The Team wore their lucky T-shirts today, and we take the opportunity to thank all those who have contributed and supported Sarah to come to this Women World Championship.
Friday, July 5, 2013
The good weather is making its way back to us
Lots of happy smiles at the pilots meeting when the weatherman announced that the good weather was back. Early cloud base is forecasted around 800 m (~2500 ft) AGL, rising later in the day to near 1300 m (4400 ft). The 15m Class got AST tasks for their task A and task B, and Club and Standard got AAT of 3:30 hr for task A and 3:15 hr for task B. First take-off is scheduled for 12:30 PM, but will probably be postponed on the grid to allow time for the thermals to strengthen a bit and cloud base to rise a few hundred meters.
The Team wore their lucky T-shirts today, and we take the opportunity to thank all those who have contributed and supported Sarah to come to this Women World Championship.
The Team wore their lucky T-shirts today, and we take the opportunity to thank all those who have contributed and supported Sarah to come to this Women World Championship.
Thursday, July 4, 2013
The overcast comes down, and so do the hopes for a racing day
The overcast was at 500 meter around grid time, and hopes were that it would go up to 600 m and maybe more mid-afternoon. When at 2:30 PM the sniffing towplane reported that the cloudbase actually had come down to 450 m, all hopes went the same way, down, and the day was canceled. Forecast for the remaining of the contest is for flyable weather every day from here on, improving greatly next week with temperatures soaring into the 30+ deg. C (~ 86 deg. F, literally a heat wave for this area). A demain donc.
A "gift" from the Brits
The british club of Lasham brought in some PR materials and distributed them at the pilots meeting this morning. Unfortunately, they seem to have brought more than just cute PR goodies with them for the day.....
Nevertheless, all gliders are on the grid, with a planned take-off time scheduled for 1:00 PM at this time.... More news a little later.
Nevertheless, all gliders are on the grid, with a planned take-off time scheduled for 1:00 PM at this time.... More news a little later.
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Fetching cables
You may have noticed on the photos of previous posts that a cable is in front of each glider on the grid. At some European contests, and particularly French contests, each pilot is typically required to bring his/her own tow cable. The reason is not totally clear (liability? cost? prohibition for towplanes to land with cable attached?), but having a cable ready at each glider certainly speeds up the launch. The drawback is that the towplanes release all the cables at a designated area on the field -- here at the threshold of runway 18 -- leaving to the crews the duty to drive to the drop area after the launch has been completed and to find their cable -- among sometimes impossibly tangled mess.
The trick, of course, is a colorful and unique set of tapes on the cable for easy finding and recognition, but even that does not guarantee a frustration-free retrieve.... A lot also depends on the release accuracy of the tow pilots.... On the first practice day, a Team complained because they walked and searched all over the last 1000 feet of Runway 18 in vain, and therefore assumed that someone must have inadvertently "borrowed" their cable. A similar issue occurred on the following practice day, this time with several other teams unable to locate their cable. Serious conspiracy theories were starting to develop, until one of the crews had the bright idea to extend the search area a bit. In the photo below showing the crews wandering on the runway in search of their cable, the key is the chest-high wheat field on the right hand side of the photo. Every runway at the airfield is bordered by such fields, and it appears that one of the eight towpilots could use serious practice at cable-dropping accuracy, because all the missing cables were subsequently found in wheat fields, about a eighth of a mile away from the runway centerline.
From here on, every crew has been dreading for their pilot to be towed by the culprit towplane, knowing that if they get unlucky (one out of eight chances), they probably will have to wade through chest-high crop for possibly a long time to retrieve their cable. Hopefully someone who will remain unnamed has used the rest days to practice his cable-dropping and improve a bit on his accuracy for the rest of the contest.. :-)
The trick, of course, is a colorful and unique set of tapes on the cable for easy finding and recognition, but even that does not guarantee a frustration-free retrieve.... A lot also depends on the release accuracy of the tow pilots.... On the first practice day, a Team complained because they walked and searched all over the last 1000 feet of Runway 18 in vain, and therefore assumed that someone must have inadvertently "borrowed" their cable. A similar issue occurred on the following practice day, this time with several other teams unable to locate their cable. Serious conspiracy theories were starting to develop, until one of the crews had the bright idea to extend the search area a bit. In the photo below showing the crews wandering on the runway in search of their cable, the key is the chest-high wheat field on the right hand side of the photo. Every runway at the airfield is bordered by such fields, and it appears that one of the eight towpilots could use serious practice at cable-dropping accuracy, because all the missing cables were subsequently found in wheat fields, about a eighth of a mile away from the runway centerline.
From here on, every crew has been dreading for their pilot to be towed by the culprit towplane, knowing that if they get unlucky (one out of eight chances), they probably will have to wade through chest-high crop for possibly a long time to retrieve their cable. Hopefully someone who will remain unnamed has used the rest days to practice his cable-dropping and improve a bit on his accuracy for the rest of the contest.. :-)
Another day canceled
The forecast for today was poor as of last evening. With rain starting during the late evening, and drizzle certain to continue this morning, the organizers were kind enough to send each Team Captain a text message during the night canceling today's task and pilot's meeting. This provided us with a much needed rest, including a late wake up, slow breakfast, lazy morning, and time to catch up with emails and other chores. Weather for tomorrow is still a bit uncertain, but the forecast is then for soarable weather every day thereafter until the end of the championship. Stay tuned.
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Try, try and try, but the day got cancelled
The weather this morning did not look very promising, although the weatherman assured us that there would be a window of flyable weather with a patch of "good unstable air" moving our way, however with thunderstorms possible as early as 5:00PM. The primary tasks were Assigned Area Tasks with a first leg to the North (with a small 5 Km radius on the turnpoint) to get away from the airspace directly East and West of the field, then a leg toward the West to an area with a 25 Km radius, a third leg toward the Northeast to an area with a 25 Km radius, and return Southwest to Issoudun via a steering turnpoint with a 5 Km radius. Task times were initially set at 2:30 hr, with the backup tasks using the same route, however lower times.
The initial take-off time of 12:30 first got postponed to 1:00, then 1:30, while the sniffer tried desperately to hang on. Plenty of time to relax on the grid.
The 15m Class was at the front of the grid today, followed by the Club Class, then the Standard Class. At 1:45 PM, we got the call that the Standard Class Task was cancelled, but 15m and Club were planned for a 2:00 PM launch with a reduced task time of 2:00 hr. The sniffer felt that the famous "window of good air" had arrived -- and indeed some Cumulus had appeared in the Northern sector -- however the expected duration of convection would be too short for the class launching last to have any chance at a decent task.
15m launched at 2:00 PM, as planned, and a time for their gate opening was announced, but the sky rapidly turned dark and overcast. The Club Class task was cancelled before their launch, and the 15m task was cancelled shortly after that, just before the planned time of their gate opening. Back to the trailers to de-rig the gliders in anticipation of the coming storms this evening. Unfortunately, tomorrow does not look much better. Stay tuned.
The initial take-off time of 12:30 first got postponed to 1:00, then 1:30, while the sniffer tried desperately to hang on. Plenty of time to relax on the grid.
The 15m Class was at the front of the grid today, followed by the Club Class, then the Standard Class. At 1:45 PM, we got the call that the Standard Class Task was cancelled, but 15m and Club were planned for a 2:00 PM launch with a reduced task time of 2:00 hr. The sniffer felt that the famous "window of good air" had arrived -- and indeed some Cumulus had appeared in the Northern sector -- however the expected duration of convection would be too short for the class launching last to have any chance at a decent task.
15m launched at 2:00 PM, as planned, and a time for their gate opening was announced, but the sky rapidly turned dark and overcast. The Club Class task was cancelled before their launch, and the 15m task was cancelled shortly after that, just before the planned time of their gate opening. Back to the trailers to de-rig the gliders in anticipation of the coming storms this evening. Unfortunately, tomorrow does not look much better. Stay tuned.
Monday, July 1, 2013
On the way for Day 2
They are on their way for Day 2, a 270 Km quadrilateral task to the North, West, backtrack East, then South back home. The zigzaging task is due to the limited area left by the set of airspace active today.
The Southern sector is blue, but some Cu have appeared North, although under a fairly thick overcast. This is probably going to be a tough task.
Today, the Club Class carries the real-time trackers, so you can follow Sarah and the rest of the Class on http://www.livetrack24.com/tasks/1029/2d or go the WWGC2013 website and use the link under "follow the races."
The Southern sector is blue, but some Cu have appeared North, although under a fairly thick overcast. This is probably going to be a tough task.
Today, the Club Class carries the real-time trackers, so you can follow Sarah and the rest of the Class on http://www.livetrack24.com/tasks/1029/2d or go the WWGC2013 website and use the link under "follow the races."
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