We loved being and flying in Wisconsin. It was a wonderful week of
competition flying. Eastern Wisconsin is so beautiful and there are landing
areas everywhere so you are completely comfortable flying anywhere.

Flying started out a week before the competition on a very weak Saturday after a
strong rain storm the previous day. I sure was hoping that we wouldn't have the
situation of eighty pilots hanging together in a very weak thermal like the ones
we experienced that day. Thankfully that didn't happen during the competition
even when we had a weak day or two. There was plenty of room and numerous
thermals so that everyone kept out of everyone else's space.

The area around Whitewater is dotted with lakes, small patches of forest and
open farm lands. Because of the cold and wet Spring the corn fields were often
not planted yet and if they were the corn was only two or three inches high.
There were plenty of grass/hay fields with low growth also. One day I did land
in a soybean field with the plants just sticking their leaves out of the ground.

Three days before the competition we again had good flying conditions and two
days before the competition we had epic conditions which very robust lift and
light winds. I had plenty of opportunities to try out various combinations of
varios to see what I liked about each one. I'll be reporting more on that later.

With a high level of participation, far beyond what the organizers expected,
there were plenty of skilled pilots and tough competition to liven up the meet.
We flew in all directions and conditions from a day when almost everyone had to
relight to cu filled skies with thermals wherever you went. I really loved the
times that I got low and had to dig my way out of whatever I had managed to get
myself into.

In my opinion there is no point in flying, if you are flying alone without a
goal. I want to fly with others who are striving to do their best. The closer
the better and the more helpful the better.

I'm hoping that we all come back to Whitewater next year.