Flytec - Day 3

Everyone was ready to fly today after watching the wind blow on the first 2 days. There was some initial concern with wind and turbulence this morning but that gave way to the apparent lack of lift. After a 30 minute delay on a late task to begin with, we finally kicked the rigid wings into the air and soon followed. I had a good tow and found a tiny patch of light lift that everyone wanted to share. Flying in the gaggles today, like most blue days, required constant attention. I swear several pilots tried to hit me and many others were tossed into my path (and me into theirs). Flying in large gaggles in weak choppy lift is probably my least favorite part of competition flying. You do better sticking with the gaggle, but it isn't necessarily fun.

There was little time for sightseeing on the trip south to the intersection of Route 27 and 544 and then to the southeast, but I did get a chance to check out all the contrails over the Lakeland airport during the aerobatics shows. (I would have taken a picture if I wasn't so low).

I flew with many friends today, but ended up flying with Kevin and Guga from Brazil as the day was shutting down. We climbed and drifted in a proto-thermal for a long time. Kevin headed downwind to the east while we stayed behind. Since Kevin didn't find anything I decided to drift across the north end of a lake and use my 1800 feet to glide due south on the east side of the lake. I lead out and Guga followed. I hit a strong bubble over a tree-line and thought we might get a climb out. However, it was a "one hit wonder" and I was soon shopping for LZs.

I could flown a little further but I found several fields with hills; in Florida! The fields had 75-100 foot mounds that just didn't look like fun. I turned around and flew back to a nice flat cow pasture and landed in a moderate west wind. Guga landed about a minute later.

A bunch of pilots made goal so my score for the day will be minimal. I should have jumped gaggles during the 2 times I had a shot. I would have gotten further along course line; and maybe into goal. As it was I flew 70k along course and was in the air over 3 hours.

Flytec - Day 2

Windy; called after a couple delays.

Bruce, Mark, and I were chosen as the safety committee. It looked windy in the morning and the reports from the surrounding airports verified that. However, the winds were predicted to slacken and they started to drop off to the north. Bo went up and said it might be ok for one or two pilots going XC but recommended not launching a large competition field. If you know "go for it" Bo then that might have been enough. However the deal-closer was the fear that the rush to setup gliders and dash into the air to get the expiring start clocks would create an unsafe atmosphere where one or more pilots might incorrectly rig a glider, bypass a safety check, or not carefully think things through.

Dave, PK, and I had lunch at Wallaby. PK needed to pick up a part and I wanted to see some visiting pilots; Dennis, Mark, and Phil from New England and Rick and Philipi from Ohio.

I included some pictures of a plane that visited Wallaby a couple of weeks ago. It was decorated as a dragon.

On a personal note, I finally went to a doctor Sunday afternoon. Without tests he could not be sure but he began treating me for "walking pneumonia". For the first time in over a week I awoke this morning feeling like getting out of the tent instead of crawling back in.

Flytec - Day 1

Squall line rolls through just before the morning pilot's meeting. It rained so much the clubhouse was surrounded by a shallow lake. Then it blew hard all day. Needless to say, the day was called. (Click on the radar image to see it in motion. Thanks Nigel.)

Florida Ridge - Day 7

I didn't sleep much last night due to my coughing and probably bothered everyone camping in the orange grove. As expected I dropped a few spots when the new cumulative scores were posted. Kevin had a good day and was now just a few points behind me. I hate passing up good flying days and with the race so close I just couldn't sit out the day even if I didn't feel good.

I talked to several more experienced racers and they all said I should stay close to Kevin and just make sure I arrive at roughly the same time. I had only tried to "cover" a pilot one other time when I unsuccessfully tried to hang onto Bubba at the East Coast Championship two years ago. I liked the thought of doing something different so I had a plan for the day.

I had a fast tow to a good climb behind Russell in the silver bullet. I climbed well and was on top waiting for Kevin. The gaggle soon topped out and began bouncing around at the top of the bubble, bobbing up and down on every circle. I waited for Kevin and soon we were following each other around the sky. (Anytime I couldn't immediately find Kevin, I would look behind and see him on my tail.)

We had a good start and had predictable glides and climbs close to course line. On the way to the second turn point we came up short for a climb and had to stop in a weak excuse for a thermal. We all were searching for that elusive core that just didn't seem to be there. Kevin made a large swing to the west that didn't pay off and came back lower than the main gaggle. I was ready to move along course line when Kevin headed 90 degrees to course line downwind. I know I had a plan, but I just couldn't bring myself to follow him. So I let him go and pushed on. I looked back and could see he found a good climb, but was drifting off course.

I joined Davis in a good climb before the second turn point and from there the rest of course was straightforward. Around the second turn point the pilots that took the later clock caught up; they probably didn't suffer through a slow climb like we did. I was leaving the turn point when I saw Kevin coming in. I shared a nice strong climb to cloud base with Paris before heading towards goal northwest of La Belle.

I watched Kevin pull into the last climb before goal. I was tempted to leave when I had 1000 feet over best glide but decided to be conservative since I saw 2 gliders circling just short of goal and I didn't want to blow final glide; I just needed to match Kevin. I finally left when I had 2000 feet above best glide to goal. The glide was ok for awhile, but I ran through some sink that took my altitude down to 500 over best glide. I made a single turn in strong lift and that is when Kevin blazed by me. I followed closely and crossed the finish line a few seconds behind him.

Kevin was a real sport and walked over and congratulated me when I parked my glider. It is fun competing with friends and good sports.

Brian, Patrick, and Rodger all were waiting at goal, since their task was a downwind run to the same grass airstrip. I snagged a quick picture of all the sport class pilots that made goal. Linda, George, and Mark all arrived at goal so Ron only needed to make one stop to pickup his crew.

Rodger won the national sport class title and also the sport class meet. Linda won the women's title, Campbell won the rigid wing title, I won the national flex wing title, and Dave Matthews from Great Britain won the flex wing meet. We eat pizza, drank, and talked into the night; well most of us did. My voice was totally gone and I was wiped. I took a nap on the hammock in the middle of all the commotion.

Florida Ridge - Day 6

I had to eat my words today. I told Brian and Rodger that we wouldn't fly after a strong storm blasted through at dawn. Well, I was wrong. The sky gradually cleared from the north and the predicted over-development and thunderstorms never materialized. Although still ill, I decided to fly and staged right behind the task committee (Davis, Kevin, and Jim) and listened in as they wrestled with the task selection. The original task to the south would have taken us directly into a area shaded with cirrus. Instead they decided to head cross-wind to the north into the cumulus field. It was a good call.

I launched early and got a sweet tow behind Rhett. After a good climb I headed north and formed a mutating gaggle that just wouldn't move even when we started sinking. I got on the radio and said it was either time to head back or push on. I finally got impatient (smart?) and moved on. Several other gliders left and we found a good climb just outside the start circle. I quickly climbed up and then headed back to nick the start circle and reset my start time. Linda got on the radio and wanted to know where I was going. I curtly answered "start circle". She quickly replied "No way!". I made the 1.5 mile round trip and got back into the same climb. Several tardy pilots were not so lucky and eventually headed back towards the airfield.

Linda topped out first and led out. She led me and a handful of pilots to a couple of more climbs before I caught up and left on a long glide across the blue. I flew the next portion of the 70+ mile course by myself racing hard. I made a strong turn east off course line to a cloud line that didn't really payoff that let Bruce and Jack catch up. We shared a climb or two before I headed more upwind while they proceeded along course line. While I had a buoyant glide with lots of little climbs, they pushed along with a mostly smooth glide. I came in over them south of the airport that was yesterday's goal. I should have kept pushing more upwind but I saw Bruce turning so I swung around and headed back east to join him. Bruce really didn't have a good climb and before long I lost my height advantage and soon was even a little below him.

About that time I noticed the texture of the air changed and I knew right away I was on the back side of a lake breeze front. Dang. I tried to push back upwind to where I was before but it was too late. I tried to work some broken lift but eventually landed in a field across from a fire tower in a light southeast breeze that was directly opposite the west northwest flow above. A few minutes later Bruce landed with me. Bruce and I started breaking down and then started seeing the "Spanish Armada" float over head. Bruce started counting. 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 gliders. Crap. A while later Mark made a picture-perfect approach into our field followed by Olav.

I had mixed emotions about the flight. I was pleased with my aggressiveness and was very comfortable being out front by myself. However, I was upset that I didn't notice the lake breeze until it was too late; I should not have missed all the classic signs that were there for me to read. Bruce and I lost our 2nd and 3rd places and Kevin just about caught me in the race for the national title. Bjorn was the only flex wing to make goal.

The sport class had a good day running downwind to Clewiston. Patrick spent some quality time with the local law enforcement, Rodger reaped the benefits of landing at a golf course (manicured lawn and a bar), and Brian (who won the day) discovered the joys of long downwind glides and how black wet recently-burned sugar cane fields can be.