The weather today went from soup to nuts and then back again, but the end result was no flying and a cancelled day. The day started reasonably clear, with some hope of getting a short task in. By about 10:30-11:00 am there were some sort-of cumulus clouds on the high ground to the east, but there was also a LOT of middle and high level clouds. As the day wore on, there seemed to be occasional breaks in the high clouds, and our hopes and aspirations swung back and forth with them. Competitor, friend, and task advisor Tim Welles (W3) attempted to leave his glider in the box, but was eventually forced to assemble it and grid with the rest of us dummies (he did, however, save his wing tape for the day).
By grid time, things weren’t looking so hot, but a volunteer sniffer (Lee in AC) went up and struggled for a while under some clouds that looked pretty good, but were more show than substance. Within 30 minutes or so Lee returned over the field to start his motor and make another try, whereupon the motor failed to start and he instead turned base leg, final, and landed with the motor extended. Ironically, while Lee was approaching the field, someone asked him why he didn’t just start the motor out over the high ground, and Lee’s response was – “Well, sometimes the motor doesn’t start, and I want to be over the airport in case it doesn’t. Smart pilot, that guy!
After that little bit of entertainment, we watched a rain storm approaching from the north, and finally some kind sole pulled the plug on the day and we all made the trek back to our trailers. Dansville is pretty nice in that the main grid area is close to the hangar and the trailer tiedowns, so at least it’s not a major trip to get everything put away.
The day was topped off (and so were the pilots and crews) with a very nice Taco Salad dinner in the hangar, although salsa seemed to have been left off the grocery list (fortunately I had some salad dressing in the Micro-Castle that did the job nicely).
Weather for tomorrow looks pretty decent. Popular weather forecast is for mostly sunny with a high near 77, light winds from the northwest – sounds pretty good to me. Moreover, the long range forecast is for good weather for the rest of the week – yay!!
Stay tuned,
Frank (TA)
