I’m writing this from my Micro Castle at Eagleville, Tenn, USA, site of this weekend’s GTA race.

I was talking to my flying partner John Mittell (BZ) last week, and he happened to mention that he was planning to fly at a weekend GTA race in Eagleville, and then meet me at Perry to fly there the week before the Perry regional.  Then he said “Why don’t you come down to Eagleville and fly the GTA contest with me, and then we can trailer over to Perry together”.   A quick look at my Street Atlas map showed me that it would be perfectly feasible to get to Eagleville from my home in Columbus, Ohio in an easy day’s drive, and from there to Perry wasn’t all that far either, so I said “what the heck – I love contest flying, and it would be great to fly a new area – see you there!”.

So, this morning I loaded the camper onto the pickup, kissed the wife goodbye, and headed south.  On the way I stopped by my home soaring club to pick up one of those minor essentials for contest flying, namely my glider!  Then it was a pretty easy drive in nice, crisp post-frontal conditions down here to Eagleville.  I got stuck for a while in Nashville, due to an accident on the expressway, but otherwise the trip was uneventful.

The club here is a beautiful grass strip right alongside highway 41A, just south of the roaring metropolis of Eagleville (roaring here is defined as 1 grocery store, 1 post office, 1 police station, and 2 restaurants, all in about 2 city blocks).  When I arrived found Glenn and Laura Betzhold (W) already here with their RV, and soon thereafter Francoise Pin (FP) pulled in with his.

The GTA (Georgia Tennessee Alabama) is a series of informal weekend glider races held throughout the soaring season.  These meets are a great way for less experienced pilots to get involved in glider racing, and for more seasoned racers to have some fun and get tuned up for larger contests in the bargain.  Everyone pitches in to make things work, and no one gets excited if things don’t work out exactly right – just a relaxed gathering of glider pilots having a good time.

I haven’t participated much in the GTA series in recent years because many of the races are too far away, and its hard to justify a 1000 mile round-trip for a weekend race, especially if the weather is a bit iffy.  However, since I was going to Perry anyway, the side trip to Eagleville was a no-brainer.

Weather forecast for tomorrow looks ok, but not great.  A front passed through yesterday, so the basic airmass looks good – 3-4000′ with 5-6kt climbs possible.  There are, as usual, some flies in the ointment with the possibility of some high clouds drifting in from the west, but that may or may not actually happen.  In any case, I’m looking forward to a great day of glider racing whether or not we actually get off the ground! ;-).

Stay tuned!

Frank (TA)