ACAO – Calcinate del Pesce (VA)
The exceptional nature of the weather conditions, the flying area (alpine and foothills), the facilities at Adele and Giorgio Orsi Airport, and the organizational capabilities of ACAO are now well known to gliding pilots around the World. Spring flights of high sporting value taking off from the ACAO are uncountable. These include a number of European records, numerous Italian distance and speed records, all FAI insignia up to the 1,250 km diploma, numerous flights of over 1,000 km, including the first 1,000 km in declared FAI triangle with takeoff from Italy, up to flights of over 1,600 km.
In order to enable all glider pilots to try their hand at sport flying (insignia, distance, speed and records), ACAO provides its airport with its organization, means and staff every year by organizing the SAP (High Performance Stage). The fourteenth SAP will take place from March 27 to April 2, 2022.
Here is a short video edited with footage from the 2021 edition of the SAP:
While a summary report can be downloaded here.
Program
Each day of the High Performance Stage (SAP), in addition to the ACAO staff, several pilots from the Italian Team will be present. While in-flight assistance is not guaranteed, participating pilots will have a constant reference on the ground for any needs or advice (flying territory, outfield, pylons and theme of the day, take-off time and theme departure time, etc.).
Every morning there will be a weather briefing (in-person or online depending on current anti Covid regulations) with suggestions to pilots on the day’s tasks according to different individual goals. Where possible, de-briefings will also be held in the evening for analysis of flights made and/or to cover topics of interest to sport pilots.
arcusT_sap21
In addition to the flight line, the Volo a Vela restaurant and the ACAO Bar (anti Covid measures permitting) will also be operating all week.
The SAP is dedicated to sport pilots of all levels equipped with a glider and a valid FAI card. However, participation in the SAP is recommended for pilots who have already achieved at least Silver and have good mountain flying experience (participation in other stages and/or competitions and at least 300 km flown).
Later in the week there may also be an opportunity for participants to take flights with experienced pilots on high-performance two-seater gliders (Duo Discus Acao or two-seaters of private pilots). Flying on private individuals’ two-seater gliders will require making direct arrangements with the pilots who own the craft.
SAP Pilots 2021_IMG_5048
Ultimately, SAP is dedicated to those who want to:
- Broaden one’s knowledge of the Alpine flight area and increase the pace;
- Train for participation in speed and/or distance races;
- achieve new insignia or sports diplomas and, why not, new records;
- Gaining new meaningful flying experience by comparing themselves with experienced pilots;
- simply devote one of the most meteorologically promising weeks in the Alps to flying in the company of like-minded friends in a very well-equipped and organized Club.
Costs and how to participate
The SAP participation fee consists of a glider fee of €190.00 and a pilot fee of €60.00. Acao members and riders who are under 26 years old receive a 50% discount on these fees. Discounts can be combined: therefore, for Acao riders under 26 years of age, participation is free. The participation fee is not divisible and must be paid by Saturday, March 26 (by bank transfer or directly to the ACAO secretariat). The current ACAO price list (published on acao.co.uk) will be applied for the cost of tows and must be paid by the end of the flight week.
Deployment
Online registration is already open and payment of the registration fee should be settled with the ACAO secretariat (segreteriaeventi@acao.it) by Saturday, March 26.
Interested riders can register online at SAP by going to the registration page.
The updated membership list can be seen in the Confirmed Entries table on this page.
