The Team

I have had the honor of representing the US team at two World Junior Gliding Championships as a pilot flying standard class, twice as crew, including once as the team coach. I made it on the open class team as the pilot twice and once as the back-seater with Mike Robison. I also made it on the club class team with my intent of settling in there. The low cost of the class, lack of water, and fierce competition made it attractive.
 
 At the Junior World Gliding Championships, Mike Westbrook and I both had a first and second. But we were not consistent, which has been the downfall of the US Team. We both learned a lot and strove to represent the US Team and all of our supporters.

 My teammates varied over the years in team flying. Some of my best days were when I was bouncing information off the other pilot. Ron Tabery and I were able to share appropriate information at crucial times that made for excellent daily placings. We started almost everyday wingtip to wingtip and pushed each other as hard as we could. I had secured an ASW-22ble and him flying his modified -22ble the sailplanes were well matched for team flying, and I had done very well up until the second to last day. We thought coming home with a medal was a possibility.
 
 Sean Franke and I team-flew very well. We had practiced racing club class gliders at Region 5 flying against the 15-meter class. It was a realistic way to practice, and we did manage to keep up most of the days with the 15-meter class and even beat them raw speed a few days. But we needed more practice. On the last day, we took 1 and 2 at the World Gliding Championships in Rayskala.

 Largest change

  I flew my first WGC with Flarm, and I thought, wow, it’s like another set of eyes. Now the screens are showing targets much farther away, evolving it to be a tactical tool. The ground crew is even watching the Flarm traffic like a radar screen and passing on useful information. In the two-seaters, it has been the most beneficial because you have a tactician that can keep an eye on everyone.

 The volunteers

 Without them, there would be no teams showing up and no contest sites. We can never thank them enough. We have a countless amount of volunteers helping with paperwork, logistics, moving things around, running errands during the contest, finding equipment, websites, social media, etc. each country has its large group of volunteers. Then the contests themselves, the logistics that start years before to get the bid awarded from the IGC, is a huge step. It isn’t over until everyone is gone, and everything is cleaned up.

 2-3 nationals a year

  Trying to win, you need to practice. When I was a junior, I pulled off going to 3 nationals a year a few times. That was part of my success. I flew the standard class nationals then a little over a week later was flying a Nimbus 3 at the open nationals, and a few weeks later headed to England for the JWGC. Then I started a family and went to flying two then one national a year. But that’s not enough to win at the level you see in the WGC.

 It has been my pleasure

  It is a great honor to be selected and to represent the USA. To remember that you are representing your country and those that support you, the volunteers, the generous donors, friends, and family. Your behavior online and at the airfield reflect how others view the Team. It is an honor to be able to give back to soaring, to instruct, to give talks at the SSA convention, and work on this newsletter. It has been fun, and I’ll see you all again soon.

 Garret Willat holds a flight instructor rating with over 8000 hours in sailplanes. His parents have owned Sky Sailing Inc. since 1979. He started instructing the day after his 18th birthday. Since then, Garret has represented the US Junior team in 2003 and 2005. He graduated from Embry-Riddle with a bachelor's degree in Professional Aeronautics. Garret represented the US Open Class team in 2008 and 2010 and the Club Class team in 2014. Garret has won 3 US National Championships.