After 2 blown out days for starters, everyone was shall we say a LITTLE anxious to start flying. Since then we've had two days of 60mile+ tasks with Quest as goal yesterday. Forecasts for the rest of the week look good (so far). The weather is generally 80s with 10mph out of the East, base is 4-6k. There's a bunch of blogs on the Oz Report for more info.
The drama at the moment is Paris Williams and Johnny Durand running neck and neck. We'll see how task 3 shapes up. Paris took day one, but Johnny took day two with a dramatic finishline crossing... full VG, hauling ass, just over the trees into the field down to 10 feet off the deck... then he snapps off his vg and instantly shoots up to 50 feet, stuffs the bar diving down for the grab bag crossing the goal line (which he gets). This was topped only by Muhler's loop-onto-final approach. An other dramatic finish was the first rigid to goal (Primoz)... bets were being taken as he glided for the field from a few miles out. As he got closer, the odds seemed against him... some thought he may still make the slot (airfield overrun). We lost sight of him behind some trees as he looked like he was going for the slot and possibly going to make it. Then, like the fin from Jaws, his wingtip glided vertially behind the slot as he bailed to a nearby field. Since the goal was a virtual GPS, he may still have technically made it. We'll find out at the pilot's meeting.
Anyway, that's the view from the ground. As always, it's a big party here. Tons of gliders, lots of flying, bands and beer at night. Gotta love a comp ;)
Jim
Flytec Nationals
Moderator: CHGPA BOD