Some of the Clouds were all Show and NO GO
Today was a fairly normal day at the pilot meeting. No one made any mistakes from the previous day, Richard’s weather brief told us of outstanding weather, and it was a very short meeting. I can say that the local government will be having their 4th of July fireworks display on July 1 vice the 4th at the Hobbs Army Airfield. Now of course this contest has been scheduled for almost a year and the local government knew that. Thanks to their calm and insistent nature, Michelle Sorenson and Denise Layton coordinated with county government to solve all the issues. We will still have the contest and arrangements have been made so the glider pilots can watch the display from their trailer parking spots. Should be a great time.
Tony Turiano did the safety brief and showed us several pictures of the dry lake beds around Hobbs. The pictures showed how hard a retrieve might be if you land in these lake beds. Hiking up a hill with various glider parts would certainly lose a few of your friends. Tony also worked with Manolo to fix the Yellow Bird tow plane. It seems a temperature sensor on one of the cylinders had failed. Today we were back to a full complement of tow planes.
When you go to a contest you always seem to have spare parts to cover any issue you may have. Gary Carter had an problem with his flight instruments and sent out a call for help. Within a short time, his RV looked like the supply room for Cumulus Soaring. A good number of pilots donated equipment so Gary could continue flying. Thanks to everyone who offered the help!
We are blessed, not only to be flying in this great weather, but also having a super ground crew made up of unique young men and ladies. We thought we would introduce them to you. As you know, Jeanette Baugh and Melissa Indrebo have been running the line all contest. They call the kids Mallards (for the boys) and Ducklings (for the girls). The prelaunch routine for them is a briefing about procedures and safety and then the fun begins. It may be a little trash talk about which line is better or a couple of cheers to get them going. They stay in the hangar area so they are not in the hot sun for very long. Water is available on the equipment cart and they are relieved often so they can remain hydrated. Here are the folks that make up our team.
Adrian Reyes is 15 years old and wants to be an Air Traffic Controller
Kameron Strogner and Jeff Savage are both 14 and each wants to be either a pilot or Air Traffic Controller
Dalton Hipp is 15 and wants to be a crop duster, and a glider pilot that will someday fly around the world
Elizebeth Hipp is 12 and wants to be a country singer
Nevaeh Loredo is 11 and wants to play basketball in the WNBA
Zumbree Rodriguez is 12 and wants to be a pro soccer player and go to the Olympics
Xailee Loredo is 10 and also wants to play soccer in the Olympics
Denise Seheller is 11 and wants to be an actress
Nevaeh Quinoz is 11 and wants to be a professional video game player.
Each of these young adults are unique in their own special way. The one thing that binds them together at Hobbs is the soaring competition and their work on the launch crew. They have had a lot of fun being around other adults who act as role models. Janette Baugh is an Air Traffic Control Supervisor so you can see the impact she has had on the kids. Each day after the launch Jeanette and Melissa take them out for lunch. A number of pilots and crews have donated to a fund to support these little outings.
Like I said earlier, the weather for today was very good. Cloud bases were expected to get to 13,000ft with lift in the 5-8kt range. The 15-meter class was sent on a 489km (303mi) Assigned Task. After Start D they went to Eunice, Hamilton, Crossroads, Muleshoe, Portales and Finish. The Start circle was on the west side of the regional airport and there was cu all around. Just after the start gate opened, one of the pilots started but found a 6kt thermal within 2km of the line. He climbed back up and restarted. This began a journey to reel in the majority of the class. The leg to Eunice was just a matter of lining up the clouds and wait for the best thermal to come. Now you cannot expect that to work every time and this pilot go low on this leg. However, he did manage to get a really good thermal to get him back to the upper height band. Right around here, he caught up to P7, ZL, 5E and on the final leg he caught KM. You might be able to guess who this was, Rick Indrebo who won the day at a speed of 157kph (97.6mph). In second place was Gary Ittner with Erik Nelson in third.
The Open Class again beat the top speed of the kiddie gliders. We went on an Assigned Task from Start A to Eunice, Hamilton, Seminole, Tatum, Kenna and Finish. The start times of the competitors were widely separated due to some difficulty in getting up to start heights. Over an hour separated the first starter to the last one. This had a dramatic effect on the score sheet. The first two legs were either rip roaring or a slow slug swimming upstream. Cloud bases were high but the clouds were all show and no go for some of the pilots. The legs to Seminole, Tatum and Muleshoe were pretty good and most pilots got though here without difficulty. Kenna was a different matter entirely. Depending on the time you arrived here, you were either greeted with a storm, light rain, or heavy sink and hail. There happened to be a good street to fly down on the far side of the storm which helped several pilots increase their task speeds. Final glide was either a feast of famine story. When you achieved your altitude reserve to make it back to the airport, you would be in heavy sink until 1,000ft below this safety altitude. You would climb again to increase your reserve only to sink below final glide again. In the end, Jim Lee finished first, blazing the field with a speed of 159kph (98.7mph), beating second place Dick Butler by 16kph (10mph). In third was Keith Baugh. There is still two more days of racing to be held in very good conditions. Tomorrow I’ll cover the over and under bets on who may be on the podium at the Zia Park Banquet. Until then, fly safe and have a good night.
Cheers,
Rich Owen
Team 98 Backseater