Derelict and Underused Gliders

I have been around competitive racing since I was 18 years old. Most of the truly high-level racing I have personally done was on sailboats, both in college and after. I’ve sailed in multiple North American championships and a J-22 Worlds. I’ve been around high-level sailplane racing since I was 22, which was the first time I flew a towplane at a Nationals. Since then, I’ve been a crew, tow pilot, or contest director at multiple regionals, nationals, a Pan American, and most recently the Women’s Worlds.

What has always been interesting to me is the fact that sailing is a thriving sport in the United States. Soaring (specifically competitive soaring) quite frankly, is not.

There are multiple reasons for this. It’s a common discussion at contests and gatherings of glider pilots to talk about what’s wrong with soaring and how can we fix it? This usually has two facets: how do we “save” the sport in the USA and how do we make our pilots more competitive in the Worlds? 
I would like to offer a (partial) solution to both problems. 

What kind of glider IS in that trailer that’s been sitting over there for 10 years?

We, as a community, need to mobilize the derelict and underused fleet of sailplanes that exists across the United States. We need to get these aircraft into the hands of pilots that want to race them and let them go race. Finally, we need a couple of fun, obnoxious races that people are BEGGING to attend that don’t happen in Florida with a minimum age requirement to compete. 

What do I mean by derelict and underused gliders? Well...I mean most of them. Here are the numbers for the “most competitive” gliders that aren’t strictly 18 Meter or the latest Ventus 3/JS-3/etc. registered in the USA, and the classes that they are realistically capable of being competitive in:

Now let’s take a quick look at our competition turnout for the last 5 years:

Competition Turn Out:  A problem

There are a couple of very interesting things to gather from this data. First, we are not utilizing the fleet of gliders in the USA very well. Second, the variations in turnout for a given class are dramatically affected by the venue. For example, club class had 44 entrants in 2016, but only 9 last year. Did a ton of people just decide not to fly contests anymore? Or possibly did a lot of pilots decide that they would rather take two weeks off work to go fly in Uvalde rather than head to a location in the Midwest?

I’ve included Perry, SC, and the Seniors in Florida as well because neither of those locations are known for their incredible soaring. But they are known for having excellent contest management, top-notch facilities, and fantastic competition year after year. Both of those events are almost always waitlisted, we have more willing competitors than we do slots. All of the other contest, on average, have room for another 40+ gliders. Why aren’t they showing up?

I have some theories: 

1.  Many people that would like to attend one of the “big” contests don’t feel they have a chance at a US Team slot. Combine this with limited vacation time and contest costs, and they probably choose Perry or the Seniors (if they are eligible). These contests are known commodities and are a safer bet for most.
2. There are many owners that simply are not interested in racing.
3. Most of the people that have both the disposable income and time off to use it for contests are flying 18 meter.
4. It is easier to charter a glider anywhere else in the universe than it is in the United States.

Item 4 is not an exaggeration. I could send a couple of emails, make one or two phone calls, and have a top-notch 15m or 18m glider to fly in Australia within 72 hours. Here in the USA? Good luck. Unless your last name is Arnold, Westbrook, Condon, or Willat, nobody is letting you snatch their ship for two weeks to go fly a contest. This is the attitude I would like to see change above everything else. 

Do you own one of the types of gliders listed in the chart above? If so, did you fly every contest that it is competitive in? If not, then it’s time to sell a share to someone that doesn’t have a sexy contest ship to go race. 

It doesn’t have to be a big share, in fact, the price should be pretty low. I’d recommend 5-10% of the value of the glider. This would allow you to form your own small cadre of pilots while retaining ultimate control of what happens to your glider. You will see benefits from the deal as well! New owners LOVE to pamper their new toy. Your glider will be sparkling. The spare tire that’s been flat in the trailer for two years will magically get repaired. All of a sudden your ancient Compac PDA has disappeared to be replaced by an IGC Oudie. Holy hell, is that a transponder?

Do you know of an owner that has a beautiful ASW-27 that’s been sitting in the trailer for 11 months? Track them down and make an offer for 5% ownership. Or shame them into listing a share on the Wings and Wheels classifieds. Get these gliders flying, and get them to contests!
 

Getting More Contestants

  Which brings us to our next topic, the contests themselves. We have two very well established contests that occur every single year and draw an incredible field for racing. The Seniors, specifically, have been described to me by a current member of the US Team as being “the only contest in North America that offers a glimpse of what gaggle flying is actually like at a World Championship.” By getting some of these derelict gliders back into circulation, perhaps we can get our Nationals attendance numbers back into the ’50s and ’60s where they belong. I will never forget my college sailing program being given a Farr 40 (street value $400k) by another owner simply because he “wanted one more boat on the line” at Newport Race Week. It’s the same concept. Every extra glider at a contest adds value to the experience of the contest itself. 

The second area that we have trouble with as a nation in the Worlds is the lack of a venue to practice team flying. 
 

Stevie Wonder is NOT blind

  Now, I would like to be very clear that I am not advocating for team flying to be allowed at Nationals. That debate has occurred, and I consider a settled issue. Just like the fact that Stevie Wonder is not blind. (Editor note, this fact is open for debate and Hugh would love for you to bring it up in conversation!)

That said, we do need a place to allow our current and prospective team members to practice team flying. It would also be great to have a dedicated contest once a year where we could pair experienced racing pilots with people either new to the sport or people looking to hone their craft. What would make this even more fun is if it was a one-design competition where everyone was racing similar equipment.

There are 73 registered ASK-21’s in the USA. That’s not counting Canada. It’s the perfect developmental racing class for US Soaring. I hereby call for the establishment of the ASK-21 Racing League. We will rotate the venue each year between the top soaring sites that people want to go to. 

A Call to Arms

Soaring isn’t broken, and our sport isn’t dead. We just need to make it more accessible. I will be the Contest Director for the 2022 Club Class Nationals in Moriarty, NM. We have room for 50 gliders. I want to see a waitlist. I want to see a grid that makes people take a deep breath and think of the “good old days.” That won’t happen unless we have some new blood flying gliders that they don’t currently have access to.  

Now go list 5% of your glider on the classifieds. 

Banner Photo by John Sullivan

Hugh Grandstaff is a Captain and Simulator Instructor for Air Wisconsin Airlines. He has been flying for 23 years in a wide variety of types and categories of aircraft and grew up in an aviation family. Hugh has worked as a deckhand on tugboats, a research assistant at a major university, a navigation and cargo officer on ocean-going ships, an executive at a scrap metal processing company, and currently as an airline pilot. Hugh graduated from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, and lives with his wife Sylvia (a much more interesting and accomplished pilot than himself) in their tiny house on a small plot of land connected to a grass runway in Alabama. Hugh also served as CD for last summer’s U.S. club class nationals.