Big Spring update from Tony DG

[Skippy]

This has been a great experience so far. The drive out didn’t seem so long cruising in Greg Brown’s truck. Two days of driving with stops was about ten hours a day. AC is a must.

On the first practice day we flew around locally with the other pilots and stayed at the airport. The second day I tried to venture off and headed for a nice, dark cloud street. Unfortunately, dark cloud streets in Santa Barbara and Texas are two entirely different things. This dark cloud kept growing and shortly after I decked it the rain and wind came. I nice Texan horse rancher pulled off and held my glider with me as the rain poured and the wind blew. What a nice guy. Shortly thereafter it was all over with the sun coming out and things went back to normal.

All of the competitors in the other classes have been in a good mood and it has been a real positive affair. The single surface class turned out to just be our group of five pilots. We kind of feel like we were lucky to be invited and we have all the leeway we want to call our own tasks and do our own thing. So, we keep a low profile and let everyone else launch first and then we go and do our thing. I’m on the single surface task committee and so sit with Davis Straub in the morning as he tells the conditions and I pick something that sounds vaguely possible. Turns out the single and sport class are getting the same tasks.

The first day of competition was very difficult in the beginning. I couldn’t find anything and elected to go get another tow as I watched Skippy climb toward the clouds. Greg with 300 feet up on me went a little bit further out from the airport and caught a nice thermal to 8000 msl or 5500 agl. I broke my harness tang and so couldn’t zip up but elected to go get towed up right away so I might get caught up with everyone else. After getting off tow I again started flailing. I was again going down and got pissed and thought I got to get out of here and try something, anything else and headed on a killer falcon glide. Soon I was about 400 feet off the deck over the field just outside the airport, SWEET. Groveling low but feeling all the heat over the baking field I knew there must be something and there was and a slow climb out to 7000 msl or 4500 agl which seemed to take forever.

In the meantime, Janet Duke had borrowed a tow release and it opened prematurely and she barely pulled off a quick landing. Unfortunately, the same thing happened on her second tow and she wrenched her arm. No weak links were broke so we think there wasn’t enough slack in the cable. She’ll be o.k. and her arm is getting better but we’ll have to wait to see if she recovers in time to fly again.

Once up a bit there weren’t many clouds and I just turned in everything that came my way and kept going downwind. I have a long way to go to figure out how to fly in the flat lands. David Duke was tearing up the skies, in a Falcon way of course, and was nine miles out. Skippy landed in a sink hole with three other pilots at around the 4-mile mark, and Greg went a mile or so further.

I again got low and this time a Falcon or raptor of some sort got my attention as it screamed and said, dude, it’s right here, look at me and he banked and climbed up. I joined him as he screamed at me the whole way up. It was about this time that I heard a helicopter coming close but actually it was my tip fluttering in the wind as my string had come off. So my harness was open and my tip was fluttering and I was headed for a fat cloud and what looked to be my first nice street ahead of me. The climb was smooth and killer and the view was gorgeous and I glided at 9500 feet for the short street that I had stuffing the bar and climbing the whole way while watching the mileage meter clicking like a pinball machine. There was another large cloud on my path a ways but even though it was large it was starting to dissipate. Good clouds were a long way off to my right that I didn’t think I could get to so I kept on course line and the cloud did dissipate as I got to it and a blue hole afterward. Tried to track down a dust devil but it disappeared into the mesquite and with no landing options afterward I aborted and landed with a nice flight of 29 miles. David Duke went about 20 miles. John Hesch flew great but tried to race fast and ended up just short of goal on his final glide but seemed very happy with his flight.

Today with a forecast of no clouds until after 1pm, I knew it was bad when the cloud heights were ridiculously high at 11 so we didn’t set our gliders up. The rigids got off and some flex wings but it did overdevelop and the day was called as lightning struck, the rain poured and the wind howled so today was a rest day.

The air has been very nice while flying with little turbulence on the three days I flew. Kind of reminds me about a nice day at Pine except with landing options all over the place. I’m thinking though that there is just too much moisture out here and worry that the over-development is going to continue, we’ll see.

As for lodging we have a killer 50’s trailer in a nice RV park. It’s all dolled up with nice curtains, new carpet and furnishing and great AC. That is a total score and can’t believe we lucked into that.

We have a great driver and his name is Bryan Barnes and he’s a hang 2 pilot from Tennessee. He has a beard and wears a kilt and so you know he’s got some character to him. He drove for Davis Straub on his record SS flight and has been terrific.

The prairie dogs are a trip and squeek at us as we drive by with their little black tails shaking like a rattle. Oh they’re so fierce!

More later,

Tony

[DBLD]

Better than the Oz Report

DD

[JimmyZ]

I agree but.... at least Greg was mentioned in this mornings Oz Report. Way to go Greg!!