1. I need to go back to bare feet. Even with Vibram Five Fingers
my feet hurt in the harness. Maybe I can just adjust the shoulder straps for a
little more room. If I can bend my knees the feet don't hurt. The pain is a
great distraction and I isolate it, but I'm sure that it makes for impatience
and cuts down on the enjoyment.

2. I've often flown near (enough) to cu-nimbs and rain. Flying near one near
Ridgely at the 2015 ECC unnerved me because the air was rocking, just a little,
but enough to spook me. Made me think that something bad would happen a bit
later.

I flew much closer to the one on the first day of the 2015 Big Spring Nationals,
in fact I flew into the rain. The air was smooth and it felt fine as I got
closer and closer, as I attempted to get to the turnpoint, but as I went passed
the point where I was climbing 600 fpm in light rain as I started to drift
downwind from the turnpoint to the north on the east side of the turnpoint I
turned and raced toward it and deeper into the rain. That's when the air turned
very turbulent, but I was on a mission.

Seems the lesson is that you can turn in rain and go up if the air feels solid
and smooth but you might consider not pushing that too much.

3. On the second day towing behind Bobby in a 583 Dragonfly I was disappointed
to be circling with him in 100 fpm (with his climb rate of 400 fpm, that means
300 fpm down air). I saw a guy a bit further off circling under the only nearby
cloud but Bobby wouldn't go to him even when I twanged the rope.

I got off lower than 2,000' and headed straight for the turning pilot to find no
lift. Never did find lift. Landed in the start cylinder.

Now it was a day that most everyone did poorly but perhaps I should give Bobby
the benefit of the doubt and stay with him. Perhaps on such a day (I knew it was
weak) I should stay near the launch in case I needed another chance.

4. Towed up by Tiki on the third day. I felt that she was flying too slow and
therefore I was flying too slow. To get her to speed up I should have pulled in
and gotten below her to signal to her to speed up.

We hit some funky air, the line bellied, and for the first time ever I snapped a
200 pound weak link.

5. I went up again this time behind Jonny in a 914. It was a windy day with poor
thermals and I didn't find one. I've just got to be a lot more diligent on windy
days. Got up a third time.

6. Excellent pilots have excellent eye sight. I don't. 20/20, not 20/10, with
glasses (bifocals for reading the instruments). If I could see more lift
indicators (say pilots further away) that would help.

7. I'll check the VG to be sure that I can pull it in all the way. On the last
day it seemed to be that I couldn't. Maybe a little Sailkote is in order on the
keel.

8. Have the task committee call tasks over drier ground.

9. I am much better at flying in strong conditions by climbing fast and then
gliding at 45 to 55 mph instead of 35 to 40 mph. On the sixth day I flew very
fast averaging with climbs 75 kph for the first hour and forty minutes until the
lift shut down. But it was the next hour and a half that was the most memorable.

I had a strategy for the first part of the flight staying upwind of the course
line but I abandoned that strategy when it looked like I was flying into a blue
hole. I saw little wispies down wind and flew to them as my best chance of
getting up high enough to get to goal.

I was able to get up and get a lot closer to goal even though I didn't make it
all the way. I really enjoyed the very light lift conditions and dealing with
the fact that I was being blown away from the goal at 19 mph. Of course, the air
was smooth (which it really always is in Big Spring, but in this case especially
so).

10. On the last day I was doing great until I missed the best part of the core
that my compatriots found without me noticing for a couple of minutes (no one
was below me). That left me alone and working weak lift as I watched my fellow
pilots head off.

I followed when the lift decreased and watched to see if they would find
something. When I didn't see anything promising I was thinking about the time a
few days earlier when six of us in the lead just flew until we hit the ground.
All spread out but going no where.

I took a different route than the five pilots ahead of me, downwind again, but
toward more promising ground features (a pond to disrupt the wind flow). It was
only 94 fpm and I was only 1,500' AGL but that worked well enough to get me back
to all my buds on the ground short of goal. Also that marked a thermal for Larry
so he could win the day.

Peter Kelley, among others, points out that again we flew every day that we were
there, in this case eight days out of eight. Even when Big Spring isn't at its
best we fly.