https://airtribune.com/2017-quest-air-cross-country/blog__day_17

https://airtribune.com/play/2244/2d

This was the forecast:

2017 Quest Cross Country, March 9th

National Weather Service forecast:

Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 83. North wind
around 5 mph.

NAM soaring forecast:

1PM

600-700 fpm lift

7,000' - 8,000' top of lift

5,000' - 6,000' cloudbase

West wind 3 mph at 2,000'

West wind 3 mph at 30'

4PM

300-400 fpm lift

7,000' - 8,000' top of lift

6,000' - 7,000' cloudbase

West northwest wind 6 mph at 2,000'

Convergence over Orlando

RAP forecast:

1 PM

300-600 fpm lift

5,000' - 7,000' top of lift

5,000' - 7,000' cloudbase

Southwest wind 4 mph at 2,000'

South southwest wind 3 mph at 30'

Best lift over the Green Swamp

4PM

300-400 fpm lift (None around the Green Swamp)

5,000' - 7,000' top of lift

5,000' - 7,000' cloudbase or no cu's

West northwest wind 5 mph at 2,000', 10 mph by Dade City

Task: Launch Noon, Start 12:15 PM

Quest, 3km

T7598, 7km

T98471, 1km

Quest, 400m

97.9km (optimized)

I ignored the RAP forecast for no lift at 4PM.

With a forecast for light winds, a high cloud base, and good lift we chose to
go around the Green Swamp, this time counter clockwise. Quest Air was packed as
it is on every day that the conditions look good. Four pilots were set to take
up the big task, Larry Bunner, Patrick Halfhill, Greg Dinauer, and Davis Straub.

I towed up first at 11:34 AM (next week it will be 12:34 PM). Jim Prahl towed me
to the south west after a turn around the field and let me off in light lift. I
called out on the radio to the other three pilots my location and climb rate.
Greg only heard my distance from the center of Sheets field and not what
direction I was in. This would later lead him to try to find lift in the wrong
place.

Jonny towed up Greg next but pulled him to the northeast while I was finding
300+ fpm 2.5 km to the southwest. I was a bit outraged at this given what
happened to me the day before.

Jim Prahl towed Larry to me and we climbed up to cloud base. I headed out first
while Larry worked more lift behind and I found even better lift. Soon I was a
couple of kilometers west of Larry and working 500+ fpm to over 5,000'. We kept
finding good consistent lift and kept getting high.

Getting up just on the east side of the Green Swamp I headed west southwest
toward a cloud street 7 kilometers south of highway 50. This means I was heading
into the teeth of the Green Swamp with little to no safe landing areas nearby.
Larry chose to go to a single cu on a more northerly route and found 500+ fpm
while I found little and had to keep going to the next set of cu's.

We only went over the Green Swamp because we had experienced good consistent
lift and there were cu's over much of the territory that we wanted to cover,
even if there weren't any landing areas.

I got to the little cloud street at 3,000', within glide of a possible landing
area, and climbed at 500+ fpm to over 5,300'. I called out to Larry and he came
over just above me as we got to cloud base.

We headed west northwest which put us back north of the course line but nearer
to landable fields and still under developing cu's climbing to 5,400'. I called
Larry to come back to join me in the thermal.

Larry suggested that I take the left course and he the right coming into the 7k
turnpoint around Interstate 75 and highway 98. Again I ran into the lift and
Larry came in under me. As was true in the previous flights, Larry and I
were climbing at the same rate.

I headed to the southeast along the course line but Larry behind me headed south
and I turned to join him in the next thermal. I guess he didn't want to go back
over the Green Swamp again.

Larry was ahead and leading until we got to a cu five kilometers north of the
turnpoint at the intersection of 98 and 471. Larry hadn't found the core when I
got to him a bit higher but we finally found it and climbed at 400+ fpm to over
6,200'. I had to leave at cloudbase with Larry still climbing below me.

We took the T98471 turnpoint and then worked 500+ fpm just to its east. We
worked a couple of 300 fpm thermals further east then I headed for the smoke from
a small fire. It looked like the smoke was going straight up.

The smoke didn't work but the cu to the north which would have been the other
target did. Larry got there first and found 800 fpm to 6,300'. I got there a few
minutes later and took the same elevator ride to cloud base. We were now both on
final glide, 20 km out from Quest Air.

Greg landed once and relaunched and flew near Patrick Halfhill, who had launched
fourth. Greg hit hard sink over the Green Swamp and raced out to get over a
landing field and did not get back up. Patrick made it around much later.