SCFR2

[jdevorak]

Day 3: I gave up my spot at the lead breakfast table to write these reports. Ken took it over. The pilot’s briefing shed some light on task 2. There was an inversion about 5,000 feet. Those who broke through, like Greg had smoother sailing. Those that did not, like Ken, had a tough struggle. Tim Helms was awarded Flytec speed sleeves with a hoodie for flying with the rope and bringing it back. Day three was predicted to be like day 1. Because of the fiasco with the start order the day before, they changed the system. They had 10 spots for early launch. Pilots who were interested put their names in a hat for a drawing. Ken won one of the spots. They called a task to the north with an entry circle. Second turn point was west to Estrella sailplane port and the big mountains. Then south to I8 for a third turn point then home to the motel. On the tow line the day was blue and hotter than before. The winds were lighter too. A large gaggle of 22 gliders formed around Ken a mile to the north. Although, he would be too modest to say it that way. Pilots were reluctant to head out on course. Kraig and Greg finally got off. I headed off on a circuitous route to a spot in-between turn point one and two. Ken and Greg hooked up at the first turn point and finally got a slow climb. I decided to go shopping at Wallmart. I wanted to get some non-polarized sunglasses so I could see the GPS without taking them off. When I got out Ken and Greg were already well past me. Ken said he was 200 feet off the deck at Estrella. I headed that direction and saw Ricker in a field off to the right. I stopped to offer him water, beer, coke, red bull or peaches. His wife Terri was a half mile away and he declined. I headed on and saw Bostik and Bill Reynolds in a field off to the left. I stopped and offered them the same. They both accepted. I headed on. I got a call from Ken saying he made the best save of his life and was now at 10 grand. Kendall had made the turn point and was back at Estrella at 8 grand. The next leg was on the edge of the cotton fields. I remembered at the briefing they said the pilots could fly to the right to stay over dry lands. The GPS wanted to send me back to civilization. I went looking for a different path. I came across this huge mansion with a private airstrip. He had an old military jet sitting in front of a hanger. I went on down dirt roads on a zig-zag path through the cotton fields. I finally came across a paved road heading south. I hung out there. I got a call from Ken saying he might be on final glide. He was at four thousand, all alone, and he hadn’t felt a bump. I got out of the truck and looked up. He was going over head. I watched him fly over a low mountain up ahead. I told him to text coordinates when he could. When I finally got them and plugged them into the GPS, it took me around the mountain and off into the cotton fields again. After I found Ken I had to find a way around an irrigation canal we couldn’t jump. While helping Ken I got a text from Greg. He was 3 miles up the same dirt road. Greg was 13 kilometers from the third turn point. Both pilots together talked about how they saw a lot of pilots at Estrella but hadn’t seen anybody on glide. Maybe we just weren’t looking up much. Nobody made goal. Only Robin Hamilton made it to I8 and there were 22 landings in between him and Greg. The big surprise was Matt Barker, who finished in the top 5. He is a WW factory guy who flew Kagel the week before the comp.

[jdevorak]

Day 4: They changed the launch plan again. They decided that the 10 early launch slots should really help those disadvantaged by being last in line. So they started at the end and gave the opportunity to those that wanted. If a pilot accepted he, had to take it. If he later changed his mind, he would have to go to the very end of the line, which is where he was to begin with. A change in the timing was also made. They kept the same three start clocks but opened the launch window 15 minutes earlier. This was to help get everybody in the air sooner. That would enable everyone to take the first clock if they wanted. Nobody would be on the ground when the first start time rolled by. It worked. Nobody was on the ground but some were in the air 90 minutes before start came around. Even then no one was getting high enough to leave for the entry circle 3 kilometers away. There were about 40 gliders hitting up against the 4,000 foot ceiling. I heard one near midair. What I heard was a lot of cussing from 3,000 feet up. A couple of small groups did break away. But some of those came back. One was Kendall and he was so low he had to land. It worked out well for him. He got towed back to the same gaggle which was finally found a good climb. I went out on course. I would position myself in front a ways and let the gliders fly to me. I could radio back to Greg and Ken if the gliders in front had found lift, or were searching. That kind of worked until Ken said he was low and getting ready to land. I drove back but couldn’t find him. By that time he had found a climb and was out of trouble. Greg had hooked up with Ben Dunn and was catching up with the lead gaggle. Oh yes. The task that was set for the day was similar to the one they had yesterday. The far turn point was moved further north so pilots could take advantage of being higher on the mountain range. The southern turn point was eliminated so pilots could fly directly back to the motel. The length of the task was about the same. The sky was blue (few if any clouds) and the temperature was about 102. It felt hotter on the ground than yesterday. Ken got pretty high on his save. I went looking for gas. Back on the radio I found Greg caught the leaders and he was on the mountain trying to maximize his altitude. Ken had gotten to the mountain but was low again. He dove in low and used rock climbing gear to claw his way up the face. It was learned yesterday that whoever got highest on that mountain had the best chance of making the glide back to goal because usually the lift had shut off. Greg got high enough to make it 20k from goal with one additional thousand foot climb in the valley. Ken put in an extra effort to get to 11,400 which enabled him to glide 13 kilometers from goal. About 10 pilots made it all the way. At dinner Tim Helms was explaining his rock and roll flight and knocked a glass of wine into my chest. Linda Salamone gave me a fund raising shirt from the Women’s world team going to Australia in 2013.