Day 4 Update
Wednesday is Auction Day in Belleville, and that means that Brian Glick and brother Steve have the day off from competition duties to attend to real work. It's actually incorrect to call this "Glickless Wednesday" since a passel of Glick children are still running the line and otherwise helping to ensure a smooth operation, but the day was so-named many years ago, and the label has stuck.
This morning dawned sunny and cool with a smattering of high level clouds and the persistent Southeast breeze in the air. After yesterday's somewhat marginal backside ridge mission, the pilots were hoping for some improvement in the conditions. Weatherman Richard Kellerman gave us the forecast which featured the unusual combination of Southeast winds but relatively dry conditions with solid thermals to as much as 4,000 feet AGL. The encouraging forecast persuaded the task committee to cook up an interesting challenge. The two hour area task featured large circles at either end of Jack's Mountain, which forced pilots to get creative to grab enough distance to avoid being under time. The final turn at Allenville encouraged pilots to abandon Jack's for a ride home via Stone Mountain, a curveball that not all pilots figured out in time.
As it turned out, the day was even slightly better than forecast. The backside ridge was a rock-solid 90-100kts for the most part. Pre-start thermals provided 3+ knots to almost 5,000 MSL but frustratingly seemed to quit just below the 5,500 MSL top of the cylinder. It was a day when "starting out the top" would have added a welcome 5 miles to the first leg achieved distance. Most pilots headed out to the first turnpoing, Orbisonia, within 30 minutes of the task opening, though a few waited for the congestion to die down and started a bit later. The first cylinder was make-or-break, as it required some broken-field flying to use the less-than-perfect "Jack's Extension" beyond Mill Creek. Several pilots maxed out in this cylinder, and most of them were top of the scoresheet. From there, it was a classic backside run northeast to Three Barns, then back southeast to Mill Creek. Nobody seemed to have much trouble with the second and third legs, and it's unlikely points were gained or lost here.
Finally, pilots had to nip the Allenville cylinder strategically placed a few miles downwind of Jack's but right on Stone Mountain. Most of the fleet figured out the puzzle, though a few pilots opted to thermal up high enough on Jacks for the out-and-return. In the end, everyone more-or-less worked it out, and only one engine run prevented 100% completions.
Having competed at Mifflin for the majority of contests over the last 25 years, I thought (as did pretty much everyone else) that a "Backside Mission" meant running up and down Jack's mountain all day. Today, two relative newcomers blazed a different trail. Borix Kubrak (XA) and Noah Ritter (BT) exited the start from the southeast side and proceeded to run down the back side of Shade Mountain (one valley east of Lewistown) toward Gobbler's Knob, putting them at the far end of the first cylinder without the need for any circling. Both of them were able to make relatively painless transitions back to Jack's on the way back north, and this proved to be the winning formula for the day, with XA taking first and BT a close second. Ridge Meister Karl Striedieck with copilot Adrianna Barraberri took third flying a more conventional route.
With Wednesday in the bag, we already have an official contest with almost a week to go. The forecast for the next couple of days looks unsettled, but the progs for the latter part of the Memorial Day weekend look encouraging. The points spread between first and tenth in the cumulative scoresheet is still less than 150 points, so it's anybody's race.
Erik Mann (P3)