On Sunday, April 14th I will be attempting a downwind distance record attempt in a Duo Discus glider, an unmotorized, unpressurized,  and unheated aircraft, launching from Minden NV (KMEV) located 30 miles south of Reno, Nevada.  I will be flying along the jet stream utilizing mountain wave conditions, climbing to altitudes of up to 28,000 feet.  My copilot is Hugh Bennett. We’ll be aiming for an area east of the Rocky Mountains, our goal being Garden City, Kansas, a flight of roughly 1030 miles (1658 km). A lot of variables exist since what we’re attempting is weather driven. Currently the lower level winds near the ridge tops in Nevada and western Utah are of concern since they’re forecast to be light.  All other weather related items look promising. Ridge top winds are necessary to trigger the mountain wave. Hopefully we’ll have enough to generate wave strong enough to keep us high. Our goal is to launch before sunrise [0623 PDT (UTC-7) or 1523 CET] and fly into the late afternoon/evening hours if the weather allows us. You can track our flight at the following link (position updates every 10 minutes):

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0iSHNQ5XHKUHpC2MRxQA5EoNNQB7EaYsr

You can also view our flight on:

www.flightaware.com   (Our call sign will be N55LK)

The flight will be closely tracked by Walt Rogers, a friend, meteorologist, and sailplane pilot. I will be in contact with Walt via occasional satellite phone communications.  Walt will be providing weather support during the flight with satellite phone updates to me.  He will be providing updates throughout the flight via email.