Day 4 at Dansville (Region 3)

The weather here just keeps getting better and better – today was forecast to have just moderate thermal strengths, and was progged to be mostly blue.  What we got was 4-6kt thermals to 6000-7500′ msl, with cloud streets from horizon to horizon.  Pilots came back with BIG smiles on their faces, and pretty decent speeds on their IGC files.

The task today was southwest to 54 Wellesville with a 15 mile radius, then east-southeast to 14 Mt. Pisgah with a 25 mile radius, then home.  The first leg for me was by far the slowest and weakest leg – about 35 miles at 55mph, but with only 19% thermalling and with an achieved L/D of 62.  The second leg was 90 miles at almost 75 mph with 20% thermalling and an achieved L/D of 112.  During this leg I had one stretch of 37 miles without stopping at an L/D of 244 – woo hoo!

At the turn in the second circle I was 78 miles from home, and it was all upwind (fortunately the winds were less than 10kt at altitude, but….).  In addition, we had to cross over/through the Elmira-Corning airport airspace, which requires some coordination with the Corning airport tower.  We had been briefed by Sean Murphy (XC) of the Harris Hill club on this procedure, and it worked real well for me.  I called the tower on 121.1 about 15 miles south and told them my altitude and that I was squawking 1202, and the tower folks were very cooperative.  It was a good thing that I called when I did, as a regional jet had just taken off from the west runway and made a left climbing turn that took them right by me.  The tower called the traffic – “TA you have traffic at 12:00 climbing through 4500”, and I was able to pick it out right away and tell the tower “traffic in sight”.  The tower asked if I was in a group of gliders, and I told them that they would probably be seeing a bunch of gliders streaming through on the same course line.

After being above 6000′ for most of the day, I started hyperventilating as I got lower and lower, without quite making final glide.  I have made two successive marginal final glides into Dansville, and I really wasn’t looking forward to another one, especially after such an outstanding flight to this point.  I finally chickened out and stopped in a 2kt thermal to tank up to +500 over glide – what can I say, I’m a wimp! (but I’m a *live* wimp!).  Of course, after I left this crappy thermal, I then ran into all sorts of lift, and wound up screaming home at 110kts – adding insult to injury, I guess.  Sure was fun though ;-).

No arranged dinner tonight, so it was a salad and a fallout (a ‘fallout’ is what happens when you open the freezer door, and you nuke whatever falls out) for me, and then early to bed, I think.  Popular weather for tomorrow is more of the same (hurt me!).  The last day (Saturday) is starting to look a bit iffy, so tomorrow could be the last contest day.

Stay tuned!

Frank (TA)