Overconfidence

I was doing "chores" around the campsite at QuestAir with my head turned down towards the ground when Armand stopped by and wanted to know when I was going to launch.  I replied "as soon as we get some clouds" to which he replied, "like those"?  "Oh, where did they come from!"  ;-)

JJ, Keith, and I talked about flying north to the turnpike.  If they wanted to continue on I would, otherwise I would fly the triangle Davis proposed yesterday.

We lined up around 1:30 and were towed into nice strong conditions.  Once again, Jim dropped me off into a climb that went right to base at 300 - 400 fpm (1.5 - 2 m/s).

JJ launched and drifted north to Groveland, but was having trouble climbing.  I flew off to meet him, but he turned around about the time I got there.  I had a choice, continue on to a good looking cloud or return to the field relatively low.  I choose to come back so I could fly with JJ or Keith.  Once again I plowed into a strong climb to the top floor.

JJ struggled valiantly to the north of the field while I cruised to the west and back bouncing from cloud to cloud.  The day was happening!  Meanwhile, towing stopped on the field.  I assumed everyone was taking a break after watching several pilots release early.  Keith wouldn't be joining us anytime soon.

I thought JJ would definitely climb out when Rich flew over to join him.  Two good pilots would find the magic bullet.  Alas, they both returned to the field and landed.  I flew upwind to the southwest and then drifted north low until I found another good climb that was strong and organized down low.  Sweet.  A couple more good climbs and I started getting over confident and careless.  I skipped good climbs zipping around the sky flying fast.  It eventually caught up with me and I had to return to the field where I maintained around 1000 feet for 10 minutes before diving through turbulence for a good landing to the south.

I later found out Johnny had a rough landing after experiencing engine problems while climbing out low from the field.  (He was checked out by the doctor before returning to his fans at the field by early evening.  The tug didn't fare as well).

I parked my glider in the shade and waited.  No one towed until later in the evening.  Pilots still managed nice long flights but I decided to relax and take pictures of pilots on approach.

George

Flights: 1, Duration: 1:06