IAC Tequila Cup 2013, Marana, KAVQ

[Anna M. Wood]

Last glider tow of the day.

[Jay Beckman]

Great Shot!

They were launching away from us and up-sun in the morning...

[Anna M. Wood]

Thanks.....  Might be my only decent shot out of all the ones I took.  :-)  If I go out tomorrow I will be standing closer to the runway.

[Jay Beckman]

Ground FX

[Jeff D. Welker]

I would have loved to be back seat in that glider - killer image Jay.

[Jay Beckman]

Danke...

Little Red Corvette...

[Jay Beckman]

Gliders: Messing with your aspect ratio since the days of DaVinci...

[Jay Beckman]

S-2B or Not To S-2B, That Is The Question...

[Jay Beckman]

ARESTI Development...

[Jay Beckman]

Judge Not! Oh, Wait...
Far to Near:
Caller (Follows the aresti chart and announces each maneuver before it's flown)
Judge (Scores each maneuver)
Recorder (Writes down Judges call so judge doesn't have to ever look down)



If I was reading the setup correctly, there were three sets of each of the above in the judges area, plus, there were "OUT" callers at each corner of the aerobatic box.
Each level of competition took turns acting as judges, etc.  Advanced scored Intermediate, Intermediate scored Primary and so on.
The judges were called upon to score both power and glider in each category.

The first competitor in each class would "Box" the box, fly a straight line across the X axis at the minimum allowed altitude and also fly directly at the judges along the "Y" axis of the box so the judges could "calibrate" their eyes.

[Jay Beckman]

As this was competitive aerobatics and NOT an airshow, this is about what each competitor looked like from the judges area:

[Scott Youmans]

I love sailplanes!  Great images, sailplanes and otherwise.  Some of the open-class ships are getting 60:1 glide ratios these days.  Almost inconceivable.

[Jay Beckman]

I love sailplanes!  Great images, sailplanes and otherwise.  Some of the open-class ships are getting 60:1 glide ratios these days.  Almost inconceivable.

Funny you mention this Scott because I noticed that the USAFA Gliders were considerably lower than their powered counterparts as they completed their routines and headed out of the box. And yet, they still had plenty of smash to get back to the airport.  I don't know the actual altitude, but to my eye, it looked as if they were coming off tow at around 2500' AGL.  Maybe 3000'.  Still, not a lot given that they did a three or four minute routine.  I'm sure there were some thermals, but there couldn't have been anywhere near as much lift as there would be during the summer.

[yipDog]

So...Jay Beckman and I had a good day out at the Tequila Cup in Marana, AZ...Tons of shots...yet we remained sober!

Landing is the Pitts



Tow Cub



Giles G-200



And a CAP 232...yes...pink and purple!

[Anna M. Wood]

Just about everything but aerobatic airplanes from the Tequila Cup.