Bogong Cup 2005 - Finished

Although it looked like it could rain at any minute, the day was not cancelled at the 9am pilots meeting. Instead we were told to come back at 10:30. At 10:30 we were told to go to Mount Emu and get ready to fly. As most of my close flying buddies know, I will fly in just about anything. However even I was wondering "what the heck are they thinking?". There were showers over the hillsides, clouds were below the tops of the mountains, and there wasn't a ray of sunshine anywhere. Oh, did I mention that the forecast called for showers all day? So Davis, Dean, Jim, Oleg, and I rush to call our 4wd taxi driver Brian for a lift up Emu. We even call on the radio when we get to the base to make sure we should still drive up. Even though it seemed obvious that we wouldn't fly, we were also worried about some people coming back down the dirt 4wd road once the rain really started. However, we were told to "keep going", so we did. Once at the top we could see heavy rain over the back, across the valley, and over the next range. We also noticed that the wind was 90 degrees to launch even though it was blowing in a little bit at times. I was worried how I would get back down if Brian left. Finally reality set in and the day was cancelled.

The results have not changed in a couple of days since we didn't fly yesterday or today.

Jim left after we had a quick lunch at the bakery while Dean and I headed up to Bogong village and the ski area for a little sight-seeing. The presentation dinner and awards are tonight. Tomorrow Dean and I head to Sydney.

Day 7 - Almost

The forecast for the day this morning was marginal but most of us had some hope of a good day. The sky was still totally blue when Connie, Dean, Jim, and I arrived at launch. It looked so stable and light that I withdrew my request to launch early in the alternative launch. As we set up our gliders a thick band of cirrus moved in an it looked like it might be too stable. Meanwhile the meet officials were getting high wind reports from other locations while we watched paragliders sled to the bottom. A task was called and the launch window opened. No one launched. We could see some towering clouds in the distance all around us, but nothing nearby. Finally the cirrus started to thin, the ground heated, and the thermals started moving through. After the task was shorten, pilots started to launch. The thermals were getting more numerous and stronger. However the wind was also getting gusty (probably from the thermals) and some of the launches were marginal. The pilots in the air were not getting extremely high and seemed to be spending some time trying to fly upwind. (The task was an upwind task since there is nothing but trees downwind of Mystic). After some conversations with pilots in the air and a couple shakey launches, the launch was closed and the task cancelled.

I heard that one pilot was already 1/2 of the way to goal by the time I left launch. Another pilot flew over the range to the Mount Beauty airport. Although it might have been my last flight in Australia for this trip, I didn't want to land in the bombout LZ in a strong wind. (Some local pilots were telling me it was not fun when the wind picked up.)

Many of the pilots invaded Bright and enjoyed the late afternoon chatting at tables on the sidewalk with ice cream cones in their hands.

Day 6 - Another Painful Lesson

Yep, did it again. I bombed out at the start circle. I was top of the stack at the start gate and decided to leave with Kevin and Corinna. We headed to the lee side of Buffalo towards a towering (but soft) cloud. About 3/4 of the way there Kevin turned and started turning in some weak lift. Since I was now in front, it took several minutes before I noticed he stopped in something. I turned around (losing altitude) and tried to find whatever he and a couple other gliders had. Alas i didn't find it so I continued on to Buffalo. I would have reached Buffalo at the top if I had not turned around, but since I did, I came into the mountain about 1/2 of the way up. I spent the next 2 hours struggling to get up and away but finally gave up and tried to find something on the other side of the valley. There wasn't anything there so I ended up landing. Bummer.

I did get to fly with an eagle that was screeching at me the entire time. I also got to fly close to a large cascading waterfall that was quite the sight to see. (Believe me, I was close enough to appreciate it!) I also landed on farm run by a gentleman named Manual. He was very friendly and showed me his pet deer, his old tobacco shed, and most of the rest of his farm. He explained how the entire valley was burned a couple of years ago. He also filled me in on his struggle with fox and dingos taking his chickens and goats.

The weather is starting to go downhill so we may not fly much more. The current scores and places might be final. I really hated bombing out today. I seem to have a problem at the start gate. I thought I had the problem under control, but I guess I don't! Just shows that I have tons of stuff yet to learn.

Looking out in front of the Mystic launch. 

Setup area on Mystic.