A hot, steamy flying session at a sod farm near Tioga, TX yielded some
great results for LSF accomplishments today. 4 Texans and an Okie got
there around 8:30 just as a band of rain was passing through. After
getting things settled down, scoping out the distances with a GPS and
getting the truck ready for course duties, the guys settled in to trim
flights and various attempts at finding lift.
The first several hours were spotty as the humidity kept the lift light
and patchy. But late in the morning a strong lift band developed and
Jochen Luetke hooked a boomer with his Stratos. After spec'ing it out,
we piled in the truck and took off down the field. As more lift
developed heading north, the outcome became more certain. John
maintained much of his altitude over the 2km run to the turn-around
point. We had to really haul a** coming back down wind to keep up with
the plane. The gravel road with pits and holes and right angle turns
made it a bit tough on the pilot but with good altitude at the finish we
were able to slow down a bit and get him back to the start for a smooth
landing.
One Level-IV goal and return done.
The next several hours went back to the unstable cycle that prevailed
early in the morning and only one (unsuccessful) attempt was made on the
course. Around 1:30 PM, Tim Bennett added some tail weight to his TECO
and sent it up for a check out. Although the plane was much more
responsive, it had a tendency to stall and tuck. However, it was going
up at a really good clip! The morning lift band looked like it was back.
Tim worked a fairly strong core on the west side of the field until he
was spec'ed enough to give it a shot. We got Tim in the truck bed and
took off for the 2km target at the north end. From the morning's
experience, Dan drove ahead to spot the turn-around point so we wouldn't
have to drive the truck around the storage shed, down the tree line,
through the mud bog and up the hill at the extreme north end of the field.
Lift continued to develop on the northward traverse. The plane continued
to swoop and tuck in the lift-y gusts that were coming through. Dan
spotted the plane at the north end just as we were thinking of braving
the bog to make sure we got the distance right. Just in time as the lift
was starting to quit. Tim turned that puppy around and we drove like a
bat outta hell trying to keep up. The plane was back over the winch
before we got there and Tim had to 'loiter' it a bit while Rob raced
around the gravel boundary road. Making the last turn at a good clip
dumped Tim over in the bed of the truck, at which point the plane was
about 10ft off the deck in a perfect position to finish the course.
Since both pilots had completed all their other tasks for Level IV,
hopefully today's adventure will wrap things up when their paperwork is
sent in to LSF.
Congratulations Tim and John. They'll join Mark Williams as Level IVs
for the Soaring League of North Texas. Thanks to Rob Davis and Dan
Ahearn for their very able assistance in getting these guys qualified to
tackle Level V.
- Dave R
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