Seattle is too far for me to travel for a one-event competition. It's bad enough going 10 hours to Phoenix for 2 contests in a row... F3J in the Desert and the SWC.

I don't mean to bust your bubble but I figured you'd want an honest opinion...

A wise old sage once said,"Growing old ain't for p***ys!" You guys are my heroes! Tough, ornery sumbitchers! Hang in there guys.

Originally Posted by Riserflier

What factors would entice you to participate in a wood sailplane event in the Seattle area during the 2011 flying season?

I have not yet made firm plans; just looking for feedback.

What would discourage you from participating?

Thanks for responding or sending me an e-mail.

All of what you had up there makes it sound like the kind of contest I'd like to make a day to attend. What would discourage me is that 1900 miles is a long ways to travel, and that's each way. Unfortunately, I'm not rich enough to justify a trip like that for a hobby. Wish I was.

Nightowl

Originally Posted by Riserflier

What factors would entice you to participate in a wood sailplane event in the Seattle area during the 2011 flying season?

I have not yet made firm plans; just looking for feedback.

Format would include: basic wood construction, thermal duration, RC sailplanes. Winch or hi-start launch; no electric launch, hand launch or aero tow. Probably have an easy-going competition that stresses flying over landing. Also would try to promote a fly-in social atmosphere for the non-competitive types.

What features of such an event would make it a particularly good time for you (competition, laid back fun, awards, etc) to the point that you would travel to Seattle to participate?

What would discourage you from participating?

Thanks for responding or sending me an e-mail.

A couple of guys came from Oregon ( maybe Washington ) to attend one of my Wood Crafter events (mother to all woody events ) and tried to have an event in their area. I'm not totally sure they pulled it off. There are a lot of woody flyers in those states, but I don't know how attracted they are to contests of any type. I think posting your question here is OK, but if your a good promoter, you have to figure out how to make contact with the flyers in your area.

One of the advantages of living in Indiana is the large number of sailplane flyers within a few hours drive of the AMA field in Muncie. This area has been blessed with sialplane flyers since day one and that probably has a lot to do with the SOAR club in Chicago and specifically Dan Pruss and his crew that in my opinion started the big bang for Sailplane contests. Gas was cheap back then and staying in a brand new Holiday Inn was also cheap.

From my view, the guys motivated to fly in contests are moldie buyers, woody flyers, not so much.

But, if you really want to have a woody contest, just do it and work hard to promote it. You would be amazed at how many woody flyers do not spend much time on RC Groups.

You may want to check out my Wood Crafters reports on my web site for activity ideas.

Ray
Sky Bench ... Woodys Forever
http://www.skybench.com

I'm with Owl here, Riser. What you describe sounds like a perfect woody day, but too far for me too. If I ever get the chance and the money to travel with wood, I want to attend Wood Crafters some year.

Don

Nightowl: I know how far it is from Kansas. I am a Kansan... moved out here ten years ago from the KC area. And, yes, visitng the Seattle area could be an expensive trip. But, it could also be a great vacation spot with a woody event thrown in. If you haven't visited the northwest in summer, then you are really missing something. You have over six months to plan (and finance) the trip and your family or whoever comes along will like it even if they don't fly woodies.

Ray: I am one of those Seattle guys that attended Woodcrafters a few years ago. Enjoyed it, too. We went because of all the reasons that we wood builders understand without having to explain it. I am hoping to create a west coast Woodcrafters vibe. If things work well, I'd probably host it every two years to make it more "special"... kind of like the Olympics.

I am hoping to create a west coast Woodcrafters vibe. If things work well, I'd probably host it every two years to make it more "special"... kind of like the Olympics.

Riser,

I wish you much success, I ship many kits to the west coast, new builders and experienced (old like me), so I know there are plenty of Woody flyers that could become interested in attending your event.

One day back in the fall of 1999, shortly after moving back to Ft Wayne from Michigan, I was sitting at my computer adding some HL pics to my web and bingo ... I thought of Dave Thornburg and what he did for creating interest in hand launch contests. With in a month I had a HL contest lined up with the SWC ( Phoenix ) in honor of Dave's huge contribution to RC Soaring and his commitment to fly in it. He had stopped flying RC and had to buy a radio for the Sunbird kit I sent to him. He was as excited about the idea as I was, the Sunbird classic was a huge success. So my message here is ... make it happen.

I did seven consecutive Wood Crafters events at the AMA field in Muncie. The last one was 2008. I thought about doing one in West Yellowstone, one of my favorite vacation spots, but it might be more fun do one in Dallas, TX, there are a lot of Woody pilots in Texas too. Hmmmm ...

Ray
Sky Bench ... Woodys Forever
http://www.skybench.com



So, I say to you, your

Ray - What happened to 2009 and 2010? And will there be one in 2011?

Yes! Dallas!

Dallas isn't too far...

It might be . But then so would Muncie.

Maybe some one in TX would consider putting on a Woody contest.

Some of the clubs have picked up on creating a separate scoring category for woodys in their contests.

I sold my retriever, so that finishes me for putting on a winch launch Wood Crafters event.

Ray
Sky Bench ... Woodys Forever
http://www.skybench.com

I know some of the guys in Pensacola are highly involved in competetive soaring and hold a "Vista" event several times during the season to bring in new glider guiders. We held our first "Glider Fly In" this year with a decent turnout (many of the Pensacola members showed up). If I were home more, I'd consider trying to organize a Woodcrafters event in Mobile, but I'm only home every other weekend.

Originally Posted by Ray Hayes

Maybe some one in TX would consider putting on a Woody contest.

Some of the clubs have picked up on creating a separate scoring category for woodys in their contests.

I sold my retriever, so that finishes me for putting on a winch launch Wood Crafters event.

Ray
Sky Bench ... Woodys Forever
http://www.skybench.com

Would I be allowed to attend even though I don't have a SkyBench aircraft?

I'd certainly attend with my fleet of 2M wooden things. I seem to get a big kick out of throwing wood at the sky and seeing how long I can get it to miss the earth.

I feel I can include myself in this thread now that I've scratch built a fuse (granted it has a C/F tail boom) and built a modern wooden 2M sailplane (Chrysalis) along with my long departed and beloved Gentle Lady and more recently Sophisticated Lady. I get at least half of the relaxation and enjoyment out of modeling during the building process. Probably comes with being an engineer by trade. I write software so I'm solving problems all the time. What do I do when I get home? Solve more problems, just smaller ones.