Santa Cruz Flats Comp

[lbunner]

Hi all, I have finally taken the time to write about some of the flying this year. I usually sum up my flights with a bent toward my own personal learnings and for that reason don't publish them. At the urging of others however, I put it on my blog to share. Although this is specifcally about competition, there is information that can be applied to all types of flying. I am interested in your feedback and this should serve as a topic for discussion on exploring and improving all of our skills. Check it out and let's hear your thoughts.

lbunner.blogspot.com

[lbunner]

Hey all, I thought there might be maybe one comment or question from the local pilotage. Was this stuff too technical?

[Dave Proctor]

Bun---Thanks for posting. You and I have had discussions/emails about your post. I think a lot of pilots read it in the context of competition flying, but your points are valid for all flying. While I have shared my thoughts with you, I will post for others. What I took away from your thoughtful analysis is that we all have tendencies that cause us to repeatedly make the same mistakes. I think the cure is not to try to stop one specific mental error, but rather analyze the thought process that ultimately led to the mistake. Once you have figured out this progression of 'logic', you can hopefully recognize the start of this progression and stop and catch yourself long before the terminal decision. This can improve not only your miles and times, but your safety as well.

Thanks again Larry,

DaveP

[tdilisio]

I enjoyed reading the blog, Larry. The sign up for google account deterred me from posting a reply.

[Roger]

Thanks for sharing Larry. I followed Durand's blog during the comp and got a real laugh out of his video comment "I almost took out Larry, ... sorry Larry,... when you're coming up, you're coming up"
Question if you don't mind, you state you elongated your turn and left good lift several times. Was this, as you state falling out of the lift downwind, or a tactic to scrap off the pimps?

[RichH]

Roger you should sign that one from an up and coming pimP!!

[Roger]

Good one Rich.
Have you flown the new glider yet? I hoping to go flying somewhere after Sunday. I haven't flown since the Team Challenge. But I did take a beautiful drive to WS (10-29), went on a short hike with my glider, set her up and filled the back of her sail with wonderful fresh mountain air. We spent a good 2 hours together there on launch. But more importantly, my mother and my two kids and I went to Luray Caverns and spent a great day together. The chance to hang glide was a bonus.

[RichH]

Yep flew it sunday didnt get a lot of time in it but I was very pleased with how it flew..very light handeling for such a big glider was very suprised..cant wait to fly it at Woodstock..RH

[Roger]

..cant wait to fly it at Woodstock..RH

I can't wait to fly WS too! I may stay south of the border (VA/NC) next week to fly. Maybe Tater or the new, yet to be located aero-tow flight park. If nothing else, I should get current on the Dragonfly and give its owner a tow or two or five.

I think we have hi-jacked the thread. Hopefully Larry will chime in soon.

[mcelrah]

Hey Larry,

I commented directly on your blog. Most educational, thanks for posting!

- Hugh

[Roger]

Here is the Jonny Durand video, for the comment, start at 2:50 - 3:40 ish.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoYoSx22 ... r_embedded#!

[lbunner]

Hey Roger, I tended to elongate the turns into lesser lift which isn't bad in itself. The real mistake is not flying back upwind into the stronger stuff to finish up the climb. Patience, patience! As far as pimping goes, I try to do it as much as I can You know you are flying well when others start talking about your flying techniques! Thanks for the question. Keep em coming.

[mcgowantk]

Hey Bun

I am reluctant to comment on your write up because you are flying at a level far above the rest of us. You certainly had some great results this year. The only observation I had was that you flew relatively better in the first half of some meets than the later portion. I wonder if your strategy changed or felt you needed to fly more aggresively to stay with the big guns. From my perspective, you were right with them and didn't need to change anything to have a reasonable chance on winning.

Regarding elongating turns and leaving as lift dropped off, I think that is one of the fun parts of flying. It is hard to know when to head up wind away from goal to check for strong lift upwind. Most often I seem to make a good choice (I like to head up wind!) but some days it is consistently a waste of time. The last day in Big Spring was a day when going upwind never worked for me, but I tried that trick over and over again. That day I tried to remember Kevin Carter's advice that if you are above a certain altitude per that day's conditions, you are likely to find lift on glide. I had plenty of altitude and never got low, so I should have pushed on that day rather than keep circling in weak lift. However, I think that overall I improved my flying this year by searching a little longer in a lifting area before taking a particular climb.

I still believe flying in these meets can be lots of fun and greatly improve your flying. Not only do you go XC everyday, you have to push yourself to make progress down the course line. Many times I presumed that I will sink out during a task because conditions look so poor out on course. However, I manage to stay up and notice that no one else seemed to sink out. Attempting these more difficult tasks is great for your confidence and gives you repeated opportunities to improve your flying skills. Places like Texas (and perhaps Arizona) can be risky in the wrong conditions, but if you bring your judgement with you on the trip, you can avoid the big risks and have a great flying trip.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts Larry and I am looking forward to attempting more long XCs this spring.

Tom

PS After this weekend I will be free to fly on the weekends (and Veteran's Day). If conditions look appropriate, I would be happy to talk to some folks and help a group attempt the run to Harrisonburg or try to cross the valley from the Pulpit to High Rock. An organized XC flight would be fun for me and hopefully allow me to share some experiences with other pilots.

[Roger]

Competition level flying is so far above my current skill set that it's just funny. I flew in Hobbs '96 and shared a truck tow crew with Nelson Howe and just got a glimpse of what it takes to out maneuver the field. Watching him and Mike Barber combat was a real eye opener.
I just want to make goal and not drive to it.
I love comps, and I absolutely suck at it.

[lbunner]

Tom, thanks for the feedback. Just last week I recollected that there were a couple meets where I flew poorly on the last day. Most certainly at the Flytec Race and Rally and again at SCF. I also didn't get the results I expected on the last day at BS. Conversely, I had my best day on the last at the EU Championships. The difference I believe was that at the EUC I was well down in the results whereas the other three I was in the running for the money. I let the pressure of potentially placing well at BS and SCF impact my decision making early in the flight and suffered the consequences. So, the lesson learned for me continues to be to remove the emotion from the decision making and just fly like I have been. I'm committed to doing this in 2011. Another factor that could have contributed is physical conditioning. Although I felt good toward the end of the meets, perhaps I was wearing down some. This could have impacted the decision making process as well. I'm committed to improving my conditioning for the upcoming season as well. Thanks again for the inputs.