http://soaringspot.com/2012bsc/

http://tinyurl.com/bigspringspot

Pictures:

https://picasaweb.google.com/HGChicago/USNationalsDay1

https://picasaweb.google.com/HGChicago/USNationalsDay2

https://picasaweb.google.com/HGChicago/USNationalsDay3

The winds were stronger this morning than yesterday but it looked like there
might be a chance that they would die down, or that at least we would go fly
anyway. So the task committee at Larry Bunner's urging called a late task right
from the beginning:

Here are the winds in mph during the relevant periods on the 25th (today) and on
the 24th (yesterday):

The wind did back off and we had no problems carrying/flying the
gliders down to the south end of the hangars to our regular launch spot. We left
the hangar around 1:15.

The launch window opened at 2:15, an hour and fifteen minutes later than normal.
This was great because the cu's showed up about an hour later than normal, so
the pilots were happy. Also we got all the pilots together to clear out the
hangar and that made for an atmosphere of "we can do this."

We are doing ordered launch just like at the Race and Rally (and pre-Worlds).
The lines were swapped today so 21 through 44 went first and 1 through 20 next.

Because we were starting later in the day the lift was already super good at the
airfield and pilots were pinning off low making for a faster launch altogether.
I pinned off at 800' AGL and was in great lift, taking that thermal to 7,700'
after launching tenth.

There were five pilots in the thermal with me as we drifted to the northeast in
a 14 mph southwest wind. The task was to the northwest to a turnpoint at Lamesa
and then to the airfield at Thoka, total of 118 kilometers. The late task start
called for a shorter task, but the task committee wanted a cross wind task, and
as the forecast was for southwest winds, this filled the bill.

Matt Barker and I stayed with the thermal while the rest of the pilots,
including Dave Gibson, headed back to the airfield. I couldn't figure out the
point of doing that and we found another thermal nearby that got us to 9,600'.

I was hoping to get started early but I realized that heading west might be a
good option. I had been looking for cu's in that direction and when little ones
started popping I headed due west to get under them. Matt followed and we found
light lift, but we were high and we could wait for a few start gates. They were
ten minutes apart starting at 3:10 PM.

As I moved west I could see Derrick Turner and James Stinnett circling under a
dark cu north of the some shallow lakes about 14 kilometers west of the airport.
The start circle was 15 kilometer wide to help us deal with the winds, which
were forecasted to be up to 22 knots southwest at 8,000'.

I raced over to them and finally found the good stuff, 900 fpm, but half way up
the thermal the 3:30 PM window opened and Derreck and James headed out. I wanted
to go with them, so I climbed up to over 10,500' and headed out behind them.
They were heading west northwest toward the good looking clouds, so I was
willing to head off with them. Lamesa was still to our northwest and the wind
was from the southwest.

After a couple of thermals I could see a small rain shower between me and the
turnpoint. But unlike on the first day there was no lightning and the cloud was
much smaller with lots of cu's all around it. It certainly looked like it was
possible to go around the rain, but I wanted to go upwind of it so that I
wouldn't get caught by the rain as it pushed downwind. This meant more pushing
upwind to the west.

As I approached the south end of the area that was shaded by the rain cloud I
saw either Derreck or James head straight north for it seeing a big dust devil
just on the east side of the shade. I decided to continue northwest and get
under the cu's on the upwind side of the rain cloud. The rain was very isolated
and stopped and started a few times.

Finally I found good lift under some cu's over shaded ground just to the
southwest of the rain. That allowed me to get high enough to plow through the
sunlit areas west of the rain (although I did hit a little bit of rain and
watched a rainbow to my east and below me), toward more cu's to the northwest of
the rain.

I found 400 fpm under those cu's southwest of Lamesa and had been on a great arc
around the rain cloud and upwind and now drifted in the thermal right toward the
turnpoint. As I looked at the turnpoint from my vantage point twenty kilometers
away it did not look like an area of good lift. No decent looking cu's nearby.

After I got up I headed for some more cu's to the west of Lamesa with the idea
that I would get high before going to the turnpoint. Forcing myself to go upwind
a bit in a 21 mph head wind was not pleasant, but I found 300 fpm, which while
weak, was needed to fulfill my criteria to getting high enough to get around the
turnpoint without endangering myself.

At 9,600' I headed cross wind to the east to get the turnpoint and sure enough
there was nothing near the turnpoint. I headed north from there seeing five
pilot way below me (I was at 8,000') and a couple circling ahead. I went to
their thermal, but it was worthless (at least at my elevation), so I kept going
after a turn and went to the next cu's. I could see a dust devil ahead, but a
little too far away to be a good candidate.

I scooted under a cu and after a bit of a search found a little over 300 fpm,
again, not great but adequate. This thermal was enough to get me to goal. I
pulled the bar in from 25 km and flew at 50 mph.

Kraig Coomber came in just before me, but started half an hour later. He took
the direct route along the course line, got low past the turnpoint, but got up
very quickly, found better lift than I on the last thermal and raced to goal.

Greg Chastain was the first pilot in, and the only pilot to have started at the
first start time at 3:10 PM. He will take a lot of the arrival points. James and
Derreck were in before me. Derrick and James, I believe, were almost as fast as
Kraig following the round about route that I also took. They got there twenty
six minutes earlier and will have arrival points over Kraig.

The leader after two days, Robin Hamilton and Jonny Durand went down near the
turnpoint as did Zac Majors. That will shake up the standings, putting Kraig in
first and Jeff O'Brien in second.

Jeff came in just before me, but started ten minutes later. He took the direct
route finding strong lift to 12,000' before Lamesa and not getting low after
that.