Friday, January 07, 2005

Day One - Dust Bowl

Dust! That was the only way to describe the tow paddock yesterday. The wind and tugs churned up the dust to the point it was hard to see more than a few feet in front of you at times. Since I am a new competitor and your launch order was based on your CVL ranking, I was one of the last to launch. By the time I launched, I had so much dust on my visor that I could not see the tug! Luckily most of the dust blew off once I started moving, but I did spend most of the flight with rose (dust) colored lenses!

It was a fun day of flying with strong climbs, dust devils everywhere, and rock'n roll glides. I would have done much better, but my flight computer lost GPS contact just as I was within final glide of the goal. I took a guess as to where the goal was (flew towards another glider), but when the computer relocked discovered I have flown off course and a little beyond goal. Oh well, I will be better prepared next time by finding pictures of the goal if possible.

I probably set a new personal best for distance yesterday since goal was 184km away.

I am still trying to find the delicate balance between a light handling glider in thermals and a rock-steady glider on glide. I can tune my glider for one, but not both.

It is windy again this morning and we will probably be flying a long way downwind again. The drives back are long, especially when you are constantly looking for kangaroos that jump out in front of you.

Anyone need a bag of red dust? ;-)

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