I'll let Paul fill in any details (cuz I have no clue... I'm just prodding him here)
The winds finally faded and we got to fly.
I think it was light low lift, but someone else will have to tell ya. Some guys made goal which was a 60something downwind dogleg. I don't think lots made goal.
Just talked to Tom Lanning... said it was like musical chairs. You flew round and round in the gaggle till the music stopped, then grabbed a chair (down you went).
Jim
Flytec Day 3
Moderator: CHGPA BOD
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Paul Tjaden
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Don't have much time. Gotta go set up but I'll post a couple of lines.
A 70 mile downwind dogleg seemed reasonable with the forecast but reality sucks sometimes and the conditions were VERY weak. I launched about halfway in the huge group of 90 or so pilots and after a climb to 3K with a handful of others, joined the monster gaggle nearby. It was so huge and disorganized, I found it impossible to climb effeciently. All you could do was make huge circles following the guy in front of you and occasionally cut inside if there was room. We really never went on glide, just sort of scooted over a few hundred yards as the lift shifted. Anyway, I was unhappy with this situation and when I saw a glider turning a couple miles down course line I did what you're Not supposed to do and left the main gaggle. This began an equally frustrating time of scratching between 800 and 3000 feet for the next couple of hours (mostly below 1500 feet) before finally setting down in a sandy new homes developement around 30 miles out. Last I looked that put me around the middle of the pack. Guess I'll stay with thye gaggle next time. Still, it's totally amazing to me that 9 pilots made a seventy mile flight in those conditions. I think they were carrying helium in their wings!!!
Paul
A 70 mile downwind dogleg seemed reasonable with the forecast but reality sucks sometimes and the conditions were VERY weak. I launched about halfway in the huge group of 90 or so pilots and after a climb to 3K with a handful of others, joined the monster gaggle nearby. It was so huge and disorganized, I found it impossible to climb effeciently. All you could do was make huge circles following the guy in front of you and occasionally cut inside if there was room. We really never went on glide, just sort of scooted over a few hundred yards as the lift shifted. Anyway, I was unhappy with this situation and when I saw a glider turning a couple miles down course line I did what you're Not supposed to do and left the main gaggle. This began an equally frustrating time of scratching between 800 and 3000 feet for the next couple of hours (mostly below 1500 feet) before finally setting down in a sandy new homes developement around 30 miles out. Last I looked that put me around the middle of the pack. Guess I'll stay with thye gaggle next time. Still, it's totally amazing to me that 9 pilots made a seventy mile flight in those conditions. I think they were carrying helium in their wings!!!
Paul
Flytec
It was a tough but fun day for me. The rigids launched at 1:45 in minimal lift but just enough to climb out to 2500' in the first thermal. There were two rigid groups (I can't call them gaggles as we weren't in cohesive lift, more like wallowing around). I headed south with Campbell and Jim Yocom to find a climb to 2800'. We headed down 33 again and were about 3 miles from the start cylinder at the 2:30 start time. Campbell grew impatient over the sand pits between Quest and Wallaby and landed by 474. Jim and I squeaked out a climb that eventually turned into good lift and we topped out around 3800'. The push was from the WNW at about 10 mph. We paralleled just to the west of 27 to keep from drifting to far to the east on our way toward the turnpoint. There were two more solid climbs one to 4600' along the way. I got in a good line just east of Jim and came in over the TP about 1000' higher. I hated to leave him as this was a blue day and it reduced my chances of staying up but had to go. I got down to 900' before the first big lake before hitting a good climb up over 3000' again. I was down under 1500' on the next climb. Jim caught up to my thermal as I was topping out and headed on what my 5030 said was final glide. Not wanting to end up short I stopped to get a few turns in good lift before gliding into goal with over 1500' to spare. Flight time was 2:26 and I ended up first for the rigids. 4/8 rigids made goal and about 10 flexies. Definitely not an easy day.
Bun