2019 Reserve Chute Repack Clinic in Issaquah

Hi Pilots!

If you haven’t hucked and repacked your reserve recently, mark your calendar for our almost-annual chute deployment and repack party, on Sunday, February 24 —face those rambunctious spring thermals with confidence inspired by a freshly packed rescue chute.

Thanks to hang pilot Cliff Schmitt, we’ve once again secured the February 24 date at the Eastside Fire & Rescue facility in Issaquah, at 175 Newport Way NW. It’s a big facility, with plenty of parking. We’ll be huckin’ and packin’ from 9-4, and we encourage pilots to come early (especially if it’s flyable—you can see Tiger launch from the parking lot…)
For those who haven’t attended one of our deployment parties before, here’s what to expect: There’s no formal instruction at the clinic—you come (preferably early in the day) with your harness and chute and the packing manual for your chute, you put on your harness (and, ideally, the helmet and gloves you wear while flying) and get in line. When it’s your turn, the Turbulator reviews with you the sequence for deployment, you clip into the simulator while the Turbulator spins you around and eventually yells “throw!” You huck your reserve, hopefully according to the sequence you’ve just reviewed. You have an opportunity to discuss any problems or uncertainties you had about your deployment, then you gather up all your stuff and take it to one of the tables where the packing assistants will help you repack your chute and get it back into your harness. It’s not a bad idea to bring lunch or a snack, just in case you arrive at a busy time when the lines are long.

Cost is $40 as always, to be divided between the packing assistants and the Saddle Mt. fund. If you’re a tandem or a biwingual pilot and have more than one chute to repack, it’s $20 for the additional chute. It’d be helpful if you could bring a check made out to CBCC, or exact change.

Please re-post on whatever social media site you use to share your flying info, and encourage your flying buddies to come join the party.

C.J. Sturtevant

2017 Annual Meeting is Saturday 18-November

Abridged from CJ’s e-mail sent to the CBCC listserve:

Our annual meeting is on this coming-up Saturday evening, at the Swepstons. You don’t have to be at the meeting to vote, but you DO need to send your vote via email or text or phone call to any of the BOD members before the voting takes place on Saturday evening.

The ballot is as follows, all positions appear to be uncontested:

  • Pres: Ron Barbera
  • VP: Aaron Swepston
  • Sec: Kerie Swepston
  • Treasurer: Tina Jorgenson

Directors:

  • Eric Ollikainen
  • Tom Johns

Must be present to vote. Default is current people stay in their positions if they don’t resign and there’s no competition for the slot.

2017 Chelan Cross Country All-Summer Classic – Final Message from the Meet Director

The 2017 All-Summer Classic is over and the results have now been compiled and finalized.

In total, 10 pilots entered the Classic. Only four pilots turned in their GPS track logs for scored flights. Per the rules, the only method allowed to verify and score flights is the submittal of each pilots’ GPS track log information.

Starting in the Single Surface category, two pilots entered, but neither turned in track logs. Therefore no winner could be determined.

In the King Post category, two pilots turned in their flights. In second place, with a total score of 551 points, is the new comer from Glenoma, Eric Ollikainen. In first place, with a total of 1353 points, is the veteran pilot, Everett’s finest, Tom Johns.

In the Topless category, two pilots turned in their flights. In second place, with a totally wimpy score of 378 points, is the washed-up pilot, from Lake Stevens, Lenny Baron. In first place, with a total of 1220 points, is the sky god pilot, from Alder, Jeff Beck.

The two winners will each receive very fine, eagle-emblazed- over-the- American-flag plaques.

Thanks to all of the pilots for their participation and Chelan Butte site donations. Thanks to the CBCC staff: Stas Zee, Thomas Haddock and Ron Barbera. Thanks to the meet staff: Tom Johns, Lori Lawson and Aaron Rinn.

Hope to see you all next year, flying and supporting the Chelan Butte flying site.

2017 Chelan Cross Country All-Summer Classic – August Update Message from the Meet Director

The All-Summer Classic is nearing its finish! The weather this summer has made for some tough sledding in terms of X/C miles. First the high pressure in early July followed by the smoke from those pesky Canadian wild fires in early August. But perhaps there could still be an epic flight or two left this season.

For competing pilots please submit all of your worthy flights ASAP. You may have held onto a flight’s tracklog from a few weeks ago but now is the time to send it into Aaron, the score keeper, to get your deserved points. We will need all of your to-date track logs in order to compute all scores prior to the final weekend.

The final flying day of the meet is quickly approaching, Saturday, August 26. Even if you haven’t so far entered the meet, you can still enter, fly and perhaps bang out a winning flight. If we have a big enough turn out, we were planning on having a called-task day to give pilots the chance to compete head-to-head in the sky.

For timing, on August 26, please arrive at the Chelan Falls soccer field LZ at between 10:00 and 11:00. While there we can admire the brand new LZ informational kiosk and windsock placed there through Lori Lawson’s awesome efforts and your generous donations. At 11:00 we’ll coordinate rides up the hill. On top we can decide whether to do a called-task day and choose the task itself. At 6:00 we’ll begin the BBQ/Picnic at the LZ pavilion and compute the final scores. At 7:00 will be the awards ceremony.

Sunday, August 27 will be a non-contest day, so it might be really a good chance to enjoy a fun flight there.

Hope to see you at Chelan for flying and to support the spectacular Chelan Butte flying site.

For more information and to register, e-mail at or call (425) 275-2162

Lenny Baron, 2017 Chelan Cross Country All-Summer Classic Meet Director

2017 Chelan Cross Country All-Summer Classic – July Update

The All-Summer Classic is underway! We kicked it off on the last weekend of June, 10 pilots began racking up X/C miles. Nothing epic yet… Alert!!! Competing pilots you must send in your track logs to get scores! Even if you think it wasn’t a very good flight, please send it in anyway…you never know.

The upcoming weather for the Fourth of July weekend looks really good and I’ll be over in Chelan to fly and to register more pilots. It’s certainly not too late to register to get in on the hot action of the meet.

For pilots uncertain about getting a ride up the hill, we’ve begun the protocol of meeting at the Soccer Field LZ every morning at 11:00 am and coordinating/carpooling rides up the hill. If you bring along a driver and radios, it will be even better.

I forgot to include maps of the waypoints. They are also available in paper form from me directly.

Separately, pilots have been donating to the Chelan Site fund. Thank you all very much!

For more information and to register, E-mail at Lenny at lennybaron@comcast.net or call: 425 275-2162

Lenny Baron, 2017 Chelan Cross Country All-Summer Classic Meet Director

Chelan Classic Restricted Airspace and Areas

Chelan Classic 2017 XC maps

2017 Chelan Cross Country All-Summer Classic June Update

It’s now mid June, LET’S GET READY TO RUMBLE!!!!

You know what?…$60 is still too much for meet registration… As your fiscally irresponsible Meet Director, I’ve decided to make the entry fee, $0.00. That’s right, if you want to fly and compete and it will cost you absolutely nothing. In truth, in order to avoid USHPA event insurance costs we couldn’t charge participants for the contest. So that’s what we are doing – no charge!

Separately (and with emphasis on it being separate), if you enjoy flying Chelan Butte and want to fly it this year and for many years to come, I passionately encourage you to make a donation to the CBCC Chelan Butte site fund. Look for a way to do this on the CBCC website via Paypal. Or simply send in a check to CBCC via snail mail at the Club’s post office box. Please mark on your check, “Chelan Butte Fund”. CBCC, PO Box 1825, Morton, WA  98356.

The All-Summer Classic Kick Off weekend is almost here! Here’s what’s happening:

Friday, June 23, 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm, Chelan Falls Park Soccer Field LZ Pavillion
Pilot Registration and Waypoint GPS uploads. 7:00 pm to 7:30 pm, Meet orientation (optional attendance).
Saturday, June 24, Day 1 of the meet, 10:00 am to 11:00 am, Chelan Butte set up / launch area, Registration. 11:30 am Pilots’ meeting. 6:00 pm, Soccer Field LZ/Pavillion BBQ.

Sunday, June 25, Chelan Butte set up / launch area, 11:00 am pilot registration, 11:30 am Pilots’ meeting.

If you can’t make it to the kick off weekend and would still like to compete, you will still need to register, it is very easy. Please with the following information:

  • Name:
  • Contact Phone number:
  • USHPA number:
  • Rating: (Hang 3 or Para 3 – intermediate or higher with TUR, RLF, XC, and FSL)
  • Glider Class: (see rule 4.o in the rule book available for download).

Lenny Baron, 2017 Chelan Cross Country All-Summer Classic Meet Director – – 425 275-2162

2017 Chelan Cross Country All-Summer Classic

2017 Competitors Guide

It’s now mid May, the flying season is here and the Chelan dust devils are taunting us to come out and play… or maybe the Butte is covered in snow – one of those two!

The Classic took a year off in 2016, but now it’s bigger, easier, longer and cheaper than ever in 2017! Sounds like a dream? But it’s true! Read on.

For 2017 we’ve decided to extend the flying days and not limit the pilots to one week but to expand it out to the entire summer, so the meet will run from June 24 all the way until August 26.  You will still need to produce 4 decent flights to be in the running for awards.

We will have a Kickoff weekend, June 24 and 25. You will be able to register, download waypoints, fly your brains out, and have a burger and a brew with your buddies. Then we will have a Wrap Up and Awards day on August 26. Fly your brains out then have a burger and a brew with your buddies then too.

This year, you will be asked to submit your tracklogs via E-mail to the Score Keeper, Aaron Rinn. He will evaluate your flight, score it and post it.

We are lowering our meet costs therefore we are lowering your entry fee. (read that again, please). This year, entry fee will be a mere $60. But don’t think of it as an entry fee, think of it as a contribution to the site fund to keep it open and available for you to fly this year and for many years to come. Think of your, $60 entry fee when you are using the launch area out houses, stocked with toilet paper. Think of your $60 when you are on final approach for an easy late evening landing into the Chelan Falls Soccer fields, or the Junkyard because your contribution helped pay for site insurance to keep those LZs open and available.

Hey everybody sign up today and make your plan and come fly Chelan!

, 2017 Chelan Cross Country All-Summer Classic Meet Director