Thanks to Tom
Koszuta and all of the Western New York Soaring and Electric Flyers for inviting
Reece and I to attend their contest yesterday. It's the first time I've flown
UNL in about 18 months and boy does it show! I had a great day, met a lot of
good people and will definitely be back for more contests this season. Special
thanks to Reece for all his patience & help, talking me through some tough
times, and reminding me to "breathe" <G>!
The contest was a
very relaxed affair, with 10 pilots in attendance. We had 1 open winch and
a 40 minute window for each of the 5 rounds. The field is "interesting" as there
a quite a few thermal generators surrounding the field, and along with thermal
generators comes sink holes! Landings were a big problem for me, as usual,
although I did get 1 of my LSF II landings. Unfortunately my
1 off-field landing cost me 2nd place and I finished in 6th. I had to jump
trees twice...once I was unlucky (and almost took out Reece's Artemis which was
on the ground underneath the tree) but the other time the Sapphire looked like a
jack-in-the-box popping up over the trees not once but twice. I did have the
tallest flight of the day and if it hadn't been for Reece's eyes, I don't think
that plane would have come home.
I had some good
flights, really poor landings, but my equipment came away still able to fly, and
I had fun and came away with a lot more knowledge. Good time, good experience,
good people...What more could I ask for?
-Sheldon-
