This is a screenshot of the NREL station at Eldorado canyon which is something around 10 miles (N) upwind of the Lookout. That pulse that hit NREL around 9:30-45 is what I think hit us around 10:20ish when we launched.
We felt the temp drop and the NE wind picked up to 8-10ish. I have a thorn in my mind that it was soarable since 7am.
Fred got the ultimate birthday present! Watching cloudbase lower when our pulse came through and another time or 2 while we were flying was pretty cool!
The first 30 minutes had brainless climbs to cloudbase on demand. It slowly weakened until the drizzle came and Fred and I landed. Kiernan did some North wind toplandings and I tried again, missing the mark…
See the wind direction above as I’m diving into my landing bowl.
I probably shoulda flared here b/c I floated over this hill onto the shallow brushy slope behind it without any airspeed margin. Live and learn, baby steps! I think maybe I’ll give up on the N landing like this and instead just go up the launch hill fast and flare with a crossing tailwind. At least I’ll be going uphill and will hit it. Even if I have to be scraped off the hill with a backhoe.
Today truly fed the rat. It was like coastal soaring with thermals and a low cloudbase. We’ve had a glut of super hot, almost record setting days. This front came in without dumping a bunch of water overnight, which I think would dampen heat release from the ground, and since the front came in just before dawn, the ground lost minimal heat via the cool night air! It’s the perfect storm for soaring without sunlight! Happy 42nd Fred!
Airtime: 1:15
Flights: 1
Cloud Base addict 
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