Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2001 18:20:15 -0600
Zapata 2001- Call For Participants-PLEASE FORWARD
In the summer of 2000, I invited a handful of pilots to accompany me to
a previously unflown region of extreme south Texas- Zapata. Having made
a serious study of the meteorological and flight strategies from this
location, the gathering was titled the "World Record Encampment" even
prior to its undertaking. I have experience setting world records in
sailplanes, and was reasonably confident that Zapata would yield several
distance records for foot-launch pilots as well. As an early pioneer and
manufacturer of HG's, and a founding director of the USHGA, I have an
interest in such things.
Once the World Record Encampment was underway, pilots were assisted in
developing their flight strategies and in correctly documenting their
flights for SSA, NAA, and FAI. In addition, the Texas weather was
closely monitored and discussed every morning. Despite a remarkably low
number of overall attempts and much to their credit, Dave Sharp and
Davis Straub set 3 new world records. Other significant achievements
were attained as well.
This year, we will return to this site and arrangements are being made
for many more pilots to participate in the 2001 World Record Encampment.
This is not a simple matter, as flying from this site is in its infancy
and normal soaring operations are not conducted from the facility.
Additionally, extreme combinations of weather & terrain exist and there
are other logistic factors which are far from normal. As such, the
Encampment needs to be well planned and well executed.
Even so, we want it above all, to be fun! As such, even though top
international pilots plan on attending, the field of participants will
represent a comprehensive mix of pilot type, gender, nationality, and
experience level. Weekend pilots who simply wish to extend their
personal best will be among those selected to attend. If a pilot who has
never flown further than 100 miles could do 200 to 300 during this
Encampment- which is possible given the right circumstances- it would
certainly rank as an achievement on par with any world records which
will be set.
Two successive encampments of up to 20 pilots each have been arranged
for. These will be conducted during the latter part of June and the
early part of July. The term of each will be from 10-14 days in length.
The precise durations, start, and finish dates will be set soon,
following an initial questionnaire which will be distributed to possible
participants. So if this is of interest, we will need to hear from you
very soon!
Last year's effort resulted from 3 years of study and 2 trips to
investigate the possibilities. I have a non-profit research entity which
undertakes things like this, and some of the pilots who attended last
year donated to the effort. I would like to acknowledge first and with
great appreciation a generous donation by Dutcher Sterling who simply
wanted to help fund the deficit from this preliminary work and also make
possible a transition so that another encampment could be planned for
this year. He was not a participant in last year's effort...he simply
wanted to help out.
I would also like to acknowledge the generous offer of Steve Burns and
Austin Air Sports to come and support a small effort this summer with
free aerotows. After weighing the benefits of a modest, donation-based
participation against that of a more comprehensive encampment, we
elected to enlarge the field...there is simply too much interest among
pilots to come and fly from this site! So the towing, organization, and
logistical support will go up significantly and this will change things
from a minor effort to a lot of work. As such, there will be a fee
associated with the 2001 participation, but it is reasonable and
necessary in order for things to go smoothly as planned.
As such, we are currently planning to charge $500/pilot for a single
session of 10 to 14 days (duration yet to be determined). This fee will
be used for organizing and administering the event at a remote but first
class facility, for covering the costs of aerotowing, and for
coordinating short distance retrieval behind numerous locked gates. For
the more typical and very long flights... well, you and your ground crew
will be on your own!
I have some experience with film documentaries about soaring flight, and
have reached an initial agreement with a talented and experienced
filmmaker to shoot a prime-time documentary about this effort. He is a
pilot himself, and has much experience with both feature filmmaking and
network television productions. In recent years he has specialized in
films about various forms of flight. His interest in the World Record
Encampment has led him to consider shooting footage at the Florida meets
as well as the upcoming Nationals in Hearne, TX and he is therefore
reaching a similar agreement with the USHGA. In this manner, he intends
to develop much background footage which will represent the state of the
art in foot-launched flight. He has many potential distributors who he
has worked with, including 3 who have expressed real interest in the
project: National Geographic, Discovery Channel, and NOVA (PBS). The
agreement is preliminary, and we will see what develops.
Steve Burns, Davis Straub and I have been engaged in an extensive
planning process via e-mail for this year's World Record Encampment.
They along with David Glover will assist in the organization and
implementation of this year's eeffort. Davis, with his experience
and success at last year's gathering is in a position to receive queries
from possible participants and will be sending out a questionnaire in
this regard very soon.. He can be reached online at:
davis@davisstraub.com, or you can reach me at the above address and I
will see that you receive a questionaire.
Once we receive the responses from pilots who wish to attend, we
will immediately study these and be in a position to make definitive
decisions regarding dates, etc. We will also select and issue
invitations to participants based upon the previously mentioned
parameters. David Glover will be in a position to help more directly
during the actual Encampment. Although David is the current USHGA
President, his work with the World Record Encampment is not connected
with the USHGA. He will be helping as an individual, something I greatly
appreciate.
In this regard, the World Record Encampment is not affiliated or
connected with the USHGA. The event is not sanctioned by the USHGA (it
isn't a competition). Records earned by pilots will need to be
homologated by the SSA, the NAA , and FAI, and this will be their
individual responsibilty although coaching and suggestions to assist
them will be provided.
Of course individuals other than the direct participants will be
associated with the effort. Pilots will need to arrange for their own
driver/ground crew, although we will help organize collective retrieval
from the crews that pilots bring. There will also be much activity
surrounding the event which will require support. So any who would like
to come and serve as a volunteer to help with the effort should also
contact us. The number of these will be limited. There will be
provisions for volunteers who are also qualified pilots to fly later in
the day when the field is off and if other attending duties have been
handled. This is, after all, a pretty incredible site. However, this
should not be their primary motivation in volunteering to attend.
In the time period leading up to and during the initiation of the
encampments, 5 areas will be addressed in an effort to assure success:
1) Accurate flight strategies and techniques for record flights.
2) Safety factors related to the vagaries of the regional terrain
and weather.
3) Required documentation and observational requirements for
official records.
4) Launch logistics and safety issues, coordination with ground
crews.
5) Interactive requirements with any filming efforts.
Pilots who are invited to join us at either of the WRE sessions will
receive e-mail based instructions on these issues, as well as on-site
instruction.
That's about it at this point, let us hear from you regarding your
interest in participating.
This is going to be loads of fun!
PLEASE FORWARD this announcement to individuals, organizations, clubs
and manufacturers who may find it of interest. I do not maintain an
extensive list of e-mail contacts and am sending this message to a few
general sources. As such, the proliferating nature of the Internet is
being relied upon to help the message reach those who might find it of
interest.
Best Regards,
Gary Osoba
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Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2001 21:03:59 -0500
As you can see we are going to run another World Record Encampment this year
in Zapata. If you have followed the reports in the Oz Report and in Hang
Gliding Magazine, you'll know that Zapata, Texas is the premier site to set
world distance records.
As we organize this year's encampment, which we are planning to hold in two
session, we find that we need to know how many pilots will be coming so that
we can have enough resources (trikes, ground crew, safety crew, hanger
space) to accommodate them.
We will be aerotowing out of the Zapata County airport. Pilot must be
prepared to start early in the day (if they are flying for world records),
and have the skills necessary to stay up in light conditions while traveling
downwind for thirty miles over areas that provide difficult retrieval
options (behind locked gates, dehydration is likely). We will have a plan
and a team that will help with close range but difficult retrievals.
We are currently planning to charge $500/pilot for the two week session. If
you have resources that can help us offset the costs of providing the
services necessary to get you in the air and safely retrieved if you go down
close to the airport behind locked gates (long range retrieval is the
pilot's responsibility) you can trade these resources for portions of or all
the fee. We will help pilot's organize common (multi-pilot) retrieval.
Our current plan is to hold two 14 day sessions: June 24th through July 7th,
and July 8th through July 21st. You have the option of signing up for one or
the other. Even if you can only stay a week, you need to sign up for one or
the other session.
Which session who you prefer? (Would you rather we start the sessions a week
earlier?
Will you be trying for a world record? Are you willing to do all the
documentation, after we teach you how?
Will you trying for a personal best, but not a world record?
Glider manufacturer and model?
Are you going to the Worlds (June 16th through July 1st)?
As we are still in the planning stages, we are soliciting pilot input. If
you have any comments (say, like, why $500, why don't we just truck tow like
you did last year?). If you are thinking of truck towing at another nearby
site, please tell us so we can get an idea of what pilots want. Last year,
we found truck towing to be OK, but difficult with a significant number of
pilots at this small 5,000' airport.
There are plenty of pilot friendly resources in Zapata. Numerous good
motels, RV camp ground, a couple of grocery stores (not the best in the
world). Laredo is not too far away - you can go there for a movie, for
example.
We are asking that you respond quickly. We will make up our list of pilots
who will be invited to fly at Zapata from the list of pilots who respond to
this notice. All responses must be by e-mail. Those pilots who respond
earlier have a greater chance of being invited.
Our criteria for pilots who will be invited are as follows:
Pilots who play well with others.
Davis Straub
________________________________________________________________________
From: Gary Osoba
Subject: Zapata 2001- Call For Participants-PLEASE FORWARD
________________________________________________________________________
From: "Davis Straub"
Subject: World Record Encampment
Those who present to the world a pleasant
countenance.
No discrimination against any glider manufacturer.
World class pilots will be sought out, but pilots of local renown will also
be invited
http://www.davisstraub.com
Wallaby Ranch, FL, USA
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