Aero Club Albatross (ACA) has been challenged by Valley Soaring Club (VSC) to compete with them in a "Boomerang" X-country soaring contest. ACA has accepted their challenge and promised not to beat them too badly.
Valley Soaring is located at Randall Airport just outside Middletown, New York. It is about 44 SM North East of Blairstown, as the glider flies. And parallel to Route 84. So don't land on the highway.
The trophy is the Boomerang, pictured above. To claim the trophy a pilot must fly from his/her home airport to the other airport, where the trophy is, and land. The trophy is now taken home with the pilot who claimed it. You will be given a FREE 3000' agl tow to send you on your way if you want to try and fly home again. Or you can call for a ground retrieve to get home.
A scoring scheme has been set up to keep track of the Boomerang and to declare a winning club at the end of the 2002 season. ACA will also create a plaque, which will be to be kept in the Yards Creek Soaring office at the Blairstown Airport, so that the names of the pilots who claim the boomerang will be recorded in the annals of ACA history.
This is a relatively easy (Silver Badge) flight and is meant to help build the confidence of new X-country pilots. However any pilot in any type glider may compete. There are 2 airports, a ridge, and countless fields between Blairstown and Middletown. New pilots should talk with instructors and seasoned X-country pilots to learn how plot the course and determine final glides. On any given day that you can get to 5000' feet you can do this flight.
Follow these links for more information from Aero Club Albatross and the Valley Soaring Club:
Blairstown Airport Landing Pattern
Randall Airport Landing Pattern
Log your Boomerang flight here
VSC Middletown/Randall contact: Alasdair Crawford valsoar@ntplx.net