Applegate Open 2024

Hi Pilots,

It’s a bit snowy on Woodrat Mt. Pilots have been keeping busy with other things while we plan for AO2022.  Just a few things to update you on.

The dates haven’t changed.  The event runs from June 17 to June 23 with sign-in on June 16^th

We have confirmed that Garon Wells and Wells Land will be hosting the event.  Same as 2021

Sprint Race and SuperClinic will run on the same dates as the Open race.

We plan on lengthening Sprint tasks a bit to give pilots more time in the air.

The SuperClinic will have one new instructor in 2022.  Kari Castle can’t make it this year.  We’ll announce her replacement before registration opens.

Top 10 U.S. ranked pilots and local pilots will be offered discount coupons for registration

Registration opens February 1

Dan Wells
Applegate Open Admin.
ao-admin@rvhpa.org
503 804-1077

Hi pilots,

Thanks to all of you who answered our short survey.  There was a lot of support for earlier dates but unfortunately after I sent the survey out, we asked the same question to Tim Hunter who owns the bailout LZ and he responded that the earliest date we could do the event would be mid-June.   He has concerns about calving season and how an earlier date for the event could threaten his herd.

Terri submitted our sanctioning request for the Open Race on October 14.  To give pilots competing for the National Championship the opportunity to fly in our event as well as the Chelan U.S. Open event we have moved our event dates up and shortened the competition to six days.  This will give pilots flying in our event two days to travel to Chelan for the start of their US Open event. 

Here are the key dates for the Open Race in 2022

Thursday, June 16:  Sign-in and registration

Friday, June 17:  Sign in and registration plus practice day

Saturday, June 18- Thursday June 23:  Six competition flying days

Thursday June 23: Awards ceremony

 We will be asking Garon Wells and Wells Land Vineyard to host the event. You can expect no “mandatory” pilot meeting in 2022.  We expect to follow the same procedure as 2021 with materials posted online and optional zoom pilot meetings ahead of the event.  Pilots will have to certify they have reviewed the online materials ahead of flying in the competition.

We are looking at options for the Sprint Race and the SuperClinic.  Dates and options for those events do not necessarily have to completely coincide with the Open Race.   We’ll get that finalized and let you know about those events later this fall.

If you have any ideas to help us improve the Sprint Race and SuperClinic in 2022 we would love to hear from you.  Just put your ideas down on an email and send it to AO-admin@rvhpa.org

Registration opens February 1, 2022.

Dan Wells
Applegate Open Admin
ao-admin@rvhpa.org
503 804-1077

2021 is over and in the record books.

Hope everyone had a great time and you come back next year.

The Applegate Team

Important!!!  When changes or updates happen posts will be made on the “AO2021-Official” Telegram channel.  Be sure to have a look at Telegram each morning to see if anything has changed from the published schedule.

Time	Wells Land	Phil’s farm	Woodrat Upper Launch
8:00 AM	HQ volunteers arrive at HQ
8:15 AM		SuperClinic pilots board three vans
8:30 AM	HQ open for Coffee and sales  Open Race pilots arrive and get gear ready for transport	SuperClinic bus departs Phil’s for launch in three vans
8:45 AM	Open task committee departs in dedicated vehicle
9:00 AM	Open Race pilots board busses	Sprint task committee arrives to set the day’s task	SuperClinic pilots arrive on launch
9:15 AM	Open Race pilots depart for launch in 4 busses
9:30 AM		Sprint pilots arrive and get gear ready for transport
9:45 AM			Open Race pilots arrive on launch
10:00 AM		Sprint pilot daily task briefing
10:15 AM
10:30 AM			Open Race pilots daily task briefing
10:45 AM		Sprint Race pilot board busses
11:00 AM		Sprint Race pilots depart for launch in 3 busses
11:15 AM			Earliest Launch Opens for Race pilots  Sprint Race pilots arrive on Launch.
11:30 AM
11:45 AM			Sprint re-briefs if necessary
12:00 PM			Earliest Launch Open for Sprint pilots
7:00 PM	Headquarters and store closes for the day. Retrieve may still be active. Normal deadline for track uploads

Time	Wells Land	Phil’s farm	Woodrat Upper Launch
8:00 AM	HQ volunteers arrive at HQ
8:15 AM		SuperClinic pilots board three vans
8:30 AM	HQ open for Coffee and sales  Open Race pilots arrive and get gear ready for transport	SuperClinic bus departs Phil’s for launch in three vans
8:45 AM	Open task committee departs in dedicated vehicle
9:00 AM	Open Race pilots board busses	Sprint task committee arrives to set the day’s task	SuperClinic pilots arrive on launch
9:15 AM	Open Race pilots depart for launch in 4 busses
9:30 AM		Sprint pilots arrive and get gear ready for transport
9:45 AM			Open Race pilots arrive on launch
10:00 AM		Sprint pilot daily task briefing
10:15 AM
10:30 AM			Open Race pilots daily task briefing
10:45 AM		Sprint Race pilot board busses
11:00 AM		Sprint Race pilots depart for launch in 3 busses
11:15 AM			Earliest Launch Opens for Race pilots  Sprint Race pilots arrive on Launch.
11:30 AM
11:45 AM			Sprint re-briefs if necessary
12:00 PM			Earliest Launch Open for Sprint pilots
7:00 PM	Headquarters and store closes for the day. Retrieve may still be active. Normal deadline for track uploads

9 days till sign in at Wells Land.  11 days till the first day of competition.

28 or you have reviewed the mandatory review material an certified as such.

That leaves   140 pilots yet to go.

Remember you won’t be scored unless this is done.  Here’s the link to review.

Dan Wells
Chief of Mandatory pilot review materials enforcement  

This letter just mailed to all confirmed AO2021 pilots Hi 2021 Applegate Open pilots, We are stoked to welcome you back to the Applegate Open!  As we approach race dates, I have some important reminders. First, the Mandatory Pilot Meeting is now a series of self-paced informational videos and reads on the website at https://wingsoverapplegate.org/manditory-pilot-review-materials/   All pilot participants are required to review the mandatory material and  then complete the online certification form indicating such. The link to the certification form is on the review materials web page mentioned above.  Please read the certification form carefully, as it contains a checklist of items to complete before practice day. So, grab your favorite beverage and start reviewing.  I guarantee you it won’t take as long as the role call and presentations we used to have in the mandatory pilot meetings.    While we think we have covered everything, there still may be questions.  Two Question and Answer sessions have been scheduled via Zoom to answer any questions regarding the race and /or pilot material. Links to those Q&As can be found below. June 14 @ 7pm PST – first  Zoom Q&A session https://sou.zoom.us/j/84531127169 Meeting ID: 845 3112 7169 One tap mobile +16699006833,,84531127169# US (San Jose) June 18 @ 7pm PST – second  Zoom Q&A session https://sou.zoom.us/j/81807212434 Meeting ID: 818 0721 2434 One tap mobile +12532158782,,81807212434# US (Tacoma) Second, although slowing, COVID-19 continues to plague Jackson County.  Although mask mandates have been eased there is still one very important thing we are still requiring.  You all checked a box when you registered that you will present proof of vaccination at least 14 days prior to the event or provide written documentation of a negative test at no more that 3 days prior to sign in.  That requirement has NOT changed.  You will not be allowed to compete until you provide one of the above.   During the comp staff will still be surveying folks throughout the week for symptoms, and you may be asked to take a test if symptoms are present. You are the first defense against the spread of COVID. If you are experiencing symptoms get tested and if tested positive- stay home.   CDC and Oregon requirements can change, and we will do our best to keep you up to date if the affect how we run the competition.  We will post our latest guidelines at  https://wingsoverapplegate.org/covid-protocols/ Now third, Let’s have a safe and fun flying competition! Cheers, Terri Stewart President RVHPA Event Organizer, AO 2021 https://wingsoverapplegate.org/

Still thinking about attending?  
Registration fees go up $100 after May 6.
We still have a few slots available for the Open and Sprint

It looks like COVID infections in Jackson county have peaked and are on their way down.  We’re highly confident we will be able to have the competition June 19-26 as scheduled.

On the other hand…
If for some reason you need to cancel note that the cancellation fee goes up from $25 to $200 on May 7.

Dan Wells
AO Admin.

One thing that used to drive me crazy with the Rat Race and continuing with the Applegate Open was the Mandatory Pilots meeting and the 160 or so pilot roll call.

With COVID concerns, and how to socially distance 160 people in a tent, we had to think of something different.  We are eliminating the Saturday Mandatory pilots meeting this year!

Here’s the plan…

There will be a “MANDATORY PILOT READING MATERIALS” page on the website that pilots can access.  All the material we need to present to relative to local rules, scoring, “no land fields” and other things to keep you safe will be there.  Pilots can read through them at their leisure at home on your computer in a comfortable chair while sipping on their favorite beverage. 

To support this effort there will be two Zoom Q and A Meetings ahead of the event  Pilots will have a chance ro ask any questions they might have had while reading and listening to the presentations on the web page.

Just one other thing…

PILOTS IN THE SPRINT AND OPEN RACES WILL HAVE TO CERTIFY THAT THEY HAVE READ/LISTENED TO THE MATERIALS.  This will need to be done BEFORE the first day of the competition.  The link to certify will be the webpage.

It will be a while before we have everything up on the website.  But if you want to get a head start you can read the local rules.  

Dan Wells
AO admin.

As of today, we will not be able to ABSOLUTELY confirm additional slots for U.S. Pilots in the Open Race.

Currently we have 76 of the 100 slots available confirmed for the Open Race. We have to hold  25 slots for foreign pilots until May 5 per FAI sanctioning rules.  Right now, we only have one foreign pilot registered.   It is likely we will have 15-20 slots available to CONFIRM on May 6 due to the uncertainties of international travel with COVID.

To deal with this we offer the following to U.S. pilots:

Purchase your registration now and we will TENTATIVLY CONFIRM your slot.  Then on May 6 we will CONFIRM those slots in the order they were paid. 

If for some reason you paid, were TENTATIVELY CONFIRMED and there are no slots available, we will give you a FULL REFUND.

So if you are a U.S. pilot I would recommend that you purchase your registration fee now to have the best chance of getting a slot in the Open race in case we sell out.

Please not also that the Sprint race currently has 13 slots available with no limitations, and the Super Clinic is full.

Dan Wells
AO-Administrator