Town and Country

It’s late, I am dirty and tired, but I am happy. I made goal after a truly enjoyable 88.7 mile flight that featured high cloud bases, lift up to 1000 fpm on the 30 second averager, and a dose of light air tip-toeing at the end. Many pilots made goal and a couple were very close.

It was mostly clear this morning with some high cirrus floating around and a few storm clouds far to the west. Gary predicted higher cloud bases, stronger wind from the south, and stronger lift except to the far north. Davis presented the 88.7 mile down wind task to the Town & Country Airport near Lubbock. I flew that route last year so I knew the way there.

Everyone was ready to go at the scheduled time, but there were no signs of lift and a good breeze that would make staying in the start circle difficult. The task committee pushed all the times back 30 minutes, which gave Dave and I some time to relax under our gliders. After the 30 minutes went by, the rigid wings took the still blue skies and slowly climbed and drifted away. None of us flex wing pilots were inspired to fly after watching the rigid wings so everyone just stood around waiting for a sign from above. The sign finally appeared as several cummies forming over the town and the airport. Since I was near the end of the staging line, I suited up and joined Robin, Dustin, and a few others and raced to the launch line. Our action was enough to start the stampede but I was lucky enough to be one of the first 10 to launch. Whereas a few minutes before the sky looked barren, Neil pulled me through several light thermals on the way up.

It was too late to take the first start time but I was in a good position to take the second start time. I left with several pilots but turned around when it become obvious no one really intended to go. Nice fake job guys! I didn’t have any problem getting back to the start circle and even back to the airport. The day was really turning on. When the next start time rolled around, most of the field was bobbing around at cloud base at the start line. This time most of us actually left.

I took a bad line and came in below about half of the pilots at the first climb. We immediately got squeezed off when the lift quickly slowed down. Remembering my pledge to “just make goal” I stayed right where I was and climbed back up. Meanwhile Dave took a risky long glide that paid off with a 500 fpm climb that put him at least one thermal ahead of me. Dave remained in front of me for the next half of the flight.

Once I climbed back up I just did the classic “climb and glide” routine. There is a scenic gorge area along the course that was just cracking today. I had several climbs that topped 1000 fpm and still remained so smooth that I was thermalling with one hand and taking a drink of water. I finally caught up with Dave at the northern edge of the gorge area and then pressed on into the crop land on the plateau. After a couple good climbs we entered an area of weak climbs and little clouds. This time I quickly slowed down and remained high as many pilots were now sharing the weak and precious climbs. I moved through the area without many worries, but did give up a lot of time by being cautious. I went of final glide from 12.5 miles out with 1500 feet above best glide. The numbers dropped to 300 feet about 5 miles out, but got better again when I cruised through some lift over a quarry just south of the airport. I arrived at the airport with 300 feet and landed without flaring into a good southerly breeze. I continued to keep the glider flying by jogging right over to the breakdown area. Sweet.

Since so many pilots made goal before me, I probably didn’t do any better point-wise than I did yesterday. However, it is satisfying to be at goal even if everyone else is also there. Julie and I were rooting for Dave when he radioed that he had goal by 500 feet above best glide. However, Dave landed 1.5 miles short next to the quarry I flew over a short time earlier. Mark F made goal with style, maybe even beating my time. Linda gave it her all when she kept flying until she was on the ground 0.55 miles short of goal. Bummer.

The local forecast is calling for a similar forecast tomorrow. I hope it is as fun as it was today.