Gary Osoba <<wosoba>>
writes:

Yesterday proved challenging and fulfilling for Mike Bilyk and BJ
Herring. They flew for a combined distance of around 500 miles, with BJ going
further than his current Distance to a Goal world record for Rigid Wing by forty
percent, but not making his goal (386 miles out from Zapata). He had declared a
goal at Sweetwater, TX and knew that cloud shading would come into play late
afternoon and evening. As it turned out, one more high climb and glide would
likely have allowed him to make goal but it was not to be. He landed in the
thick shading, 321 miles out.

The remarkable thing is that the air mass dried out considerably and both he and
Mike flew in the blue all day. Strong Zapata winds still added up the miles, and
Mike Bilyk exceeded his personal distance record of 104 miles, logging about 163
miles before missing a thermal before the Hill Country. He raised the bar 160%
on his personal best distance and was ready to go today right after Attila
launched at 10:01 am. Mike was in the air at 10:11 and BJ, after driving back
all night and sleeping a few hours was off by about 10:21 am.

Attila's launch on what could be a record day:

All three pilots have declared Nocona, TX as a goal and in the first half hour
are making good times with a 3,000' cloudbase and 18-20 knot winds aloft.

http://www.flytrace.com/Tracker/map.aspx?group=155

Sylmar pilot OK Price is preparing to launch for personal best, and has provided
another daily video of a Day in the Life at the WRE.

http://youtu.be/jjRrYAOnqqw