Is It Over Yet?

I took a quick flight early in the morning to gather data to hopefully help solve a tuning issue with my new glider.  I was surprised by the strength of the wind right above the tree line (18 mph / 29 k/h).  I got the data I needed and quickly grabbed breakfast before returning to the flight line.

We rightfully had high expectations for the day as beautiful cumulus clouds formed streets over our heads at 9:30.  Davis launched before most of us were even suited up.  Jochen followed a bit later, then Dave and I took off.

It was sweet flying even though cloud base was relatively low (3200 feet / 975 m).  The day was looking great and even managed to snag a strong climb down low near the prisons to the northwest.  Davis, who was far in front, recommended staying east of Interstate 75 since there were better clouds there.

I pushed east a bit to cross a street and ended up low and struggling with my back against a large swath of trees.  Dang.  I found a thermal along the downwind tree line but it was drifting too far back so I abandoned the climb and landed.

I landed at the "Fly By Ranch".  Part-way through my break-down Emily, an inquisitive young lady, and her dog "Shiner" stopped by for a chat.  She even helped me pack up before she brought her younger sister by before heading off for a birthday party.

Jochen, who landed fairly close to Quest Air, got a friendly ride back to the airfield in a police cruiser and started chasing with my car.  He picked me up and we started heading north towards Davis and John.  (James, the other driver picked up Mark P, Mark S, Dave, and Campbell.  All of them landed about 115 miles / 185 km out).  I started getting extremely nauseous and remained so for the next 7 hours as we drove around Florida.  Would the driving never end?    :-(   We picked up Davis near Hawthorne and waited for John to land.  As I expected, John landed as the sun set and we then headed home.

I spent the next two days on the ground recovering from a suspected viral infection that James and a few other local pilots came down with at roughly the same time.  It was hard watching Jochen leave for a 155 mile / 250 km flight yesterday as I laid in my tent.  The crew headed off again this morning on another adventure and landed south of Ocala.

I'm feeling better now and hope to be tearing up the skies again soon.

Flights: 2, Duration: 1:52, Distance: 33 miles