Tracklog Results
The flying day began a few hours later with a big dose of drama, as Aaron launching first flew straight into an invisible dust devil, which took him straight up 300ft vertical up wobbling all over the place. After that he flew straight out and struggled to find much to climb in. That didn't give anymore much motivation to launch.
Suddenly we spotted him climbing like a devil from low down right up to above launch height. Everyone realized the race start was only a few minutes away, and Aaron could now reach it within a simple downwind glide. The race was on!
We all threw ourselves into the air with me being one of the last off a couple of minutes after the race start.
After my rodeo ride of a flight yesterday I had no interesting in racing the course, just wanted to climb well and get to the finish without feeling like being on spin cycle for 2 hrs.
I was really pleased that my research and analysis on thermalling from my Thermalling Fast and Slow post really paid off. I was very focused on using more brake to fly slower, turn more consistently, maintain even bank angle. Because it was windy, the thermals had quite a lot of drift, which added to the challenge. But today they were all well formed, unlike yesterday where turbulence was breaking them in pieces as well as drifting them.
After this climb flew I together with expert pilot Jeff Williams on his IcePeak 6, and was quite pleased to be keeping up. He was more confident about finding lift out in the flats and eventually picked a straighter line. I found a light thermal drifting back to the bigger air on the mountain so we parted ways.
After climbing high over launch again, the course line headed south again towards Mt McKinley. and after my nasty experience yesterday with the ridges on the way there, I made sure to climb extra high to fly right over that area..
Ended up in 5th place, same as yesterday. Tavis, Aaron, and Ziggy had a real race to goal, landing within 15 seconds of each other! Because of being about ten minutes late to tag the start gate, I was down the list in 5th place, but finishing the course was higher up my list than racing it.
Thanks to Marshall Peak, the Crestline Soaring society, and the lovely Southern California weather for providing the perfect thermal education location!
And as always to Aaron Colby-Price for organizing the SoCal XCLeague. I would never had done this flight if just free flying for the day, and that's why these little mini-comps are such a great learning experience.
Organic Buckwheat Chocoloate Chip Pecan Pancakes
Jai Pal Khalsa hosted several XCLeague members for the night to save us hours of driving. His hospitality was amazing... we woke at at a leisurely 8:30 am to the smell of organic buckwheat, chocolate chip and pecan pancakes, paired with organic fair trade expresso!The flying day began a few hours later with a big dose of drama, as Aaron launching first flew straight into an invisible dust devil, which took him straight up 300ft vertical up wobbling all over the place. After that he flew straight out and struggled to find much to climb in. That didn't give anymore much motivation to launch.
Suddenly we spotted him climbing like a devil from low down right up to above launch height. Everyone realized the race start was only a few minutes away, and Aaron could now reach it within a simple downwind glide. The race was on!
We all threw ourselves into the air with me being one of the last off a couple of minutes after the race start.
After my rodeo ride of a flight yesterday I had no interesting in racing the course, just wanted to climb well and get to the finish without feeling like being on spin cycle for 2 hrs.
I was really pleased that my research and analysis on thermalling from my Thermalling Fast and Slow post really paid off. I was very focused on using more brake to fly slower, turn more consistently, maintain even bank angle. Because it was windy, the thermals had quite a lot of drift, which added to the challenge. But today they were all well formed, unlike yesterday where turbulence was breaking them in pieces as well as drifting them.
Rocketship
In the thermal below I nailed the entry, made perfectly consistent turns all the way up to the top of lift at about 2000m, didn't fall out either front or back, and exited cleanly to go on transition to the next waypoint. 608m climb in about 3min - a 1000ft/min rocketshipAfter this climb flew I together with expert pilot Jeff Williams on his IcePeak 6, and was quite pleased to be keeping up. He was more confident about finding lift out in the flats and eventually picked a straighter line. I found a light thermal drifting back to the bigger air on the mountain so we parted ways.
Slow Drift
This was an exercise in consciously 'changing gears' to a different type of thermal, and slowing down as much as possible, with flat turns drifting towards the higher ground. It was a total contrast to the hard and tight rocketship thermal triggering from the top of the mountain.After climbing high over launch again, the course line headed south again towards Mt McKinley. and after my nasty experience yesterday with the ridges on the way there, I made sure to climb extra high to fly right over that area..
Sorta Low Save
The last notable thermal of the day was a low save, after a gruelling 1.3 km fight into 18km/hr headwind resulting in a 4.3:1 glide ratio. This was exactly the sink hole that had Dimitri and Jai Pai on the ground yesterday. I had enough height to power through it I was heading out to a big wash area which had worked the day before. Even though I actually had quite a bit of height, it felt like a a low save because I was already scoping out where best to land. The thermal also had the feel of a low save, where you find something light and broken and have to work it oh so carefully for a few turns before it develops. This definitely wasn't as clean as either of the other two thermals, but it was the flight saver.Ended up in 5th place, same as yesterday. Tavis, Aaron, and Ziggy had a real race to goal, landing within 15 seconds of each other! Because of being about ten minutes late to tag the start gate, I was down the list in 5th place, but finishing the course was higher up my list than racing it.
Thanks to Marshall Peak, the Crestline Soaring society, and the lovely Southern California weather for providing the perfect thermal education location!
And as always to Aaron Colby-Price for organizing the SoCal XCLeague. I would never had done this flight if just free flying for the day, and that's why these little mini-comps are such a great learning experience.