Race & Rally Day 5: Full Version

Day 5 called at 109km task to the North to Willis. After my frustrations with weak link breaks and difficult tows yesterday, I was relieved to have a nice easy tow. I was somewhat late on tow, but this worked out just fine as there was a large gaggle to mark the lift for me.
Day 5 Task Board

The day was difficult, especially at first. Climbs were low and irregular. I was in a huge gaggle and we were not getting about 3,000’. The drift was light, but it was on course, so we could maintain in the low climbs while drifting towards to start cylinder. The race started and I stayed with the main gaggle for as long as I could. I figured on a blue day like this, with low climbs, it was good to have friends.
Gaggles Above Quest

The first 20 kilometers seemed to take forever. Somewhere in that section I fell behind the main gaggle. It is amazing with these guys how quickly you can get left behind. Linger in a thermal for a few extra turns and you may never catch back up. I headed North on course line, with gliders scattered here and there, flying with a handful of others most of the time.

After flying over a prison, I was fairly low down to about 1,200’. I flew in to the edge of a forest looking for a climb. Others were down low looking like they would land. I found a climb with Linda Salomone and a Millennium pilot. The forest crossing were difficult with the low top of lift, but we drifted over this first one while slowly climbing.
Flying Over A Prison Always Feels Ironic and Sad

A short distance further we came upon another forest with some tricky landing options before it. Here we struggled. Alex Cuddy caught up with us and blazed on past. Linda and the Millennium went on glide and got a horrible line. I watched them sink and opted to search slightly east of my last climb for some more lift. I hit it and for the first time in the day broke through the inversion, climbing to 4,500’. The crossing was easy now, but I was alone and could not see any other pilots.
From the Horse Race Tracks on Thru the Forest was a Typical Unlandable Area That Needed to be Crossed

As I continued on course I got another big climb to 4,500’. I passed over the Millennium who had landed about 40km from goal. The course line now took me away from the highway. Again there was a unlandable area I needed to get across. I needed about 2,500’ to make it safely to the next field, and I was stuck at 2,000’. I turned West, flying perpendicular to the course line because I saw I could make a shorter crossing a few miles away. Still I struggled, now down to 1,500’.

I had left a nice field on glide and arrived at it about 700’. After unzipping I hit a climb that I thought would take me over the developed areas and into the next set of landable fields. I had previously gotten goal as low as a 25:1 glide and now I felt I might get back up to 4,000+ and have a good chance of making goal. As I drifted over the development, I again got stuck just under 2,000’. I still couldn’t make the jump and when I lost the lift I headed back to my field. This time there was no climb out and I set it down softly about 23km from goal.

It was a long day, and challenging. 54 miles with only getting more than 3,000’ AGL twice. I was surprised to see how many pilots made goal, but still very pleased with my flight. I’ve been working on how to find a feel a “good line” while on glide. I think on this flight I started to see some results. There is a technique that allows some pilots to end up much higher after a glide compared to others. I’m determined to learn it.

Flight Time – 4:20
Distance – 86km

Race & Rally Day 4

Frustration

I was very excited about todays task. A 67 mile route to the South, with a light to moderate quartering crosswind. I got organized early, got myself a nice spot at the front of the staging line, and felt organized and ready to go.

Day 4 Taks Board

The Staging Line

My first weaklink broke right off the cart. I landed fine, got my head together, replaced the link and got back in the front of the launch line.

My second weaklink broke at about 900 feet. I was upwind of Quest, over unlandable areas in sink. I bee-lined back to the park to try and save the tow. I failed and was soon back on the ground.

My third tow was a wild ride. At about 50 to 100 feet off the ground the tug pilot put his dragonfly in a steep and sharp left turn. He maintained this turn for the rest of the tow, taking me up in a tight, spiraling climb. I was cursing and pleading for him to straighten out, but of course no one could here me but me. At about 1,000’ I finally lost my battle to stay in a good spot behind him and was flung rapidly to the outside of the turn. Recognizing a lockout I quickly pulled me release and flew away flustered. I was in lift and worked some light climbs for a few minutes. But nothing substantial was to be found and I was soon on the ground again.

I was determined to get on course so I took one final tow. This one was smooth and easy and finally got me up to 2,000’. I pinned off and immediately started searching for lift, heading downwind away from quest. I was not going to launch a 5th time, so no reason to stay within reach of the flight park. My problem now was that I was alone on a cloudless day with weak lift. I needed other gliders to help mark the climbs.

I headed to a small gaggle of about 4 gliders who seemed to be climbing slowly. I was about 500’ below them and I struggled to find the lift. A few times I felt I had found a good climb, only to loose it. I ended up landing in a big field only a mile or two from Quest.

It was a frustrating day, but I think I learned a few new things about towing, and I’m motivated to improve tomorrow.

ACP Meets ACP

How does an Ace Comp Pilot know if another pilot is an ACP? The secret handshake of course...

Race & Rally Day 3

Enough with the winds!

Today we were expecting slightly lighter winds. The task was called 54 miles to the North to Greystone Airport, home of John Travolta. With a forecast of SW winds around 15mph, this looked to be a fun route.

After the pilots meeting we moved our gliders over to the staging area. It has been pretty chaotic in the staging line, with a fair amount of cutting. I was toward the back of the staging line, but unconcerned because I planned to suit up and move into the launch line as soon as the launch window opened.

At 12:30 the launch window opened and I moved up towards the front of the launch line. I wanted to get off early so that I would not have to launch in the stronger winds as they built through the day. I had to yield to a few pilots in the priority line (top 10 in the comp standings), but was able to still get off early by about 1:00. The tow was a little turbulent at tree level, but uneventful the rest of the way as I was towed upwind to about 2,000’. We hit some decent lift and I decided to pin off the tug. I immediately started climbing alone, upwind from Quest.

I had a fairly strong climb which took me close to 4,000’. I drifted towards the main gaggle of pilots who were flying back upwind towards me. About 10 of us worked this thermal, and then the next. The wind was strong; at least 20mph, and very West. This was pushing us off course line, towards wet areas. We were all struggling just to climb and then push back upwind, without ever being able to get more than a few kilometers on course from Quest.

Top of the Stack


I had been lucky, being towed into a good spot, with a good climb, and had managed to stay at the top of the stack. Still, as I punched back upwind to the West, I sank and sank. It was impossible to head on course unless we got much higher, or further West. The course line to the North was swampy unless you went around to the West.
Looking South at Quest

As I headed back to Quest I was cursing myself for sinking out and dreading re-launching. As I came over the field I noticed there were a lot of gliders on the ground. A lot of gliders. One of them was upside down and lots of people were standing around. I landed cleanly in a turbulent field and went back to the staging area. I realized at this point that there were only about 3 gliders left in the air after I landed. Everyone had gotten drilled by the strong sea breeze that had pushed through.

At this point the safety committee decided to stop the task as there had been some carnage on launch and conditions were deteriorating. It was a fun day still, and I was happy with my flying. It felt good to know that I was not alone in being unable to penetrate on course, and that the entire field was in the same situation.

There was a lot of discussion about whether we would stay at Quest another day, or drive North. The meet director took a pilot vote, which I found odd. It looks like we will be staying here another day to the disappointment of about 49% of the pilots. I wish the decision had been made without a vote from all of us. For me, I came out here to do a rally. I was looking forward to flying a new place every day, and seeing some new terrain. In that sense, I am tired of Quest and ready to move on. That said, if the best weather forecast for tomorrow is here, then it was probably the right call. Hopefully tomorrow will give us conditions that will let us start heading North. There are still 4 days left and it will be cool if we can get up into Georgia and fly some places that have never been flown.

I think that 2 pilots got about 6km on course, and the rest of those who flew will get the minimum distance of 5km for the day. Since many did not fly, and no one made it far, the day will be worth almost no points.

The two days flown so far have been fun for me. Today’s thermals were easier for me to find, and easier for me to core. I think this was probably due to it being a dry day. The humidity was low, and the thermals seemed to behave more like west coast thermals. The difference was dramatic to me and I was able to hang with the crowd much better today.

I managed to capture a short video of the gaggle before getting veering out of the core trying to fly one handed...

Race & Rally Day 2

Cancelled

After intense rain and thunder storms last night, today was clear and dry. Winds were strong again, and a task was called downwind. After getting set up and moving over to the staging line, some discussion began on the safety committee about whether the day should be cancelled. The concern was the strong winds that were forecast to build. Apparently the tall trees around the flight park create difficult launching conditions above 15mph.

A couple pilots launched including Jeff OB, and Davis. Their launches look ok, and they found climbs easy enough. The safety committee was hesitant to make a decision, so we all started suiting up and getting in the launch line. Finally the day was cancelled due to the winds.

It felt like an ok decision to me, but I am not familiar with the site and what is safe or not in regards to wind speed and direction here. Some people seemed happy, others angry with the call. I have less stake in this comp then some, so it is easy for me to just go with it. I was fairly nervous about launching as I am less experienced at aero-towing then most of the competitors, but I had decided that it was doable and was going to give it a try if the day had not been cancelled. I was relieved by the safety committee's call, but am eager to fly tomorrow.

Tomorrow looks to be slightly less windy. We'll start at Quest and head north.

Race & Rally Day 1

Windy!

The Task For The Day

It was windy early this morning. As we headed to the flight park, there was talk and speculation that the day would be canceled due to the high winds, and low cloudbase. At the flightpark however, the office and setup areas were in the wind shadow of some tall trees. This gave the illusion of lighter winds and I think helped convince the task committee to go ahead and call a task. The tug pilots were reporting 30mph and turbulence at cloudbase, but conditions were forecast to lighten up slightly as the day went on.

A task was called directly downwind, 67Km to the North West, along highway 78 up the side of Lake Okeechobee. Despite setting up my glider the night before I somehow managed to be inefficient enough to end up at the back of the launch line. Oh well, I’ve been at the back of the launch line many times. At least I was in my element.

Back of the line

The launch window opened at 12pm, and there were 5 start gates starting at 1:00pm, 1:10pm, 1:20pm, etc. By the time I got my tow, it was 1:10pm already. The start cylinder was a 10km radius, so I had some distance to cover to get started.

It was turbulent on launch. I had watched several gliders ahead of me get knocked around coming off the tow cart, so I was getting pretty nervous. I thought some about the modifications I had made to my leading edge the day before and quickly decided to think about something else. My tug came and quickly I was off and up. It was turbulent on tow, and it wasn’t until I was 800’ up that I was able to take a deep breath and relax.

The tug dropped me a couple kilometers from the park, pretty much cross wind to it. Several of us struggled in sink and I quickly realized that being so far cross wind to the park was going to make it difficult to get back and re-launch. While making a bee-line for the park I hit some strong lift and started climbing. The wind was strong and I was drifting quickly along the course line. Within minutes returning to the flight park was no longer an option.

I continued to climb and drift, always keeping my eye on a few gliders about 1km ahead of me. There were climbing also, though slightly slower then me. I started to regret not getting a chance to fly yesterday. I was flying over completely unfamiliar topography, and I was struggling to figure out exactly which way the course went. Normally my flight instruments will give me this information, but circling in such strong winds makes it difficult to get an accurate reading. So I followed these other gliders, until the split and went different directions.

Here I made my first mistake. I hesitated for a minute or two before deciding which line to take. This cost me a couple hundred feet that I would later be trying desperately to get back. Since the top of lift was typically under 3,000’, there wasn’t much altitude to spare. I took a center line, trying not to drift downwind of the course line. I entered a thermal about 300’ below 3 other gliders. I climbed slowly, then maintained, then sank. I didn’t want to head out on glide first, by myself, being low like I was. So I waited for the guys above me to go. This was my second mistake.

I waited too long, and the other pilots didn’t make a move. After wasting several hundred feet, I went out on my own. I saw a flock of birds climbing downwind of the course line, on the other side of 78. My last mistake was not going to them. The trick on such a low day was to just stay in the air and let the wind carry you down the course. I opted to stay more directly on the course line and headed North to sink.

I saw a few gliders on the ground ahead of me. I knew I could glide well past them, but they were in remote areas that looked wet and difficult to retrieve. I opted instead to land short of them in a dry field next to the road. I landed only about 20km from the start. Not as far as I wanted, but it was a good, instructive day. The air and the thermals are different out here. I am used to dry air, with hard thermals and defined cores. Here things seem to be softer, wider, and less defined. There’s a trick to climbing in this kind of lift effectively, but I haven’t figured it out yet.

My Landing Spot

We drove from Okeechobee to Quest air through torrential downpours and lightning. There is a massive front passing through the East coast. We are hoping to be on the far side of it tomorrow, but we’ll have to wait and see. It’s pouring still as I type this.

Flight time: 0:45
Distance: ~20km

Practice Day....Errr Sort Of

I spent today at the flight park, gathering all the gear I had sent out here, rigging the glider, checking everything out, etc. I had hoped to take a practice flight to get a feel for the air out here, take a look around, and dust off the aerotow cobwebs. That's not quite how it worked out. I ended up spending most of the day doing some glider and harness maintenance. It's not what I was planning on, but I am very glad that I had an extra day today to do it.

Flat Rigging The Glider

Upon setting up my glider I found the left leading edge had a significant crease in the mylar insert. It was near the nose of the glider and about a foot long. I was concerned about the airflow disruption, especially at slow speeds, and the asymmetry it created in the wing. After a quick chat with Ben and a few others, I decided to pull out the leading edge mylar inserts, flip them over and switch sides. This bends the mylar the other direction, so the crease doesn't bulge up.

I laid the glider down flat and detentioned the leading edge. I was concerned about being able to get the mylar back in, but we were able to do it fairly easily. The fix was a success and them leading edge is holding more shape than it has in a year.

After fixing the glider, I took a look at the pitch adjustment strap in my Rotor harness. I had previously noticed it wearing out where it goes through the cleat that locks the adjustment. Taking a look now the strap was almost torn through.
It's still good...

Fortunately I had received a new strap from Mission Soaring the day before I left. It took a surprisingly long time to get the strap replaced, but now it's good to go and I won't have to worry about losing my pitch adjustment in flight. That wouldn't be a dangerous failure, just uncomfortable.

After all was done it was late in the day, and I was starving. I decided to just tie down the glider rather than take a flight.

The weather looks iffy for tomorrow. We'll see where we end up

Going With The Flow

I'm not good at going with it. The flow that is.

I knew that coming out here for this comp was going to be a good lesson for me in just relaxing and going with it. I figured that the first and last days would be the tough ones since they both involve transporation logistics, getting to/from the airport, etc. Today I had to take my work rental car back to Tampa International, and then somehow get several hours to the south to the Florida Ridge Flight Park. I had a one way rental reserved that would get me within 40 miles of the park, but my pickup scenarios depended greatly on which way the task (from an earlier competion) was called.

It was apparent early today that the task was uncertain. Ben called me 4 times to give me a new location for goal. What to do? Stick with the original plan and maybe be stuck in Ft Myers? Take a cab to goal and wait there (60 miles)? I took Christina's advice and kept the rental car and drove to goal. I figured I would figure out how to drop of the car in Ft Myers later. This looks like it's going to work out just fine. I'll keep the car an extra day and have arranged a ride back from Ft Myers tomorrow night.

I met up with Bill Cuddy at goal and we waited for the first competitors to come in. About 15 made it in including Jonny D, the Jeffs, Ben D and more. There were more people then seats in the retrieve vehicles, so I gave a ride to Jonny Durand, Zippy, and Glen Volk back to the ridge.

Realizing I had the world champion, top ranked US pilot, and former top ranked US pilot in my car, I took full opportunity of the time to give them some advice and pointers on how to improve there game. It felt really good being able to help out a few up-and-comers...

Tomorrow looks to be a good day and I plan to get in some practice flying before the Race & Rally starts on Sunday.

What's that? You want to see another picture of my hardcore duffel bag?

Getting Ready for The Race & Rally

This morning I leave for Florida. A couple days of work near Tampa, and then I will remain out there for another week to compete in the Flytec Race & Rally.

The Race & Rally is a unique hang gliding competition. It is a 7 day comp, with race-to-goal format. And we're doing it rally style. Starting in southern Florida, each days task will be to one of ~15 pre-arranged airstrips. Which one will depend on the weather. The next day we will start from there and fly to the next one. And so on. By the end of the week we will likely be somewhere in Georgia, and possibly as far north as South Carolina.

It's definitely the kind of comp where you need a support crew since we will be in a new location each day. Ben Dunn has graciously driven out to florida (with my glider and HG gear) and done all the legwork to arrange a driver. Nice!

Many of the best pilots from around the globe will be at the competition. I'm pretty excited about that because I imagine they've all wanted a chance to fly with me...

I spent the last day or two laying out my clothes and other stuff I need to take. It occurred to my yesterday that I will be gone for 12 days. Somehow that hadn't sunk in.

Got it all laid out and checked off. Hopefully I'm not forgetting something important

It all fits nicely in my fancy new ACP bag

Yeah, I went out and bought a new hardcore bag just for this, and it's got Ace Comp Pilot written all over it. ACPs are about style before substance and this bag fits the bill. It's so hardcore. I'm going to be sure to take lots of photos with the bag. People won't even notice when I land out 1 mile from the start cylinder. They'll just be looking at the bag. Heck, I don't even need to fly as long as I stay near the bag.

What's that on the travel tag you ask?

ACPs don't need to advertise, but we do anyway.

Saving The Galaxy - One Ace Comp Pilot At A Time

Today we went to Waddell, the bane of my flying. And... It was good. I launched first in building conditions and climbed quickly a few hundred over. My T2 is in transit to Florida, so I flew my Pulse. It is fun and easy, but has no speed.

I boated around, mostly parked as Ryan, Diev, Chris and Mike took to the air. After about 30 minutes the wind had picked up enough that it was now very difficult to penetrate forward with my glider. I got into a sinky area where the bluff faces more west and found myself going backwards and down. Not wanting to land on the beach I decided to bring it in for a top landing. Nice.

Chris has been fighting his own battle with Waddell. There's a story to be told here, and I believe it has been captured well in this documentary:


Link

What's an ACP?

I've been getting a lot of questions about ACPs. People ask me what is an ACP? Can I be an ACP like you?
Ace-Comp-Pilots are an elite group of self proclaimed top dog pilots. Think you've got what it takes? Here's a few questions to see if you qualify:

1 - Is your ego bigger than your logbook?
2 - Can you sink out and still talk for hours about how much you dominated?
3 - Do you have all the best gear and still fly slow?
4 - Do people roll their eyes before you even open your mouth?
5 - Are you a model first and a pilot second?
6 - Are you now, or have you ever been, in a boy-band?

If you answered yes to 3 or more of the above questions, then join us. For you have what it takes to be an Ace Comp Pilot!

Fun-ston!

Due to some last minute indecision, we canceled our Saturday road trip plans and decided to fly locally. Funston was the call, and it was the call to make.

I arrived around 11:30 to find Chris, Enzo and John Simpson set up. It was just slightly north and building nicely. Enzo took to the air and it look good. Soon it was a solid 15 WNW. The ocean showed nice even texture, without big whitecaps. It was straight and strong with no sign of blowing out. I was amazed that there was not anyone else there, but didn't waste much time wondering about it.

There was not any beach to speak of. Usually I am very cautious about flying in such conditions, with no bail out options below the cliff. But with clear visibility and steady, steady winds, it was a no brainer that couldn't be missed. I launched and soon joined Chris down at Westlake.

Perfect Day

We spent over an hour chasing each other around the sky. Full VG, making high speed passes, hitting some wingovers and flying close. Too much fun.
Eventually Urs joined us and we flew South, past the dumps flying fast to stay below the SFO airspace. Leaving the big cliffs and heading towards the Pacifica Pier I continued to climb in what must have been a small shear. If there had been any beach it would have been a day to fly down past Shelter Cover and try to soar Devil's Slide.

After a couple hours we brought it in for a break to eat and warm up our hands. Ben Dunn loaded his course onto our varios and we headed back out to give it a run. The course starts with an entry cylinder around the North end of Funston. Trick is to get up high at Westlake and start a high glide into the cylinder at just the right time. I played it cautious wanting to stay above the mass of gliders back at the Fort. Then it is back to the paraglider launch at the Dumps, and then to the "White Roof" North of the gap. I got stuck there not being able to get high enough to get back over the house. That cost me 5 minutes or more making my total time about 18 minutes. Looking forward to trying it again.
Not a Bad Place to Fly

All in all in a perfect day. Great air, good friends, awesome flying.

Flights: 2

Total Airtime: 2:50