| Author |
Comment |
| Vince
|
Chelan
worlds
Chelan day –1,0
(The worlds took place at Chelan Washington, from Saturday, July 13 to Saturday, July 20.
Vince Endter, piloting a Stratos Rigid Wing, along with his wife/driver Nancy Ferguson, went to fly as
an alternate on the US Rigid Wing (Class 5) team. They left for Chelan on Wednesday, July 11.)
What a long drive. From San Jose to Chelan
our mileage was 1005. 19 hours driving was harder than any flight in
a hang glider I have done. My ass was just not made for driving. We
have set up our trailer next to a house that Amy Zeisiet (thanks
Amy) has rented.
Thursday morning Nancy and I drove up to
the butte. I have never flown here before, but it was just like what
Davis posted in his OZ report. All of the launches looked good.
There were 15 to 20 pilots set up when we arrived at 11:00. More and
more pilots showed up as the day progressed. I saw 10 to 15
Atos-C’s. I had the only Stratos (an Atos-C sold by Icaro, Christian
is supposed to have one as well) Several of the USA pilots decided
to fly a triangle from the Butte to Withrow to Mansfield to the
Chelan airport, about 35 miles.
Pilots started launching by
1:00. I think I finally launched at 2:10. About 8 pilots were in
line to launch when the first pilot in line decided to potato. We
waited in the 90+ degree heat, all dressed up for 15 to 20 minutes.
They finally backed off and the rest of us launched in about 5
minutes. I spent the next 15 minutes trying to get above launch.
Finally I found a nice thermal that would take me all the way to
7,000’. At times I was climbing at 1000+ fpm. I would describe the
air as rough. I talked to Davis after the flight and he said he went
up in a smooth 200 fpm thermal. It is sometimes amazing how much the
air can change in 15 minutes.
I left for Withrow at 7,000’
and was able to glide to about 4 miles from there before I found my
first thermal. This one would only get me back to 6,000’. I made
Withrow and headed for Mansfield. About 2 miles after leaving
Withrow I hit a great thermal. It got a little rough as I passed
through the inversion at 7,000’. It then turned into a one hand
thermal to 10,000’. I was able to glide to Mansfield (about 11 more
miles) arriving at 7,900’. I turned and headed for the airport at
Chelan. I caught one more thermal to 9,000’ which turned out to be a
waste of time. I crossed the rim at 6,000’ (about 3000’ agl). I was
over the airport at 4500’. Time for the task 1h 23m. I spent quite a
bit of time getting down.
There were thermals popping off
all over the airport. As I was about to land (20’ agl) my ground
speed increased indicating a thermal breaking off in front of me. At
6’ agl I hit the thermal which popped me up 20 to 30’ and put me in
a 45 degree left bank. I tried to turn right as much as I could. The
bottom fell out and I dropped the last 10’ or so. I was still in a
slight left bank when I hit. I landed on my feet, but the glider hit
hard enough to bend both weak links in the down tubs and break the
base tube. I was not hurt. I am now trying to repair my base tube
before the competition starts tomorrow. I should be able to make it.
We had a the opening day parade today. All the pilots walked
down the main street of Chelan. There were lot of people clapping,
waving and cheering as we walked by. The opening day speeches were
short and sweet. It has been about 30 degrees warmer here this week
over last week so we were all thankful for the short speeches. After
the speeches we (the USA pilots) tried to get registered. The
registration was a total mess. After waiting in line for 30 minutes
they decided to register by country. We waited another 45 minutes as
several other countries moved ahead of us. When I finally got my
turn, they had no record of me pr-registering. They did showed I
paid. Then they said I was not qualified to fly in the comp. They
said that I had never flown in a class A comp before. I told them
about finishing in the top 11 at Wallaby and top 10 at Quest. They
said they had no record of that. They said they will try to look up
the Civil rankings and see of they can find me (I am ranked 30th in
the world in class 5). I will have to go back at 5:00 PM and see if
I can fly.
Well, after a lot of negotiations by Linda Sauer
and Ron Gleason, the meet officials decided that I am not that much
of a hazard and decided to let me fly. There is a dinner tonight
(for $675, it is the least we should expect). We were not even told
about it until we registered today.
There are a lot of
political and safety issues that Ron (the team leader) has been
working on. I am staying out of it. We will not know all of the
final rules until tomorrow.
More to
follow.
Vince
PS I flew with a T-tail and I really
like it.
PPS Can someone please forward this to the e-groups
list.
|
| Vince
|
Chelan worlds
day 1
Chelan day 1, deployment (not me)
My repair did not work so
I have to try again. I was not able to launch today so I get a big 0
for the day. I talked to Felix about the repair and he suggested
another way. Hopefully it will work and I can fly
tomorrow.
The day started off with overcast skies and a few
rain drops. By 11:00 the sun was coming out but the Butte was late
in heating up. The meet is lacking wind dummies. One launched at
12:45 and never got much above launch. Lori launched around 1:30 and
sunk out. Finally, Brian Porter walked his swift to the front of the
line (in front of about 12 rigid wings pilots who did not want to
launch) and showed us how it is done. This seemed to get things
moving along. Davis pushed which really sped things up. Pushing is
somewhat risky, because when you get to launch, you have only 30
seconds to launch. If you fail to launch in 30 seconds you get a
zero for the day.
The task was a 92 kilometers (they are
using metric for the start circle and turn points) triangle of sorts
with the turn points near the 17/hwy 2 intersection, Sims and goal
at Mansfield airport. In spite of the light conditions, I’m sure
some of the pilots will make it. The women’s task was to Sims and
back to Mansfield. Someone on the US team has loose lips and leaked
the women’s frequency to the Italians (they knew it before any of
the women launched) much to the ire of Linda Sauer the women’s team
leader.
Oleg (I don’t know his last name) is here from the
Russia(?) (his English is not very good) and is staying at the same
house as us. He is flying a Stalker 2. He deployed today. I do not
know the details, but he called Amy and told her he was alright. He
has been working on his glider in the yard the same time I have been
working on my base tube. We have not had much time to
talk.
The dinner last night was OK, but they hired a comedian
for entertainment. This went over real good (NOT) with all the
foreign teams who could not understand what he was saying. He went
on way to long, over 40 minutes. Most of the foreign teams walked
out before he was finished. They just keep shooting themselves in
the foot here.
At launch we were supposed to set up in lanes
by country. When we arrived at launch today none of the lanes were
marked. The meet officials were telling the pilots one thing and the
team leaders another. Luckily the pilots are able to figure things
out for themselves. Hopefully they will be better prepared
tomorrow.
Vince
PS Scot and Lori showed up today. It
would be nice if Scot would be a wind dummy tomorrow.
(Davis Straub's OZ report of Saturday's competition)
|
| Vince
|
Chelan day
2
Chelan Worlds day-2
The first
thing I did this morning was check my repair on my base tube. It
came out pretty good (that’s the same thing I said the first time I
repaired it). The weather looked a little better with bright
sunshine though the wind was out of the west and a bit breezy. We
headed to launch at 9:45.
The task for today was to Wilbur to
the east, then goal at the Coolee City airport to the southwest. The
distance was 80 plus miles with the leg from Wilbur to Coolee being
25 miles into the wind. The pilots meeting was disorganized and the
weather briefing poor.
The meet officials called the lake
launch the official launch. Several of the local pilots said the
west lake launch is seldom used. The wind never came up any of the
three main launches (Ants in the pants, between the rocks, and green
monster). I have never been to a foot launch comp so I have nothing
to compare it to, but launch was a complete mess. There was no
order, lots and lots of pilots were trying to force their way into
some imaginary launch line. The lift was light and by the time I got
to launch they closed launch because there were to many pilots that
were in the air and still at launch level.
I was first in
line when they re-opened launch. Someone behind me was pushing. I
got off the hill with no problem. I headed around to the lee side of
the Butte because it looked like some pilots were getting up there.
I slowly sunk lower and lower. I barely made it over the ridge
between me and the soccer field. I was low in the canyon just west
of the soccer field when I hit a nasty, wild, snaky, thermal that
had me with a white knuckle grip on the base bar. I turned in this
monster anyway. It turned into my elevator out of the Butte. As I
shot up above the Butte at 1200 fpm, about 25 pilots who where
working week lift headed my way. I felt like the only guy with beer
in an LZ full of hang glider pilots. Soon they were all buzzing
around me.
The gaggles here were not as well formed as they
were in Florida. Twice I felt like another glider came too close.
Both time they were flex wings so they had to be the women pilots.
Once I banked so hard I thought my wing tip would hit them in the
base tube. I started to heard my base tube creak and I was worried
that my repair was about to come loose, but it turned out to be my
vario mount.
The flight went well to the turn point at
Wilbur with climbs to about 9000’. Once we turned toward Coulee
things went down hill with lots of pilots landing. The headwind was
about 16 mph almost straight on the nose. Several times I would
climb and loose a couple of miles only to get back to where I was at
my previous altitude. I finally figured out that any less than 300
up would not gain me anything. I probably spent two and a half hours
to cover 22 miles. At one point I figured I was in the first 5
pilots. I saw Alex Ploner fly over me about 1000’ higher. As it
turned out he was the only class 5 pilot to make goal. I came up 3
miles short. I think I may have finished 2nd for the day, or at
least in the top 5.
Since the Florida comps they have
changed the Top Secrete. I flew with two of them for several hours
and could not shake them. The climbed and glided at least as well as
me. Oleg packed up and left with what was left of his Stalker 2. No
one seems to know what happened. There are about 20 gliders with
tails of various makes. I am flying with a T tail and I feel it does
dampen the pitch. I can still fly fast if I want. The V tail that
Davis and several others are using increases the bar pressure at
higher speeds. I have not had a chance to race to goal, so I don’t
know how much it affects top speed.
We got back late so I
finished this up at 6:00 AM. I have to go get ready for another
day.
Vince
(Vince's track log of Day 2)
(Davis Straub's OZ report of Sunday's competition)
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| Vince
|
Chelan Worlds
day 3
Chelan worlds day 3
I have to make a correction. If you read
the oz report, you should know that I incorrectly stated that Oleg
left. Actually, he only left the house JZ is staying in and he is
now with a Russian who is also here. He fixed his Stalker 2 and he
flew today. The problem was the aileron cable came off the pulley
and jammed. He was left with a deflected aileron and a steep spiral,
so he deployed.
I finished third yesterday (or so I was told
since they did not have the results posted at launch) and it was
good for over 700 points. Now some people know who I am. I felt like
I was in the old Queen for a Day show.
When we arrived at
launch today, they actually had the launch lanes marked out. I guess
after two days someone figured out that they were having a comp
here. I should say that the people and City of Chelan have been
great to us. The people running he meet are a little behind the
curve. It looked to be another blue high pressure day, with lighter
winds than yesterday. The task committee called three different
task, one for each class. Class 5 had a 60+ triangle, with the turn
point at Wilbur and Sims Corner and goal at the Chelan airport. The
start times were moved back an hour with the first start at 2:00 and
the last start at 3:00
The launch lines appeared to be a
little more ordered. Launch opened at 12:30. Some pilots launched
before 1:00. I wanted to wait longer to launch so I would not have
to boat around for so long. I got in line at 1:50. Most of the
pilots were in line for the Between the Rocks. I noticed that there
were only 3 pilots in line for the Green monster so I moved over
there. I got a good cycle and had an easy launch.
Soon after
I launched I turned left since it looked like most of the pilots
were on that side. When I got over in front of Ants in the Pants, I
found a lot of pilots slowly sinking. After three passes I found a
nice thermal at 400+ that I rode all the way to 8,500 at which point
I left for the edge of the start circle.
I screwed up this
morning and accidentally erased the waypoint for the center of the
start circle. I joined a gaggle that looked to be about 12
kilometers out and we boated around for a while. Two minutes before
2:45 several pilots headed back toward the Butte. I figured they
were going get a start so I followed them. I hope I got the 2:45
start.
I flew way to slow today. I really wanted to make
goal. I stopped for a lot more thermals than I needed. I was above
6,000’ for most of the day, with my best climbs to 9,000’. I made
both turn points without any trouble, though I could see I was
falling further and further behind a faster gaggle. My GPS warned me
of low battery power just after the last turn point so I turned it
off. About 12 miles from the canyon rim I climbed to 9,000’ to make
sure I would make it. As it turned out I was way to high. For the
last 5 miles before the edge of the rim I had my harness unzipped,
my legs holding it open, the bar to my waist and I was rocked up. I
was still getting 200 up most of the way. I turned my GPS back on as
I crossed the rim at 5,400’. You have to cross goal no higher than
1,500’ agl and they have a laser range finder to verify. I crossed
at about 1,450’. There were 20 or so class 5 pilots already on the
ground. Most of the USA team had made goal.
There were
several whacks that did not surprise me given the changing wind
conditions. The ambulance responded to at least one pilot. One swift
pilot clipped a landing light on his landing.
I received a
zero for the first day so I figure I have nothing to loose so I will
try to fly a little more aggressively tomorrow. I have been having a
little trouble with the flex wings in the gaggles (women). I have
talked to several other pilots who are reporting the same thing. I
think that some of the women are not as experienced in gaggle
flying. I watched as one turned right into me and never looked in
the direction she was turning. I don’t think she saw me until I dove
under her missing by about 10’. Thankfully none of the USA women
have been involved.
Most of the drama has been at the team
leader meetings which I am not privy to. Maybe after the meet we can
have Ron Gleason and Linda Sauer report what was going
on.
Vince
(Vince's track log of Day 3)
(Davis Straub's OZ report of Monday's competition)
|
| Vince
|
Chelan worlds
day 4
Chelan Worlds day 4
First the bad stuff. I went from hero to
zero today. I had a flight of about 200 yards today. I had a great
launch from the Green Monster at the start of a good cycle. I had
been watching other pilots who were getting up just to the left of
Between the Rocks. Soon after launching I started a left turn to try
and stay in the ridge lift. As I tried to stop the turn I hit a good
thermal, the only problem was only my right wing caught it. This
increased my left turn. I finally leveled the wings pointed almost
straight into the launch of Between the Rocks. Since I was too close
to the hill to try and turn away, I took my best option which was to
make a down wind up hill landing. I got my legs out and I think I
got my hands to the down tube, or at least one hand. I thought I did
pretty good though I bent both week links in the down tubes. I may
have flared a little early, but I did not like the looks of the
rocks speeding toward me. Ron Gleason who was one of the few people
to witness the entire thing said I was flying slow. This may have
been so because I had not raised the flaps after launching. I
watched the video of the landing and my nose definitely came up just
before I landed. I was told that I was not the first to suffer this
fate at the Butte.
Several people came up to me afterward and
said that they did not see my right spoiler deployed. This may have
been so, but I think they did not see me until I was heading back
into the hill. I wanted the wings level for my landing. I had the
glider back together by 2:30 and the launch window was still open,
but they have a rule for no re-launches. I talked to the score
keeper and he said I will get the minimum distance of 12 kilometers
for my flight. I went back to the house we are staying at and set up
the glider and did a detailed inspection. Everything looks great.
There is no other damage to either me or the glider. If there was
any humor in this it was the end of my camelback tube coming off. As
I was kneeling under my glider after landing all the water was
draining out of my camelback into my crotch. The hose was not long
enough to get it much away from my body. As I walked back up,
several people made comments about my peeing my pants. And yes,
tomorrow I will not scratch so close to the hill.
Now for a
little good news. I placed 22nd for yesterday. Though it does not
sound great, most of the pilots were bunched up together so I was
not that far behind. I got just shy of 600 points. I beat Davis by
more than three minutes, but he scored more departure points than me
for taking an earlier start time. He finished 9 points ahead of me
for the day. Bruce Barmakian was the fastest USA team member, but
the officials said he crossed goal too high and they did not score
him completing the task. Ron is working on trying to prove he
crossed goal. The officials here have gone out of their way to try
not to show any favoritism to the USA team, so far that we have been
given a harder time than the other teams.
Now for a little
gossip. I don’t want to name names so you will have to figure it out
for yourselves. One team country from whom the USA declared their
independence in 1776, has a nickname for one of the pilots who used
to be local here and now flies mostly in Florida and puts out an
e-newsletter. The term bantered about is “one man death gaggle” due
to the way he enters an existing gaggle.
The task for class
2 and class 5 was a 102 mile out-and-back/triangle. The first turn
point was near Coulee City then up the west side of Banks lake to
the 175/hwy 2 junction, back south west to Simms Corner and finish
at the Chelan airport. I am out at the house so I do not know who
has made goal. Davis will probably publish the results tonight. The
team leader complained that the results were being posted to the web
before they were notified and had a chance to question any results.
The officials said they would not post until after the team leaders
had a printed copy, so don’t expect to find the results early the
next morning.
Vince
(Vince's track log of Day 4)
(Davis Straub's OZ report of Tuesday's competition)
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|
Chris
Gallagher
|
Re: Chelan
worlds
It has been a long time since I flew Chelan but I witnessed a
launch almost identical to yours Vince. The glider was different (it
was 1980) but the circumstances were the same. I also witnessed a
pilot forget to hook in that same day. When he realized he was not
hooked in he let go of the glider. He rolled head over heels down
the hill and stood up just in time for me to get a picture with him
watching his glider do a nice roll. It made a perfect turn and
smacked into the hill at about the same place as the launch ran
began. That afternoon we took it apart and there was no damage. He
flew the next day and all was fine. I still have that picture in an
old album. Those were the days you could still camp on top of the
butte. We would fly down in the morning for a bath in the lake and
breakfast in town. Then back up top for the soaring
afternoons.
Good luck in your next few days Vince and thanks
for the updates. I know we all look forward to them.
|
| Vince
|
Chelan day
5
Chelan worlds day 5
Things are looking up today. Yesterday
no one from the US team made goal. Davis had the farthest. Today Jim
Y., Bruce B. and I made goal. Bruce did really well. He took a later
start time and passed both Jim and I.
The task for today was
to a turn point near Coulee City, another turn point at Creston,
then back to the Wilbur airport. The total distance was 82.5 miles
or 135 kilometers. It took a long time to get everyone off the
launches. The wind was crossing at both Between the Rocks and Green
monster. Usually only one or the other launch was working and they
were not letting pilots launch at the same time. I was one of the
last to launch at 2:00. There was light lift over the Butte and a
lot of drift. Pilots looked like they were getting to 7 or 8
thousand. I left at 7,500 and took the 2:30 start time..
The
first leg was to the southeast into a headwind. This is where Jim
and I lost a lot of time. We did not stay upwind enough and had to
fight the headwind directly to the turn point. I would not be
surprised if it took us 30 minutes to make the last 7 miles to the
turn point. The thermals were also weaker just before the turn
point. I was getting to 9,000’ early in the flight, but only 6 or 7
thousand near the turn point. Jim passed me at this point and I did
not see him until after the last turn point where I passed
him.
The flight improved as soon as I turned to the north
east toward Creston. The thermals were farther apart, about 6 to 8
miles, but I was able to climb above 8,000’ most of the time, and
never got much lower than 6,000’ (about 3,500’ agl). I flew by
myself from the first turn point to the second turn point. When I
passed over the Wilbur airport on the way to Creston, I saw the
first Swifts crossing goal. The lift between Wilbur and Creston was
sparse, I found only on thermal in the 10 miles. I was able to glide
the last 5 miles to Creston and about 2 miles back where I climbed
up to 7,500’.
We were flying into a 20 mph crosswind all the
way back from Creston to goal. My final glide computer was not
working so I started to do the math in my head. I was loosing about
300 feet per kilometer, I was 13 kilometer from goal, and I was
5,000’ agl. I should make goal by 1,000’. As it turned out, there
was lift the last 3 miles and I had a hard time getting below the
1,500’ required. I saw about 10 rigid wings at goal when I landed.
Both Alex and Christian looked they had been there for a long
time.
We left goal about 15 minutes before it closed and Kari
was the only woman to make goal. Heiner, George, Davis, and Tom
landed short of goal. I have not heard from Mike or
Campbell.
There was another deployment today. I do not know
what type of glider, but it happened over the flats.
The
T-tail I have been using (made by John Vernon) has been working
great. The bar movement is well dampened in big air and I feel like
the glider is more stable.
I don’t know what it is but is
seems that a lot of pilots are climbing above me. When I am in the
gaggle, I seem to be going up at the same rate, but there are always
several pilots way above me, it’s probably Alex and
Christian.
Vince
(Vince's track log of Day 5)
(Davis Straub's OZ report of Wednesday's competition)
|
| Greg
Sugg
|
T-tail
Vince, Could the T-tail be degrading your climbing ability? Just a
thought.
|
| Leo
Jones
|
T and V
tails
I'm sure that any tail with a horizontal component could either
degrade or enhance climbing ability.
If it's a couple of
square feet or more, and at a lifting AoA. then it might help.
(Fokker triplanes had another lifting surface on their landing gear.
They could really climb. But they weren't very fast!)
Or it
could be causing drag?
What you need is another string to
vary the tail AoA. Simple.
VG string on right
basetube.
Flaps string on left basetube.
Tail trim string, er,
well maybe to helmet. Set up right it's the perfect head bungee/
tail trim string. Another giant leap forward in hang gliding!
(If
you could set up a 500:1 micro pulley, you could probably work this
with your eyelids.)
Don't forget the butt lever in your
harness ( I don't even like the sound of it!)
"Hang Gliders.
Well you jest fly 'em by shifting yer weight..."
Leo
|
| Vince
|
Chelan worlds
day 6
Chelan worlds day 6
I placed 15th (out of 41) yesterday,
good enough for 571 points. Today looked about the same as
yesterday. Some reports had the lift lighter and some had it
stronger. The only way to know for sure is to get in the air and see
for ourselves.
The task for today was the Butte to Mansfield
to Farmers to Jensen and then to goal at the Waterville airport.
Total distance around 63 miles. The legs from Mansfield to Farmers
and Jensen to goal would be into a headwind.
Today’s
official launch was Between the rocks, but the wind was pretty much
split between that and the Green Monster. I chose the Green Monster.
Once the flex wings launched the line moved pretty fast. Davis
pushed again and that helped move things along. He does have really
good launches, you would never know he preferred Florida. The lift
over the Butte was light with several of the pilots landing at the
soccer field. I found a small thermal after a few passes in front of
launch that got better and better, finally taking me to 8,500’. I
saw a few pilots leave before me. I left by myself. I did not find
any lift until I was at the 12 kilometer start circle, then only
some weak broken lift that kept me at 6,000’. I watched two other
pilots land below.
All the sudden I saw a large gaggle about
3,000’ above me a few miles back toward the Butte. I was going to
take the 2:15 start gate but was low and went back and took the 2:30
start time. The lift was strong and broken, much worse than I had
yesterday, but some of the pilots said yesterday was rougher. I’m
glad I am flying with a tail.
The downwind leg to Mansfield
was easy enough, but the next leg was tough into a head wind. I came
into a thermal with Davis, but gave him a wide berth so he could not
call me a one man death gaggle. He had a great core and within a few
turns he was 500 feet above me. I did not see him again until goal.
All the class 5 USA pilots put a green stripe on our spoilers so we
could better identify each other. I after I lost Davis I never saw
another USA pilot until goal.
The downwind leg to Jensen was
fun requiring only two thermals for the 23 Kilometer run. As I
approached Jensen I saw a lot of gliders. At one point a 5 or 6
miles south, there was a thermal with about 25 gliders. The gliders
at the top of the stack went on glide for goal. I went as well
though I knew I was not high enough. I found another good thermal in
two miles and rode it for the 1,000’ more I needed to make goal.
The lift and sink averaged out and I crossed goal at 1000’
agl. I flew about 8 mph faster between thermals today. I hope my
time will be better. My arms are sore from pulling in for so long.
There were 15 or more gliders at goal when I landed, but I finished
less than 10 minutes behind most of them. I am hoping they took an
earlier start gate. All but one of the USA men made goal, JZ (our
USHGA pres) also made goal for class 2. Kari made goal. Clair landed
a few hundred yards short.
The pilot who deployed yesterday
was flying an Atos-C and broke his spar about 3’ from the nose while
under a positive load. He said he was thermaling at 75 kph at the
time. Felix said at that speed a large gust can (and did) break the
spar. It took him about a minute to get his chute deployed and after
his canopy opened his vario was beeping that he was still going up.
We were all talking about it on launch. Everyone was hoping that he
had some kind of hidden damage and the spars are stronger than that.
My wife/driver is holding up well. She did say though that
when she was competing in Tae Kwon Do and I was supporting her, the
tournaments were only one day long. But these hang gliding meets
take 7 to 8 days. I think I will have a lot of honeydoos to take
care of when I get home.
Vince
PS I think the tail
help my climb more than hurts it. Today I was at the top of the
stack over the Butte for the first time. With so many good pilots,
someone else is almost always going to find a little better core.
(Vince's track log of Day 6)
(Davis Straub's OZ report of Thursday's competition)
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| Jon
James
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Yr Driver
Of course we like your accounts, but mainly to track Nancy's
Progress. Ok, into town for a mocha, then across the
bridge. Don't even make eye contact with the soccer
field. Up Farmingham Canyon, past Jensens, past
bump-in-the-road, to Farmers or Wilber. Wave to all the
gliders beside the road. Honk at Davis. Go to goal.
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| Vince
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Chelan worlds
day 7
Chelan worlds day 7.
I did well yesterday, 12 place overall.
I was the fastest pilot from the USA and 8th overall, but I got
hammered by the other pilots departure points. Bruce Barmakian from
the USA placed second for the day. He was 3 minutes slower but got a
lot of departure points.
The weather today looks like a
rerun of all the previous days except for the wind. The wind was out
of the west on the lake and predicted to be out of the west,
southwest all day. The task for today was Butte to Soaplake to Leahy
(just and intersection) and back to Mansfield for goal. Total
distance is 93 miles. The first leg should have cross or slight tail
wind, the second a cross wind and the final leg is straight into a
12 to 15 mph wind.
With the west wind, the officials called
the Lake launch, then changed their minds and called the Green
Monster. Pilots today were getting ready a half and hour sooner than
yesterday. I got caught off guard and was one of the last pilots in
line. I looked to my right and saw a pilot ready to launch the Lake
launch. I slipped over and was now second in line. The wind was
slightly crossing from the left but the launch went great.
Soon after launch I turned left to the get to the south side
of the Butte and saw a large fire had started just to the south of
the Butte. We were told over the radio we had to evacuate the Butte
by 1:30 so any pilot that was not launched by then had to break
down. It looked like all of the pilots made it in time.
The
lift over the Butte was very broken and weak. With almost all the
pilots in the air it was very scary. I was only able to climb to
5,500’. I worked that down to 5,100’. Jim Y, and Bruce B. (USA team
members) joined me and we circled in zero lift until we had drifted
to the north west and across the gorge. We found weak lift on the
other side.
I worked my way to the start circle and 7,000’
by 2:18. The lift was so bleak I went ahead and left on course. I
did not want to hang around and risk sinking out. The lift got
better and better as I headed for the first turn point. I was by
myself for half the way. I then joined up with Mike (also from the
USA) and showed him the lift for most of the way to the turn point,
but he slowly fell behind.
I led a small gaggle all the way
on the second leg. I was first to find the lift and first to leave.
I was feeling pretty good being able to take the lead. I was
climbing past 9,000’ most of the time on the second leg. It was very
cold. I can’t wear much more clothes and still fit in my harness. I
don’t know how some of the pilots can fly in speed sleeves and
shorts.
The last leg was straight into the wind. It only
took 1 ¾ thermals to make it back. One of the pilots who had been
following me for the last 50 miles took a slightly better line and
beat me by 20 seconds. That’s gratitude for you. When scorekeeper
downloaded my track log he said I was 9 minutes faster than Davis,
but he took a earlier start time to he will probably score higher
for the day. There were 15 or more rigids on the ground when I
crossed goal.
We do not know if we will be able to fly
tomorrow due to the fire. If they have a tanker in the air I’m sure
we won’t.
After competing the task yesterday, Manfred flew
his Swift back and top landed the Butte.
Vince
PS
Nancy stops at all the hang gliders she see along the road and give
them water and offers them a ride. None of the foreign have offered
up any gas money.
(Vince's track log of Day 7)
(note: track from Mansfield back to Chelan was from the GPS being left on in the truck)
(Davis Straub's OZ report of Friday's competition)
|
| Vince
|
Chelan worlds
day 8
Chelan worlds day 8
I placed 23rd for the day yesterday. So
many people made goal that I did not get a lot of speed points and
scored about 570 for the day. Christian was almost an hour faster
than me. I was 3 hours and 24 minutes for the 93 mile task. You can
imagine how fast he must have been going.
Fire and more fire.
The fire that started just to the south of the Butte burned itself
out when the wind changed direction. The fire that has been burning
for several days on the north side of the lake took off like an
explosion. Last night the sky had an orange glow from the flames. It
got so bad that large embers were raining down on the house where
the women’s team is staying. Linda was so concerned that the gliders
on the truck would catch on fire that she drove them over to the
house where we are staying at 1:30 in the morning. We had ash
covering everything here in the morning.
This morning there
was so much smoke in the sky I could not imagine flying. They polled
the teams on whether we should fly today or not. At 9:00 we were
told to go up the hill and a decision would be made there. At the
top of the hill I saw something I thought I would never see, Davis
was in a sweater and sweat pants. I was afraid to get out of the car
and get frost bite, but it was only 67 degrees. He said it was much
colder 30 minutes prior. He said that the smoke had lifted quite a
bit in the last 20 minutes and he thought we would fly. When we
arrived at the top at 9:30, I could not see the rim on the other
side of the river, and I could not see lake Chelan.
At 10:30
the smoke dissipated a little and they polled the team leaders and
decided to call a task. The class 5 pilots would fly to south east
to Dry Falls (SR175H2) , up north to Sims Corner and back west to
Mansfield goal, a about 62 miles. All launch and start times were
pushed back ½ hour from previous days. The wind was light and was
cycling up all four launches. The lift looked weak when the first
pilots started launching shortly after 1:00.
I was close to
the end of the line again, but I did not care today since I thought
the lift would get better later due to all the smoke. While in line
I could not get my GPS to acquire any satellites. This has happened
to me before and has always worked once I got in the air. I launched
from the Green Monster and found a pretty good thermal after only 2
passes to the left of launch. Today I was all by myself to close to
the top of the lift. It was a nice change from the rough crowded
conditions yesterday. Close to the top of the lift Mike Daily came
over to join me. I could only get to 6,200’ so I left for the flats.
I still could not get my GPS to acquire.
I got over the
flats low, about 800’ agl. I started scratching and started slowly
climbing. I had turned my GPS on and off about 15 times. I finally
decided to take it out of the pod. I had taped it in the pod real
good and I was wearing gloves. I spent about 15 minutes getting it
out, all the while trying not to sink out. I held it in my hand and
it acquired. I put it back in the pod and got a warning that
satellite reception was poor. I took it back out and flew with it in
my hand until I took my start time. I figured I would take it out at
each turn point and goal, but as it turned out, after I placed it
back in the pod it worked fine for the rest of the flight. I had
spent almost a half an hour working on the problem. Mike showed up
and I followed him low.
Mike showed me the lift most of the
way to the first turn point. I kept following him 500’ to 1000’
lower. Finally close to the first turn point I caught up to his
altitude and led the way for the rest of the flight. The lift was
getting better as the day went on. We were climbing past 9,000’ most
of the time. I was so cold that I left the lift soon after passing
9,000’ to try to stay warm.
I had a long glide to the second
turn point and a couple of miles toward goal. I was down to 5,000’
(2,700’ agl) and climbed back to 6,800’ when my vario said I had
goal on a glide. As soon as I went on glide my vario said I would
not make it. I checked the wind setting and somehow it was set for a
2 mph tail wind. I was fighting a 10 mph head wind. I reset it for a
10 mph head wind. I found another thermal in a couple of miles and
took 4 turns before my vario said I had goal on a glide. Wouldn’t
you know it, I hit lift for the next 3 miles and had trouble getting
low enough to make the 1,500’ limit at goal. I was 1,400’ as I
crossed the line. I could see at least 25 rigids on the ground. Most
of them had taken the first two start times but since so many
gliders made goal, I will not get many speed points and very few
departure points. Still, if felt great to make goal again.
Before we launched today, JZ said that the high school
football field across the street from the goal field was a much
better choice for landing. After crossing goal I looked over and saw
him next to the field, breaking down his glider. I headed over and
had a nice landing on the 30 yard line. Mike followed me in and also
had a nice landing. From what I heard, things were not going as well
in the goal field. There were several serious whacks. Christian
damaged his knee. Another pilot got hit in the back of his helmet
with his whack tube. Lots of carnage and broken metal (as I was told
second hand). It was nice breaking down in mowed grass instead of
the 3’ high foxtails.
If I have the story straight, the meet
officials totally blew it when they chose this field as a goal
field. They never got the owners permission. They owe a big thank
you to the Britts. When Nancy and I stopped in the local bar for
some coffee, the Britts were buying the farmer and his friends
several rounds. It was a funny site. There were three wheat farmers
sitting a the table, each one over 6’3 and 300 pounds, at the other
end were several skinny Britts. I’ll bet these farmers never
expected to be knocking down rounds with these foreign dudes.
After all this flying I think I know what I need to finish
better. The last couple of days I have been flying 45 to 50 mph
between thermals, and have been leading small gaggles, but that is
not enough. I have been wimping out as far as thermals are
concerned. If I leave one at 9,000’ and find a good one at 8,000’ I
stop and turn. I have been afraid of getting low. I think I should
pass up a lot of thermals and go on longer glides. The air here has
been as rough as I have experience anywhere else I have flow,
including King and the Owens. I really like the tail with which I
have been flying. By the end of the meet it looked like more than
25% of the rigids had tails.
In spite of my early troubles, I
made goal on every day I flew more than a 360 except for one day
which I place third anyway. I am happy with the way I flew and
learned a lot more since arriving. Ron Gleason gave me some good
tips on my landings and I think they are improving. By the last
couple of days I was thermaling as high as anyone else with whom I
was flying. There was an awful lot of politics and I am glad that
Ron was there to take a lot of the pressure off the pilots. He had a
slot on the USA team but gave it up to be the team leader. It was
very generous of him. Linda Sauer was her typical greatest team
leader self. The women’s team was very lucky to have her. I feel
especially lucky to have her there at our local sites. Nancy calls
her our fairy hang glide mother.
This past week has been
trying on my wife/driver Nancy. He has done really well finding her
way around a place she has never been. She followed me around the
course to all the turn points every day but today. I told her she
did not have to be right under me all the time but she was afraid as
soon as she was not, I would sink out. She has driven over 1,200
miles and given out several dozen water bottles to all the pilots
she saw on the side of the road. She also picked up all the trash
left by the pilots and spectators every day without a single thank
you from the meet officials. She gave many pilots rides to goal who
had sunk out. Today I thought she was again following me around the
course. When I got in the truck I saw that the gas was nearly full.
She admitted that all she did was drive to goal, but did not want to
jinks me by telling me. I can’t say thank you enough. Looks like
I’ll have to do a lot of pampering in the weeks to come.
Vince
PS
I told Davis I would print this correction. He actually beat me to
goal by 21 minutes yesterday, not the other way around.
(Vince's track log of Day 8)
(Davis Straub's OZ report of Saturday's competition)
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| Vince
|
Chelan worlds,
looking back
Chelan worlds, looking back
If it were not for some bad luck
(broken base tube) and a bad decision (turning too soon after launch)
I would have done fairly well. Not to pick on Davis, but he is the
number one ranked class 5 pilot in the USA, and a yardstick with which
to compare, but I beat him on 3 of the 6 days I flew. My total for
the 6 days I flew was 3881 to his 3730. Obviously he is the better
pilot because he did not break his base tube or top land before the
task. I will have to live and learn from those bad days. It was
interesting, even after I flew back into the hill, that I saw many
pilots scratching just as close as I had. I was now flying two to
three times as far away from the hill as most of the pilots and
always managed to find a thermal and get up. I now know that there
is no need to scratch so close.
Groucho Marx said
“I would not join any club that would have me as a member”.
I found this to be true of gaggle flying for me in Chelan
(which was much different than Florida). I found I did not do well
any time I was able to stay up with a gaggle. Many times I would end
up with a gaggle of slow pilots and I would stay with them out of
security. When I went off on my own or pushed ahead I did much
better.
I did not listen to my own inner voice when it said
to push ahead. When I look back at all the times I would climb back
up in a thermal after leaving one only 1000’ ago, I realize how much
time I wasted. The lift was good and consistent most of the time and
I should have been gliding for 3000’ or more in between thermals. I
felt low any time I was less than 6,000’, even though I was still
2,000 to 3,000’ agl. Alex told me that twice he was under 300’ agl
and thought he was going to land. He said luck was with him when he
got back up. He was going on longer glides and getting lower, taking
more risk and it paid off.
I did not find the dust devils to
be as good of a thermal indicator as I was led to believe, i.e.
flying right over the top of one, but they generally indicated what
type of field was generating lift. Most of the time I found my
thermals over the plowed dry dirt fields, even if I never saw a dust
devil in it.
I said this after the Florida meets and I
should have listened to myself. I should trust my instruments more.
Every time my vario indicated I had goal on a glide (I had it set
for 800’ above goal), it did not look like I would make it. I would
climb another 500 to 1000’ higher and every time I came into goal
high.
Davis really flew in some rough air (as we all did).
The only time I was close in the same thermal, the air was so rough
that my sphincter was so tight you could not drive a toothpick up it
with a jackhammer, and yet he stayed with it. There were several
thermals that were so bad I could not maintain directional control so
I left. I don’t think you can count on beating him by just flying in
rough air.
I believe that the time for the tail on class 5
gliders has come. They really do seem to help dampen the pitch. I
chose a T-tail because of the possible interference with the launch
dolly and because of the 3’ to 4’ star thistle that is prevalent in
the area I call my home site. The T-tail also moves the tail plane
rearward, giving it a better moment arm.
Speaking with Felix.
He admitted that is was not a good engineering move to cut away part
of the structure of the base tube to make room for the flap cleat (I
saw two other base tubes that had broken in the same place as mine).
He is going to make changes in the mold so they will not have to
make the cut. Down tubes: He said there are two different types of
down tube out there for the AIR control frame. Some have 14mm
sleeves and some have 13.9mm sleeves. This explains why Davis had to
have his spare sleeves machined smaller to fit in the down tubes.
All the new down tubes have 13.9 mm sleeves. Spoiler limiter:
all the Atos’ shipped now have the spoiler limiter at the number 6
rib, and none should have the limiter in the nose like mine and
Davis’ had. If you have a limiter rope in the nose, you should move
it to the #6 rib like the original Atos.
Vince
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