Big Spring wrap -up

[Paul Tjaden]

We've been home now for nearly 24 hours and I think I have recovered enough to write a bit about the BS comp. This was our second comp here but our first time in "normal" Big Spring conditions. It had rained tons just prior to our first time there and thermals were soft and mellow with cloud base only 5K or so agl. Things were VERY different this year. I personally saw climbs to well over 10,000' agl and climb rates above 1,100 fpm on a 20 second averager. Climbs in the 600 fpm to 800 fpm were so common that you were often tempted to leave "slow climbs of only 400 fpm or so. You also needed to get your bump tolerance up a bit. This was definitely NOT Florida. Early in the week, Tom McGowan and I almost left some strong but rowdy lift due to extreme pucker factor but then it finally smoothed a bit as we climbed higher. BTW, it was really great flying with Tom and getting to know him better during our many long drives back to home base.

We flew 7 of the 8 scheduled days and tasks in excess of 100 miles were called on 4 days with a record breaking 215 mile task being flown early in the comp. Two of the other 100 plus mile tasks were record breaking dog leg distances for sanctioned comps also. Lauren made goal on one of these and had her first 100 plus mile flight. The only day that we flew a triangle found us pounding into a 15 plus mph head wind on the 25 mile second leg. Climbs of 500 fpm or less would simply not work. You would glide a couple miles forward and then loose that distance as you climbed back up. I actually had my best day with this task finishing third fastest. Most pilots took the second start but I was out of position for that start time so waited 15 minutes for the third start where I had a great high position right at the start circle. I raced hard under some good clouds to the first turn point and then slammed into the strong head winds. The lead gaggle was just a mile or so in front of me climbing so I tried to come in under them but as I had feared, the lift was pretty much gone when I got there. There was a nice looking cloud to the north with a street running on towards the next TP but it was quite some distance away and I feared I would get there too late also. I was flying alone so I figured if I blew this one, I could easily be landing but nothing else looked any better so I charged 90 degrees off course to the north and was rewarded with 800 fpm plus. Once I was high in this street I was able to penetrate into the strong winds with RELATIVE ease. It still wasn't dead easy and took quite a while but by gliding along in the street and not losing too much altitude and passing up the lesser climbs to only climb in the 600 fpm plus stuff, I finally found myself gliding into the second TP at about 4,000 agl where I found 800 fpm right over the TP. Lauren and Tom took a line closer to the course line and got pounded all day, landing after 7:00 totally exhausted still short of the second TP. Finding the right line was really important on this task. After a quick climb to 12,000 plus, my 5030 said I had goal on glide. I did take a few more turns on the way home but they were totally a waste of time as I kept finding tons of lift on the crosswind leg to goal and came in way too high on the 77 mile task.

Unfortunately, this day was only one of two days where I made goal. On the 215 mile day, I hung out at launch until nearly everyone was gone because I was concerned about the strong winds at launch. I finally launched late but there were no clouds to mark lift and I landed just a few miles away from launch. This screw up cost me dearly. I then managed to compound my errors by landing 1 mile short on a 109 mile task and about 6 miles short on a 133 mile task. Seems I was flying well but my habit of taking late starts trying to get a really good start position was costing me when the day would die before I made goal.

I finished right in the middle of the pack which wasn't too bad considering the quality of the pilots at this meet but I definitely fell short of my goals. As usual, I learned much and think I will be able to use my new knowledge to perform better next year. I highly recommend this comp to any aero-tow rated pilot with a desire to compete or just wanting to fly in some of the best conditions you can find anywhere. I believe that Tom has been there six times now. Like me, he knows it's hard to win against the young Sky Gods but when your vario starts sounding like a dog whistle and the cloud above your head is coming at you so fast that you think you are falling up, it's all worth the cost and hassle.

Join us next year,

Paul

[lbunner]

Thanks for the update Paul, wish I could have been out there with you all. Next year for sure. Sounds like your hip is doing well what with all the miles you put in out there. Great insight on the upwind leg, I'll put that one in my memory bank.

[mcgowantk]

I agree with everything Paul said. Big Spring is the best xc site in the US, at least as far as I am concerned. Six of the eight comp days were easy 100 mile days if you wanted to just go downwind. Huge LZs everywhere made the flights very low stress. While I did hit some rowdy air, that was the rare exception and most likely due to my decision to take the 300 up part of the thermal when 600+ up was waiting for me in the core. This was my fifth trip to Big Spring and conditions were more like what I experienced my first two trips there. I will likely try to go back next year. This year my stats were 21 hours and 425 miles in 7 days of flying (which include 110 and 109 mile flights).

Paul and Lauren were great flying and travelling companions. Many of the days they both in front on me calling out their progress, encouraging me to push on. Additionally, this is a smaller comp with maybe 40 pilots. Not only did that give you lots of room over the airport (no reason to fly in a big gaggle if you didn't want to be in one) but you also got to meet many of the talented top pilots. They were very free with their advice and I enjoyed meeting lots of new pilots.

If anyone is interested in going next year, feel free to contact me if you want more information.

Tom

[mcelrah]

A question from the "peanut gallery"? Would any of you recommend Big Spring for sport class pilots flying kingposted gliders or is this one to save for later when we step up to the big-boy gliders and harnesses? - Hugh

[Lauren Tjaden]

You're a big boy, Hugh!
Seriously, flying a king posted glider is fine at BS. It works particularly well on the downwind tasks.
What is important is that your aerotow skills be good. Most days are windy (between 10 and 20 mph) and the thermals are kick-ass. Very few pilots have tumbled at BS, but as Kraig Coomber (winner of the meet)told me, this is big air by anyone's standards. Just be tuned up and know what to do if you have a weak link (pull in).
The worst day for the towing was windy (as usual) but the launching was done in a different spot, by the hangers, as the pilots did not want to hike their gliders so far in the gale. This proved to be a bad decision with rotors barrelling by at regular intervals, and about one out of every three or four gliders had frightening launches. I chose not to fly on this day, and it cost me dearly, but I still think it was a good decision.
The launch was back to its usual place the next day (funny, the walk didn't seem so bad after that). One of the tow planes got wrecked. The pilot was either caught by a dusty or was coming in too slow, and the plane wouldn't respond to throttle. I didn't see the wreck but I took lots of pics of the aftermath. Tim (the pilot) had a punctured lung, broken arm and broken ribs but it really was pretty amazing anyone survived the accident. The plane took out the fence and landed on its nose. Ouch!
The BS retrievals are fine (lots of roads in most places) and the fields are good, too, though you should use sense when flying over the crap (that means the canyons and badlands) so you don't get forced to land in the sea of mesquite. If you are not totally crazy it is mainly good landing fields.
The worst part of the meet was that it was so friggin' good. Even some of the young studs had to quit flying because the tasks were so long every day and they got too beat up. Some went home, like Chris Z. We could have done more dog-legs, etc, and at least made the retrievals shorter. As it was, we often got home very late. Even the day with thunderstorms we had to hang out (they moved the start time back to 4:45!!) before they finally cancelled the day. Being fit is very important.
The day after the meet I was in horrible pain due to a pulled arm muscle. I was very lucky this happened after the meet. I don't know if I could have flown today, days after the end of the meet.
Yes, all of you should go. The flying is like the things you dream about. The day I made my 100 miles, I was too scared of the turbulence to coast under the cloud street, so I hung out on the side of it, gaining altitude while my fingers bored holes in the basetube. I literally did not turn for at least 30 miles.
I have never been so high, either. Next year hopefully I can go back and make a better showing.
I am not so sure about doing Zapata again. Very bad times, and I was totally shamed by what I did (and did not do).
Anyhow, Hugh, you should put this on your calendar for next year. The rest of you, too.
Lauren

[Paul Tjaden]

A bit more regarding Hugh's question. There were two kingposted gliders at BS this year. Kent Robinson flew his U2 very well and finished 16th ahead of many topless gliders. Chris Chaney flew a Sport 2 but finished last. Many of our tasks this year were more or less downwind which made it easier for the pig stickers to compete but when they called the triangle into strong winds, they were at a big disadvantage. There weren't enough pilots to have a Sport Class this year but maybe things will be different next year.

I'm sure that most of the aero tow skilled pilots would be fine there but you want to make certain you are current with towing in strong mid day conditions. Even though we towed in stronger winds than you would probably like at Ridgely, the flat terrain keeps the wind fairly laminar and you just need to watch out for thermals or dust devils while you're still low. The only real exception to that was the day Lauren mentioned when we were too close to the hangers. When we staged, the wind was coming from a direction that would have worked but a few minutes later, it shifted so that it was coming around the large hangers and it got a bit gnarly for some of us.

Paul

[mcgowantk]

Not to beat a dead horse, but I will also say that there is no need to fly a topless glider in Big Springs. Most triangle or dogleg tasks are called so that the first leg is downwind, so anyone can do the first leg. Regarding up wind or crosswind tasks, a topless is most helpful (over a U2 for example) if you are flying over 40 mph airspeed. I rarely fly that fast anyway, so you could beat me with a U2, like Kent did this year and PK did a couple of years ago. Most years the wind has been a little lighter, so a kingposted glider can do the upwind tasks anyway. This year, we did a tough 25 mile upwind task and Kent made the turnpoint in his U2 (again, I did not). Given the conditions are so demanding, flying a glider you are very comfortable with is more important than the glider you fly.

Fly safe, I am off to the beach for a week.

Tom McGowan