I believe it was in ‘Little Big Man’ where an indian (Native American to be politically correct) Medicine Man decides to end his own life using his special powers. When he doesn’t die, his comment to Dustin Hoffman was “Sometimes the magic works, and sometimes it doesn’t”. Well, that’s what happened today at Mifflin; CD Pepe Sare tried to make the magic work and get a day in under completely overcast skies, and it almost worked ;-).
Weatherman Richard Kellerman (QV) gave very little chance of getting a day in, but did hold out some hope for a window of clear (or at least less overcast) skies over a small piece of the Mifflin soaring area, maybe enough to get a task in. So, we all assembled and gridded. The sniffer (KS) was sent up into the overcast and soon reported 4.5kt and going through 4500′, so the launch was started. Halfway through the launch, as the Sports Class gate was just about to open, Karl reported that he was back down to 3500′ and hadn’t been able to find another decent climb, so the gate opening was delayed indefinitely. The launch continued however, and soon there were 30+ gliders milling around at 2500′ msl, trying (and mostly not succeeding) to avoid relighting. After an hour or so of this, there were only about a half-dozen gliders still flying, when amazingly, conditions started to improve. First we struggled to maintain at 2500′ (about 1800′ agl and just off the crest of Jacks Mountain), and then we broke through to 3000′ and then a bit later we were getting to 4500′ and then even to 5500′ and 6000′. The reason for this was a thin spot in the overcast as it rolled in over us from the west, allowing a little more sun to hit the ground and charge things up again. Not enough to even think about trying for a task day, but enough so that those of us who hung on through the down cycle got to play a bit longer. I wound up flying for almost 4 hours, and OLC credits me with about 100 miles of XC distance – woo hoo!
Dinner tonight was a variety of Chili dishes, both vegetarian and non-, along with a great salad and particularly yummy cornbread. Desert and champagne was provided by Pete Alexander (98, and 18m U.S. Team Member) and Heinz Weissenbuehler (HW and 20-meter team member) as a fund raiser for the U.S. Soaring Team.
Tomorrow is toast – no chance, and Wednesday doesn’t look any better. In fact, it is possible that our next flying day will be Saturday – ugh! :-(
Stay tuned,
Frank (TA)
