This Year's
Accomplishments

Soar Minnesota

Minnesota
Soaring Club

Accomplishments and Fun Flights 
of Minnesota Soaring Pilots
2004

Overview
This page is for announcing the accomplishments and fun flights of local soaring pilots.  Items listed here include: first solos, new ratings, badge flights, record flights, just-for-fun long flights, etc.  It's just fun to see how many great flights are done from Minnesota.

Click on the photos below to view larger versions.

Accomplishments - 2004
Date	Pilot	Glider	Flying From	Description	Write-up	Flight Log	Photo
Oct 17, '04	J. D. Teter	Blanik L13	Benson's	First solo and A Badge	JD shrugged off the cold and the scrutiny of 3 CFIG's and flew a great first solo.
Oct 10, '04	Matt Ellickson	Blanik L23	Benson's	Private Pilot Glider	Matt is a transition pilot who went to work right away and eaned his glider add-on in one season. Pete Kroll was his instructor, and Andrew Wood was the examiner.
Sept 26, '04	Paul Campobasso	Blanik L23	Benson's	Glider Pilot Commercial Rating	Congratulations from the RWSA membership. Andrew Wood was the examiner.
Sept 24, '04	Michael Hoover	Blanik L13	Benson's	Private Pilot Glider	Michael is a transition pilot who is looking forward to flying his own glider. Jim Hard was his instructor and Andrew Wood was the examiner
Sept 11, '04	Eric Strandjord	ASK-21	Stanton	Completed B Badge on 9/11/04 with a flight of 66 minutes. Also issued A Badge for solo flight made earlier.
Sept 6, '04	Jim Hard	1-26A	Benson's	Straight out distance flight from Centreville MN to Lake Ell, WI, about 188 sm in 4:40.	Good tail wind all afternoon though cloud base was relatively low and several emergency saves were required. Crew Chief Kathleen Winters arrived at the landing site within a few minutes of landing.
Sept 4, '04	Craig Cowell	Blanik L23	Benson's	Private Pilot Glider rating	Craig, who solo'd in gliders at Benson's last summer, trained diligently for this test. His instructor was Pete Kroll and the Examiner was Andrew Wood.
Aug 14, '04	George Penokie	Libelle	Stanton	Personal best flight of 297 km (184.5 miles)	The flight was an aborted 300K triangle (Stanton-Blue Earth-Austin) but the weather conditions east of Albert Lee only allowed me to make it that far. I was able to get back to Stanton, but because I had to detour to Wells on the way to Blue Earth the free flight almost made it to 300 KM. If I had known how the free fight works I could have easily made it to past Stanton for several Ks as I was at 3000 ft AGL over Stanton. But that is all minor because this flight was more that double the distance of any that I had made before. And considering the highest I ever got was 6200 MSL I'm vary happy about it.	48EA1YG8.IGC
Aug 14, '04	Mark Schmidt	Std Cirrus	Benson's	500 km triangle: Benson - Winona - point NE of Shell Lake. 7.5 hours.	First half was easy with 4-5 kt climbs but second half was very challenging, with 2 kt lift and few landout options.	48EI4431.IGC
Aug 14, '04	Tom Rent	Schweizer 1-35C	Stanton	SYN-FBL-MCW (Mason City Iowa), landout near Fertile, IA.  Approx 160km, 100sm.	tom_flight04.txt
Aug 14, '04	Michael Hoover	Blanik L-13	Benson's	B Badge earned.	First soaring flight in vicinity of Benson's Airport.
July 26, '04	Jim Hard	1-26A	Benson's	Thermal soaring flight from White Bear Lake MN to Mahtowa MN, 107 sm, 3:15	Another visit to Uncle Cliff Strandberg's hay field.
July 25, '04	Tom Rent	Schweizer 1-35C	Stanton	Out and Return to Blue Earth (261 km, 162 sm) from Stanton.  4.75 hours on course.
July 24, '04	Mark Schmidt	Std Cirrus	Benson's	360 km triangle at 47 mph	Attempted 500km FAI triangle: Benson - Winona - Pt near Shell Lake. Abandoned task on 2nd leg at Eau Claire because I was behind schedule and thought the day was dying.
July 24, '04	Mike Finegan	PIK-20B	Benson's	200K FAI Triangle - State Record Attempt. Hugo-Ellsworth-Cub Acres-Hugo	Speed just shy of record. Lift was inconsistent. Troubles near Downsville (surprise!).
July 24, '04	Steve Metz	ASW-27B	Stanton	State record for speed around a 300 km triangle. Stanton-Glencoe-Wells-Stanton, Distance: 192.2 miles, speed: 56.6 mph		47OC3IO1.IGC
July 24, '04	Tom Rent	Schweizer 1-35C	Stanton	Once around the Stanton Short Task. See speeds here.
July 23, '04	Tom Rent	Schweizer 1-35C	Stanton	2 times around the Stanton Short Task. See speeds here.
July 16, '04	Jim Hard	1-26A	Benson's	Hugo MN to Buckeye IA, 196 sm, 6:10, on yet another weak day.	Roger Payne promptly found the pilot on the property of a large hog factory.
July 15, '04	Michael Hoover	Blanik L-13	Benson's	First solo in gliders.
Jun 26, '04	Jim Hard	1-26A	Benson's	Centreville MN to Brodhead WI, 255 sm, 7:15	A tip-toe kind of day at times because of overdevelopment. Roger Payne, Crew Chief.
Jun 25, '04	Mike Finegan	PIK-20B	Benson's	200K Triangle Attempt. Landed about 20 mikes short, at New Richmond WI.	Strange day, strong lift early, even in the overcast.
Jun 23, '04	Leon Zeug	Blanik	Benson's	Passed his certified flight instructor glider check ride.
Jun 22, '04	Jim Hard	1-26A	Benson's	Centreville MN to Clintonville WI in 6:15. Weak day that looked better than it was. 400 fpm max thermal strength. 213.88 sm	Bill Mason, Crew Chief, arrived 5 minutes after landing.  This was Jim's 101st Gold Distance flight. (WOW!!!)
June 19, '04	Kathleen Winters	Libelle H201B	Arlington, SD	Arlington, SD airport to Mahnomen, MN airport 206 sm in 5 and 1/2 hours.	Good day with plenty of Cu's but increasing crosswind and inhospitable terrain (lakes!) made the flight more difficult--and shorter. High point: 7800 msl. Thanks to all at the SD soaring regatta and Jim Hard, crew chief.
June 19, '04	Mike Willey	Blanik L33 Solo	Stanton	Out and Return to Faribault
June 19, '04	Roger Urban	PW-5	Stanton	Out and Return to Belle Plain
June 19, '04	Brian Utley	DG-800	Stanton	300km Diamond Goal - out and return to Litchfield
June 19, '04	Geoff Stone	DG-800	Stanton	Out and return to Sleepy Eye
June 19, '04	Dan Shallbetter	ASW-28	Stanton	300km Diamond Goal - out and return to Olivia - State records in 15m and Standard classes for out and return distance. Distance: 203.3 miles		46JC3M93.IGC
June 19, '04	Tom Rent	Schweizer 1-35c	Stanton	Out and Return to Waseca
June 19, '04	Steve Metz	ASW-27B	Stanton	New Ulm-Wells-Stanton Triangle, 300 km, State Record for Speed around a 300 km course.  Distance: 192.3 miles, speed: 54.5 mph		46JC3IO3.IGC
June 19, '04	Keith McKinley	Blanik L33 Solo	Stanton	Out and Return to Faribault
June 19, '04	Laura Hohanshelt	Ka-6	Stanton	300km Diamond Goal - out and return to Olivia - 3 State Records for out and return distance. Distance: 203.2 miles, Handicapped distance: 247.9 miles.		46JGDNV1.igc
June 19, '04	Dick Andrews	Ventus b	Stanton	First person ever to circumnavigate the MSP Class B airspace.  He flew in a clockwise direction.	I'm estimating the distance at about 160 miles. Well done Dick!- Paul Remde	46JC3FJ1.IGC
June 19, '04	Sarah Anderson	Libelle	Stanton	Out and Return to New Ulm
June 16, '04	John Ward	Junior	Stanton	Stanton Short Task flight, 57 minutes to complete the course for a handicapped speed of 41.94 mph.
Jun 13, '04	Jim Hard	1-26A	Benson's	3-hour flight of 72 sm to Bloomer WI.	Don DePree, Crew Chief
Jun 3, '04	Jim Hard	1-26A	Benson's	5-hour flight to Sauk Center MN. 105 sm on a very late starting day.	Kathleen Winters, Crew Chief.
May 28, '04	Paul Remde	Junior	Stanton	Declared a 100+ km (74.4 statute mile) triangle flight to Owatonna and Tuma Private.  Made it around, but not in record time!  My speed was only 28.4 mph.	I got low on the first leg and diverted to Faribault Airport.  I arrived at 1000 feet AGL and found good lift.  I got low again just short of Owatonna and found lift at 1000 feet AGL over a large parking lot.  After that the flight was pretty easy.  It felt good to do cross-country on a day when most everyone else stayed near Stanton.  If you count the fact that I actually flew to Faribault, my actual distance flown was 79.3 miles for a (much better...) average speed of 30.26 mph.
May 27, '04	Jim Hard	1-26A	Stanton	Flight during cross-country camp. SYN to near Monona IA. 136 sm.	Walt Johnson - Crew Chief
May 26, '04	Chris Prince	Pilatus	Stanton	Chris was the only person attending the Stanton Cross-Country Camp to make it more than 10 miles from Stanton.  He flew about 60 miles into Wisconsin and landed safely in a farm field.  Well done Chris!
May 18, '04	Paul Esser	Blanik L13	Bensons	Completed all requirements for Bronze Badge with a 2 hour local thermalling flight on what turned out to be a blue day.
May 2, '04	Leon Zeug	Ka-6E	Albert Lea	150 km of 300 km O&R to Hutchinson from Albert Lea.	Bucked a +15mph headwind for 2/3rd of first leg with a ground speed of 50 mph. By the time I reached Winthrop, lift dropped to 3.5 kts, slowing my progress considerably. Had to fly in 4 kt sink while taking my TP photo and couldn't reconnect with lift. HCD has beautiful facilities. Thanks to Paul Campobasso for the retrieve.
May 2, '04	Dick Huber	Ka-6E	Albert Lea	Silver Duration 5 hour flight. Released from tow at 1:00 and landed at 6:20.	Pete Kroll served as Official Observer.
May 2, '04	Tom Rent	1-35C	Stanton	Stanton to Owatonna to Dodge Center to Stanton in 1:49, 82.4 miles, handicapped speed of 48.4 mph. Ceilings at 8000 ft, only took 5 thermals once on task. Hit 9.8kts on the averager near Dodge Center - highest I have ever seen. Great fun!
May 1, '04	Paul Campobasso	Ka-6E	Albert Lea	5 hour duration, completes Silver Badge requirements.	An outstanding day and weekend, topped out at 9,200 MSL. I even let Dick Huber get his 5 hour duration the following day in the same glider.
May 1, '04	Marilyn Meline	Blanik L-33 Solo	Stanton	Stanton to Albert Lea and back, 3.5 hours
May 1, '04	Kathleen Winters	Libelle	Albert Lea	Diamond distance to Marshall, Missouri Airport, 320.96 miles, Total time: 5 and 1/2 hours	Crew: Jim Hard, Thanks to everyone at the great weekend regatta.  Launched at 12:35 p.m., landed 6:05 p.m.  A fine soaring day with strong lift; some weak thermals near and south of the Des Moines River. Skirted over-development in the west, then east sky. Slow final glide into Marshall.
May 1, '04	Leon Zeug	Ka-6E	Albert Lea	Local flight during the Albert Lea regatta of 207 km starting at AEL with TPs at Austin, Northwood, Wells (City), Albert Lea, New Richand and back to AEL.	Lots of +9 knots of lift, some snow, 9.3k msl max elev., and even some persistent sink. Snapped a photo at 8k msl of a landout field from 2-years ago.
May 1, '04	Christopher Prince	Pilatus B4	Albert Lea	Downwind dash to SE of Des Moines, Iowa. Trip distance (as the crow flies) was 165 statute miles. Landing was made in a large and flat farmers field that had no crop. Flight Time: 4.5 hours	Eric Bluhm was my crew, and prior to the flight he installed his ham radio- gps tracking system in the Pilatus. He was within 10 miles or so of me before I landed, using this tracking system.
Apr. 26, '04	Jim Hard	1-26A	Osceola, WI	Thermal soaring flight under essentially totally overcast sky from Osceola, WI to north of Mt. Horeb, WI. 215.01 sm. 5:00.	Crew Chief was JC Cunningham who arrived at the landing site within about 20 minutes of landing.
Apr. 23, '04	Tom Rent	1-35C	Stanton	Stanton Short Task flight in 1 hour.  Raw speed = 34.65 mph Handicapped speed = 37:08 mph
Apr. 8, '04	Jim Hard	1-26A	Stanton	Near Randolph MN to Shullsburg WI, 195sm, 5:40	Crew Chief Roger Payne greeted the pilot on landing at Shullsburg.
Apr. 4, '04	Jim Hard	1-26A	Stanton	X-country flight from near Randolph MN to Greene Iowa, 115 sm, 5:00 hours	Cloudless and weak day. Crew Chief JC Cunningham arrived at landing site before the pilot had even opened his canopy.

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