http://ozreport.com/19.128#5

On June 22nd, a tornado hit Sublette, IL doing extensive damage to
the Woodhaven Lakes camping resort. But more on this later. That Saturday looked
like it was going to be a good day for soaring at White Water albeit a tad
windy.

The various forecasts through the week were all over the map on just how good it
would be and the closer it got the worse the predictions became. So I wasn't too
fired up about the day when I woke up that morning and checked the weather. As
it turned out NAM was calling for 4000'msl, 300fpm, winds out of the NE at
10-20mph dependent on altitude and a BS ratio of 3 or 4 certainly not inspiring.
RAP was calling for 5000', better climbs and locally a BS ratio of 8 or 9
although to the SW it looked like it would get windier and the BS ratio would
degrade.

I texted Greg to see what he thought and he wasn't too inspired either. I
checked the Skew T and my whole attitude changed immediately. With a projected
high of 77F, the BAK40 projection showed 6500'msl top of lift at noon! This
would increase to 7500' mid afternoon with the winds still NE at 10 on the
surface rising to 20mph at the top and there would be clouds to mark the way.

I quickly gathered my gear and was out the door by 8:30 intent on being ready to
fly by 12:00. I texted Kris and asked if he was going to fly big miles with Greg
and I. He said he had a commitment but would check the weather again before
deciding. I spoke with Rob too and let him know I was going but thought it might
be windy.

At the airport, I checked the weather one last time and was convinced it was
going to be a great day. My mind was set, it was going to be real good so I
plotted out a course that would keep us east of Janesville and west of Rockford
(threading the needle) with a goal of Galesburg some 150+ miles to the
southwest. Greg arrived while I was setting up and we nailed down the route in
our 6030's.

Rob showed up early too and I asked if he would chase us after he flew; he
agreed so we were all set.

We did a quick radio check and Greg towed first just before noon. He was
climbing out when I towed up next. Danny towed me to the clouds to the northeast
and I waffled about not finding the lift. I went further north to the next cloud
and the same thing, no lift. I headed back to the airport and hit lift over the
west side. Greg showed the way and we climbed up to base at 6800' at 12:30.

Rob was up and climbing nicely and Kris got towed to the thermal we were in and
was doing well when I left. I spotted Greg under the next cloud and he was gone
by the time I reached it. Apparently he had two nice climbs at 600fpm and passed
up weak lift under the next 2 clouds. I didn't get the good stuff so was content
to stick with 300fpm in the next few climbs and eventually met up with Greg just
north of our first turnpoint at the Beloit Airport.

I tried contacting him but was only getting static back. I assumed he could hear
me so reported my position and climbs on occasion as we headed down the route.

The second turnpoint was Albertus Airport in Freeport with a 28km radius. This
route would put us just west of the Rockford airspace. I was having no trouble
staying up but for some reason the climbs were elusive and not that strong. I
did hit 400fpm west of Loves Park and took it to cloudbase at 7300'.

The next ten miles was blue so it was a long glide to Byron (my hometown) where
at 2800' I found a climb that took me back above 6000' (15 minutes later). Two
more good climbs west of Oregon and Grand Detour took me back to base above
7000'.

Things began to change at Dixon where a beautiful cloud wasn't providing any
lift so after a quick search I headed on course and found a climb over 6000'
again but to the south the sky was getting bluer. On the next glide, I saw white
debris scattered about a big farm field. I checked more closely and saw two
swaths of scoured ground traveling to the southwest about a half mile where a
white tank and what looked like the wreckage of a trailer were laying in the
middle of the field. I traced the path back to a farm where the house was gone
too. This was the storm that hit Sublette further to my east. The power of the
tornado's destruction was impressive even from 5000'.

The sky was continuing to degrade but small cumulus would form and dissipate. A
couple climbs took me above 5000' but the climbs were getting slower. I changed
gears and now was happy with 200fpm. Greg called and said he landed in Neponset
about 6km north of me. I was down to 2000' (1200'agl) south of Rte 80 before a
weak climb got me back up again but only to 3500'. I pushed on to the next cloud
and managed to get to 3900'.

The drift was now out of the north. I had abandoned the Galesburg goal long ago
and knew I could take a more southerly track and still be west of Peoria. High
clouds were killing the cu's to the southwest so I headed south. Back down to
2100' I hit a nice climb topping out one last time at 5400'. I was still hopeful
but it was clear the inevitable was nearing.

I got to 4000' in my last climb and glided 10km to land on the northwest edge of
the Peoria airspace 246km (153 miles) from White Water in 5 hrs 48 min. Woohoo!

While hiking the glider out of the field I received a text from Kris who land
east of Peoria about the same distance from White Water although 30 miles east.
He was not aware of our flight plan so took a southerly track around the east
side of Rockford. Meanwhile Rob had just hit the road after getting a 4+ hour
flight in White Water. It was a long retrieve for sure but I'd do it again
tomorrow if the opportunity were to present itself. I have a lot of respect for
Greg's longest flight out of WI set many years ago. We gave it our best shot on
Saturday but still ended up over 50 miles short. Maybe next time!