Today’s soaring weather was a mix of clouds and great big open blue spaces.  15/18m had a 2.5hr 4-turn TAT – north to Perry, then south to infamous sinkhole Fitzgerald, then back north to Montezuma, then east to Pineview, then home.  Sports had a 2.5hr 3-turn TAT – south to Sylvester, then east to (gag wheeze puke) Fitzgerald, then north to Unadilla, then home.

By grid time there were a few cu’s to be seen, but they weren’t very happy looking and it was soon evident that conditions were bluing out.  15m class was in the back of the grid, so all we could do was watch the cu’s slowly disappear and the sky to become mostly open.  By launch time there were a few clouds hanging around, but they were mostly outside the start cylinder to the west.  However, from start altitude we could see a cloud field to the north, so there was some hope that we could get into that area in the first circle before having to head back down south to the the aforementioned sinkhole.  My plan for the day was the same plan I have had every day – find Fernando Silva (FS) and follow him.  And, as has happened every day of the contest – my plan failed miserably.  In fact I got my worst start of the contest, starting about 500′ below max height heading out into the blue all alone –  yuk!

In 15m class, Fernando (FS) and Dennis Linneken (DL) tore up the course, coming home with 77mph+ speeds.  Fernando won the day with 77.79mph and Dennis was right behind him (literally) with 77.12 for 991 points and 2nd for the day.  I wound up 3rd for the day with 71.22mph and 919, Mitch Deutsch was 4th with 70.74mph for 909, and Roger Buchanan was 5th with 69.96mph and 899.  In the overall standings, Frank Paynter (TA) held on to his 100+pt lead over Mitch to win the contest with 5590 total,  and Mitch took 2nd with 5466.

In 18m class, George Green (5) smoked the rest of the field again with a 70.26mph speed, almost 8mph faster than 2nd place Steve Vihlen (SV).  With that impressive performance, George sealed the overall win with 5962, 352pts ahead of 2nd place overall Steve Vihlen at 5610 – well done George!

In Sports class, Greg Shugg got his first day win of the contest with 56.82mph raw/56.81mph handicapped to nail down 3rd  place overall with 5662.  Steve Taylor was 5th for the day  with 894, but held onto 2nd place overall.  Wally Berry was a close 3rd for the  day with 967 to nail down the overall win with 5923pts out of a possible 6000 – wow!!

Well, the Cordele Region 5 South contest is now history.  This was my sixth contest of the year and it was by far the best one I have attended this season.  We flew all 6 days and at the end you could count the number of landouts, in all classes, on the fingers of one hand.  This contest was especially pleasant for me, as not only did I not land out on Day 1, but I wound up winning the contest – my first full regional win.  With a 92 ranking, I might finally be able to get into the Perry (R5N) contest without having to depend on cancellations – yay!!

I’m writing this back in the Micro-castle, sans ants, with a beer and a Chinese dinner on the table.  In celebration, I think I’ll have *two* beers tonight, as from my table I only have to go about 6 feet to get to the bed ;-).  In the morning I’ll pack up the camper, hoist it onto the pickup, and head for home.  I get a week’s vacation at home (a good thing as the glider and its trailer need a bit of TLC), and then on to my home club’s regional contest (Region 6 South).  The CCSC contest will actually be the first time I’ve flown my glider at my home club this season – strange

See ya at the next contest!

TA