Tuesday, January 18, 2005

Plenty of Airtime

I was exhausted last night after 5 hours in the air. I was the second to launch yesterday and had to hang around the tow paddock for 1.5 hours before the task started. I finally had plenty of time to get in position for a good start. However I missed the 4th or 5th climb and the gaggle got away from me. Since I took the second start, there were not many pilots behind me so I flew by myself for awhile. I slowly started catching the slower pilots and eventually caught some of the slower pilots from the first start. The lift really became erratic after the 2nd turnpoint. At one point I was in a gaggle of 30 pilots that were low and trying to hang on in 50-100 fpm lift. It was here that I caught up with Dean. The rest of the way in was slow going. The gaggle kept dropping pilots here and there on the way in. I only think 7 or 8 of those 30 pilots made goal. The air was smooth enough coming into goal that I finally had a chance to buzz in with the wires singing their song.

Dustin, Davis, and Dean landed short. Curt, Kevin, and I made goal.

Today is the last day. It is already hot. Another "lovely" day in the tow paddock.

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