Looking for feedback to help in planning the next Soar Utah event.

What is most important to those that have attended and those that have considered attending Soar Utah?

What did you like what didn't you like???

If you have never been to Soar Utah then tell us why not?

• What would you change about the event?
• More food?
• MOM or F3F racing?
• Better raffle prizes?
• More flying locations?
• Less flying locations (less travel and moreflying)?
• Aero Towing and thermal duration?
• Dynamic Soaring?
• More Vendors?
• T-Shirts?
• Hiking/flying/Dynamic Soaring adventures (snowbird, snowbasin, high uintas)?

Please keep your comments constructive. If you prefer to keep your comments anonymous then PM or email me.


Thanks,

-Spencer-

A plush grass LZ would be nice!

Yah, because that huge flat area where I just hover the my plane down
to my hand just isn't good enough.

I've only been once and have no major complains. Frequency control
was the only headache but that had more to do with pilots thinking they
were exclusive to a particular frequency and never turning in their pins.
So many of us had to switch frequencies before the event, that there
were no "exclusive" frequencies no matter what you saw on the registration list.

Racing could be fun, but it eats up a lot of time and leaves a lot of people not
flying in the middle of the rounds.

I'm hoping to have a bigger, more stable video plane this year.

ian

A plush grass LZ would be nice

Vic
try some tape on the fuse or handcatch,.. or just try not to be so picky about some small scratches.

Spencer

F3F or a MoM race would be great ( the majority of the attendees had this kind of Models in 08 anyway).

Cheers
Thomas

I attended the last event and had a great time, despite the loss of my Ellipse 3Cam to a mid air on it's third flight. I was involved in one of 10 mid air's on Saturday if I remember correctly. When It came my turn on the frequency, I walked out to the hill with plane in hand, to a fur ball of at least twelve to fourteen others already up, multiple types of planes, multiple flying styles all mixed together. Against my better judgment, I tossed out anyway.
Not sure how well it would go over, but I would suggest maybe designate times for PSS and aerobatic smaller planes to have the hill, and times for F3X type ships to have the hill. Better chance that way for guys to sync up into a similar pattern and reduce the risk.
Oh ...... and a nice plush Lz would be great for us guy's that have not advanced to the hand catch stage

What are the dates for Soar Utah? The only thing I think I would need a lot of is WIND!

Steve

Wind damn it, I want wind!

Here's my 2 cents. Please don't take any of this as criticism of past events. I have only missed one Soar Utah and I've had a great time every time I have attended. But you asked what I want....... (and now you're gonna get it )

The one thing I would really really like is if you could set up a primary hotel with decent rates for the out of town guests. It's a lot more fun for us if there's a bunch of slope nutz in the same place. It would be nice if the banquet was close to that and the hill. Some years it's been half way across town. You have always had a few hotels listed but the last few there were no special rates and they were small places so people ended up spread around. In 2006 I called and got a group rate at the extended stay for the ISR that was $20 a night better than the rates at the recommended hotels.

T shits are cool, but if you are gonna do one make it decent. I remember one Soar Utah shirt in particular that was just too embarrassing to even wear. I didn't like the one with all the mfg logos all over it either.

Keep it a fun fly, racing means less flying time. If you want racing have another event. I like the Fun Fly with a scale and PSS overtones. It's fun, relaxed and still offers a little competition for those so inclined. Continue to keep the wings and combat foamies out of the sky.

Not really interested in more locations. I'd prefer one or two good locations. I'm driving 800 miles to get there, the last thing I want to do once I arrive is drive all over Utah. The Aero tow on the lake was cool though!

As you can see, most of my requests are geared around not having to drive much. I think most of the out of town guys will feel the same way. We are there to FLY, not drive.

Raffles are cool, but I don't care one way or the other if you have one or not. I realize raffles are what pays for these events for most clubs. So try to have as good a raffle as you can. Having a few good prizes is better than dozens of stupid prizes. I'd rather spend $20 and win nothing, than spend $20 and win a useless gift certificate or a foam beer cooler with the logo of the local hobby shop on it. With raffles, Quality is better than quantity.

Originally Posted by Granite

The only thing I think I would need a lot of is WIND!

True that!


The planning meeting is next week so please keep the comments coming.

Move it to Kansas. :-D

I'd have to agree about keeping it mostly a fun fly. I think most guys just want to have a relaxed time flying with their friends. If you do some type of contest as in the past, I would keep it fairly short still.

Judging from past events, a lot of people like to experience the different slopes and sites we have available in the area. I would vote to keep the Aerotow event, as that has been getting more popular each time. For the die-hards a trip up to Francis peak is quite an effort, but usually worth it. For those that don't want to make that trek, another day on the South or North side would still give them plenty of flying time to get their fix.

Also, checking with the hangliding/paragliding club to minimize air traffic as in past years should still be high on the list of priorities. All-in-all, I think it will be a great event again either way!

Solo

I really like that Laird guy's idea about trying to get everyone into a single hotel - ideally one that has a lounge/bar area for hanging out together.

I think a race - MoM or F3F - would be a mistake. It would take flying time away from those who don't want to race.

I really like the aerotow. It's fun flying, and has had a really great, mellow vibe to it.

I'm not sure about Francis Peak. It's a cool spot, but as an out-of-towner I always end up anxious about getting on the road to get home that day, and somehow it's not very satisfying. Maybe I'm a bit jaded since I already live in the mountains, so take my opinion with a big grain of salt.

Perhaps I'm just not big on parties, I'd like to see the Falcon Park BBQ get streamlined, somehow. Maybe have it at the hill and shorten the raffle.

DSing on the back hill would be great if the wind cooperates. Maybe we could put together some 2.4 gHz, lightweight "training JWs" so non-DSers can try it out. I'd be willing to contribute one.

Mmmmm A lounge! Great idea, if not we can always make our own bar!

• What would you change about the event? Very little.
• More food? Don't care.
• MOM or F3F racing? Neither as an organized race. It would take too much time out of flying for the masses. I would be interested in seeing a couple demo heats of F3F and MOM since I've never seen either, but an organized race would be too long.
• Better raffle prizes? How could I complain? I got a great LEG plane and I didn't even enter the raffle!
• More flying locations? I like it the way it's been.
• Less flying locations (less travel and moreflying)? See above.
• Aero Towing and thermal duration? Yes.
• Dynamic Soaring? Yes.
• More Vendors? Don't care.
• T-Shirts? Yes.
• Hiking/flying/Dynamic Soaring adventures (snowbird, snowbasin, high uintas)? Only if it's a side trip for those who want to. I think you should keep the basic locations of the last two events. I might be interested in taking you up on an interesting excursion, like Marty, Ted, and Tauno taking me to see DS for the first time up above Bountiful 3 years ago.

I stay with relatives so personally I don't care about a hotel, but it would be a great idea for the rest of the out-of-towners.

I like Francis Peak, but I traveled home on Tues. that year. Edit: I think it doesn't really matter what you do on Monday. The diehards will fly, and those itching to get on the road will get on the road.

As far as the Falcon Park party goes, I'm with Frank. I'd like to see the "official" announcements part minimized and the unorganized mingling with the guys maximized.

Frank's training JW idea is great.

I'm with Ian on frequency control. I think I went for about 4 hours without being able to fly one time last year.

Agree with comments on frequency control. It would be great if there was a managed time limit when others are sharing a frequency. I had to wait several hours just to get a flight in because the person just kept flying, flying and flying. Very annoying when you travel so far for an event.

The problem with a strict time limit is then someone has to enforce it,
which is a real hassle when you've got 50+ channels in use.

Again, I think the problem was that a lot of people didn't realize that
there were even other people on "their" channel, because so many people
were forced to switch channels at the last minute to avoid the high conflict ones.
There were 6 people on ch16 (my usual one) so a lot of us moved to
other channels, but some of those folks didn't realize they no longer had
exclusive use of them since none of this was reflected on the registered
pilot/channel list.

I think just making it clear that *every* channel could potentially have other
people on it, will help. Another option would be to ask folks to put their
cell # on their card when they leave it at frequency control. Maybe time
and cell # some folks don't start calling you 5 minutes after you pick up your pin.

ian