award is represented by an FAI Three Diamond Pin which means the pilot has flown a 500 kilometer straight out distance, climbed 5,000 meters (16,400 feet) in altitude and flown 300 kilometers around a closed course. Only 35 pilots have accomplished those tasks in the Schweizer 1-26.
The Caesar Creek Soaring Club at 5385 Elbon Rd., Waynesville, OH 45068, is more than 60 years old, serving pilots in the Dayton, Cincinnati and Columbus areas. The current 138 acre gliderport is privately owned by the club. The club owns nine sailplanes and specializes in the training of glider pilots. More than 40 private ships are also based at the airfield. Normally, introductory training flights are available to the public on the weekends all year round, however, during the 1-26 Championship there will be no introductory flights.
For more information on the contest go to the 1-26
Championship site at http://www.lohre.com/chuck/126.
For more information on the Centennial Celebration,
visit http://www.inventingflight.com
and for the Air Show at http://www.airshowdayton.com.
The Caesar Creek Soaring Club's web site is at http://www.wrightdesigns.com/ccsc.
For more information or an interview contact:
Pat De Naples
Contest Director
Phone: 937-291-1466
2003championships@go-concepts.com
or
Chuck Lohre
Publicity Director
3015 Beaver Ave.
Cincinnati, OH 45213
Work 513-961-1174
Home 513-731-3429
chuck@lohre.com
Caesar Creek Soaring Club
5385 Elbon Rd.
P. O. Box 918
Waynesville, OH 45068
Phone: 513-932-7627
http://www.wrightdesigns.com/ccsc
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