May 30, 2011.

Once again, the weather was the big thing today. Only this time, it was all for the better. As more contestants arrived and started putting their ships together the temps just kept climbing and we actually got to see some blue sky and sunshine.

Totally ignoring common sense and experience, I didn’t bother with the sunscreen, so…time to put forth the first Contest Safety tip:

“Hey everyone….wear your hats, put on your sunscreen, and drink, drink, drink.”

The high winds that were predicted didn’t develop so some practice flights became possible.

Everything is still soaking wet so using the paved runway was a must. I’m not sure what the humidity was today, but I know what it felt like….take your pick how far over 100% you want.

The big hanger concrete floor was definitely a challenge to slide around on as the damp air hit the cold cement and condensed out.

But all that aside, as the afternoon wore on things started looking pretty nice. By 2:00 the sky was looking good and some gliders took to the air.

My apologies here to the pilots who were up….I came home without the notes on who managed the max altitude and time for the practice and well, everyone always wants to have a little bragging rights on getting up there the first day.

I’ll be sure to be posting more info on flying conditions, and flights as the contest gets started.

Things are looking good for the first contest day and the weather looks like it’s going to co-operate. Good luck to all and good soaring.

If you haven’t had a look at the photos yet, please do. We managed to fit 14 ships and one of the tow planes in the big hanger for the night. Any way you cut it, it’s nice not to have to re-rig the gliders every morning.

Jim