Phoenix soaring performance - actual flight logs!

[Eric Greenwell]

The ASA (Auxiliary-powered Sailplane Association - motorglider.org) held it's annual motorglider camp at Parowan, UT, from June 23 to July 3. Russ Owens attended in his Phoenix, posting several flights on the OLC (OnLine Competition), including a distance flight of over 500K! Here's the link to that one:

http://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-2.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=3085974

You can find all his posted Phoenix flights here:

http://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-2.0/gliding/flightbook.html?sp=2013&st=olcp&rt=olcπ=9426

Most the others included a passenger, some of them new to the sport, but others long time cross-country pilots like Russ.

As you can see from the barograms, the Parowan area is a difficult place for a glider with a modest 30:1 glide. While the lift can be strong and high, it can also be a long way between thermals. I'm looking forward to flying my Phoenix, due end of this year, in the more uniform weather area of eastern Washington State, where I expect it will be similar in ability to the Ka-6 I had many years ago when I did my first 500K flight.