Flytec Race and Rally - Day 1

I spent the morning setting up Jeff's harness for XC flight - packing the glider bags, water bladder, and radio. The task was a 67km straight line along the western shore of Lake Okeechobee to Okeechobee Airport. It was downwind in strong southwest surface winds from an approaching cold front.

Setting Up Jeff's Harness

The Task

I set up at the back of the launch line and realized that when I disconnected my harness to move the glider I didn't screw my quick links closed. They fell off somewhere in the field. What a stupid mistake! I was the victim of my own stupidity. Eventually I found one, but ended having to drive to town to buy the other one. I made it back in time to tow at the last start clock. The leaders had already reached goal by the time I got airborne.

Token Glider Shot

Quick Links

I broke two weak links getting off the field, but the third tow was a charm. At 2:30 I was the last competitor off the ground. The tow pilot gave me "nudge" in the right direction, towing me to the upwind edge of the start circle. I pinned off above cloud base and got the hell out of there. The cloud development was thick, but it looked sunny to the northwest. The course line went northeast, but I headed northwest for the sun.

Florida flying is different from out west, I picked up a few tips yesterday. If the grassy field below you has a boat going through it, it's a swamp not a field, don't land there. If there is only one cow in a field, its not a cow, its a bull - don't land there. Lastly, alligators can run really fast for short periods of time, but only in a straight line. When they chase you, zig zag to avoid them. Jeff Shapiro has a close encounter today - Here. My plan was avoid all of the above by not to passing up any lift even it was zero sink and try to read the clouds, not the ground. If I focus on the sky I tend to stay up. When I focus on the ground I tend to find myself there.

Focus on the Clouds

For the first half of the flight I continued northwest finding reliable lift under the darker clouds. I managed to maintain between 2000 and 3800 feet. It was a good thing too because there was a no-mans land of inaccessible swamp below me and my radio wasn't working. The T2C was a pleasure to fly. It was light and responsive to my turn inputs in thermals. The glide speed between thermals was ridiculous. I saw over 100kph ground speed on my GPS with the bar just slightly pushed in (I did have a smoking tailwind). My tune is fairly conservative with the pitch pressure being just enough to let you know your going fast, but not enough to induce fatigue. I can't believe what I've been missing all these years.

The T2C Makes Me Smile

I sawtoothed my way north jumping from cloudstreet to cloudstreet until I looked at the map page on the GPS. I was 17km off course to the left. What the hell was I doing! Lake Okeechobee is the biggest body of water in Florida and I was so far west I hadn't seen it yet! Maintaining between 2000 and 3000 feet I turned northeast under the next cloudstreet, goal was 35km away. If I could follow the lift lines my track would take me north of goal, meaning I would actually overshoot it. I made good time but as I got closer the clouds got farther apart and I found myself down to about 1000 feet with only 10km to go. I had a good save over the Kissimmee River, but I couldn't stay with it above 1800 feet. In hind sight the thermals were ripping down wind and I underestimated how fast they were drifting. At 5k out I was down to 1000' again working an area of zero sink. I could see Okeechobee Airport just north of town. A turkey vulture I had been flying with was guiding the way, but I couldn't bring myself to trust him completely - they can be cheeky at times! All I had to do was maintain and drift into goal. My mental anguish was becoming unbearable.

Then, just as I drifted across a set of train tracks, I hit sink. I pulled on full VG, but was too low to angle out of it. I wasn't going to make it to goal, it was time to start setting up my landing. There was a neighborhood on the other side of the tracks with roads that would be easy for retrieve. It also allowed an opportunity to dive bomb a passing train. The engineer and I made eye contact and I leveled off on downwind. I had selected a perfect grassy field next to the road. As I eased out my VG I hit a solid bubble of lift. In an act of horrible decision making I turned and tried to hook it. It didn't work and I ended up being blown past the field into a rough area bordered by tall trees. I had no altitude and no options. I had broken a golden rule of aviation and left myself with no out. Somehow I squeaked out a descent landing between the trees, turning 90 degrees at the last minute to avoid a gigantic bush. It worked out, but I scolded myself for being so aggressive. Too many people have invested their time, money, and energy into this project for me to be making stupid decisions. Never again!

This is How My Glider was when I Unhooked. My Final was to the Left of the Single Tree. Somehow I Turned 90 Degrees and Flared.

Other Angles

Overall it was a great first XC on my new wing. My thermaling skills weren't as rusty as had I feared and on the T2C fatigue wasn't an issue. Jim, Erin, Zippy, and Dustin picked me up and we headed to Quest for day 2. The cold front arrived at sunset and the skies opened in a show of rain, lightning and thunder. Flying tomorrow is questionable due to strong winds again.