Comments from Davis Straub
Date: Mon, 29 Apr 2002 17:12:25 -0400
From: "Davis Straub"
Subject: Vince in Florida
Sure was great to have Vince Endter here in Florida, even if I had no idea
what he looked like in the air. Johann and I were in radio contact so I knew
where he was during the meets. I was usually giving him my rate of climb and
distance so that he knew what was ahead for him. I could usually make out
Heiner on those rare occasions that I was near him as he had this big dork
hooked to his control bar. Otherwise, I would keep my eye of Christian and
Alex whenever that was possible. They are very very good.
The ATOS-C is a much better glider than the stock ATOS. It is a little bit
better than the ATOS with the WW control frame. The Stratos and the ATOS-C
were even when flown by two good friends who very often compete against each
other.
I wore my shorts every day. No shoes, no gloves, a t-shirt, a sweater, and
speed sleeves. Hardly ever took a drink from my camel back (but plenty on
the ground before hand). Florida was quite warm on many days and putting a
lot of clothes on the ground seemed like torture. As we didn't get much over
5,000' I was always comfortable.
On the last day I hooked up with four ATOS pilots, those four who could not
catch Alex and Christian but could keep them in sight. Given the cumulative
scoring to that point, I knew that there was no reason to do anything other
than stick with these guys and just hope that by going out in front,
Christian and Alex would fall down (very unlikely given the conditions).
Venturing out on one's own at this point was pointless, and even when I got
ahead of the other three, they could easily catch me in the light lift. They
certainly seemed to follow me around the sky a lot, although Heiner went out
in front once in a while.
Johann was very low and could be landing and I knew that at this point as I
was in radio contact with him. If Christian and Alex fell down, then I could
win the meet just by staying with these guys. Alex and Christian were just
playing cats to us mice below them, because they also knew that they just
had to beat us, and not risk everything.
Vince is learning, and that is a good thing.
Davis Straub
www.davisstraub.com
Wallaby Ranch, FL, USA