Cloud Base addict

Above:  Zippy buzzing us.

This whole Keelometer stuff is hard on me’noodle.  But here’s what I think it tis.

Speed to beat:  40.8km/hr

Time to beat:  1hr 13min 30sec

In my attempt on 7/19/09 here in Zapata, the winds were abnormally light for this place.  About 8mph from the SE.  The clouds powered up and got taller, wider and more prevalent as the afternoon heated up. 

First lap: 00:56:28 (hh:mm:ss) which resulted in a 53.13km/hr average speed.

Second lap:  01:00:39 (hh:mm:ss) which is about 50km/hr average speed.

Below Pic:  Mexican Eagle.  The birds down here are super helpful.

Difference in height from start to finish needs to be less than 2% of 50km.  So, .02 times 50km is 1km.  That’s 3,281ft.  Unfortunately on my first lap, I got back to Zapata airport 140ft shy of that minimum.  Huge bummer. 

Tonights Dinner.  Used Mesquite in the BBQ grill.  That stuff burns too hot.  I really miss Gwen’s cookin.

Just in time, Gary Osoba mentioned that he thinks conditions are getting better and better which convinced me to try another lap.  While this time I was slower, I made it back to Zapata with about 1200ft to spare. 

Above is the SeeYou tracklog.  The red plane is on the first lap’s track.

I remember hitting enormous lift on the downwind leg, which was also the last leg.  I pulled in and was well past the speed limits of the sky and Atos going up like nuts.  There was a 2 mile section where my averager showed 400fpm lift while I flew from 38-55mph (ish).

So, I’ll submit the 2nd lap for a new 50km Class 5 World record.  2 new records in the first two flying days of Zapata and I’m jazzed.   That was about 2 weeks ago.  We haven’t had a classic distance day yet unfortunately.  We’ve lacked the morning moisture that turns into low cloud streets at 9-11am-ish.  Nice clouds in the morning a few times so I can imagine what it gets like.  We’ve had some wind but there have been fronts up on course-line that create headwinds 250-400 miles out.  Tomorrow is the first forecast I’ve seen in a while that has tailwinds along the entire courseline up through Big Spring.  Not as strong as we’d like but I’ll take anything close.  I’m fine with blue day attempts at this point.  Get’r’done. 

Wish us luck!

This place has given us incredibly enjoyable flying at cloudbase for the first 3 days.  Day 1, the tug arrived at 1 and they hussled it together so we could take to the skies.  I was first, and was a bit hesitant b/c I’m still anxious around aerotowing for some reason.  Anyway, forgot to buckle my outside buckle and then, the zipper blew out so I’m towing up with weird thoughts and strange feelings hanging by my armpits!  Anyway, got it buckled after completing the tow and then I could relax a bit.  Needed to adjust my new helmet suspension thing too b/c it was a skosch tight.

But it was perfect to get a late day flight to test out that and the Garmin Rino’s.  Got to cloudbase in the first climb and then the sea breeze came in.  Gets windy like a cold front but this was maybe maxing out at 22ish on the ground.  It just wipes out all the lift.  I enjoyed the liftless ride down from 8 or 9,000 ft.  And the view.  And the 68 degree temp up there, while it was over 100 on the ground!

They say this place always has a strong S wind.  And on the second day, our launching towards the North was the second time Gary can remember them launching that direction in 9 or so years.  And these conditions haven’t been all that great he says.  Dustin said it too when he got there yesterday.

Davis emailed the waypoints around here to everyone and helped me figure out which one’s were FAI 25, 50, and 100km triangles.  Beautiful.  So Saturday, I set off to try getting the 25km triangle and to get familiar with the area/thermals/clouds.  I flew around it as many times as I could, learning ways to make it faster.  First circuit was 41 minutes around.  Not the 30 minutes I needed and it was a little depressing.  But the day and the clouds and the cloud streets kept building.  By the 3rd circuit around, I was able to avoid making more than just a few turns and screamed around the course in my Atos VR.

Hindsight is 20/20, but I could have burned more altitude via speed on the way back and I could have omitted some/all of my circling.  For a 25km triangle, you have to return to your start point no less than 2% below or 1600ish feet.  I think I could have shaved a minute off my time.  Looks like I did the 25km in 27:34 at 54.6km/hr.  The record was 50.4km/hr.

More to write and talk about.  The next day was a new record too.  Not flying with the video cam unfortunately but I wish I could show you guys what it’s like to have Gary Osoba running aerobatic’s in his Woodstock all around you as we finish the last 400ft to cloudbase.  Magic.  Kent Robinson joined us in a thermal too.  That guys a riot!

I need to get some rest.  Later…  Sorry no pictures, my “Snag-it” program isn’t taking the screen shots right!  I’ll get some great pictures out here when I can.