Mitch Shipley <<elektratow>>
writes:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10203527068683688

Great weekend in Florida! Saturday had a little over 4 hours and 75+ miles of
out and returns at Wallaby for me and Linda racked up another 2+ hours of
strength building flying. Then on Sunday she repeated, adding in the perfect
nil wind no stepper landing! The girl is back full strength.

The video is of the fun on Saturday. The forecast was great, but high cirrus
bands made the lift come and go – great gear changing practice for me, as I’ve
been decking it in too high a gear under 3000’ AGL. Linda and I started together
around 2:30 heading north under good looking clouds out of Wallaby for 474, she
being on top. SkyQueen can thermal! Lacking full VG (she’s still building that
right arm strength) the mighty T2C just kinda walked away as I lead out.

As I was approaching 474, cirrus band one was filling in and it looked crappy
North. Brakes on and I dribbled back to Wallaby, watching the flush of perhaps
half the pack and hooked back up with Linda. She was near base and marked a good
climb for me and I came up from below. Basing it with her, I then headed south
where the sun was still out and the clouds looked great. Got to the end of a
dying street and had to go back into cirrus shading dribble mode to make it back
to Wallaby.

Arriving around 4:30 when it just started looking great everywhere and off to
Quest I went thinking I had a good chance of making it with a 5-ish MPH
southerly wind. I was right, but it got even better! Arriving at Quest around
5:30 it was still looking good, so I headed for the edge of a nice convergence
line coming off the Green Swamp. Birds marked what turned out to be a 600fpm
trip to base at 5:30! Looking south the wheels started turning. Could I possibly
make it back to Wallaby so late? Clouds still looked good. We had been landing
there between 6:30-7 recently. Comp season training is on and it was time to go
for it!

Stepped to the glider port with little trouble, but then the glide took me over
Bronson Ranch south of 474 and down to 3K-ish feet. Crap. Linda will kill me (if
Bronson doesn’t throw me in jail first) if I go down here. Keeping 474 as a
decreasingly possible fallback, I pressed on for 15 minutes (at 6 to 6:15, what
the heck was I thinking!) Of dribbling over the sun patched Bronson sand mines
trying to get to the good looking street 3 miles out. Never dropping much below
3K AGL, I very cautiously made it to my last good climb. 3K to 5.2K and I had
Wallaby at a 9 to 1 from about 9 miles out with some nice clouds on the way.
Racing in, laughing all the way. Nice landing at 6:30 with SkyQueen (SkyGoddess
in my book!) Bringing the frosty. Perfect! Life is good!!