Santa Cruz Flats Race - Mark Knight Memorial 2016

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32 Pilots Confirmed
32 Pilots total registered

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50 Pilots max allowed
5 Countries presented

left before start of event

Prize funds and scoring categories

Class 1
Class 1 Sport
Class 2
Class 5

Contacts

General questions
- Jamie Shelden
- +1831.261.5444
- naughtylawyer@gmail.com

Event info

The tenth annual Santa Cruz Flats Race will once again take place at the Francisco Grande Resort in Casa Grande, Arizona. We plan to have a giant party this year to commemorate our 10th year here and to remember our good friend Mark Knight who, along with Dustin Martin, made this great location possible for us.

As usual, we will be staying at the Francisco Grande Hotel http://www.franciscogrande.com/ 800-237-4238 Please reserve your rooms ASAP, we have reserved a limited block of rooms that may not accommodate everyone.

Remember, this is an aerotow launch competition, therefore it is absolutely necessary that you are thoroughly skilled at aerotowing and capable of aerotowing the glider you plan to fly in competition conditions. An international competition is no place to learn how to aerotow. If you are unknown to the organizer/meet director, you may be asked for proof of your aerotow expertise when you pre-register. During the competition, the meet director/safety director reserves the right to remove (without refund) any pilot who does not demonstrate appropriate aerotowing skills.

Flying site

The Francisco Grande Golf Resort is hosting us for the 10th straight year. The resort allows us to park fully assembled gliders in the green grass under the shade of many trees just adjacent to the "tower" where all of our rooms are. You can sit in the comfort of your balcony and see all the gliders below.

Towing takes place a few hundred meters past the driving range at a dusty paddock with crossing runways created just for our event. There is a short walk from where you rig your glider to where we stage for towing.

The flying in this area is highly technical. Towing is normally reasonably smooth and lift often goes from being somewhat light to solid and strong and then back to light again. The taskable day is relatively short compared to some other flatland sites like Forbes or Big Spring, but the pilots seem to really enjoy it.

Francisco Grande Hotel, the legendary Arizona golf resort, is located halfway between Phoenix and Tucson, and is just 45 minutes from the Phoenix airport and an hour drive from Scottsdale. The place located on the border of famous Sonoran desert and Santa Cruz mountain ridge. It offers high thermal activity and fine flying conditions with 10,000 ft cloudbase.

The hotel has got all possible resort facilities a pilot may need after a
Launch field is located next to the hotel.
Launch method - aerotow by dragonfly.

Launch field coordinates: 32.882694, -111.847021

Selection and entry fee

Entry Fees: The entry fee for the competition is $325 (does not include tow fees) and is required in full to complete your registration and to secure your entry. If you want to save a few bucks, early entry is $300 and must be paid by June 1st. If you would rather contribute to the crew's beer fund, late entry is $350 and applies to anyone paying after September 1st.

Aerotow fees: will be announced at least one month before the start of the meet, but we expect they will be in the $350-$375 range depending on fuel costs and other factors.

Prize fund and scoring categories

Day prizes and winner trophies in Class 1, Sport, Class 2 and Class 5

General schedule

Saturday, September 10
11am - 1pm - On site check in/registration
7pm - 8pm - Mandatory Safety Briefing
1pm - 3pm - practice flying

Sunday, September 11 - Saturday, September 17
10:30am - daily task briefings (time subject to change)
4pm - 9pm - daily track log downloads and scoring

Saturday, September 17
8pm - prize giving and closing dinner (time subject to change)

Daily schedule

10:30am - daily task briefings (time subject to change)
4pm - 9pm - daily track log downloads and scoring

Accommodation and Activities

We have a special rate of $99/night at the Francisco Grande Golf Resort (normal rate is $129). Call to book your room and make sure you mention that you're coming for the hang gliding competition in order to get our rate. Reserve your room early as they occasionally run out of rooms.

How to get here

South of Phoenix on I10 or I8. 5 miles west of Casa Grande on Gila Bend highway.

Casa Grande, AZ 85193, USA
Casa Grande United States

Plane

The nearest airports are:

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.
Web: https://skyharbor.com/

Tuscon International Airport
Web: http://www.flytucson.com/

Car

From Sky Harbor International Airport:
Head East on East Sky Harbor Boulevard and merge onto AZ - 153 South towards I-10/AZ-143. Merge onto I-10 East via exit number 1A towards Tucson. Stay on I-10 East for 32 miles and exit AZ-387 South (make right at top of ramp) for 9 miles. Turn Right (West) onto AZ-84 (Gila Bend Highway). Head West for 5 miles until Resort on right.
Total driving distance is 46 miles and 50 minutes.

From Downtown Phoenix:
Merge onto I-10 East via exit number 1A towards Tucson. Stay on I-10 East for 32 miles and exit AZ-387 South (make right at top of ramp) for 9 miles. Turn Right (West) onto AZ-84 (Gila Bend Highway). Head West for 5 miles until Resort on right.

Total driving distance is 47 miles and 52 minutes.

From Tucson International Airport:
Take I-10 West to Casa Grande exit 194 Florence Blvd. Make a left onto Florence Blvd. Take Florence approx. 10 miles and we are on the right hand side.

Total driving distance is 78 miles and 1 hour 16 minutes