Florida Flying Monday and Tuesday

[Paul Tjaden]

Conditions continue to be great here in central Florida! Yesterday we had easterly winds which can be a little funky at Quest due to the many large lakes we have to the east. They can cause a huge blue hole over our field and make things difficult. Several of us gave it a try with yours truly leading the way. I was able to dive off to a cloud street south of the field and get high. I spent an hour pounding upwind to the east and then drifting back to the west waiting on others to join me but eventually it became apparent that only Davis and I would make the try for Wallaby and back. Davis had radioed and told me that he was down wind of me and climbing so I waited patiently for him to join me. Then I get a transmission from him saying he had continued towards Wallaby and was now about 5 miles out in the lead!!!! (the bastard) Anyway, I charged on to the SE finding climbs as good as 700-800 fpm and had nearly caught him by the time I arrived over Wallaby 22 miles to the SE. To his credit, Davis continued south of Wallaby a bit to let me catch up and when we headed back towards Quest he had lost some altitude and I was well above him at 6,500 agl. I went on glide and made about half the distance home before finding 500 plus and getting back to where my 5030 said I had Quest on glide with room to spare. Davis came in well below me but found nothing and was now in trouble. I headed home and even after going to high speed glide for the last 5 miles, cruised into Quest at 1,500 agl. Davis was unable to find anything and landed about 7 miles short.

Fast forward to Tuesday.

A repeat of Mondays conditions except stronger winds and more out of the SE rather than East. Once again it's Davis and I trying to pound almost straight into a SE wind of about 14 mph. Others had launched including Greg Dinauer and Lauren, who had been unable to fly for the last few days due to a sinus infection, but found the strong wind a bit daunting and decided to just fly around the field. After an hour of beating into the wind I found myself just 6 miles upwind of Quest and decided to end the pain and go home and land. Davis, who had similar problems agreed and we both spiralled down and landed nearly in formation. We probably could have run downwind to the NW but the sky had been late turning on and a late launch meant there wasn't time for a big downwind flight.

Speaking of big downwind flights.....The forecast looks pretty good for tomorrow. Too early to tell yet but Lauren and I are hoping for big flights. We'll let you know.

If any of you can get down this time of year, you've got a good chance of being rewarded with some nice flying!!!

Paul

[Lauren Tjaden]

Ha, Paul is being kind. He OUTFLEW me, outclimbed me, and that's why he got away from the field. Except for Davis, none of the rest of us did. I got to around 6 K, but the drift was so strong I could barely get back to the field. I found a street to punch upwind in, but if you didn't have at least 400 fpm, you couldn't make it pay. I hit some major sink and ran for home at some point. It was still MUCH better than sitting on the couch, sick. I had a great short field landing, which is a big deal for me, because I think I fly the fields too much (instead of the sky), and if I have more confidence in my abilities I can cover more ground. But tomorrow is the day...
Lauren