Practice Day

The early morning sky looked foreboding with lower ceilings, and stronger, gusty surface winds.  This is a typical day here in the northland just after the passage of a cold front brought with a high pressure ridge west of the task area, and thus an unstable airmass.

With an early afternoon launch, sunshine on the ground, and a rising ceiling, the sniffer found lift right away.  And, then the fun began. Despite the strong sink down low, lift was abundant and strong throughout the lift band even with the strong +20 knot winds aloft. The task to North Mankato and then Waseca, had the contestants fly cloud and lift streets over all three legs of the task.  

Many pilots found 5-10 knots of lift indicated on their varios throughout the afternoon and some sink too, but not to much concern because of the fun while running the streets.  Doug Tarmichael won the sports class in a ASW24 and Leon Zeug won the 15-meter class in a ASW20.  Go Schleicher!

The CM