World Record Encampment
Despite the fact that we knew it would be blue (lacking cu's) we went anyway. I had decided the night before to go no matter what and just enjoy the flying.
Gary had gone up twice in his Woodstock and said the second time that if we waited for fifteen minutes (until 10:30 AM) we could stay up. BJ took off at 10:15 AM. I launched at 10:45 AM with Dustin and Zippy right behind me.
I'm flying a Wills Wing U2 160, as part of an effort to break Larry's king posted record with a king posted glider. It is a big glider because I wanted to stay up in very light air and because I wanted to go down wind. I had heard that it was easy to fly (turn) and sure enough it is easy as can be, enough at my weight at 175 pounds, 210 pounds hook in.
Russell pulled me due east to 3600' MSL. I pinned off and headed northeast. There were no cu's so it was just keep flying until I stumbled into lift back down by 2000' AGL which seemed to be the top of the lift.
Eight miles out after I reported 300 fpm, Dustin came in under me in his Wills Wing T2C - 144. We flew together for the next twenty miles. The lift was better down low and got weak as we got up.
We could hear Zippy behind us and BJ ahead of us staying up. The lift was mostly quite light and getting to 2,000' AGL was a good thermal.
At twenty one miles out we heard from Zippy that he was down to 300' AGL seventeen miles out. He thought that he was going down. But he found some lift and got back up about five miles behind us.
I got down to 500' AGL but found a strong one and Dustin came over to me and we climbed to over 2,600' AGL.
The next thermal was weak and we staying in zero sink to only 1,600' AGL. A glide from there didn't work out and we landed next to each other eight miles from highway 359, behind two locked gates. Fortunately Laura had good sense and good luck and found someone to guide her in to where we were next to gas wells.
Pete Lehmann took off quite a bit after us and was thirty miles behind BJ. Zippy decided to land 51 miles out north of Laredo after he had trouble with his camel back and the chase car radio's (with Laura) wasn't working.
At 5:30 PM Pete decided to land at 160 miles out just south of Uvalde. BJ was at 210 miles out and at 12,000' up on the Edwards plateau, and going for it. He has a declared goal at Big Spring. It's still blue where he is, but there are cloud streets nearby.
http://OzReport.com/1248475832
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