The Oz Report
Volume 6, Number 139
11 PM, Tuesday, July 16th, 2002
"Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."
Worlds – Natalie in first (Kari 11 minutes behind)
(This topic is in: <-- Jul.19 Jul.18 Jul.17 Jul.16 )
http://www.elltel.net/peterandlinda/2002%20Worlds/Worlds%20Main.htm
The web site will be delayed due to the fact that the team leaders are not as up to date as the pilots who are getting on line to see the scores. Until “hard copy” is delivered to the team leaders (anyone remember what “hard copy” is?), at the 8 AMteam leader meeting, there won't be any new results up on the web site.
Jeez!
The forecast for today was the same as yesterday, 700 fpm to 9,000'. Blue. Light west winds 5 to 10 mph. A fire broke out this morning (I first saw the smoke at 7 amafter getting up and looking at the sky a 6:30 am– so you know it was just starting) on a hill side up the lake a ways on the north side. Smoke would cover the lake until later in the day when the winds picked up and blew it to the north.
After we all got to goal yesterday, Danny (and Scott?) called a women's task that was the Class 5 task yesterday (Farmer, Sims, and back). The class 2 and 5 pilots were directed to go to a turnpoint near Dry Falls (near Coulee City), north along the length of Banks Lake to almost Coulee dam), then back to Sims Corner and back to the airport in Chelan. This is 160 kilometer task.
When I hear what Danny has called, I ask Kari (Christian didn't attend the Task Rubber Stamp, don't have any power any way, only advisory, better to be seen and not heard committee today) to ask for Leahy instead of up near Coulee. This is rejected with a snide comment that Davismust have proposed it. I'm just trying to get a few pilots into goal.
Going over 100 miles and trying to get pilots make to goal by 7:30 with start times of 2 to 3 pm is a stretch. Possible, but difficult. The lift closes down around 7 PM, so the last half hour doesn't do you much good unless you've just made it to the rim and all you have to do is dive in to goal.
The thermals are great at the butte, well the one thermal was. It took many of us to almost 9,000' and was pretty darn smooth. I've got my extra clothes on today so I'm styling at the top of the lift. I'm also flying with a salad bowl and a string as a substitute for a reasonable helmet. Looks like head fairings may be required if you want to move up in the rankings.
Getting so high at the butte makes for an easy flight to the flats and once there we climb out in a gaggle to over 10,000'. Now we are just waiting for the start clock. We can't wait until 3 PM, because we would never make it back to goal in time.
A few pilots leave at 2 PM, and many go at 2:15. It is a long glide at high speeds to JamesonLakebefore we find the first thermal, a dusty. I'm flying with Hansjoerg, but the thermal is packed. It is so nice to have so many friends along for the ride.
We clock the winds at 15 to 20 mph out of the south. So much for a light day. It looks like it will be difficult to negotiate some of the legs of this task.
The women also send out the top gaggle at 2:15for their shorter task. They've also seen that the winds are high and it will be a struggle getting to Farmer. After that it will get better.
Southeast of Jameson we are just pushing out in light lift and heading into a strong head wind trying to make some distance. Finally we catch up with the 2 PMpilots who are in a good thermal and climb out just under them.
The 2 PM pilots and a few of the higher 2:15 pilots head out toward the turnpoint near Dry Falls, while the lower pilots drift back further and continue to climb well. At 8,500' I take off to follow the lead pilots to the turnpoint with Hansjoerg just behind me.
The lead guys are heading too far to the south and getting drilled. I head southeast right at the turnpoint and get a good line. 5 kilometers out the lead guys are way down and circling in light lift. I'm heading for the turnpoint high and watching three Swifts coming back from the turnpoint to the northwest to join the former lead gaggle in the weak lift.
I dive into the turnpoint, somewhat low and immediately head due north along the course line. I've been here before and found the lift. I find it again. Hansjoerg comes back to join me and with one other pilot we get away from 20 pilots who are now way behind and drift downwind toward the turnpoint near the dam.
With a tail wind and good altitude (over 7,000') we head downwind just finding small bits and pieces of lift. We are in the lead and flying with each other as we work our way to the north east turnpoint. We are going to need to find a really good thermal at some point so that we can be high at the turnpoint in order to be able to come back into the headwind.
Just before we get to the second turnpoint I finally find the thermal we need and we climb out to over 9,000' as we drift to the northwest in the southeast wind. Now it looks like we will have plenty of pilots out in front of us coming to the turnpoint and marking lift as we head back toward Sims.
There is another fire to the south that is filling the air with smoke near BanksLake. We are just to the west of it and the sun is in the west so the ground is not shaded below us. It looks like maybe a bit later it will be, perhaps cutting off pilots behind us.
We push and push against the head wind finding weak lift, and lots of spotty lift, but patience wins the day and we make it to Sims, where we hope to turn the corner and race to goal. Wouldn't you know it the wind is now coming from the southwest, so we've got a head wind to goal.
The day is getting late. The goal will close soon so we need to press forward. Johann Posch and Steve Elkins join us in the lead gaggle just before Sims as we drive west and get pushed to the north. We find strong lift and we need it to keep going.
We're northwest of Mansfieldand it is 6:30 PM. I'm mistakenly thinking that the goal closes at 7 PM, like the other days, not 7:30 PM, for this long day. I'm climbing in my own thermal just upwind of Johann and Steve at 250 fpm, while Hansjoerg is circling just off the deck below us. I make a mistake leaving my good enough thermal to join Johann downwind. Bad idea as I don't find the lift and have to go work something weaker. They join me.
I'm thinking that I have to press ahead as we won't get to goal in time. I need to find a strong one that gets me up and over the rim only a few short miles away. I make the mistake of leaving my friends behind and will land near the power lines just before McNeelCanyon,
Johann, Steve and Hansjoerg will be the only Class 5 pilots to make it into goal. Manfred and Robin will be the only Class 2 pilots into goal.
Natalie will fly with Kari and the top women pilots and make goal 11 minutes before Kari. Claire and Francoise Mocellin will come in 20 minutes behind Kari and Corrina will be there 6 minutes later. Five women make goal.
Flew with Oleg yesterday. He was doing fine. The previous problem was the loose carbon fiber control frame wires (unlike the standard model) allowed for a wire or rope to come off a pulley and get jammed in the spiral death mode.
Oleg repaired the damage (couldn't see any on the glider) and was flying in the meet.
It looks like the USwomen are in first place after four days. Don't know about class 5 or 2. The results won't be posted until tomorrow.
Doug Pohl says try this URL for Chelan pictures: http://65.187.85.53/whgc2002.htm
Worlds – the squabbles
(This topic is in: <-- Jul.19 Jul.18 Jul.17 Jul.16 )
Danny and Scott wanted to be sure that we had a world class task today. Well three pilots were able to make it to goal. They want to show off their site and let people know what its like to fly here. No problem with that, other than it doesn't take into account what the pilots might want. Of course, pilots are just something that makes it difficult to run a proper meet.
This is one way of doing it, and I've seen it done this way many many times. I sure like the approach that we saw at the 2002 Australian Open and the 2002 Flytec Championships where the meet director and organizers had the pilots' needs and wishes as primary in their concerns. You know something about treating the customer right?
The complaints regarding the 1,500' limit at goal are being written up as I write this up. Danny apparently wants to combine speed gliding and a cross country race into a new format. Pilots are required to dive at high speed from the rim to the east of the airport goal down into the gorge to get below 1,500' above goal (the rules actually say 1,500' period, so that would mean 200 feet above goal height.)
Dynamic soaring
(This topic is in: <- Jan.23'08 Jul.17 Jul.16 Jul.15 Jul.14 Jul.6 --> )
DH <catapult> writes:
Albatrosses do a variation of exploiting the wind gradient in sloping terrain with the ocean swells, especially when there is a good breeze. I got plenty of time to watch them on a California-Hawaii-California sailing trip. Once the word got around on the albatross grapevine that we were offering free crackers, we had lots of company. :-)
Anyway, they do most of their flying/hunting on the lee side of the swells. They pop up into the breeze at the top of the swell, like Forger described. Then they do a steep wingover and a fast water skim diagonally down the lee side of the swell, in the wind shadow and in ground effect, and on into the trough. That lets them cover the miles in a hurry and, I would guess, puts them in a prime position to grab any fish near the surface. Then, before their speed bleeds off too much, they do a hard pullup and do it all again.
Most of the descriptions of albatross flight I've seen neglect the swells but I think they are an important part of how they fly. Out in the blue water, there are always swells when there is any wind.
As an aside, when you see the albatrosses sitting on the water, it's time to start the motor. The only place I saw it was on the way back, in the giant eddy called the North Pacific High. The water was like glass, without a puff of wind. I think the albatrosses we saw must have really blown their flight plans to be there but it looked like they planned on just sitting until the wind blew.
Jim Lamb <jlamb> writes:
Your readers will find this URL on Dynamic Soaring interesting. http://www.sailplanehomebuilders.com/albatros_german_to_english.htm. Especially the video download at the end.
Launches at the Worlds – graded pass/fail
Aaron Swepston <tontar> writes:
Looks like you are asking me to comment on the launches that I have seen at the World Meet in Chelan again, having voiced my feeling that Chelan is an easy place to launch and having seen several "crashes" take place already. I do feel a bit uncomfortable with the thought of criticizing "world class pilots" competing at the World Meet, but even so I can't help making a few more observations. Hopefully this will help others out there who are open to improvement.
The first day of competition had how many blown launches? I think there were at least three, or was it four? I can't keep track of so many. The surprising thing to me was that these blown launches were taking place at the "Lower Lakeside" launch in reasonable wind conditions. I figured that people would be blowing launches at the "Between the Rocks" launch, since it is a flat slope that has varying wind conditions as thermals build and then flow through, generally making for lighter winds and a harder run. But for so many people to blow it on the much steeper and windierLakeside launch was incredible.
I wanted to devote most of this weekend to photographing various aspects of the meet, the pilots, the gliders, the officials and so on, but I ended up acting like a paparazzi on the sidelines of the launch waiting to catch that consummate moment of the "agony of defeat".
TheLakeside launch is wonderful. It is somewhat steep, generally clear of any obstacles, and often has enough wind to make it an easy launch for even first year pilots. We typically launch it in light winds, but sometimes it is blowing much harder making it ridge soarable, and often we will launch it in no winds and occasionally in very light tail winds. For the speed gliding events we will launch it in cross or nil winds, but have also used it in very light tail. Speed gliding generally tests some of the limits of a launch and the pilots because pilots often use ballast (sometimes LOTS of it) and launch VG tight. VG tight means the glider is far less forgiving of improper angle of attack, as well as far more demanding of wings level since roll control is reduced at low speeds.
On Saturday I'd have to say that the average launch was shameful in comparison to what would have been expected of a hang 2 or hang 3 launch technique. What is it that the ratings require, strong, confident launches demonstrating good angle of attack control and a smooth transition from running to flying? Something similar anyway. Har! Had there been a collection of Observers taking notes for ratings, and had they not known that these were World Class pilots, there would have been some pretty good reprimands in the landing areas that day, but of course the Observers would have had to drive a long way to find the pilots!
Most of the bad launches were similar. A few short, weak steps, hands rotating to the back of the control bar and a push and a jump. One jump was remarkable, as if the pilot was trying to clear some huge bush or other obstacle. That trick didn't work. Fortunately the pilot ( a really nice guy) did not get injured when he stalled it in down the slope. There were numerous others very similar, but with smaller jumps. There were an incredible number where the pilots just did not increase the length of stride, maintaining little, tiny steps, trying to make them faster and faster, and of course the feet will only move so fast so the pilots would quickly lose the ability to keep up with the glider's acceleration and one way or another stop running, whether it would end with a jump, or a fall, or a shove out on the control bar, or a combination of those things.
Some pilots felt that the answer was to start much further back, on the level, then begin running so that they would have lots of speed and inertia by the time they got to the lip of the slope. That works great if executed properly, but to execute that technique properly one needs to actually accelerate on the flat. One on particular was very interesting, starting further back than anyone, and then proceeding to slowly stumble all the way to the lip of the slope and then stagger over the edge. Obviously that technique did not serve that pilot as he had expected it would. It only managed to draw out the drama and fear from the onlookers for a much longer period of time. That pilot (no, I'm not going to mention his name!) was SO lucky to have gotten off the hill with that launch.
With all of this launch drama, some people were getting psyched out about launching, and some tried extra hard to hurl themselves off the hill. Trying harder with a poor technique just makes it more exaggerated and not more successful. More drama. Some pilots chose not to fly.
It was much too hot for me to set up and fly my own glider, but John Silvia decided to persuade me to take a test flight on his new Climax, so I gave in and took my turn at launch. I was going to say something aboutDavis' choice of flying shoes, being more like spandex or neoprene water socks, but then again I was flying with Tevas. The launch was cake, as usual, and I had the opportunity to thermal with a couple of Swifts (the Light variety).
I'm not really sure what it is that makes these launches so hard for some people. Maybe it is that so many meets are getting to be tow meets and pilots are getting out of practice. Maybe some pilots are used to more windy sites, who knows. Maybe it is the incredible pressure of the event itself, the World Meet. Maybe it is the fast pace of pumping pilots off the mountain into huge gaggles. Maybe it is a mix of everything.
Even though there were some pretty pitiful launches on Saturday, Sunday was not as bad, at least in terms of pilots hitting the hill. There was more wind on Sunday and even though some of the techniques were identical, the wind helped save a lot of pilots' butts, and faces and gliders I would think.
Just when you thought I would get away with blanketing all the pilots with poor launch techniques, let me say that there were pilots there that did demonstrate excellent technique. Some pilots were obviously very versed in foot launching in a variety of conditions and at a variety of sites. You can tell when a pilot has the touch, and yes, there were a lot of those there too. But the sad part is that they did not stand out as obviously as the poor launchers because they would simply be up to launch and gone, without much adieu. That was great to see, but they didn't burn an impression into the mind's eye as deeply as the ones that needed work. And besides, there isn't much that you can tell a pro launcher that would help them, whereas there is much that can be improved on with a poor launch technique. Like I always say, if you can't manage a decent run, then at least don't forget to shove out hard when you jump! ;-)
Ah, and by the wayDavis, I'm sure your readers will be wanting to know how your launches were doing too, wouldn't you say? I'd have to say that aside from them sounding like you were dragging a garbage can behind you, the visual observation showed them to be good, solid launches. But then again, this is where you cut your teeth before heading out to parts unknown!
(editor's note: According to eye witness reports one American women pilot is doing a great job of attempting to kill herself on launch. After an aborted launch yesterday, she almost smacked the rocks on the second ‘attempt.' She has taken this launch issue into account and will no longer be flying during the Worlds. I'm sure that this was a difficult decision for her, and she displayed admirable maturity in reaching it.)
WRE
(This topic is in: <-- Jun.22'03 Aug.3 Jul.26 Jul.16 Jul.6 Jul.5 Jul.4 --> )
David McAnally writes:
I thought you and others might find this of interest. This story is on the front page of the Fort Worth Star Telegram Tuesday morning.
http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/3671187.htm
There was also another picture in the paper of Mike Barber that I didn't see on the web version.
Summer XC/Competition calendar
US Open, Big Spring, Texas, August 4-10, 2002, http://www.flytec.com
Brazil Pre-Worlds Flex, Brasilia, August 24-September 8, 2002, http://www.brasilia2003.com/index_us.htm
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co-author of Windows Me Secrets
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