32.881678,-111.854982,Francisco Grande, Casa Grande, Arizona,
USA

The task and flight
here.

http://www.livetrack24.com/

http://www.livetrack24.com/live_show_track.php?user=davisstraub&2d=1

http://santacruzflatsrace.blogspot.com/

The forecast for the third day, Tuesday, was similar to the first two days, but
for the wind being light but steady out of the west northwest at six or seven
knots. In actuality, it was never that strong and did vary in direction, so that
the day did turn out to be similar to the previous days.

The task committee (Kraig, Larry, and Dustin) called an out and return task, one
we've done before as you can see above. We normally go to Bon first to keep us
out of the green cultivated fields to the south of the highway.

We started launching half an hour later at 12:30 after the weak conditions on
Monday. I wasn't able to launch until almost one o'clock and the lift was good
then. Dustin called O'Brien and I on the radio and said that there was better
lift to the north of the start cylinder near the open pit mine, so we joined him
and climbed up to over 8,000' just in time to take the first start clock at 1:45
PM. O'Brien, Dustin, Glen, Mitch and I were all together high and it appeared as
though everyone else was much lower and not ready to start.

I headed out first again as the others kept holding back and I get impatient to
go. But I flew as slowly as I could at best glide only so that they would catch
up to me. But they were all very tricky and flew slowly also. Damn.

We kept on gliding and Dustin said that there was a rigid wing ahead circling.
They had a start time half an hour before ours. We glided to the feedlot where
the ATOS was turning but the lift was weak. We took a few turns and then pushed
ahead toward a dust devil that quickly disappeared. So we had to continue
pressing ahead and getting low.

Dustin said that someone was turning over Maricopa and down to 1,000' Dustin and
O'Brien over me found the lift, our first real thermal since we left the start
cylinder twenty two kilometers back. We climbed back up to 7,200' before heading
for the feedlot to the south of the sailplane port at Estrella where another
ATOS was circling.

O'Brien and Dustin found better lift earlier and I lost physical contact with
them. Glen was  just behind me climbing a little better and Mitch was with
me. Mitch went back to Glen, but I thinking that I could find some better lift
and catch up with Dustin and O'Brien, didn't go back to join up with Glen and
Mitch. That was a bad mistake.

Heading out at 6,800' well below Dustin and O'Brien at 8,000' I kept leaving
okay lift looking for better (Dustin mentioned 700 fpm) but not finding it. This
put me lower and lower and by the time I got near Mobile, the outer turnpoint, I
was having to stay in 30 fpm to stay in the air.

It was touch and go for quite a while as I drifted away from the turnpoint
without getting it, low and in very weak lift. Finally I had to go back and get
the turnpoint and there I found 200 fpm which got me up and out. I circled up
with a buzzard side by side the whole way. We had a great time together in the
mellow air.

After getting up I headed back to the little hills south of Estrella to find
more lift. As I got to the hills I saw three gliders on the hill side right next
to each other. It looked like they had landed between the cacti. It was Joe
Bostik, Kraig Coomber, and Robin Hamilton. They had left Estrella coming out to
the further turnpoint, barely made it over the hills and not finding any lift
landed on the west side, looking for all the world like they had come from the
west and just were stopped by the hills. They weren't near any road.

Once I got up on the hills I headed south along the range in order to find some
lift and get up and then go north to get Estrella. There wasn't any lift for the
next three kilometers to the south. I found out later that the lift was in the
slot to the north where I had much earlier seen Jim Yocom turning very low. I
should have gone toward Estrella and just a little north of where I came into
the hills to get up. Who knew?

Not finding anything but the weakest lift all along the hills I went out into
the flats to follow a bird that was turning but the lift was too weak and I
landed at an abandoned air strip.

O'Brien and Dustin got high thirty kilometers out from goal, and at 13:1 with a
slight tail wind went on final glide. Three kilometers out they were still at
13:1 but a little too low, and this was the first lift that they had found at
100 fpm. They took a couple of turns and got in, Dustin first. Glen came in a
little later from the north having taken a route that put him on the hills north
of Bon. Ben Dunn and Chris Zimmerman were the only other pilots at goal. Mitch
landed ten miles out.

The Gaggle test worked fine today and Belinda was able to sit in the hotel room
and follow my progress before she had to leave to get Jochen and then me. Many
pilots just made the first turnpoint at Bon. Bill Soderquist had three tows and
never left the start cylinder.