Oz Report

Flytec Championships, Day Six

It doesn't get any better than this. (Quest Air)

The flight and the task.

I couldn't believe it when Kraig Coomber said in the task committee meeting that we should go to the Florida Ridge.  The day before he and Jonny didn't even consider my desire to go there, but things had changed.

The forecast was for cloud base and top of lift at 7,500'.  The lift would be 500-600 fpm.  And the wind would be out of the north at 11 mph.  The forecast earlier had been for stronger winds late in the afternoon but the later forecast called those off, predicting 15 knots.  Still we didn't want to come back into an area that might have high winds late in the day.  (The winds did indeed pick up later at Quest.)

It looked like there would be a good chance of convergence down the east coast, maybe a bit inland. 

So as soon as Kraig proposed it, we were ready to go 205 kilometers (127 miles) south to the Florida Ridge.  David Glover called up Steve Larsen and he set up a goal line.  There must be forty flags in the field there so pilots would have no trouble figuring out the wind direction.

The cu's were just beginning to form as the rigids got towed up at 12:15.  Some of them got down low before they found their way under a forming wisp.  I was off soon after a few pilots.  Coming out of the field the tug and I were going up at 1,200 fpm.  I pinned off at 2,200' in a thermal that got me to 6,000'. 

There was plenty of lift and we climbed to 7,000' before the start window opened at 1:30.  Almost everyone was at the edge of the start circle and high so it was a mass start.  Jonny Durand was out in front and a few hundred feet higher.  Five or six glider got away from the rest of us as we raced south.

The ground went by quickly as we headed toward Wallaby Ranch.  We were flying the clouds and the clouds were mostly to the east along highway 27, but we were heading in that direction.  As we came over Wallaby we noticed that there were a lot of gliders on the ground, lined up on the tie downs, but very few in the air.  Turns out that apparently the air was too rough down there for the Wills Wing Demo Day fly in party, so the launch was closed.  They flew all day at Quest in great conditions until late in the evening when the wind picked up.

We found 600 fpm west of Wallaby and got back to over 7,000'.  I was still in contact with the leading pilots, although Jonny was a bit ahead of the rest of them.

It was just south of Lake Wales that we lost contact with the fastest guys.  It was a long glide then the real problem was the slow climb, 250 fpm.  Ten pilots were able to catch up with me and the few pilots like me who were chasing the lead gaggle (and not catching them).  Thankfully getting a bit further south found us circling in 500 fpm to 6,900'. 

For the next hour and forty minutes the dozen of us raced just to the west of highway 27 between 5000' and 7000' until it was time to go on final glide 20 km from goal.  We basically just stayed under the clouds turning when the lift got particularly good.  I would often leave early top try to leave my compatriots behind, but it never quite worked out.  I didn't find super strong lift that would let me get away.

The final glide into goal from the intersection of highway 29 and 27 was a breeze with the 9 mph tail wind.  A bunch of us came into with five minutes of each other.

The landing zone was soon packed.  It is likely that 50 pilots made goal, the longest distance flown in a Florida meet (205 km).  This is probably the highest percentage in goal in a Florida meet.

We think that Gerolf won the day, followed by Bruno, then Robin Hamilton, Andreas Olsson, Jonny and Kraig.  Paris took a second start time so maybe he did well. 

The fastest times were less than 2:50 to complete the task, averaging 43 mph.  Assuming an average 10 mph tail wind, that means were we doing quite a bit better than the 25 mph which is the norm.

Check the results below:

Results.

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Flytec Championships, Day Seven

It ain't over, till it's over (Quest Air)

The flight

The task was to go southwest 32 km to the Dean Still and Rockridge intersection, then west 10 km over the swamp to the intersection of highways 98 and 471, then northwest 50 km to the very small grass airstrip at Chin north of Brooksville.  The forecast was for a 14 knot east northeast wind rising to 20 knots at 5 PM, so we wanted to go as far west as we could to get into the area where the on shore flow would reduce the general wind velocity.  Things didn't quite turn out as forecast.

The winds were quite strong in the morning out of the east, strong enough where it looked like we wouldn't necessarily even launch.  Drew declared it unsafe at that point.  The sky started off blue but then we started to get middle level clouds, the kinds of clouds that don't show up in forecasting models.  The local forecast was for a 10% chance of rain with gusts to 20 mph on the ground.

We called the task and left it to the safety committee to deal with any launch related issues.  The sky got darker and darker with cu's underneath the mid level clouds that were causing the shading (but only to our north and south, not over the field).  And with the reduced sunlight the gusts and wind died down as the lift disappeared.  Hmmm!

We pushed back launch a half hour to see if we could get some sunshine, some blue holes, some chance of staying up.  Then we sent up the rigid wings.  They sort of stuck, but not completely.  They hung around in the gray for quite a while but many came back to join us on the ground.

After watching those guys sort of hang in there, a few of us tested the water (air actually) twenty minutes after the opening of the launch for flex wings (already set back a half hour).  I was able to eek out a 25 minute flight in 14 mph winds and gain a total of 200 feet overall.  Almost every one (if not everyone) who tried landed back at Quest.  Maybe ten pilots took this option.

I got a cart and waited a few pilots back in the very short launch line.  No one wanted to go, with Primoz at the front of the line.  A few flex wing pilots launched in the other line, but it took a while for those pilots in our line to finally get going.  It was six minutes before the last start clock when I took off as 70 pilots were still on the ground, having been unwilling to launch.

There was a little sunshine now and although Neal hauled me up to the northeast I saw two pilots down low turning south of the park over the nursery.  I headed straight to them after Neal waved me off and when I got to them I found 115 fpm.  This was strong lift for today.

More pilots came over and soon we had about a dozen going up in a nice little thermal.  The rest of the pilots were on the ground.  It wasn't that long before this thermal starting showing 500 fpm on my 20 second averager.  How sweet.  So smooth.  We were all flying well together and we climbed to 4,500'.  We were the first pilots to gaggle up and get away from the launch.  It was a beautiful thing to be a part of.

There was a dark cloud over us and we had to leave having drifted in the 15 mph east northeast wind back toward the Green Swamp.  We headed straight for the next dark cu and I climbed right back to 4,600' just staying out of the cloud while the two guys higher than me got into it a bit. 

We then turned and raced east toward highway 33 and to the next clouds which again were working for us with the ground almost completely shaded, thick mid level clouds, and the thinnest of cu's. 

Meanwhile back at Quest Air some pilots seemed to think that the contest should have been over after the previous grand and glorious day.  But they didn't seem to be able to come up with a good reason.  The launching conditions were safe.  The task conditions were safe.  The task was difficult, but you let the scoring system handle that issue.  If not a lot of pilots went very far, then the day gets devalued. 

Some pilots just weren't ready to accept the fact that some pilots were now launching and sticking, and flying the course.  They had had their chance.  Heck I was on my second flight.  The conditions were wonderful.  The air was super and the thermals were smooth.  Let's run a task.

Everything had changed.  We started the day thinking that it was unsafe because of the winds (Wallaby was shut down), but the winds backed off right away when it came time to launch, so any emotional attachment you had to that scary thought had to be dismissed.  Now you just had to think about how you were going to stay up.

After getting up to 4,500' just west of highway 33, and just outside the 8 km start circle, a half hour after the last start time, the ten of us went on glide toward the Lake Seminole glider port.  We'd seen some gliders in the air so I was hoping we would find one circling in the dark and over the shaded ground by the air strip.

It looked like it was raining over at Wallaby way to our southeast, but it was only dark and shaded here.  There was little chance of cu-nimb development given the capping mid level clouds.

There were a couple of pilots (who had missed out climb to the east) turning over the Green swamp southwest of Seminole and we were heading for them, but there were also some cu's just west of Seminole that I was shading toward. 

Just as I got to the west of the air strip I found a little broken lift that averaged 50 fpm.  I took a couple of turns as I watched the gliders out in front of me to see how they were doing.  There were about six gliders turning out there now.  I was on top over in my little thermal with Jeff O'Brien coming in under and working with me.

The lure of the gaggle further up the course line proved to much for my emotional brain.  I left the lift that I was on top of to head for the gaggle where I would come in lower than the top guys.  Bad move.  I would find zero sink there for a while before I lost it.  Even worse it was out over the Green Swamp with few landable areas, so I was getting squeezed as the wind pushed me further into the swamp.

Didier and two other pilots below me baled out and headed up wind west to get to a landable area.  Finally, I had to bale also working scattered bit of lift upwind in the dark hoping to find something as I watched the two or three pilots who stayed in the thermal that I had found by the airstrip climb out. 

Now Primoz was just above me and heading out with me with the guys just above him.  At the eastern edge of the swamp they stopped and worked something that I didn't find below them.  I landed in the same field as Didier.  Primoz and the other pilot were able to get up and continue on course toward Dean Still another 13 km, before Primoz had to land after not getting high enough to cross the next swamp.

Jonny Durand had a very short flight.  Gerolf didn't get out of the flight park.  Kraig Coomber was able to almost make it to goal.  No flex wing pilot made it to goal.  Jacques Bott on the AIR ATOS VR was the only one to make goal.  He had been in second place 60 points behind Larry Bunner.

Kraig reported that when he got over to the west to head northwest toward goal he ran into the sea breeze which was clearing out the clouds but also clearing out the lift.  In our concern about the strong east northeast winds, and our desire to go west to both go downwind and to get into lighter wind regimes, we, the task committee, had neglected to remember about the sea breeze killing the lift, even though we were counting on that very same sea breeze to reduce the winds.  Of course, we originally (at 10 AM) assumed that we would be getting strong lift to 5,000' as per the forecast.  And that we would have run the task before the sea breeze came in.

Before this last day Jonny Durand was in first place and Gerolf in second, with Robin Hamilton in third.  Now as I write this everything is up in the air.  At this point (before all the scores are in).  Bruno, Robin and Hakan all have a chance to go into first place.

See results here.

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Flytec Championships, Finals

It's over (Quest Air)

Jonny Durand won the meet despite his 45th place showing on the last day.  Gerolf slipped from second to fourth by not getting out of the tow paddock.  Robin Hamilton moved into second and Hakan Anderson moved into third.  Jacques Bott won the rigid class.

Linda Salamone set the women's east coast and Florida state record yesterday, going 127 miles and over taking Kari's 115 mile record.

93% of the pilots reached goal yesterday (71), which is the highest percentage ever on any task flown in a US competition (perhaps in the World).  It was the longest task called and made on the east coast.  It was the most miles ever flown collectively on a task in the US.  Likely the most collective miles ever flown on any task (there may be some contenders in Australia).  It was clear after the fact that the task was under called even though when it was called it appeared to be over called.

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Flytec Championships, photo

Stay in the shade (Quest Air)

We launched from the shade under the tree at Quest Air on a couple of days.  This is a shot of Tim Hoops' wife and child taken by Joe Balbona on Thursday the day we went far to the Florida Ridge:

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Between the Flytec Championship and the Flytec Race of Champions

Big fluffy cu's every where. (Quest Air)

The forecast predicts a 14 to 16 knot wind out of the east northeast, but it's about 12 mph out of the southeast at 1:30 on the ground, higher winds at cloud base 5,000' above.  The sky is full of puffy cu's in long cloud streets to the west.  A number of those flying choose to take the milk run to Wallaby and back.  We'll see if they make it.

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