A few key lessons come to my mind from last weeks competition. These aren't new ideas, but things I was reminded of and concepts that were refined in my mind.
1 – If you want to go far you have to go fast.
I learned this the first time at Santa Cruz Flats. After completing 50 miles of the first days triangle, I realized I had taken too long. The Sun was low and the thermals were stopping.
The 3rd day at Chelan, Ben Dunn and I were pushing for an 85 mile triangle. We had completed the second turnpoint at about 65 miles when we started to get boxed in by rapid overdevelopment. We could have made it back if we had been to that turnpoint 30 minutes earlier.
2 – Persistence Pays
Day 4 at Chelan I had my best flight. A 65 mile triangle using Withrow and Sims as turnpoints. The flight started with a flush cycle that almost put me on the deck in the bailout. I had to maintain in turbulent conditions, low over the LZ. I was tempted to bail and start setting up my approach. Eventually something came thru that let me crawl back up. One low saved turned what would have been my worst day at the comp to my best.
3 – Thermals may split up, or shift laterally at an inversion and regroup above it. Don’t assume it is gone just because the lift is stopping.
Most days at Chelan there were one or more inversion between the ground and the top of lift. A thermal would seem to top out, but if you searched, you could usually find the thermal continuing some distance away. Usually this would be a constant direction (upwind or downwind) for an inversion on a given day. If you found the thermal 200’ downwind previously, that was a good place to look on the next one. Pay attention to what altitude you hit inversions. Pay attention to what direction the thermal shifts. Flying with another pilot helps immensely.
The lift will often be broken up at the inversion. Do everything you can to get above it. The lift will often be strong and coherent once it passes the inversion. Getting 50’ higher could be your ticket to much more. Push out in the broken pockets of lift. Try to throw yourself up through it.
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Slayin' It ACP Style
1 comment:
At Chelan in the summer, there is always an inversion; it's usually at 6000-6500 feet.. It can be difficult to climb above it until the temperature on the ground gets hot enough to create thermals with enough energy to get above it.. That sufficient-heat effect happens earlier on the flats than on the butte..
It is not unusual for pilots to barely gain enough on the butte to cross to the flats only to get there and boost through the inversion immediately.. That early under-the-inversion crossing carries risk along with the potential for the early start out on the flats; the hyper performing rigids have always been able to exploit the low-early strategy..
et..
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