First sailplane race regatta in over 20 years comes to northern Illinois May 26-30
Windy City Soaring Association is hosting the first sailplane regatta in the greater Chicago area in more than 20 years.
A sailplane, also known as a glider plane is an aircraft with no engine. A sailplane is towed to altitude by an engine powered tow plane and then the pilot works to stay aloft flying the “racecourse in the sky” using thermal energy from invisible rising columns of air.
Sailplane pilots from several areas of the United States will race their vintage Schweizer SGS 1-26 sailplanes over a prescribed course in the sky, referred to in the sport of soaring as a “task.”
There are 13 sailplane pilots registered for the regatta.
The regatta will take place in the sky over the vicinity of the Hinckley Airport, which is three miles west of Hinckley, Illinois, on U.S. Highway 30.
The regatta will feature daily races during the week of May 26-31. The daily races will take place in the afternoon of those days when thermals generally start to develop as the sun heats up the earth’s surface. Observing the regatta is open to the public without charge.
The Schweizer SGS 1-26 sailplane is a single-seat glider built by Schweizer Aircraft of Elmira, N.Y. from 1954 until 1979. So, the 1-26 sailplanes competing in the regatta are at least 45 years old, but maintained as FAA airworthy by their devoted owner pilots. On one occasion, a U.S. pilot flew a distance of over 400 miles in a 1-26.
It has been said that the true measure of sailplane pilot ability and experience is usually shown by his final standing in a 1-26 contest. What could be more indicative of this when pilots are flying identical 1-26 sailplanes with identical performance aspects.
Windy City Soaring Association is a nonprofit soaring club that is dedicated to promoting the sport of soaring and an appreciation of aviation. The club, which was founded in 2002, has 55 members. The club is a chapter of the Soaring Society of America.
For more on the 126 Association, go to www.126association.org.
To learn about the soaring clubs, visit www.windycitysoaring.org or www.ssa.org.