Weatherman Richard Kellerman (QV) told us this morning that we should have clouds up to around 4-5000’msl, and reasonably light winds out of the south southeast.  After all the drenching we have been getting here lately, this was very welcome news.  The flies in the ointment were the possibility that the day might end early, and possible OD potential as well.  The CD called a 3hr TAT with  4 turn areas that took us south to Orbisonia, then northwest to MidState, then northeast to Woodward, then southeast to Honey Grove, then home.

By grid time we could see lots  of what looked like beautiful clouds lined up right along the ridge tips – just like cloud streets.  By the time the start gate opened, we were getting climbs in the start gate to 4000-4500′ msl range – mostly 2-3kts, but some stronger.  Many pilots elected to start soon after the gate opened, hoping to get around  before the day ended.  As it turned out, the clouds looked great, but many didn’t produce much in the way of lift, and so what looked like a boomer day became somewhat of a struggle instead.  In Sports class,  Karl Striedieck (KS) won the day with 48.47mph raw/42.9mph handicapped, and in FAI class Sean Murphy (XC) won with 56.47mph raw/49.92mph handicapped.

I was doing fine until the next to last leg, when I got in to irretrievable trouble and had to land out (again).  As it turned out, I rolled to a stop right next to the ‘Dutch Valley Bakery’ (unfortunately closed except on weekends), and spend a pleasant hour with an Amish family until my ad-hoc crew (Dave Ridding) showed up with  the trailer.  Although my glider was completely fine, I’m afraid my ego took some serious damage (“upside down in a field with its tail boom broken”, as John Good put it later).  So, I have decided to bail from Mifflin as the last two days look more than a bit iffy, and move on to the Ionia contest.  I figure that if I have to stand around someplace, I might as well do it at the next contest site and save myself a last-minute drive.

See you at Ionia!

TA