The internet connection at the hotel here is really unstable, and I will not be able to write much on this blog, or answer to many emails unless the connectio improves. It took more than 10 tries to get this text uploaded.
We had a good day with practice flights yesterday, I got a nice 1 hour flight on my Litespeed, the glider goes straight, and feels good so far. I have not been thermalling since July, so I’m a bit rusty for sure.
Today is the first competition day, weather looks good.
This green machine goes to London, we got two seats even with an overbooked flight. Looks like we have to spend one night there, and then take the first to Oslo early tuesday morning.
Nils and I got tickets to Hong Kong today, we are on waiting list for the next flight to London and might have to wait there for a day. The flights from London is too late, and we might have to spend one night there too. If all works out we are back in Oslo Monday night.
Nils Åge and I are driving to Sydney now. Might get a flight back sunday.
Captured this image when we stopped at Gundagai to get a coffee.
Much the same as yesterday, strong winds from the south and blue low thermals. Task was 188 km to ivanhoe again, some action in the towpaddock when the crosswind made it difficult to launch. I started early due to a good place yesterday and had a good tow into a nice thermal. The other guys said there were many blown launches. One guy came down in the emergency chute, but he was ok. (Roumors said it was a tuck while on tow, the organization never gave a good explanation, joking about the whole thing)
I had a resonable fast flight until I got very low 40 km from goal. I was down to 100 meters, and struggled there together with a gaggle of 15 pilots drifting for one hour extremely low. It was dustdevils everywhere exept where we got low. Tove Heaney came and joined us for a while, she’s easy to spot in her Litespeed S 3,5 with smoke sail and big yellow Sportavia stickers all over it. When she and a few others headed into the west I chose to stay and watch them. I lost sight of them, and they got up from a thermal I did not get.
I finally got up to 1200 meters and had a 12 to 1 glide to goal with 25 km tailwind. I started the glide very happy, but hit bad sink and landed very unhappy 3km from goal. What a shit day with all that struggle for nothing. As I was packing up a guy came up and started talking. He was a newly born again christian, and gave me a long lecture on living in sin, and all the suffering Jesus made for us. I told him I was not interested right there and then, but it did not stop the evangelism… Just what you need after a failed final glide.
Jon made goal, catching up with me when I got low, passing high above us. Nils and Johnny landed just after takeoff. Robin at 15km from goal, and Otto at 56km from goal.
Today was very gusty and inverted. The weatherman called a strong inversion from 600 to 2000 meters, and not much heating. We got a 151 km task downwind again, with one tp. I got a good thermal after the roughest tow ever, and got to 1000 meters. From there i drifted with a gaggle turning more in sink than lift. I was not concentrating for 30 seconds and missed a small core. Landed just 30 km from the paddock. windy as hell rigging down. Pic of me rigging down in the wind, glider tied to a fence.
Update: Jon made goal! Johnny at the first TP, Robin missed it, Nils Åge 45 km from goal. Otto did not fly.
Good day again, blue and lift to 2800 meters. 133 km south to the glider airport at Tocumwal. Nils and me got to goal together, Jon came in some time later. My glider was much better today after some adjustments to the tips.
Warming up now with 38 degrees. Forecasted strong winds tomorrow and low chance for flying.