David Hart Report

The Region 9 Sports Class field eagerly awaited another fantastic day of soaring after a super Day 1 on Monday. The morning weather briefing warned of afternoon thunderstorms along the Wasatch Front, however, so expectations were dampened somewhat as the 65 gliders on the field began queueing along the taxiway ahead of the 11am grid time.  The 18 m National gliders took the front half of the grid today, with the Sports class behind, and by the time the traffic jam abated, the 11:30 grid compression time had come and gone.  Clearly the 11AM NOTAM time did not allow for everyone to get into place at the expected time, and it was close to 1PM before the front of the grid started launching.

Cumulonimbus clouds could be seen building south and east of Nephi in the morning hours, and the promised thunderhead over Mt. Nebo started building around 2pm, as the 18 m ships got airborne. If Sports Class was going to launch, there would be little chance of opening the start gate much before 3pm, and meanwhile the sky was increasingly ugly and an east crosswind was picking up on the airfield.  After the last 18 m ships launched, the CD announced the Sports Class day was cancelled, as the first turn point at Mt. Baldy was directly under another storm cell. 

Another traffic jam ensued as Sports Class pilots and crews rushed back to their tie-downs ahead of the first gust front. Getting covers on the gliders in 30 knot gusts was like reefing the sails on a sailing ship during a gale. The glider gods had exacted their karmic revenge on the Sports Class for having had such a strong day the day before.  Day 2 of the regionals would have to wait at least another day.

This was the third straight day of traffic jams and delayed grid times, and this correspondent fears unless Nephi can be NOTAMed closed at 10AM rather than 11AM the late starts will continue, disadvantaging whichever Class is at the back of the grid.

David Hart (4D)