The winds were forecasted to become stronger later in the day so launch and start times were moved up. Adding to the minor confusion was the reorganized staging and launch lines so gliders could land on one side and tugs on the other. Enthusiasm for flying started waning as Brian brought the Swift back in for another try. Then another rigid landed, then another. The pilots hanging on were low and drifting away from the field. As the wind started cranking up to the level we towed in the day before, pilots started asking if the safety committee was "evaluating the conditions". After watching a couple more rigid wing relaunches, a pilots meeting, and a lot of milling around, the safety committee called the day.
Meanwhile most of the rigid wings were on course. Brian said he, Bruce, and Campbell got stuck ridge soaring
Picacho Peak. Campbell was at the wrong side of the peak when Brian and Bruce got a ride out. Cambell was the flushed off the ridge and was setting up a landing when we found a weak little thing that he drifted away in. He repeated that approach, climb, drift performance again before hitting the mother-lode and getting a strong climb that allowed him to glide 20 miles into goal.
The flex wing pilots spent the afternoon eating, swimming, sleeping, and drinking at the resort. Looks like another dust bath today.
No comments:
Post a Comment