Wednesday, May 02, 2012

Race & Rally: Day 7

Although I am home in cold and cloudy New England, it is easy to mentally transport myself back to the hot and sunny skies of Georgia and the last day of the 2012 Race & Rally.

We were launching from Moultrie and flying, via a turn point near a small town, to Americus.


I setup and tried in vain to remove the black powdery dust that covered my glider after the previous day's landing.  I originally thought I was near the end of the ordered launch line and would need to launch early until Charlie pointed out we would be launching from the other end.  Doh.


Many pilots took advantage of the open launch window before the start of ordered launch.  For a few minutes it appeared some of those pilots might sink out.  However, just about everyone was still soaring as the ordered launched started.

Ollie

Dean

I had a sweet tow behind Johnny towards a large column of billowing smoke from a brush fire just out of reach of the tow planes.  Johnny pointed to the smoke and waved me off.  I was soon climbing well in the aromatic smoke.

I watched a couple experienced pilots toy with the gaggles, leading them off into the blue at times, but most of the field was in good position for the first start.

The field divided into east and west gaggles as we approached a large wedge of trees to the north.  I took the westerly path and kept a watchful eye on the other gaggle far to our east.  We exchanged the lead several times but essentially got to the turn point at the same time.

It was a good day to be flying with buddies; the sky was blue, the top of useable lift low, and the climbs widely spaced.  I was disappointed when I took a bad line and ended low just past the turn point.  However, I was a bit relieved when I noticed the remainder of the gaggle struggling further to the west along course line just short of a large lake.  I was able to catch up and climbed with a bald eagle just before crossing the large lake.  The gaggle did better than I did in a broken climb over the lake and I got pinched off just out-of-reach of the next climb that took them into goal.  I bubbled about in broken lift over a small brush fire hoping to escape but landed in a plowed field after startling a deer as a flew along a row of pine trees.


I packed up and then Amy and I drove the short distance to goal.  Dang!


We shared the good times at goal and then headed off to our hotel for a quick shower before the awards ceremony later that evening.  Davis officiated the short program.


Ollie won the rigid wing category, and Pedro, Paris, and Kraig were the top three in the flew wing category.  The full scores are available online.

Before long we were transferring gliders between vehicles and saying goodbye.  Amy and I left the next morning for New England.

I was initially disappointed by my performance in this meet.  Then I remembered a few weeks ago I wasn't sure I could even fly a single competition day, let alone 5, due to my shoulder injury.  I also realized this year's meet featured a full dose of blue days and many of those days included low top-of-climbs.  I have always been more comfortable flying with lots of room between me and the ground.  I am reasonably good at low saves, but only if an LZ is directly below me.  I'm now more aware that I need to improve my low-level blue-day thermal hunting skills.

Looking beyond the "competition" aspect, I had great fun flying with friends, sharing climbs with a half-dozen bald eagles and many other birds big and small, exploring new territory, and of course hanging out with a large group of seriously cool people.


Update: Alex posted a nice video of the start circle and first leg.

Flights: 1, Duration: 3:30, Distance: 85.7 miles


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