A Different Shade of Blue

The daily routine has finally gotten to be a routine.  Ships are prepared, watered and placed on the grid in approximately the right location.  We still have one or two people who do not like what the contest management staff has asked them to do so we just call them the Frank Sinatra folks, I’m going to do it my way.  At least they will never launch in the last couple of rows ever.  

We had a first in the pilots meeting today, a dog made an appearance.  Terry Stroud found a dog running wild by around their Airbnb and later saw the same dog trying to break into Walmart.  He brought him home and started exploring who the owner might be.  A vet check was done but he did not have a chip, tags or any other kind of identification.  A local Facebook page put him on the site, but no one has claimed him yet.  There is a no kill shelter in Uvalde Texas, and we are trying to arrange a ride for the dog.  We do not have a name for him yet, Hobbs was tossed out as too dumb.  If you want to help name him, go on the SSA website and suggest a name.

The weatherman gave us a brief that started with “I should have kept that damn forecast from yesterday”.  Indeed, the day was a carbon copy but maybe a little weaker.  It was blue, but as the title suggests, it was a different shade of blue. 

I know last night’s report was a little long.  Guess I got carried away listening to some person who could not see any good in the day.  To make up for that, we have two guest writers and I asked everyone for one sentence to describe the day.  Some of those comments were nixed by the editorial board here at Team 98 Central.

The 18-Meter Class was sent on a Turn Area Task from Start D, south to Jal, northeast to Brownfield, west to Caprock and then that treacherous final glide.  The 15-Meter Class did the same task but with bigger circles and Club Class substituted Tatum for Caprock.  All the tasks were a challenge today.  The sky was blue, but we did have some clouds at Jal and some wisps along the route.  Lift stopped about 10,500ft but a few lucky pilots did get to 11,500ft.  The start was a little harder today, it seemed the start area cycled right before the gate was opened.  I started and found a great thermal 1 mile from the start, so I climbed up and restarted.  This was probably the only smart decision I made all day.  A few gliders did go past me so I had some markers out in front.  There are some small towns and oil equipment yards, and they seem to generate some good thermals.  You could see the clouds in the distance towards Jal, but they were way too far to get there without a couple of climbs.  Almost all of us went to the back of this turnpoint.  It is daunting to make a turn and look down to see that it is 92 miles to your second turnpoint.  It is also not fun to see your ETA at home estimated to be nearly 6pm.  On this leg we did have some wisps that did work.  However, it was mostly blue.  Again, infrastructure and markers in the distance helped all during the day.  There were some roads you could follow that kicked off good thermals.  After turning Brownfield, where the town did save a good number of us from landing out, it was off to Caprock.  This run was not too bad, but the final glide was fraught with sink holes in several locations.  Just when you thought you made it, 7 knots of sink would hit you.  In the end, everyone made it back, but we did have one engine start.  Everyone agreed it was a difficult day, and the winner certainly deserved it.

First guest reporter is Andy Breyer who finished first in Club Class and volunteered to write tonight’s Club Class report.

“The challenge today was that it was again blue, but with turn areas, we wouldn’t all be funneled onto the same course line. My strategy was to go early and use the other classes as markers, rather than play start roulette. Coming out of Jal I ran down a gaggle with a great climb and got connected with the group. Later in the flight I dove for a dust devil and got a much-needed climb headed into Tatum. The final glide was a nail biter. I lost my reserve to oppressive sink and flopped over the finish at minimal speed, with 100 feet to spare.”  Thanks Andy!

Jarrod Granzow is writing the 15-Meter report.  Unfortunately, Jarrod landed out safely today, and he was not the only one that had issues on the final glide.  The sink in the last 20 miles was hideous.  Even with 1,000ft to spare and Mc 5, you might not have made it.  Despite everyone talking about leaving early, the before start shenanigans were alive and well. There were a few big gaggles, then everyone broke up and I saw a few gliders do some fake starts, or maybe they started and found better climbs and decided to restart.  Who knows, but it was difficult to make the 10000ft start altitude.  The day was supposed to be blue, but we were treated with some nice CU in the first turn, however they sure didn't work as good as I was hoping.  Gliders kept passing me overhead and I couldn't figure out how to get up there!   The second leg was back to blue and for me, it was like a big congo line.  I could often see several groups of gliders well off in the distance, all on the same course line, so that leg was pretty easy for me.  The third leg to Caprock Station was a different story and I was all on my own, but there were still good climbs to be had if you could find them.  On the last leg, I could tell the day was getting weak and even though I was towards the front of the pack.  I turned at every possible bump in the road trying to find that last 1000 ft to get home.  However, on this day it wasn't meant to be, and I ended up landing in a feed lot next to rows of manure piled up.  I grew up on a farm, so I had a pretty good idea what I was getting myself into.  I was right and it was a great place to land but, also as expected, the smell wasn't so great!  Since I was only about 6 miles from the airport, the nice farmer gave me a ride to get my trailer.  We had a great time talking about his farm and I shared some of my experiences growing up on a farm.  He has over 20,000 head of dairy cattle.   I told him that the feed lot usually creates great thermals for us but not this time!  Thanks to XM for helping me get my glider quick and putting up with a little bit of smell!”

The winners for Day 4 of the 15, 18 and Club Class Nationals are:

In 15-Meter Class, third place went to David Leonard with Noah Ritter placing second just .56mph behind the winner.  Winning the day was Mike Sorenson with a speed of 72.75.

In Club Class, third place went to Byron Tyler with Tony Condon in second place.  Andrew Brayer won the day with a raw speed of 66.65mph over the 214mile task.

In the 18-Meter Class, Andy Blackburn won the day with a speed of 77.45mph over 256 miles.  In second place was Sean Murphy with Dave Springford in third place. 

Tonight, we had a very nice lasagna dinner served by the SSA staff.  Thank you ladies, for a great meal.  At the meal I asked those attending to describe the day in one sentence.  Here are some of the comments:

• Caprock at 860ft AGL is awefully scary
• I want to know who the task advisor is for the 18-meter folks
• The CD briefed us we were going to places we could be safe and landable.  We went to freaking Jal, Brownfield and Caprock!
• Caprock is not hard as a rock, it is so SOFT around that turnpoint!
• Dust Devils are real, but you had to be at 1,000ft AGL to make them work
• I hate scorpions (one of our crews got bit today, they are fine)
• The kids launched the field in 1 hour 30 minutes, great job!
• I just got to stand around, said 8-year-old Wyatt.  He is so cute!
• Finally, “We chose these tasks not because they were easy, but because they were haarrd!”

That is all for tonight.  We should be able to fly the last four days so stay tuned.  Until then, hug your dog.

Cheers,

Rich Owen
ZO