An Easy Day in the Bubble

I decided to take it easy today and decided to fly to Wallaby Ranch and back to Quest. Paul, Ollie, and Dave Giles also flew the route. Unlike yesterday, I had an uneventful tow and a quick climb. I left by myself and flew a convoluted course trying to stay under clouds since a very heavy deck of cirrus was moving in and shuting down the lift. I was sqeaking into Wallaby with only 250 feet over best glide when I finally got a climb at the quarry to the northwest. A short time later Ollie flew in below me and I noticed Paul coming in much lower over the trees. We all topped out and headed back working as a team. The return trip was much easier. The flight info is online.

Busy

Today was a busy day. After I ate breakfast and did laundry, I took Dave’s glider up for a test flight. Although it was only 9:30, I found nice climbs as clouds started forming. After doing the usual battery of tests I told Dave I was taking his glider to Georgia. He wasn’t too concerned since he knew there was another glider he could fly; mine. After landing, I told the pilots milling around that my “spidey-sense” was telling me this was going to be a good day.

Anyone with a wing was preparing to go downwind. Paul, Lauren, Greg, Keith, John, Bo, Davis, Dave, and I all made retrieval plans and headed to the flight line around 11:30. Bo launched first and then it was my turn. The air was active, but I managed to stay connected until 1800 feet. I got off-line a little so I decided to release instead of trying to recover. I expected to find lift, but found nothing but heavy sink. I quickly found myself coming back into the very active field. Bummer. Oh well, take 2. I was doing fine until my old weak-link broke over the pond. Nothing unusual happened, it just broke. Oh well, take 3. By now the other pilots were 15 to 20 miles out. Joe and I rolled out and must have plowed through a dust devil. The tug rocketed up out of sight. I tried to chase, but then the tug fell down the other side and now I was massively high. I’m sure he didn’t appreciate me holding his tail high as he approached the trees. I pulled in as much as possible and was reaching for the release (to help Joe) when I hit the backside and plummeted towards the ground. The tug again went up out of sight and the weak link broke. Whew, what a ride! Oh well, take 4. I managed a sane high tow and was dropped off into a good climb. Yippee!

By now Greg and Paul were low near Coleman. Dave and Lauren were around 35 miles out. I knew I would be flying alone chasing everyone, again. After all the trouble it took to get into the air, I didn’t want to land 5 miles out. I flew conservatively until I found out that Julie was already rolling with the retrieve vehicle and was ahead of me. Eventually Paul and Greg landed and I was close enough to Greg to see where he landed. Lauren was setting a fast pace and was actually increasing the distance between us. I had a couple low saves early, but around Ocala the lift became strong and I started zigzagging across the sky to stay under little lines of clouds. I heard Lauren say she landed so that only left Dave and I in the air on our radio frequency.

Awhile later Dave excitedly announced that he was now flying with Bo at 85 miles out. We all cheered since it meant Bo had a very good chance of breaking 100 miles on his single surface glider. (He did much better, landing around 120 miles out).

It was fun approaching Gainesville, since I had never flown in the area before. I must say, there are some big swamps to west-southwest of Gainesville! I finally left the interstate at Gainesville and started heading towards Dave’s position. About then Dave announced that Bo had scraped him off and that he was going to land around 100.6 miles out, a new personal best for him.

I keep heading west-northwest flying in the late evening glass off. I was having a good time sightseeing and enjoying the lazy air. The sun was getting low but thought I could do one more climb when I managed to get on the wrong side of a convergence line. The once peaceful air was now angry and my vario was wailing in pain. The wind was now west at 10, almost opposite of the wind a few miles back. I made a hasty retreat back to the convergence line hoping to land in light winds instead of a sea breeze. I found a weak climb that allowed me time to pick a nice field to land in. I almost went for another further off field, but since the sun was getting so low, I thought it would be wise to land soon. I had a sweet smooth glide into the field and a no-step landing at the corner of a large pasture field. I was 128 miles from take off.

The land owner drove out to see what just landed in his field. We had a pleasant conversation that could have gone on much longer, but I excused myself so I could break down in the fading daylight. Julie, Bo, and Dave showed up just as I finished packing and we were soon on our way back home. We stopped for a celebratory dinner in Gainesville and were back at the airfield at a respectable 11pm.

Tweaking

I got up early this morning hoping to talk to the nice people at Moyes in Sydney before they left for the day. I was never able to get the call to go through on my cell phone but I did get several nice pictures of sunrise over the airfield.

The forecasted light southeast wind turned out to be a moderate east wind so everyone quickly ditched the idea of “going long” today. Some pilots planned a long out-and-back crosswind task and some decided to rest. I decided to tune my glider which turned out to be the right thing to do. I spent the morning and early afternoon disassembling, changing, and reassembling my glider and then spent the later afternoon flying.

Since I didn’t have a driver, I decided to work upwind so I could blow back home if I got low. I spent most of the afternoon (2 hours 45 minutes) floating around at cloud base checking out changes I made to the glider, chasing birds, scoping out the scenery, and getting cold. I definitely like how the glider now handles and probably will not change anything major before the competitions.

John Chambers showed up last night and managed to get a reacquainted flight this afternoon. The weather continues to look good for the near future, so more flying is probably in my future. Life is tough. ;-)

Around We Go

The day started early today. I was setting up my new glider for its maiden flight when Julie launched around 9:30 for what everyone thought would be a glassy sled ride. She proved us wrong by avoiding the ground for a long time. After she eventually landed I took off for a quick test flight and flew for 45 minutes and had to work to get back on the ground.

The heat is finally returning to Florida and I was ready for a nap when Ron, Paul, Lauren, Davis, Greg, and Dave told me about the day’s task. They didn’t have to twist my arm too hard so I inhaled a sandwich, drank some water, and headed back out to the flight line. There were rumors that tomorrow might be a “go long” day, so they picked a “small” 50 mile triangle to Baron, Cheryl, and back. The flight info is online.

After a slow climb-out over launch, the entire group (minus Davis) headed on course. (Davis caught up with us at the first or second climb.) We all took a long glide towards the first turn point and couldn’t find a climb when we needed one. After a long period of poking around, Paul and Davis found a good climb, but I was the furthest away and missed the party. I found the slow remnants and eventually headed on. I caught up with Lauren and then Paul. The climbs were good near the prison and clouds started forming. Other than a worrisome moment when Paul and I couldn’t find a climb near a quarry as we fell below our comfort altitude, the return trip was uneventful.

Air Coming Straight Up Out of the Ground

As I feared, I woke up sore and stiff this morning. I guess I need to fly more often. ;-)

We had another blue day with a light southeast wind that was predicted to be more southwest north of here. Aside from Bo and Davis on the single surface gliders, the rest of us decided to give the Quest – Wallaby – Deen Still and Route 33 – Quest triangle a another try. Paul and Ron Gleason launched before me and were already topped out when I released from tow; dang here I go playing catch-up again! I was a thermal behind until I spotted Ron flying back downwind to my climb. Ron and I then spent most of the flight together. Ron kept me off the deck with a quick “over here” message when I was getting ready to land near a quarry. We centered up in a strong climb that put us both back into the game. Once at Wallaby Ranch, Ron suggested we head straight back since the sky was quickly filling with cirrus and the climbs were getting weak. Paul tried to shame us into joining him on the way to Deen Still and Route 33, but we decided to wimp out and head back to reduce the chance of landing out.

The return trip was quick and easy and we were soon floating over Quest with Paul, Greg, and another half dozen pilots. The windsock was swinging all over the place and the air all around the LZ was going up. I have never had so much trouble loosing altitude in the flatlands before. (This is common in mountain valleys). One by one we fought our way down and landed. I took the chance to do some high speed glides in the rising air and did some wangs to the south with Keith. I finally worked my way down and had a nice landing near the rotating wind sock. The flight record is online.

Greg Crawford and a couple other pilots showed up from Wallaby shortly after we landed. Julie and Marilyn launched later as I was carrying my harness back to camp. After all the pictures Julie has taken of other pilots, I finally got some of her in action. I missed Marilyn’s approach and landing, but I heard it was first-class. It was a fine day for flying in Florida.

We had a nice meal in the clubhouse this evening and then everyone headed off to finish up chores and get ready for tomorrow, which looks as good or better than today.