Learning to fly.

As our season winds down and the cross country potential fades, I begin to focus more on doing tandem flights. I got my tandem rating a couple of years ago to share the sport with my nonflying friends (spare me your smart ass comments). No explination or watching people fly can give you a true understanding of why it is we fly. Not until you have taken to the sky in a hang glider can you really begin to understand what it is that drives us.

After taking a solo flight Saturday afternoon and not able to get any higher than I did off tow I offered to do some tandems and started setting up the tandem glider. I took Jamie up first. Jamie had paid for beginer lessons but was never able to make it out for the course. He spotted gliders on Rick Millers car in the city and wondered over to introduce himself. Rick brought him out to watch us tow. After watching us for a couple hours he was thrilled to have the chance to finally go for a flight. Towing through some light lift gave him butterflys on tow but loved the smooth air once off tow. He's ready to take up his training now.

After coming back to earth the guys pressured Julie into going next. She has a fear of hieghts and was a little reluctant to go. Julie is Cal Neff's girl friend and I could see he was more excited about her first flight than she was. I've seen this in a few of my friends when I have taken thier girl friends for a flight. As I mentioned it's not possible to explain hang gliding to some one, you have to do it to understand. The guys know what the girls are about to experience from thier own first high flights. It's a chance to share thier pasion with some one they care about. For me it's like doing a tandem for two people. Julie was a great passanger. Cal and Julie are an awsome couple and great to hang out with. Hopefully we don't bore Julie to the point she dosn't want to hang out with us.

I'm going to teach a few people to fly doing tandem flights. With any luck we'll have some nice weather this fall.

Facebook Julie Kozak's Photos - Julie in the sky with diamonds

High hopes.

The forecast looked good for today. High of 31 and light winds out of the north west. The soaring forecast looked good with cloud base at 14,000’ and lift at 700 – 800’/min. Some model’s calling for stronger winds some calling for moderate winds out of the NW.

With my last flight being my longest ever and a great looking forecast I had hope’s of getting another shot at the 200km out and return. Now the forecast wasn’t wrong but it wasn’t the epic day I was hoping for. I wanted to launch at 2:30 to give myself enough time to make the round trip. Only one paraglider had launched and wasn’t doing well. Some how conditions just didn’t feel on as we stood on the ramp looking at a perfect looking CU filled sky. I got ready to go at 3:00. If I waited. any longer there wouldn’t be enough time to make the flight. I took off and soon realized why we were all standing on the ramp still. I struggled to stay up for an hour before the day finally turned on. I climbed out over MT7 with Doug Keller after 4:00 and had lost a lot of my motivation. Now I thought about what I had time for and what I wanted to do. I settled on flying down just past Spilli and back for a 110 to 120 km flight. We hit about 12,000’ – 13,000’ and headed south. The wind was strong out of the west and we were drifting way behind the peaks. We made not bad time heading down, staying high the whole way. Down near peak height it was rough but the air was nice up high. I flew with Doug all the way to the 50km mark where he topped out at over 14,000’. I didn’t bother getting to cloud base as the lift just wasn’t strong enough to stick with it. I flew another 5km before I turned around into a strong head wind. I was fighting on average about a 20km/hr head wind. I let myself get low and dropped below 2700m. I hit an inversion layer at that height at the start of the day but had remained above it for the whole flight. Now it was rough and a struggle to get high again. I kept pushing forward not wanting to deal with the rough air and trying to find something better. I made the same mistake in the same spot as my last flight which kept me from making it back from Invermere. I landed in almost the same spot too. Doug stayed high and made it back easy. I still managed 97km and flew for an hour and forty minutes. A good day. Well worth the trip just a little tricky. Tomorrow looks good too. I think I launch a little later and lower my expectations a bit. The days are getting shorter and we just aren’t going to get six or seven hour flights this time of year.

100 miles

Finally. Like most pilots, I’ve wanted a hundred mile flight since I started flying cross country. I was confident after getting close several times’ last year that this would be the year I break through the hundred mile barrier. In Australia hundred mile flights are a lot more common. In Forbes they often call 100+ mile tasks. With all the rain this year conditions were softer than normal and I was unable to make goal on the longer days. Coming home my hopes were for a big flight in May on the prairies. Most hundred mile flights in Canada are in Alberta in May. With two weeks off in late May to fly, we lose half the days to weather. I did log exactly a hundred miles after olc optimization but was not a true hundred miles straight line distance. After spring was over I thought I had lost my chance as the best flying during the summer is in Golden and hundred mile flights in Golden are very rare.

With lighter winds today and getting down to Invermere fast yesterday, I was hoping to try Invermere return. It’s only been done a couple times and the plan was to get going early and attempt the round trip. I launched at 2:30 and slowly worked my way back over launch. I stayed patient to let the day build. Once the lift stopped I headed to the spine in front of Mt 7 and climbed over the peak. I looked down range and saw Pagliaro and Kapristo totally shaded in. A hand full of paragliders were low in front trying to work there way back up. I decided to get as high as I could and just skip over it if I needed to. Once I started getting into the wisps, I headed south. As I passed over Kapristo I didn’t hit any usable lift and just kept on going as planned. Once over the next peak I hit a strong thermal and climbed fast back up to cloud base. I wasn’t worried about racing but fitting my flight into the day. I wanted to make it back by 8:00 as you can’t be sure to stay up any later than that. I took the time to work most of my climbs to get near cloud base. I ran the back range on the way down and made it to Invermere with relative ease in a little less than three hours. I turned around and headed back into a 5km head wind. The lift was still strong and making head way into the wind was no problem. I got high at the Edgewater cliff’s because I was going to fly the front range on the way back. I mountains on the front range get higher as you head north which makes flying the back unnerving heading north. I flew all the way to Brisco before I found any lift low on the cliffs. I got over the cliffs while still moving north but the range is very low here. I finally get a good climb at Spillimacheen and hit cloud base. I run to get over the high peaks and continue running north. The lift is getting much smoother but still strong and getting high. I get to cloud base at Harrogate and know I only need one or two more thermals to make it home. I’m getting good glides in buoyant air but I’m aware that I’m going into the wind and need some extra height. It’s still early enough I’m sure I have enough time left in the day. I’m getting confident that I’m going to make it back. I pass up a punchy thermal to wait for something smoother and a faster climb. This turn’s into a fatal mistake. I fly into a huge shaded area and the lower I get the worse my glide gets. I concede I’m not going to make it and start looking for field’s I can make on final glide. Once I reach the field I’m not very happy with my choice but it’s too late now. I dived into the small field that had a steep slope towards the highway. I angled slightly up hill and had a strong flare and put in a good landing. After 4:55hrs I landed after flying 182km. Finally my first hundred mile flight. My truck showed up before I could start breaking down. As a reward for setting a new personal best I got to drive back to Invermere to pick up Rob Green who landed at the airport. It was a great day and even thou I made a mistake that kept me from reaching my goal I was glad to have that hundred mile monkey off my back.

100 hours

I’ve been putting a lot of effort into improving my skill and ranking over the last three seasons. Breaking my collar bone two seasons ago put an end to that season. Last season I was hoping to get 100hrs for the season. The weather turned poor in the late summer and fall. I stalled at 92hrs. I got a great start this season in Australia in January. After some good flights in Arizona I thought I might hit a 100hrs by early summer. Again I was stalled by terrible weather all summer. Finally the sun came out and I was able to break the 100hr mark this season.

After day’s of wind and rain the last day of the Willi we finally got some good weather. The first couple of pilots to launch weren’t climbing very fast so I waited a bit for the day to get stronger. By the time I got off the hill at three thirty I was the last one in the air. New York Dave and Doug Litzenburger were able to get a short flight during the week so I needed a big flight if I was going to make up the points. I climbed up over launch and headed to Mt 7. I got high over the peaked and headed south. The wind was 10km/hr out of the north as I pushed south. The climbs were strong almost to cloud base and I was able to stay high above the range. When I got to Edgewater rain cells were dumping rain across the valley. The clouds were shading over the mountains below me so I pressed on to the sunny peaks ahead of me. I was looking behind and ahead of me trying to decide if I should push further south or try and turn around and head back to Golden. I was able to make it down to Invermere in two hours and confident of a big flight as it was only 5:30. I hit a south wind at Radium and was thinking of heading back. I arrived over Mt Swansee just over the top and ridge soared until I got a weak broken climb that I tried to stick with. I gained about 500’ before I lost it. Unable to find anything else I ended up landing at the airport early in the day. Doug Keller arrived just after I was packed up. Doug Litzenburger came in a couple hours later followed by New York Dave on his way back from Fairmont. He was turned around by a wall of rain. Kal picked up Leaf in Edgewater on his way to grab the rest of us. I was hoping for a bigger flight but landing in Invermere always feels like a success. It was fun reliving the flights on the drive home and comparing notes with each other. I was glad to finally break through the 100hr mark.

Another fast day.

Scott wins again!

Day six Nat’s. The forecast today was for moderate winds out of the south high cloud base and strong lift. We don’t want to make pilots go north and have to fight a head wind into goal. We also don’t want to make every one fight a head wind all the way to Invermere. I wanted a longer task to Brisco and back but am vetoed as others don’t want to fly that far. We decide on a task to Spillimacheen out to the cliffs by the canon west of Nickleson and back to Muller Flight Park. We open launch at 2:30 with three start times, 3:30, 3:45, and 4:00. No one rush’s to launch when it opens but do steadily trickle off. No one is having any trouble staying up and pilots continue to trickle off and climb up over Mt 7. I get stuck on the ramp for a long time as pilots launch off the south shale. By the time I finally get in the air the first start has come and gone. I’m now in a bit of panic to get in position for the last start. I climb up easily and get over Mt 7 a few minutes after the second start. I decide to wait for the last start to be in good position for the start time. I work a slow climb to kill time in hopes of being at cloud base when the 4:00 start hits. This strategy works well as I only need to chill out at cloud base for five minutes before my start time. I’m at 3800m, 2km from the edge of the start when I get the happy noise and head on course. I hit some lift at Kapristo and make one turn and press on as I’m not happy with it. I have a 15km glide before I finally get a good climb at 800’/min. I climb up to 3200m before it starts to slow and I press on. I continue flying hard only stopping for really strong lift. I pass pilots all the way to the first turn point and catch most of the faster pilots at the first turn point. I get high with Doug Keller just before the turn point. We tag the turn point head back to the back range and get high again. When we top out my 5030 reads I only need 70m to make goal from 45km out. I press hard going back with a light tail wind. Knowing I don’t need much more height to get back I only slow down in most lift and we only make a few turns on the way back. I only want one strong climb to make sure I get in as I don’t know how high I need to be to tag the turn point. We stop 20km out but the lift isn’t strong. I press on to Kapristo thinking I will find something there. I climb as I fly towards the cliff’s lifting me over the peaks but nothing I want to stop and turn in. I look at the turn point thinking I can make it but just can’t risk pushing to hard. Once I fly out into the valley I will be committed and have no chance of finding any lift. I fly all the way back to Mt7 and find a boomer and climb over Mt 7. I know this is way more height than I need but I’ve already wasted time getting this insurance height I might as well turn as long as the lift is really strong. I hit the turn point high and turn to goal and bury the bar. I finish the 106km task in 2 hr 11min. I will finish four minutes behind Scott winning the day in 2hr 7min. I’m very happy with how I flew today making good decisions and flying fast. I could have been very close to Scott’s time if I would have just glided into goal but I’m happy with my choice as it would have been a big risk. I’m surprised at the points I lose by taking the last start time.

The race is on!

Day five nat’s. The forecast was for light west winds, strong lift and a high cloud base. I’m a little sceptical with all the rain we’ve had and don’t believe the lift is going to be that great. We decide on a double out and return to Parson. This will help to keep pilots bunched up so you see lot’s of gliders on course. The total distance is 126km. We push the start times back to 3:30 to let the day develop and make sure it’s soarable before making pilots launch. I’m thinking it will get better later so I launch later and plan on taking the last start gate. After I take off I have no trouble getting up over launch and head to Mt 7 to get in position for the first start. I mess around a little too much and as the last start ticks by I’m just starting to climb in a strong thermal. I stick with it as I’m climbing fast and take the last start a little late. We run into plenty of lift on course but not all of it is worth turning in. I stop to turn when my vario pegs off the scale but on the back side is sink. I waste time all day stopping for this fools lift never learning my lesson. In the end I make goal but very slow. Launch is the goal cylinder and I come into goal 400’ below the turn point. First time I’ve ever finished below goal height. After tagging goal I head around to the towers and get back up again. I fly around with Scott doing a tandem and the paraglider tandems for 40 min after I finished the task. By the time I land my flight is almost five hours. Need to pick up the pace tomorrow if I hope to gain any ground.

Rained out.

Nat's day four called due to rain.

Racing the weather

Timmy packing up after pulling off a challanging landing.

Day 3 Nats. The forecast for today was for rain in Golden in the after noon. The weather was looking better south so the call was to Invermere. We tried to time the task so that is was soarable but before the clouds moved in. Half the field launched before it got shady but no one really got up. As the front moved in the winds picked up in the LZ. Every one got drilled coming into land and a few down tubes paid the price.

Blown out

Shaunia and I getting ready for our morning flight.

Day two Nat’s. I got up early to do a tandem flight before the afternoon task. The wind was strong out of the south. I arrived over the LZ with 700', enough to do one circuit before landing. The forecast is for strong winds today so we push the pilot meeting back to 2:30. The wind is still strong so we push it back to 4:30. I need every day to have any chance to get close and I’m anxious to get up the hill. By 4:00 the winds die off and we head up. The wind is still very strong on launch at times and we wait some more. I set up right away as the wind is with in my tolerance level. By 5:30 the wind isn’t calm enough to get every on off safely in time to have a fair task so the day is called. I launch a little after six and climb out in strong lift. I climb up to 11’000’ and head south. I decide to Parson and back which is the task we were thinking about. The wind is 30km out of the west at the top of the lift but I have no trouble heading down range. By seven things don’t seem quite as strong and the flying is more pleasant. I hit Parson and start to head back. The wind is all over the place depending on the altitude. I had some tail wind going out and some coming back.

When I got back to Mt 7 I spotted Calum Neff over the peak. I had just helped him with his first high flights last weekend. I was very excited to see him and raced over to fly with him on his first thermaling flight. I got to fly with him for an hour chasing around the mountain. I find the first thermaling flight to be more special than the first high flight. Just something about getting above where you’ve taken off from that is so thrilling. It also feels more like you have arrived as a pilot after working so hard to get to that point. We landed after 9:00pm in no wind. The landings were all great and we were grinning ear to ear. I had a three hour flight with a short cross country and got to share a momentous flight with a new pilot. I’m also not sure I have ever landed that late. Calling the day will put another nail in my coffin but it would have been a very stressful day for most of the field trying to call a task. The most important thing is for every one to have fun and making people fly today wouldn’t have been fun.

Canadian Nats Day one

Looking sw from launch over the LZ

Day one nat’s. I arrived today at noon just as every one was loading up. With the winds out of the south west we picked a task to Spillimcheen and back. Some thing low stress and not too hard to try and start on a good note and have lots of happy pilots. I launched a few back and picked a great cycle. I got over launch right away and start to climb strong. Several pilots bailed off right after me and start climbing up over launch with me. The lift started to break up at 7500’. I headed off to find better lift in front of Mt7. I flew over Fiona turning over the spine and not even a peep out of my vario. I saw Scott very low in front of the cliff’s looking like he would be heading out to land soon. I was very surprised that I wasn’t hitting any lift I looked back and John and Fiona were climbing up the spine. I headed back to get under them but again found nothing. Now I was struggling low with Stewart, Christine and Scott. We struggled well below the cliffs for awhile and finally headed out to land. Christine and Stewart were right behind me and Scott headed south of the punch bowl hoping for one last chance. He found some thing at the south end and climbed up over Seven after struggling for an hour below launch.

Scott would catch the entire field after starting 15 min after the last start time to win the day. John Orders was not far behind followed by Ross. Doug and Fiona came in a short while after with in seconds of each other. This was Fiona’s first time making goal; she continues to fly very well. Half the field made goal the other half bombed out. No one landed out. Scott scored 980 points.

The forecast is for rain mid week, so it looks like we will lose at least one day. I’m very frustrated, by making a couple wrong decisions and a little bad luck I will be out of contention after the first day. The punishment is extreme.

Back in the mountians.

We stopped in Golden on the way home to try and squeeze in a flight. The weather wasn't looking very good when we rolled into town, kind of over cast. A few blue spots promted us to head up the hill. It was looking better when we got to the top so we set up right away and got ready to launch. Leif went first and struggled to stay up. He made a valiant effort to get up before heading out to the landing field. I launched next and searched a bit before getting a good climb. It was a strong fast climb up to 10'000' before I pulled out to avoid the dark black cloud above me. I declared a 25km triangle before I launched as I didn't want to land down the valley and make for a long retrieve. I moved my turn points this year and headed off to my new start point. It was a little ways out in the valley but I'm happy with the location of my first two turn points. I wasted some time looking for lift after I got my start but soon got back into a strong climb. Again I pulled out well below cloud base to avoid serious cloud suck. As I headed back to my turn point behind Mt seven I got drilled all the way there. As I dropped lower and lower behind Mt seven I started to panic and ran around to get back out front 600m before I got to my turn point. In retro spec I should have took a better look at the clouds and gotten higher and picked a better line back to my turn point. Also I didn't need to pull out so soon. I don't have to make it back to Nickleson. There are other places you could land although going down behind Mt seven is not an option. I think I blew a great record setting day. I will post the flight when I have a moment.

Blown Out

Too windy to fly let's play mini golf. How long is that hole Paul?

The winner of the day lining up his shot.

Awsome golf and he can juggle.

A double scope is a little too much. Eat fast before it melts.

Day five and six turned out to be quite windy. Day five was called off due to wind, day six some people flew but no one did very well. We had a great time here this week. Chelan is a great place to hang out even if you don't get to fly. The local's are very friendly and the local pilots are very helpful and give good advice. If you come here I would recomend talking to the local pilots and take there advice. Chelan has some special challanges, don't learn things the hard way, listen to the people that know the area. In the end we had some great flying and a great time here. Can't wait to come back next year.

Day four.

Ice cream after flying, it's a tradition

Heather and Christine, hot hot pilots.

Temperature cools slightly. With the heat backing off I’ve been able to sleep better and don’t get worn out so bad on launch. With Paul pushing to make it to a pilots meeting we get to launch earlier and Fiona and Doug win a prize in the daily draw. You have to be on launch to claim your prize. Yesterday they called Fiona, Paul and Christine. One of the California guys yelled stop pulling Canadians their not here. Fiona and I picked a 130km triangle to the SE. If I’m going to gain any ground I need to start scoring some big flights. I got ready right away and slotted into line at 1:30. I got off the hill before 2:00 and got over launch right away. I stayed up in some rough lee side lift while I watched several gliders struggle low in front of launch. After about ten minutes it finally turned on and we were able to get high and cross over to the flats. A paraglider helped me get high on the rim on the other side and I was off. Again I was going slow working lift that was dying out and milking every thermal for all it’s worth. Fiona heard you need to be high before you cross the canyon. I found some lift in a field just before I got to the canyon and got as high as possible. As I headed across the canyon I spotted a jet flying fast below me about 1000’ off the deck. He flashed a light at me letting me know he saw me too. I love watching planes fly by, as long as there not too close. When I got the other side I spotted another glider low climbing up on the cliffs. It looked like Fiona so I stayed above her to wait for her to catch up. Once the glider got to my height I headed out but they didn’t follow. Turned out it wasn’t Fiona. I decided I needed to speed up and tried to push hard to make some time. I skipped the next tow climbs which didn’t seem very strong before I noticed the ground was looking shaded by the high cirrus cloud moving over me. Damn, bad time to be pushing hard. Now low I was trying to hang on to what ever I could find. The drift was huge and pushing me away from my turn point. I soon landed. Turned out the day shut down early and their wasn’t very many good flights any way. I should have done better if I would have been more observant but it was a good learning experience. The flying here is awesome.

Long retrieve

Doug and I with some new friend's Cindy, Allan and Co.

I hope that cat doesn't know how to use that gun.

Still hot. I picked a 130km triangle to the east. The forecast was for thunder storms late in the afternoon. I launched late because I’ve been a little nervous about launching here and don’t want to be in the way. By the time I got across the gap you could see rain to the north. I was flying slow and over development was filling in all around me. I fought up wind to get my sim’s turn point in hopes things might clear and I could get back. I knew this was wishful thinking and should have just headed straight east as you don’t need to tag the turn points if you aren’t doing some sort of closed course. I knew there would me no going back with a storm building behind me. I headed straight east after sims and crossed the lake. I got some lift on the cliff’s over looking the lake but decieded with a south wind it might not be the best place to be. If I were to tumble and have to throw my parachute I would be blown out into the middle of the lake. Not that I was really worried about tumbling but I just didn’t feel the risk was worth it. I headed towards the nearest farm and landed.

I was soon greeted by a friendly face on a quad to see how I was. I introduced my self to Cindy and Allan and then Cindy was off to grab me a glass of ice water. After I was packed up they brought me into there home and made some dinner for me. It was nice to have something to eat, I was starving after a long flight and had nothing with me. They were super friendly and made me feel at home for my four hour wait for retrieve. Doug went out to get Fiona but she got picked up. He then went and got Christine. Next was Paul but he got picked up by a friend of Martin Henry so they headed off to get me. Not knowing the area they headed down the highway next to the lake and got with in 6km of me but a the bottom of the huge cliff I was soaring. They had to drive all the way to the end of the lake to get back up on top. Cell coverage was spotty at best which made the whole thing a lot harder. Allan took me in his ’68 station wagon to meet them part way. It’s a little harder to find coming from the north. We finally got back to the farm. Christine and Paul then got to meet Cindy, Allan and all the pet’s. Two dogs, four cats (one pregnant) two duck, three geese, and two horses. They were such kind people and as I’ve mentioned in the past part of the reason I love to fly cross country.

Day Two.

setting up on launch

Tom Peirce's daughter and driver extrodinare, Katie.

Damn hot!! (39c) I’ve been unable to sleep in this heat. I’ve gotten about four hours of sleep a night for the last few days. With the lack of sleep and extreme heat I haven’t felt up to par. I forgot my vario in the truck and by the time I got back up to launch a huge cloud was covering the whole valley. I was thinking it take at least an hour to clear or worse yet blow up. I decided to tear down and after I had all my baton’s pulled the sky cleared. Oh well It just wasn’t meant to be for me today. Fiona and Paul did a 60km triangle and Christine flew out to Mansfield and back. Paul forgot to turn on his track log. Tough lesson many pilots have had to learn. Leif is still working on his glider. I missed a great day and lost a lot of ground.

Day one

Day one, hot. I picked a 150km task today with a shorter 100km secondary task depending on how conditions looked on the way to my first turn point. If I didn’t think I could make it I had a closer turn point on the way that I could use to shorten up my triangle. You get a lot more points for coming back to Chelan.

I launched late as I was a little nervous after my poor launch yesterday and didn’t want to get in the way. I climbed out easily over launch to 8000’ and had no problem getting out over the flats. I wondered aimlessly around over the power lines looking for my first climb out over the flats. This is not how you fly big distance. I finally found something and got up over 9000’. I headed off to Mansfield and hooked up with a bunch of pilots that looked like they were heading back already. I got high over Mansfield to about 11 000’ before heading off again. I just couldn’t make my self speed up. It was good lift and I wasn’t getting low but mentally it was still hard to speed up. I decided to stick with my first turn point and just do an out and return. My goal was to try and stay up as late as possible and still make it back to the airport. As I went by my alternate turn point the ground in front of me looked a lot greener. I was low just before a lake I needed to cross to get to my turn point. It was getting late and I was low. I found a weak climb and hung on. I could make it across the lake but I didn’t think it was worth crossing only to land and make retrieve that much harder. I figured if I could get back up I would just start heading back. I got back up to 6000’ and started back. Once I got back to Sim’s corner the lift stared to get a little better. I hooked up with Tom Pierce at Sim’s and we flew the rest of the day together. The thermals were now 200’ per minute instead of the 500 or 600’ per minute we were getting earlier. I knew if I was going to have any chance at getting back I needed to pick up the pace. Although the climbs were a lot slower I wasn’t wasting any time. I topped out at about 8000’ just out side of Mansfield and thought I might make it back if I could climb a few hundred feet more. I headed towards home keeping my eye on the ridge across from the airport. If I could clear the ridge you can make it to the airport. The trick was am I going to get over that ridge. The air was very buoyant and I would get a few beeps as I flew a long. Tom was in front of me turning so I headed to join him. I made a couple of turns with out gaining any height so I pressed on not wanting to lose any height either. As I got closer the ridge I was starting to see more of the fields on the other side of the river, indicating that I’m going to clear the ridge. I had my elbows tucked in and toes pointed. As the ground started to rise up below me I was getting a little bit of lift to help me get over the top. I cleared the ridge by 500’ and headed for the airport. As I was trying to figure out the wind direction I saw Tom 500’ below me. I was surprised because he was a few hundred feet over me when I passed by him climbing. He told me he hit some big sink on his final glide. Not sure what my score will be for the day because for out and returns and triangles you have to hit designated turn points not just turn where ever. Hopefully I got over the Sim’s turn point or I won’t get scored for the out and return. My total distance was 116km out and return and I was in the air for 4hr 15min. A great day of flying. Paul, Christine and Doug had a hard time getting over the river and landed at the soccer field. Leif was working on getting his glider fixed. Fiona had a new personal best. I will get her to tell the story!!

Chelan

Were having a great time in Chelan. Our day consists of getting up, going for breakfast, jump in the lake, drop off the cars at designated landing fields (soccer field and air port), fly, go for dinner and drinks, jump in the lake, then we tell flying stories until bed time. Chelan is a hopping little lake side resort town. There’s plenty here to keep the family busy while you go fly. The people are friendly and they have some really good restaurants. It’s a very comfortable feeling hanging out here.

Loading up to go fly

Post flight swim.

Chelan practice days.

Friday I headed to Golden to get a flight in before going to Chelan. I got away late and arrived in Golden at 2:30. Dave Corbin was at the landing field and keen to head up. We loaded up and headed to the top. The wind was blowing in from the north and it was easy to get off. After I took off I worked my way up over mount 7 in very ratty air. I wasn’t sure if I was just getting soft from all the flat land flying I’ve been doing or was this really ratty air. After heading over to Capristo I came back and landed. Dave was already down; he agreed it was very ratty. After dinner I packed up and pressed on to Penticton.

I got up early Saturday and caught up with Doug and Leif at the boarder. It was no problem getting across the boarder and we were anxious to get to Chelan. I rolled into town about 11:00. We had lunch and headed up to launch. We all scoped out the area before getting set up. Pilots were launching all afternoon. Most people were getting up but it looked like work. Our group all got ready to go together. I went to the south launch as it looked like the wind was more consistent there. Every one else was launching between the rocks. Leif got a tail wind when he started his launch and never got up. He ended up bending some aluminium. I moved over to the other launch and launched in a week cycle. I had a poor launch run and just got off the ground. Once in the air I climbed up easily over launch and crossed the gap when I hit 2500m. I got down to 1200m on the other side before I finally got back up again. The lift was big and smooth. I was fighting a 15km head wind so progress was slow. It was easy to stay up thou and it was nice to get feel for the site and a good look at the lay of the land. I did a small 50km triangle and landed back at the air port. The rest of the gang got up and crossed the gap. Every one boated around for a while and then landed at the air port.
This was one of the nicest flights I’ve had this year. The lift was so smooth and good climbs it was very relaxing. I’m really looking forward to the week ahead.

Tied for first after day one!

With limited room on launch we load the trucks up.

Fi getting ready for hang waiting.

With every one eager to fly we head up to launch to set up. The task was five laps across saddle mountain. The paragliders were first to launch as the winds were forecast to increase in the afternoon. The forecast was correct and the winds started to howl by early afternoon. Two pilots launch and broke parts landing in very rowdy conditions. After four hours the rest of us packed up and drove down. Lets party!!

Lumby Air Races

We are in Lumby this weekend for a three day meet. Historicly Lumby has rain this weekend but the forecast is looking good. After all the rain we've been having over the last few weeks every one is very excited to get in the air. Can't wait to fly. I love this place when the conditions are on.

Chased out of the sky.

It looked like and awsome day.

We arrived at the tow field about 11:00am. With a perfect looking sky and hotter than yesturday I started to set up right away. By 12:30 I was ready to go. It seemed a little early but the only other thing we needed to see was a glider climbing. With a short road I ended up with a low tow at 1000'. I pinned off in a broken climb but, managed to work my way up to 8000'. I headed down wind to our declaired goal of Many barry at 213km. The clouds looked great, I had a strong tail wind straight down my course line but, I was finding it hard to get a good climb. Their was lost of strong lift but nothing you could get a full 360 in. With the low cloud base I spent my whole flight looking for lift. I had a couple of birds check me out. I went to join one in my best thermal of the day but he made me very nervous. He passed within 10' right below me and came around and stuck right on my butt. I lost my climb and thought it would be a good idea to just bug out. It turned out to be my last thermal. I thought I was going to pull off a low save at 600' but it wasn't meant to be. John was able to get away as well but shared my struggles and landed a short distance from the tow road. Moore was the hero of the day. Flying a sport 2 he was able to show the topless gliders how it's done. He got away on his second tow at about 2:00. He headed straight south following the high way. He made it just short of Lethbridge. His total distance was about 60km. Kal did an awsome job of towing us up and then picking us up. He pick me up waiting by the road and then we were off to pick up John. We help him finish packing up his glider and we were off chasing Moore. We were able to catch up to him and arrived just after he landed. We helped him tear down his glider and headed home. Moore does so much to help the rest of us with out asking for any thing in return. He has picked me up on some of my best flights including my longest ever. I was very happy to be there to help him after a long flight. Few people deserve to have a great flight than Moore. Thanks to Kal and John for there help and congratulations to Moore on a great flight on what I found to be a tough day.

High hopes

Today as we headed out of Calgary we high overcast milky looking cloud. The forecast was good so we headed out to the tow road. By the time we got there things were looking much better. By the time we got set up it looked awesome. With a 30km/h west wind I was hoping for some good lift and a long flight. I was ready first and took the first tow. I towed into a themal climbing at 1800ft/min while still on tow. I was trying to figure out how high I was and if I should pin off. I always prefer to pin off in some thing than trying to go back and find it once I release. I towed to the end of the road before I pinned off I didn’t find anything until I got back to our set up area. I found some broken lift with some bullets that I couldn’t get around in. With the strong wind I soon drifted away and landed shortly after. John and Moore took a few tows each and never got above tow height. I wish I would have pinned off earlier in that strong lift. The forecast gets better every day for the next week so hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Fly as far as you can....meet.

Saturday day a group of us headed out to Standard to try and put on some miles. My instructor, John Jensen has taken off the next week to try and get in some air time. The last couple day’s have sucked. Thursday it snowed so we let things’ dry up Friday. Saturday was calling for strong SW winds. Standard was the call as the winds were forecast to be a little lighter than Vulcan. Driving out the wind was strong already and we had some high cirrus cloud. We headed out early to get as much out of the day as possible. With the high cloud I wasn’t expecting much out of the day. We dragged Graham up a couple times as he was looking for some practice. He hasn’t started themaling yet. John had started to set up but the wind was straight across the road. I was already set up so Micheal towed me up and flew to the east end of the tow road so we could tow straight into the strong west wind. I got a very high tow but we still had milky overcast cloud over us still. I didn’t find much for lift and landed and waited for conditions to improve. Martin, another student, was also out and we towed him up next. The high cloud was pushing east and we had some blue sky over us with a few nice looking CU’s. Micheal said his girlfriend Sandra would tow me up if I wanted to go. It looked like a small window so I took him up on his offer. I suited up and loaded onto the truck. Sandra towed me up over 2000’ and I released into a nice thermal. I gained another 1000’ before I lost the lift and ran down wind to get under the CU’s that were heading east, fast! When I caught up to the clouds I found some good lift under them. I climbed up to 9000’ and looked around on where I was going to go. I headed east towards some nice looking clouds. My next climb I got over 10’000’ and started to lose sight of the ground. I pulled in to get away from the cloud. There was high overcast cloud ahead so I was pushing cross wind to the north jumping cloud streets to let the overcast area push ahead of me to the east. The lift was easy to find and I never got lower than 6000’. I avoided getting over 9000’ as some of the clouds looked big and black. I could see a lot of rain cells all over. I didn’t try to climb to fast as I wanted to let the front push east a head of me. I kept pushing north and then headed east when I had nice clouds in front of me. I climbed under a dark looking cloud to 9000’ and headed on glide. I continued east. As I went on glide I kept climbing and pulled on more and more speed to try and maintain a zero sink rate. When I had the bar stuffed and was still climbing I was very glad I had given myself 1000’ clearance from the clouds. Once I got away from the cloud suck I tried to pick a line to maintain zero sink. I had a 20km glide between two walls of rain showers under over cast cloud. I was running for some sun I could see off in the distance. I arrived 1500’ off the ground and search the area for some lift. There were some bits of lift around but I was reluctant to try and work anything as it was just barren grass land east of me with no roads in site. I didn’t find any good cores and didn’t want to drift off in broken lift. The wind was very strong and my glides were averaging 100km/h ground speed. I set up my landing in the last farm before the tiger country and got kicked around coming in. I stayed on the base tube right to the ground. Just as I was finishing packing up the land owners came over and spent the next 3hrs visiting with me while I waited for my ride. They informed me I was 30km SE of Hanna. I was surprised to find out I had made it that far. When I called John he told me no one else was able to get away. Moore hit the road to come and get me. He picked me up last year too when I landed 5miles south of Hanna after I flew there from Vulcan last spring. Thanks to Micheal for the tows and Moore for picking me up, again.

Flights 2 Air time 2:30 distance 215km.

Spring is here.

The flying season has finally begun at home. We’ve had some crappy weather here so far this spring. Lucky some of us were able to head south and get a head start on the flying. Moore, Doug k, Doug D, Paul, Fiona, Ross, Bruce and myself headed out to Vulcan to get in some flying. Bruce was loading up and getting ready to go when the rest of us arrived and started to set up. Ross towed him up and he was able to get away at 1:00. I was the next ready and Doug K towed me up. I got a low tow and was struggling to stay up. After a short flight I landed and Ross towed me up again as no one was quite ready to yet. I was able to hook into some thing and climbed slowly up to 9000’. I headed off to the east in a strong wind. I found the cores to be elusive and snaky. As I got such a late start I decided to work on my thermaling and get as high as I could. I managed to get to 10’000’ a few times. Thanks to Dougie for lending me some gloves as I had forgotten mine at home. I got high at McGregor lake and headed off to Bow City. I had thoughts of Landing at Bow City but, I thought if I’m going to try and make a big flight this year I need to work on getting as far as possible at the end of the day. I pressed on practicing working weak end of the day thermals. I didn’t really get much further but, its always good to get as much practice as possible. I picked out a farm I thought I could reach. I made it with about 300’ over the house. As I passed over the house I saw about 20 people on the back deck. Looks like a party!! Good choice. I set up my landing in the field next to the house and stuck my landing. A small crowd was already heading my way. As I started peeling off the layers of clothes the questions start. How are you going to take off again? Where did you come from? Did you run out of wind? One of the great things about flying at home is you very often get a warm friendly reception from the farmers. Part of the adventure of flying cross country is randomly meeting new people. It happened to be a birthday party and I felt bad about stealing the spot light from the birthday boy. I was invited in for dinner, drinks and many more questions about hang gliding. I love the enthusiasm and often wonder why every one isn’t as excited about the sport as I am. After a couple hours my ride showed up and I had more than enough to drink. We stayed so Dougie could have a drink and a few more stories with my new friends. Thanks to Ross and Doug for the tows and Dougie for picking me up.

Flights 2 Air time 3:10 Distance 100km

The end of a great week.

The winners, Andre, Jonny and Phillipo

Happy in the desert.

It’s always a strange feeling after a comp is over. Saying good bye to good friends that you only get to see a few times a year. We don’t leave until Monday as the flight was much cheaper. It’s nice to be able to relax before you leave, but it’s also tough being the last ones to go. We had a great wind up party and relived some of the flights over the past week. Andre Wolf from Brazil won with Jonny Durand Jr came in second.

I’ve had a great start to the season and look forward to some great flying over the season to come.

Goaaaal!!!

Our awsome retrieve team. They did a great job of finding every one.

The line up on the final day.

Our meet director doing some cart repairs.

They finally call a task short enough for me to make it in. The preference is to call a closed task on the final day to have every one back early enough to do the scoring and have the wind up party. Conditions are not conducive for a closed task so they call a relatively short task with a quartering tail wind. I take an early tow and conditions are very weak. I’m at the bottom of a death gaggle trying hard to stay off the ground. As I search for better lift I just get lower and lower. Instead of working to get up I decide to land and take another tow. Scott is struggling with me and makes the same choice.

This time I get towed to some decent lift. I climb with several other pilots and get into a good position for the second start. The day has turned on and we head off on course. I was one of the higher pilots when we went on glide and I get a great line. I lose very little height on my first glide and I able to see what every one else is doing. I find a slow climb north of the course line and keep my eye on what every one else is doing. When I see a group find the best lift I join them and arrive near the top of the stack. When the lift stops we head out again. I am leading out and not on the top of the pile any more. We go on a very long glide towards a couple pilots very low. Just before we get to them we hit some lift. The pilot to my right banks up left which I don’t think he should be doing as the pilots in front of us are turning right. As we are not really in the same thermal I turn left with him. As the rest of the gaggle joins us it turns into a real mess. We don’t have one good core and people are turning in both directions. I’m trying to stay off the ground and not hit any one.

I finally get up and press on with Linda, Sonny and a few others. I’m still not very confident about the day and fly very slow. I waste a lot of time trying to suck every foot out of every thermal. It’s one thing to be cautious but we were just wasting time. I start to shade further to the south as there are mountains south of the course line. Sonny is south of me so to keep spread out I don’t get as close to them as I wanted. I lost sight of Sonny but spotted some one climbing over the mountains so I made a right hand turn and head south. I can’t spot the pilot I saw climbing but hit a good climb once I get over the range. As I’m climbing fast I watch as my numbers go positive. I’m not sure if the altitude is set properly. I need to start checking this when I program in my route. I’m 25km from goal and have goal by a couple hundred meters. As the thermal starts to slow I head for home. I have a feeling I’m going to get a good glide in but my numbers are up and down. I can see the airport which is goal and it looks like I’m going to make it. It’s hard to be confident on a 25km final glide thou. I see Linda and another T2 climbing 15km from goal. I stop 500’ over there head’s and take some extra altitude. It’s not a great climb but I stick with it until I have 300m over goal (1000’). I leave every one behind and head on final. I do end up getting a good glide and arrive with 300m to spare. Their was a big crowd on the ground at goal. I was surprised that we used this airport as goal. It was huge and busy. We were given very specific directions on where to fly when we arrived at goal. It was very cool to fly into such a big airport. I set up a good approach into a strong wind. As I transitioned to my down tubes when I got into ground effect I let my nose out and popped up 20’ and stalled. I pounded in hard. I didn’t hurt myself or break anything thankfully. About half dozen pilots came into goal behind me.

I was happy to make goal and was happy with my over all flying. I recognized areas I could have improved on to make it in faster. I think I could have skipped my last climb and still made it into goal. I had wasted so much time earlier that I didn’t think it was worth pushing hard to end up low 1 or 2 km out struggling to get in. I’m very happy with my comp here and I hope I can build on what I learned this week.

Tough Day

The task was a bow tie we did last year to the NW. I learned my lesson last year about heading out over the green farm land and headed north instead towards the desert. It was hard to make any progress with the poor lift into a slight head wind. I finally just pressed forward to the north after the first start. I was flying with a few other people which really helps on days like this. I saw a few people over the farms to the west and they looked low. I ended up with just one other pilot after the first couple of themals. Conditions seemed to be getting a little better and we were flying well together. We were climbing well together and spread out on glide to increase out chance of finding lift. We went on a long glide and ended up low over the city of Maricopa which was the second turn point we would need to hit after we made the first. My new flying buddy found some weak broken lift and was turning trying hard to get back up. I was looking for places I could posibly land if I needed to as Maricopa looked pretty big and you couldn't just land any where. This turned out to be my down fall as I really need to focus on getting up in the weak lift not looking at landing options. I was some what happy with my day as no one made goal and lots never even got away from the resort. I still managed almost three hours in the air today. Happy to be getting lots of air time.

Hero to Zero.

I got very lucky yesturday and every thing was working for me. Today I got very unlucky and nothing seemed to work. I launched early and followed a group to the edge of the start circle. I was at the bottom of the stack and hit the lift first. Every one join's me in very crappy lift. No one is really gaining any height and they all run back to the resort. The water tower is close and always works but I don't want to risk going alone and landing so I head back too not sure if I'm going to make it. I find enough scrappy lift to make it back to the resort and spend the next fourty minutes making low save after low save. I finally give up and land after 1hr and 15min to take a relight. Every one is gone so I have some water before getting a high tow and head out on course. I find the day very hard and work hard for every mile. I get to the first turn point when I see my first glider of the day. It's Fiona and we fly together for the next few miles. She gets low and I head off on my own. It's getting late and the lift is really weak. I strech my glide out as far as I can before I land in famers field. Their is several gliders land around me. Fiona was able to make a couple of low saves and makes another five kms. Their is ten pilots between us. After such a late start I'm happy to make it half way around the course.

My best day ever!

They got a little aggresive with the task today as cloud base was still low and the lift wasn't great. Add to that they send us down the soft spot in front of the swamp again. I'm a good postition at the first start and head out on course. Linda helps me find a good climb just past town. I find a better core and get much higher than she does. I head to a desert area south of the turn point as the cultivated areas don't normally work very well. This desision pays off as I get a good climb and help save a few low pilots around me. I topped out and ran back north into the wind to tag the turn point and come back to the same thermal. I top up agian knowing It's going to be soft in front of me. I'm getting low just before the prision and grab some week lift to stay as high as possible. A bunch of pilots catch up to me and people are just hanging on every where. I spot several guy's getting up and run towards them. A few gliders are really low below us and Scott and Alex are on the ground in front of the prision. Their is now about ten of us taking every inch of height we get. If they didn't notice me here yesturday I'm sure they will notice us today. When the lift stops we all head straight south to get to some desert and better lift. I'm with the lead gaggle and they are flying fast. I'm a little behind and hit some lift I decide to turn in. I gain a quick 500ft while the rest of the gaggle runs for a dust devil just forming next to the freeway. They get to the dust and find a strong climb. I follow not far behind and hit a strong core before I get to them. When they see I'm climbing faster they all join me and climb up to base. We now head on course to a mountian 10km before the second turn point. We fly around the peaks until some one finally finds some lift. The lift is moving and the rest of the gaggle finds a better core and leaves me behind. I head to the turn point alone and find a strong thermal 200m from the turn point. I'm drifting away from the turn point and when I get a few hundred meters from base I decide to get the turn point and come back to my thermal. Turns out to be a bad choice as I don't find the lift when I come back. It's getting late in the day and I work what ever lift I can find. I head back to the mountain hoping it is still working as the course line heads out over miles with out any roads. The day is over and the lift is all but gone. I land at the base of the mountain right next to I-10. It turns out I no one made goal and I finish 6th for the day. This is my highest finish ever in a major comp. Hope I can keep it up.

Deja Vu!

First day is a triangle we did twice last year. I towed up early and climbed out easy with several other gliders. We hang out high over the resort before heading to the edge of the eight km start circle. I make it to the first turn point with out too much trouble then it get hard. We had a lot of trouble along this leg last year and this year is the same. With a low cloud base and week lift I strugle to make any milage. I'm low over the prison and get a week climb right next to it. I don't like this spot as the air space over a prision is restricted air space. I see two glider's climbing over the swamp but stick with what I have. This turns out to be a bad choice and I soon land with Mark D and Bruce. Not a bad start. Several comps I've been to I havn't gotten out of the tow paddock so I'm happy enough with my first day.

Setting up.

Tyler is such a big help!

Getting there is half the fun.

Well I don’t know if it will be half the fun but the flight was fun and very low stress. Traveling with a hang glider is not the easiest of tasks but every one at West Jet made it so much easier. They are so helpful and very service oriented. We arrive at the Calgary airport three hours early to help give them lots of time to deal with our very large bags. Dave from baggage spotted us just after we had arrived at the airport and went to get a ticket agent as the counter wasn’t open yet. He then went to customs and got a custom agent to come out to check our bags at the door and cleared them so we didn’t have to lug them through the whole terminal. Then the ticket agent saved the entire first row for us. It was great having a little extra leg room. It also gave us the chance to visit a bit more with a couple of the flight attendants. They were so friendly. Scott was a little bored so they put him to work doing the water service and picked up garbage after. Thanks to every one at West Jet for all your help and great service.

We got in a too late to set up Friday so we got our gliders set up today. The wind was a little strong at times so not every one flew today. Last year was the first year a comp was run in Arizona and we had sixteen pilots. This year seventy have entered. It’s great to see friends I have met in comps around the world over the last few years. Today we just hung out catching up with friends and getting ready to fly tomorrow.

Last day.

The awsome Rylstone sun set.

One last flight before packing up to head home. Well make that two….um ok three. A Swiss pilot is here learning to fly a dragon fly from Bobby. After they did some training in the morning Bobby took me up for a flight in the Dragon fly. It’s been a while since I’ve flown a plane but after some pointers from Bobby I found it quite easy. I need some work on the landings thou. After my Dragon fly lesson I set up my Hang glider to take it for one last flight. I towed up to 200m before my bridle released. I tried to work the lift but couldn’t stay up and landed. Bobby asked why I didn’t follow him as he was marking the lift for me. Just not as smart as I need to be some times. He is an amazing pilot. On the second tow I hit some good lift 500m off the ground and pinned off. We had some wind today which was going to make doing a triangle more difficult. I stuck with it to 2100m asl and had drifted 5km NE of the airport. Armand was going to the pool in Kandos 8km south of Rylstone to go to the pool for a swim. I decided to head that way into the 10km/h head wind to work on my up wind skills. Also if I ended up landing it would make it easier for retrieve. I got back to Rylstone, just a few km south of the air port when I got my next climb. I worked my way back up to 2000m and headed for Kandos. I got over the swimming pool and searched the area for some lift. I found a slow climb and drifted with it back over the near by hills. I topped out again at 2000m and headed straight west. I wanted to stay with in glide of the pool so I could land close and go for a swim. I flew out over an open pit mine and then turned back north. Not finding any lift I turned back towards the pool. As I got back the field I was planning on landing at didn’t look quite so flat from down low. So instead of trying a tricky landing right next to the pool I chose another field close by. After a nice landing I walked my glider back to the road just as Armand pulled up. I tore down my glider and we headed off to the pub for a cold drink. Then it was off to the pool to cool off. It was a huge pool with big trees on each side which provide great shade so you don’t get fried when swimming. After a couple hours in the pool it was off to dinner before Heading back to the airport to pack up my stuff.

One of Australia's local's

Back in Rylstone.

The gang out for chinese food.

Bill Moyes, Bobby Bailey and a few others spent the night here and went out for Chinese food again. I’m the only hang glider pilot here so Bobby towed me up in the after noon and I set out to do a triangle as the winds looked very light. I wanted to try to do at least 100km. I’ve never finished any big triangles before. Cloud base was high over 2800m and I was getting climbs of 800ft/min on my averager. I made my turn 37km out as any further would have been over unlandable hills and there was a big storm in front of me about 20 or 30km away. I kept my eye on the storm as I flew the base of my triangle. I was still going good and staying high. I had picked a mountain to make my turn as long as the storm didn’t get too close. I made my turn at the spot I was hoping to get to and turned to run from the storm and back to the airport in Rylstone. As I tried to climb the clouds in front of the storm were casting a huge shadow on the ground and killing the lift. I would run for the sun light but as soon as I would stop to turn the shade would catch up with me and shut down the lift. I finally landed 19.9km from my goal. The gust front hit me five minutes after I landed. I landed at a ranch way off the road. Retrieved turned out to be very difficult. Thanks to Armand for coming to get me. He has been so much help for me; it’s made my trip a lot easier. The ranch hand was very nice and made me tea while I waited. While Armand was losing his mind trying to find me. I wish I would have started my flight 20 minutes earlier so I would have had a better chance to finish my triangle. Would have been 110km. It was the perfect day for it.

On the road again.

Three of the tugs were brought back to Rylstone where Moyes does some of their secret testing. I got to drive back one of the pilots Toyota land cruiser. I’m really getting used to driving on the other side of the road. I’m not even turning on the wind shield wiper when I signal any more. I do still get in the wrong side of the car sometimes.

The land cruiser I got to drive back.

Typical Austrailian high way. Most roads have trees down both sides of the road.

Austrailian super high way. The less traveled roads aren't paved or are one paved lane.

Party and meet head quarters.

Two of our volunteers who worked hard on the flight line in the blazing heat. Thanks for all your help Amy and Gracey!!

The tug pilots that got us in the air every day.

Top ten pilots.

After the final task all the pilots had a buffet dinner at the Vandenburg hotel (meet headquarters). Pilots were asked to get back as soon as possible and turn in their GPS for scoring. After dinner were the awards. The mayor of Forbes was out to give some of the awards. They brought up the top ten for pictures and the top three gave a speech. Micki “frozen pickles” gave one of the speeches and gave tribute to his friend who had died at last years meet. After the awards everyone partied late before heading out the next day. Many pilots are going to Bogong which starts right away. I wish I was able to go as I’m just starting to fly better now. Maybe next year.

The Forbes air field.

Last day of the comp. The forecast was good for today. High cloud base strong climbs and lighter winds. At any comp they call a short task on the last day to try and get every one back early for scoring and awards. Here in Forbes a short task turned out to be 137km. Head wind 63km then a hard right and Quartering tail wind. Davis came up to me as I did my usual walk from the back to the front of the launch line to take off first. He said the day is going to get better later so don’t take an early start. I took his advice and hung out for an hour and a half before the mandatory start.

People started towing early as the sky looked good so it wasn’t long before I had lots of company. Before I launched I asked the guy behind me if it was a left or right hand day. He told me he thought it was left. I had a couple guys join me and one started to wave his hand “change direction”. I guess it’s a right hand day. I got into a couple of big gaggles and people were all over the place turning in both directions through out the climb. It was total chaos and scary as hell. I can’t believe people come to these comps and refuse to turn in the direction they are supposed to. I was with the lead gaggle at the second start when every one turned back towards the edge of the start and then out on course. I just flew inside the start circle and headed out on course. I had a great start and was with the lead gaggle for the first time. It was nice to be able fly with guy’s for a change. I was dropped after the first thermal getting screwed up by guys not turning the right way. I saw guys all the way to the first turn point but flew by myself for the most part. I stayed high and cold for most of the flight. Lots of people were low around the first turn point and one glider had landed. I stopped in a slow climb to make sure I had lots of height. This was not needed as the day was still very good. I just didn’t want to take the chance of landing short. After I got around the turn point I flew under a huge cloud and again climbed up slow. I think part of the problem was just me not finding the good lift. After I got over 2400m it really turned on and I was climbing fast. When I got to 2700m I looked up at a very large very black cloud. I figured I’d better book it to the edge before I got sucked up. I stuffed the bar and was still climbing fast. I slowed as I got close to the edge and was over 2900m. I took one more good climb at 2200m to top up a bit when my numbers went positive (+11m). I went on a very long glide from 45km out and my numbers were falling apart. I got down to 1000m and I was -360m. I searched for lift and started to climb just as a dust devil started to form under me. I took this back up to 2500m 18km out from goal. I now had +890m to goal. I went on final glide not knowing exactly where goal was. I called my driver to see if they had a goal line today. She said yes there is a goal line. I continued to fly at 70km/h air speed and my numbers were holding steady. Finally I spotted goal 6km out and buried the bar as I was going to make it easy. I saw two other gliders turning to get down. I arrived more than 300m over goal. I wasted a lot of time but I didn’t want to risk not making it in. I asked for the wind direction and was told it was light and variable. I dived into the field. I flared a little late and didn’t have the energy to run. I just fell down and pounded in. It was my worst landing all week. I just wanted to lay there on the ground for a bit but figured I better get up before some one called an ambulance. I was glad I was able to end the comp on a good note.

Another great looking day in Forbes.

Way off on the forecast.

The task today was 184km down wind which seemed a little ambitious considering the forecast. Davis has been right on with the forecast every day and today he called for light lift two to three hundred feet per minute and low cloud base around five thousand feet. I had to get people to get out of the way to get to launch just after it opened. Seems everyone has forgotten the problems you can run into during launch already and are happy to wait and launch later. So I was able to tow first again and broke a week link at 750m. I was able to work light broken lift up to 1100m. Only one other pilot towed up and Bobby was flying around him taking video. No one else launched for about ten minutes. Once I lost the lift I flew back and grabbed another thermal in the same spot I got the first one. Finally the rest of the field started to tow. Once other pilots joined me we got up to about 1400m. I headed off to the edge of the start circle with one other pilot. We both climbed up together and then headed off on course before the first start gate. As the forecast was so poor I thought I might as well get going if this was as good as it’s going to get I need all the time I can to make goal. We got one more climb together before we split. He got a much better line and I lost track of him. There was a small mountain cross wind from be but on course so I headed off hoping if I got there I could ridge soar until some thing came through. When I got to the near edge over a tiny little hill I hit good lift. I gained a thousand feet and lost track of it. Instead of chasing down wind after it I had it in my head to get over top of the higher rock covered faces. As I flew the full length of the ridge all I got was 0. When I got to the end instead of going back over the ridge and maybe try to find the first thermal I hit when I got there, I just turned down wind. As I got lower and lower I could see three dust devils. One of them was huge up to 1000’ high. The clouds were also starting to form just over my head. It was too late for me, I only had enough height to set up a landing. As I layed beside my glider I saw a couple gliders fly high over my head only 30 km out from the airport. As it turned out the forecast was way off and it got easy from where I had landed. Cloud base went up to 9000’ and guys arrived at goal high after a 30 km final glide. Over have the field made goal today.

Rest day

Another hot day in Forbes!

Some pilots are getting tired and asking for a rest day. So Attila called a rest day. 143km task down wind. Easy by Forbes standards. The launch opened at 1:00 today and the mandatory start was at 2:40. This helped keep every one from jumping into the launch line so I was able to get into line third. I got towed up by Bobby today and he dragged me to another pilot turning at 700m. I pinned off and joined the crappy climb. The lift wasn’t that good but the tugs kept feeding the thermal we were in and no one was turning the same circle. Their was no real core which had every one searching around for it. It really makes you keep your head up and look where your going. The lift topped out at 1700m. I headed off to the edge of the start circle with 3 other pilots. Someone found a climb 1km from the edge of the start circle. We climbed back up to base and then every one headed in a different direction. The start clock ticked over and I couldn’t decide which way to go. I headed west to some pilots that looked like they were climbing well. I was unable to find the lift and was flying around low trying to find some lift. Finally I found a weak thermal and climbed up just short of cloud base. I headed out on my own as I didn’t want to fly back to the start for a later start time. After the first few thermals I felt like I was starting to climb better. About 50km out I saw a pilot behind me climbing fast. He looked a long way off and I wasn’t that low but we had a huge forest in front of us. I wanted lots of height before I crossed. It turned into a good decision and I climbed quickly to cloud base. I headed across and arrived low on the other side. I was able to find solid lift and worked my way back to base. I saw two gliders fly over my head as I climbed. I was went on glide towards the mountains on course. I thought if I could get their it was on the wind ward side and I could ridge soar if their wasn’t any thermals. I arrived 500’ over the ridge just as a large cloud shadow was hitting the ridge. I hit some strong lift and climbed fast. I was about 50km out and my numbers went positive. I didn’t set my goal elevation and I knew the ground was a lot higher here. I continued to fly cautious as I didn’t want to land short. My numbers got worse every time I went on glide. Cloud base had been at 2700m but I was now hitting a shear layer at 2000m I wanted to have 1000m buffer to cover the high ground and leave myself some margin. I saw another pilot low about 12km out. I turned with him until the lift got weak and headed off to goal. I had 900m over goal and thought I should be able to make it. I pulled on some speed to make sure I would arrive before the pilot below me. I was looking for the goal line. Each day they send out a goalie who sets up a goal line. If there is no goal line we use a 400m goal cylinder. I saw a couple of pilots circling down and pilots scattered all over the ground below me. Finally I spotted a field with a lot of gliders parked in the shade. I arrived over goal with about 2000’ to spare. Three guys came in fast behind me. I got to watch 4 guys whack into the field below me. I didn’t think conditions were that bad. The water next to the field was showing the wind direction. I set up well back and came in fast on a long final approach. As I got low I noticed the field had a big slope to it. I know this tends to cause a wind shadow down low so it’s good to have lots of speed. I put in a perfect landing. It was nice to finally be in goal with the crowd. Attila, Micki and a few others raced into the ground just short of goal.
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