Sprint League Warm-Up thoughts

With less than 3 weeks until the Nor-Cal XC Sprint League warm-up weekend, I assume that many pilots have questions and even some second thoughts, about participating in the Sprint league -

• Am I really ready for this?
• Do I have the skills necessary to participate?
• Do I have all the equipment necessary?
• How the heck do I set this equipment up?
• Will I embarrass myself?
• What gear do I need to carry besides the basics?
• What's the schedule going to be for the warm-up?
• What's the schedule for a normal XC day?
• How the heck do I make it around a task?
• Will I even have fun?  Is it all worth it?

 The Sprint League is geared to expose enthusiastic, but inexperienced, pilots to the XC environment in a structured, safe, fun setting.  If you have the skill-set to get off the hill safely, fly in thermals, and make accurate approaches to landing, you are probably ready for the Sprint league events.  The truth is that by the end of the warm-up weekend, you will know whether it's a fit or not.  Go into the weekend relaxed and ready to have some fun. 

• All the questions you see above will be answered during the weekend, but you can and *should* try to get a head start by doing a little preparation.  Read the following reference materials and you will have a good handle on many of the unknowns - 
• Do the required registration and waivers before arriving at the site.
• Show up rested, gear prepared, batteries charged, waypoints loaded, and ON TIME.

To prep for the weekend I recommend the following -

I wrote up a guide for the new XC pilot four years ago and have it available for download at https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biggovtsucks.com%2Fdocs%2FParaglider_Competitions.pdf

Have a look at Jug's website http://santacruzparagliding.com/NCXC/firsttimers.html and http://santacruzparagliding.com/NCXC/strategies.html for additional information and tips regarding task flying, GPS setup, and League organization. 

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone on the hill!

Tim

Good flying going on in Dunlap -

A number of NorCal folks headed to Dunlap this weekend and conditions were reasonably good compared to Woodrat, OR and here on the coast, where the winds were howling. I was unable to get to Dunlap due to work commitments.

On Saturday Josh Cohn, on his new Ozone R11, flew South well beyond the distance anyone prior had flown - almost to Bakersfield.

Monday, a day with only 4000-5000' top of lift in the valley, was the day everyone was heading back to the Bay Area after flying.

Josh decided to fly.   He launched around 11AM and flew for almost 7 hours and covered around 85 miles. 

Two great flights - setting site records.   Nice flying Josh!  His Track on Leonardo can be viewed here: http://paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/458312




The California distance record is held by Dean Stratton - 147 miles from Walt's Point in the Owens, North into Nevada.

Tim

NorCal XC League - Dunlap - April 2011

In his new book on XC competition flying, “Flying Rags to Glory,” Mads Syndergaard writes extensively about the subconscious and its ability to process more information and react many times faster than the conscious mind. This weekend, at the first gathering of the NorCal XC League in Dunlap, CA, I tried my best to use the principles mentioned in the article, with some success. I also proved that there is a bone-headed, impetuous, 25-yr-old lurking inside this brain that I need to get the reins on.

Waiting for a cycle at launch - Photo by Bad Patrick

Saturday we assembled on launch and Jug lead an informative pilot briefing. Over 30 pilots from All over California, Colorado, and more than a handful of foreign pilots were in attendance. Notably missing was Eric Reed who had made an epic vol bivuac journey through the entire length of Nepal and was finally released from a month of house arrest in Sikkim, India, this weekend, after all charges regarding “permits” were dismissed.

Cloudbase was 1000‘ above launch, so Jug built a short task that kept the pilots within the Dunlap valley and had 3 valley crossings. I launched early and explored the area while feeling out any conditions that might be hazardous. It was a buoyant day with slow climbs but dependable lift. The start went well and I made it to Hill 49917 and Last Chance in the lead gaggle. I got a bit low at last chance before finding lift and I watched Josh and his armada of GTOs heading back to the ridge to tank-up before the crossing to Granny’s Knob.

Note the hard right turn to "Damn Kitty"

As I climbed to near cloudbase, I caught a glimpse of a bird circling in lift West of my position (on a direct line to Granny’s) and decided to head directly to Granny’s. I had company as Natalia, Max and I headed out on a low-percentage glide on course. Our move paid off as we contacted some nice lift near Granny’s and we tagged the fix and glided across the valley to the ridge at launch, before the other gaggle had headed out for Granny’s. When we climbed up at the ridge I was feeling pretty good and was contemplating the best route at the next crux in the route - the glide to Airstrip. . . but I had completely forgotten about the need to tag Big Cat on the way to Airstrip. I rolled out and pushed some bar, drank my water and futzed around to get a granola bar out of my pocket, when I noticed my 5020 pointing 90 degrees to the right of my heading - “OH Fudge!” - I had spaced on Big Cat. This blunder cost me dearly and was the beginning of the end for me. I tagged the (now renamed) Damn Kitty turnpoint and, instead of taking a deep breath and reminding myself to reassess my situation, turned to cross the valley to Airstrip. This move was my undoing as I arrived with very little altitude at Granny’s with which to find a thermal. I was low, alone, and whether I was leading or not, I was in terrible shape. The flight was extended with short, trashy, drifty climbs, but soon ended in the valley with two turnpoints to go.

I should not have let this blunder cost me as much as it eventually did. I should have taken a cleansing breath, marveled at the beauty of nature, and taken the time necessary to climb on the ridge and make a sensible crossing. I also had completely missed the cues that the day had matured and the winds had picked-up from the West.

Note to self - When you screw-up, reassess and recover intelligently.

Three pilots made it to goal and deserve congrats for using the day well. Results for day one are HERE.

A view of launch on Saturday morning.

On Sunday the early cloudbase was lower and we considered doing the same task as Saturday’s. A ‘do-over’ was popular last year since it allowed those of us who had mental lapses to refly the same task. As the sun warmed the valley, cloudbase rose substantially and we decided a task similar to the first 3 waypoints on Sat with a run down to Sand Creek and back to the pizza place in Squaw Valley was doable. I launched early and found the lift to be very weak and sporadic. I eventually found some lift on the correct edge of the start cylinder about 5 min. before the start. The climb took me away from the cylinder and when the start time came I was forced to penetrate back to the start against the traffic of, what seemed like 25 wings, all passing me on their way to the first turnpoint.

I made the start cylinder and caught a good climb which allowed me to get back into the hunt. By the time I had hit the first two turnpoints I was running just behind Josh and was feeling good. The crossing from Granny’s to Big Cat (Damn Kitty) went very badly for me and I spent the last 35 minutes of my flight trying to put together a decent climb on the ridge behind Damn Kitty. I eventually landed at the St. Nicolas ranch in defeat.

Meanwhile Jug and Alex were the only two pilots to get beyond the ranger station and they eventually landed in the Sand Creek area. Josh landed at the Ranger Station, no doubt in disgust that I had blown it so bad in the crossing ;-)

Congrats to Jug and Alex for the best flights of the day! Sunday's results are HERE.

It was a great weekend with many pilots in the air and many first-timers. There was very little drama and no incidents.

My personal struggle to fly well but not take stupid, low-percentage risks will be foremost on my mind next month. I need to take Mads’ advice and listen to my subconscious (The Force, if you will) but temper the crazy 25-yr.-old that wants to dash around the course without the intelligence to fly with my buddies and not venture out on my own early in the task. I need to mature as a XC pilot. When I was a kid I wanted to be a pilot when I grew up.  Since then I've heard it said that, “You can either be a pilot OR grow up . . . but not both.”

Well, I’m going to try.

Fly Safe -

Tim

Dunlap Pilots in Goal

Frank Marquis just sent me this photo (taken by Jon Stallman) of the happy faces in goal on Sunday's BAPA race.  Congrats to everyone!

BAPA Comp in Dunlap - Sept. 2010

Smoke at sunset

The troops met in Dunlap for the last time in 2010 this weekend.  The weather was reasonable with clear skies and light winds forecast.  I arrived at the top on Friday night and watched the sunset while assembling my pop-up trailer.  The sky was red and the sun a bright red due to smoke in the air.

Saturday morning we awoke to smoke clinging to the canyons and in the air.  Apparently a fire was burning in the Sierra between Dunlap and Bishop.  It was in the deep Sierra and wouldn't affect our flying tasks to the West, but was a good indication of the Easterly evening wind.

Saturday Jug built a task that had us do the valley tour, then head Southwest to Cutler, and back to meet at the pizza joint in Squaw Valley.   I launched early and found the lift to be dependable up to the 6,500' inversion.  I manged to get a great start and was first over to Hill 49917 and back to launch for the leg to Last Chance.  Fred went ahead of me on the way to Last Chance.  Josh and Jug took a higher line than I did on the way back to launch and we flew together for the remainder of the task.

It was obvious, as we proceeded from Hill 49917 to Bald Mtn., that the West wind was much stronger than expected.  The leg SW to Cutler was going to be tough even if we could get up at Bald (which we didn't).

Everyone except Fredric landed at (or prior to) the ranger station.  Fred continued on to land a few kilometers South of the pizza joint.

My flight is HERE.

Sunday's forecast was similar to the preceding day's with light, Southy winds.  Jug built a great task of 24 miles that had two valley crossings and some good opportunities for tactical decisions.  As it turned out, the task was very enjoyable racing and put a lot of pilots into goal.

I had another good start and was chasing Josh around the course.  Another gaggle was trailing me by a climb or two and kept me hustling to stay ahead.  It was nice to find climbs when you needed them and, sometimes, nice climbs were found in spots that usually don't work too well.

My last climb was to 7,000' and gave me sufficient altitude to fly to Bald and then to the finish.

It was a very fun day of racing and great to see the happy faces in goal after one of my most enjoyable flights in Dunlap.

Cumulative scores for the league will be HERE when they are up.

Next week the league heads to the Owens Valley and it's looking less than likely I'll be able to attend.  I hope the weather cooperates and you all go high & far.

Fly Safe -

Tim

BAPA Comp at Dunlap May '10

Dave S. and I headed to Dunlap on Wed. afternoon with the intent to fly 3 days and then participate in the SFBAPA league events over the weekend.  When we arrived at launch the conditions looked perfect for a nice 'shake-out" flight around the valley.  We camped at Dan's LZ and enjoyed a nice dinner up the road at the pub.
Thursday Jug Arrived and we had another fun flight around the valley under great cumulus clouds.  The top-of-climb was low but it was still possible to move around the valley.

Friday was more of the same and I made the decision that I would be flying my Avax XC2 in the weekend comp.  I've decided to fly Serial class in the coming season and have ordered a new Gradient Avax XC3.  The Boomerang 5 is a great wing and I've enjoyed flying it for about 30 hours.  It never did anything squirrelly to me and has great glide performance.  I just didn't connect with the wing.  I didn't trust it and felt that I could actually score better on my XC2 or new XC3.  Maybe I'm not ready for a comp wing yet - I'm OK with that.  I'm firmly of the opinion that we all fly better on wings we are confident in and flying well.  I do know that I can't compete, in the open class, with the latest 2-line wings on a two-year-old Boom 5 so I might as well fly the wings I enjoy flying and that are at the top-end of their class.  


Saturday the troops all assembled at Dan's at 9:30 and we headed up the hill at 10:30.  The conditions were forecast to be good with lift to 6-7000' and a NW wind in the valley.  A task was called from launch to hill 49917 and back, then over Big Cat - and Bald, then a leg to Orosi in the flats for a total of 25 miles.



I had a good high start and barred it all the way to Hill 49917 the lift there was sporadic, but I soon found a thermal pulsing off the hill.  I climbed high enough to get back to launch and caught some lift with the lead gaggle.  We all headed down to Big Cat and then hit the 4km cylinder around Bald Mtn.


A few wings turned directly to Ruth Hill and were struggling low in the shade, so I was looking for alternatives.  To my right (the wrong way to Orosi) was in sunlight and I thought about heading there to poach a bubble off the low hills.  At that same moment, I noticed Josh coming across low to the same area.  He began to circle low in weak lift and I came in on top of him.  The lift was weak but soon bloomed and we climbed together to over 6000' which made it possible to pick our way past the shade at Ruth Hill  and start a relatively straight forward flight to Orosi.  The clouds were working well and lift was often 500-600'/min.  Josh pulled ahead when it was obvious that the flight was going to be easy and beat me to goal by 3 minutes.  Fredric and Steve made it to goal about 30 minutes later and Hoop made a great effort, landing 1km from goal.

Lesson reaffirmed: Don't follow others into conditions that are obviously NOT working.  Look for viable options and try to capitalize on the opportunities they present.

Sunday's task was started in conditions that included low cloudbase and some forecasts of convective activity.  We built a 19 mile task that would put more pilots in goal and keep them in the Dunlap Valley.   After looking over the conditions I decided to launch early to sample the lift and make sure that the convection was reasonable.  Climbs were plentiful and the lift didn't increase in intensity as the cloudbase was approached.   As the start time approached conditions felt better and as we made a glide into Hill 49917 the trend was obviously better.  At that point I just concentrated on the race since I was in the hunt with Josh, Eric, and Fredric.   By the third turnpoint I was in 4th place and the flying was fast.  Josh had stopped to take a climb after Big Cat, on the way to Airstrip, while Eric and Fredric continued into Granny's Knob low.  It looked like they had gotten stuck on the knob, so I took the next 400'/min climb and topped out at around 5500'.  This gave me sufficient height to overfly the guys while they wrestled with sporadic lift, low over the knob.  I was fortunate to pick a great line that actually provided lift as I tagged and returned from the Airstrip.   All I needed for the last 7 miles of the task was one more climb, which I took just short of Big Cat.  I knew Josh was on final glide and Eric was hustling to catch me, but I took the climb at least 1000' too high and had way too much altitude for the final glide.  A rookie mistake, but I still placed second for the day - 4 minutes behind Josh.

I feel very good about the weekend for two reasons.  Firstly; My indecision regarding how I was going to compete this season (and in future seasons)  was resolved, as I sold my Boom 5 on Friday and ordered a new Gradient Avax XC3 on Thursday.  I'm flying serial class for the foreseeable future.
Second; I left the Boom in the bag and flew my three-yr-old Avax XC2 well this weekend and placed 2nd to Josh in both tasks.  I really feel like some of the effort I've put into studying the game is paying off.  

The league has really flourished due to Jug's efforts.  Introducing the Mentoring program and reevaluating the goals of the league to promote the participation and education of newer pilots has revitalized the league.  It's going to be a great season.

Results are HERE.  
and more photos can be viewed HERE

Tim

Video of our trip to Dunlap

Patrick edited some video of our Dunlap trip -
I'm on the green Boomerang 5

Youtube link

Dunlap Trip with SLOSA Friends

Click on photos to view the images at full size.

L to R, Dave, Bruce, Tim, Patrick, Mike
with a hazy launch in the backgroundThis week 4 of us from the San Luis Obispo area headed to Dunlap to fly. We arrived Wed., around noon, and set up camp at the Dunlap Flight Park (Dan's Place). Greg made us feel welcome and offered to drive us to launch.  The weather was classic Spring cu's with cloudbase around 4500-5000'.

Mike was new to the site, so Patrick gave him a site- brief while David and I set up.  I launched first and went to cloudbase almost immediately.  The rest of the crew launched and we all enjoyed the buoyant conditions.  I headed across to Granny's knob and then got snookered coming back to the main ridge.  I landed at the base of the ridge.  By then everybody but Patrick was on the ground and Patrick had come over to land, so I suggested we go back up for another flight.

The second flight was nice.  Conditions had mellowed and cloudbase had gone up to 6000'.  I headed over to Hill 49917 and explored the various cores over the peaks to find the bullet that, eventually, took me to cloudbase.  Then I headed for Bald Mountain and flew all the way to the West face to extract as much lift as possible there before heading for Dan's.  I didn't realize the amount of altitude that I had expected over Bald, so it was a bit 'iffy' whether I would make the final glide to Dan's (about 8K) without a little more lift.  I milked everything I could out of the glide, but still was planning a landing behind the restaurant, when I found a 100'min bubble.  I circled about 15 times in the fickle lift, while drifting downwind, and this allowed a nice approach to the main LZ at Dan's.  Mike had a beer for me and soon we were gathered around the BBQ telling tales.

Thursday we headed to another site to fly with Tom M. It's a site with limited access, so let's just call it no-name. The launch was a very intimidating granite dome that tailed off into a 1000' vertical face.  There were two primary spots to launch.  One had more space to turn and run at the cliff - but it had a 5' by 5'tall tree to negotiate at the lip.  I chose a rather tighter spot with about 6' of granite between me and the cliff while pulling up.  I launched first and the pull up and turn went well, I had good pressure in the wing and took two steps into the void.  I had an immediate good climb to the low cloudbase (about 400' over launch) but got flushed in a down cycle and, after a 15 minute scratchfest, landed in a tight meadow at the base of the hill.  Dave and Patrick and Tom all launched shortly thereafter, into a nice sunny period and made it Northwest along the ridge, and landed in big fields out there.  It was an enjoyable day and fun to explore a new launch site.

Friday we awoke to scattered clouds and a nice forecast of clear skies. XC skies gave no hints of high humidities and overdevelopment.  Bruce B. had joined the party Thursday night and Mike, Patrick, and Bruce all headed up to launch to get an early flight while Dave & I broke down the pop-up trailer.  Unfortunately the entire Dunlap valley filled with convective cloud and base was 100' below launch.  The boys headed back down to camp and decided, after a time, to head home.  At around 1:30, Dave and I got a ride with Greg to the top and conditions were just beginning to improve with nice blue gaps between the healthy cu's.  We set up and launched to fly with the thermal-birds (swallows) in the improving conditions.  Eventually we both had had enough fun & knew we had a drive ahead of us, so we landed at Dan's and headed home.

In all it was a great three days.  No epic flights, but nice company, enjoyable times, and many safe landings.
Tailwinds,
Tim

Dunlap BAPA comp March 2010

CLICK ON PHOTOS TO VIEW LARGER VERSION

FRIDAY
I usually listen to talking books while driving down the road. Friday I was headed to Dunlap for the first XC weekend of the 2010 season when my Dean Koonts novel had just come to a rather creepy termination.  I fired up the Sirius receiver & tuned in some Classic Rock. Soon Bob Segar was singing a medley from a live performance in 1972. I have to admit, that guy had some serious talent.  Something about the tune really haunted me & I found myself humming the tune all weekend long.

So anyway, I arrived in the Dunlap valley at 2pm and was hoping for a ride to launch for a quick flight before making camp.  I headed for Dan's to see if I could swing a ride up the hill.  I talked briefly with Greg, found that I was the only pilot going up, and soon was riding with a gal named Day to launch.  When I got to launch I ran into Tim & Scott.  I gave them a bit of local beta and set up to fly.
The lift was a bit 'edgy' but went to cloudbase at 6000'.  I boated around on the Boom 5, enjoying the opportunity to fly high enough to experiment.  This was also my first flight of any duration on the new harness (a WV X-Rated 5) so I was able to make some adjustments and figure out how to make this harness a part of my "XC System."

Tim & Scott soon launched and we all ended up at Dan's and, later, shared some beers and burgers at a local Dunlap dive.  Thanks for the beer guys!

SATURDAY
Saturday I woke, after a great night's sleep in my pop-up, and headed down to the valley floor to meet the crew.  There were quite a few pilots from all over - Reno, SoCal, Sac, SF, Santa Cruz, Tahoe, etc. We had at least 25 - a great turnout!  I had 4 mentees in attendance; Dudi, Stephan, Brad, and Aaron.  We all headed up the hill knowing that the day looked a bit weak and inverted.  We did quite a bit of site intro for the new pilots and worked with our mentees a bit.  I figured we would need to do most of our work after the task was called.  We built a rather short (34km) task, that had more than one crux. as it crossed the valley four times.  Given the low climbs of 4500-5000', there were many opportunities to dirt early in the task.

I launched early & had a decent start.  The gaggle wasn't very high so the first beat up to 49917 was sketchy and many of us were low on the face of the mountain, ridge soaring around the corner to try to tag the cylinder.  I was 50 meters too low to tag the turnpoint on my first pass, so I went back for another figure'8' in a bubble and tagged it next pass.  It was low and desperate most of the way down to last chance.  Fortunately I had caught a few of the lead gaggle and we worked together to find a bubble and climb enough to tag Last Chance & get back to the main ridge.  Those that stayed on LC to work the weak lift soon worked their way down to a landing at Dan's. . .


I got myself stuck at the ridge for a bit and worked slowly (cautiously) along the ridge, lower than I like.  My goal was to get to the house thermals in front of launch.  I don't like flying low like this with my limited experience on the Boom 5, but it was this kind of day -


I caught a nice 4-500'/min. thermal in front of launch and soon rejoined my high aspect ratio buds.  We all headed across to Granny's Knob together and found a sweet thermal that gave us (almost) enough altitude to get across to the main ridge again.  Josh and I headed out together and I aimed for a rock face that I hoped would provide some heat.  Josh got there with about 400' more than I and had an easier go of it, but I was able to get up, in time.  My thermalling still isn't as accurate or comfortable as it was on the Avax XC2 - maybe due to the much heavier brake pressure, maybe due to lack of familiarity.  At this point Josh took off and hit 49917, DNLCH and went on glide for goal.  I hit 49917 & DNLCH  but couldn't get high enough to head out on final glide, so I headed back up to 49917 for some additional altitude.  This cost quite a bit of time, but by now I realized that the task was over for all but Josh & me.  Unfortunately I couldn't get high enough to get a 'glide-to-goal' of less than 14:1.  I searched in vain & watched as the CirroStratus slowly shut the day off.  Finally I decided to head for RNGSTN with the intention of scoring a bit of lift at the knob between Turkey and the ranger station.  The prevailing wind would provide drift towards goal as I surfed the cow farts, so there was some hope. . .


I hit the RNGSTN turnpoint with exactly 1000 meters of altitude (about 400meters AGL) and a glide req'd to goal of 20:1.  No bumps were felt all the way to the ground.  I landed in the Turkey farm relics, a little over a mile from goal..


Josh made goal and Susan did a great job, making it to the ranger station.  It was definitely a day that required an awareness of pacing to match the conditions.

I think many of the new pilots were a little frustrated with the day.  The task made them attempt crossings they wouldn't have if they were free-flying.  This is one of the primary differences between flying the path of least resistance and flying a prescribed task.  Much of the initial (steep) learning curve is spent learning this pacing aspect of flying a task, and planning tactics to get around the course.  Watching more adept pilots is very helpful in both of these skills. 

SUNDAY
Because the first task was found by most to be a tough one, and because Sunday's forecast was very similar, we decided a "Do-Over" task would be valuable.  The same task was called with a bigger radius at RNGSTN.  In reality, the day turned out to be very weak, and we weren't getting the climbs we got the day before.  I tried a hail-mary from Granny's Knob back to the main ridge and found only teaser-lift.  I dragged much of the lead gaggle with me & we all ended our day at the St. Nicolas Ranch LZ.


Results are HERE, and my flights are HERE.


I feel the weekend was a great shake-out for all the guys with new equipment & wings, and a great intro to the comp format for the new guys and gals.  Next time it will be less intimidating and they will have a feel for the pacing of the day and the flight.

As I drove home, and recapped the weekend, filled with people, laughs, flying and fun - I realized that I was still humming that Pete Segar tune - It was the Travelin' Man/Beautiful Loser medly . . .
I feel the traces they've left on my soul 
Those are the memories that make me a wealthy soul- 


Tim

Dreaming

The weather has been a bit "Easty" lately, so I haven't been flying much.  I find that I think about flying a lot when I go through a dry spell, like this.  I even had a paraglider dream last night - which never happens when I'm flying regularly.  Here's a video that describes what I'm going through very well.

It's title is "Rush Hour Dream."


While I'm at it, the PPic widget (lower right of this blog) had one of the most serene and beautiful shots recently. . . Click on photo for larger version.

Photo by Raphael Neuhaus

I put videos I create on Vimeo. You can see my profile.

Tim

BAPA Comp at Dunlap Aug '09

CLICK ON PHOTOS TO VIEW LARGER VERSION

This weekend Jack Grisanti joined me to fly in a weekend comp at Dunlap, CA. We drove up Friday night and stayed in my Pop-Up camper. The days were about 85*-90* in the Valley but cooled in the evening for perfect sleeping weather at the top of the hill.

The turnout was good with many first-timers and a few visitors from Hawaii, Germany, and Bo from Seoul.

The weekend forecast looked like the top of climb would be around 6000' with good climb rates and no cloud. Actual conditions were good with some very small cores that made centering a bit of a struggle.

The 65K task on Saturday was lap of the Dunlap valley followed by a 37K leg to goal at Woodlake. I had a good start and was in the hunt for the first few waypoints. At Bald Mtn., the last fix before the leg to Woodlake, I was about 10-15 minutes behind Josh & Eric and Kansas. I was between the lead pack and the second small gaggle. I hit the Squaw Valley turnpoint and decided to go back to Bald for a climb which would also (possibly) allow me to be joined by Steve and Alex to help with the nleg to Woodlake. By now the West winds had established and it seemed to break up the lift on top of Bald. To make a long story short, I ended my flight at the Ranger Station with many others after getting skunked at Bald. I had made what I thought was the high percentage decision. The fact that it didn't work out doesn't it make it wrong, but it does make me replay the decision to look for reasonable alternatives.

Eric was the only pilot in goal, with Josh and Alex just short of goal. I placed 5th or 6th for the day.

Sunday weather was a carbon copy of Sat. and we called a 39K task that included 5 valley crossings. With the winds, and critical crossings, this task was very technical. Every pilot had at least one or two low saves.

I had another good start and was, again, right behind Josh & Eric for the first hour, with Kansas, Alex, and Steve, just ahead of me or hot on my heels. We (the second gaggle) actually traded positions many times as each of us found our own holes, routes, and low saves. I was very conservative generally, and used most climbs until the net gain (lift vs. drift) was a wash.

Near the end of the task, as I neared the ranger station I passed by Kansas and Josh, who were in the lead and flying from the Ranger station to launch. They were quite low and flying along my track. I had felt little in the way of lift, so I was in doubt about the prospect of lift along that route. As I headed the last 2K to Ranger station, I kept an eye on Josh & Kansas and it was not good, so I made the turnpoint and turned left to a low (200' tall) lift trigger. The hill had been terraced for a home and had a field at the base if no lift was found. Fortunately, I hit a well behaved thermal at about 250' above the ground that took me up 3000' and assured making it to launch. I'd have to say that my decision to take the weak climb, just prior to the ranger station, which gave me the extra 200-300' to get to my lift trigger, was THE decision that allowed me to make it to goal. Luck was a factor too, but in this instance, I made my luck.

On the way to launch I found one more boomer that gave me enough altitude to fly from launch to Granny's knob, then to goal. Alex had had a similar save and was only about 5-10 minutes behind me into goal. There were no other pilots at the goal field, so my initial thoughts were that Josh and Eric had gone looking for shade and beer. It wasn't until a guy drove by and congratulated me that I realized I was first into goal 8-) Alex was also surprised when he found out that we were the first. SEE EDIT BELOW.

We had a celebratory brew and packed up before a few other pilots landed at the LZ, but I'm unsure if they completed the task. It was a long day that required the dreaded low save. I was able to make goal while others weren't, only because I was lucky enough to get my save when I needed it most. Alex flew very consistently well - placing second on both days.

It was a great weekend with a lot of great flights and great people.

EDIT - My initial thoughts were correct! Eric Reed won the task day with a great time of 1:20 for the task. I was a full 38 minutes behind Eric. He then continued on to a landing out by the pizza place. Alex and I are happy with second and third.

Results will be HERE soon.

My Sat. Flight is HERE.

My Sun. Flight is HERE.

This was a fun weekend and a good warmup for the US Nat's next week.

Tim

A couple more photos from Dunlap

Thanks to Alex for sending me these two images of our flight last weekend together. Sorry I wasn't able to reciprocate Alex.

CNTRL-CLICK ON PHOTOS FOR LARGER VERSION

U.S. Nationals - Dunlap, CA - Day Six - Task Five Part 2

As reported in my previous post, the fifth task was a bugger. Conditions at launch were very sketchy for a long time. See a photo on Andy Macrea's blog showing conditions at launch. Even when the clouds rose high enough for launches to begin, conditions were weak. The sky shaded over just after the start and this caused most pilots to land before, or just after the first turnpoint.

The task results are in and the task was drastically devalued because so many competitors landed within the first 10km. No one made goal but Nate Scales and Josh Cohn were within spitting distance of making it. Nate and Josh only got a little over 300 points for their efforts. No changes to the top 3 in any category.

Final results are:

Sport Top 10:

1)Tim O’Neill
2)Darius Lukosevicus
3)Stephen Maher
4)Ty Sporrer
5)Jim Chu
6)Arun Moorthy
7)Sam Mulder
8)Chris Hilliard
9)David Norwood
10) Aaron Price

Serial Top 10:

1)John VanDuzer
2)Amir Izadi
3)Jon Hunt
4)Tom Moock
5)Cliff Curry
6)Dave Hanning
7)Steve Young
8)Wil Brown
9)Francisco Henriquez
10)Chris Galli

Women’s Top 3:

1)Meredyth Malocsay
2)Magali LaLonde-Legault
3)Pamela Nichols

Overall Top 10:

1)Brad Gunnuscio
2)Eric Reed
3)Rob Sporrer
4)Nick Greece
5)Hayden Glatte
6)Jack Brown
7)Nate Scales
8)Peter Schaefer
9)Andy Macrae
10)John VanDuzer

I placed 26th overall. I am happy with my decision making made on the first 3 tasks. When conditions were weaker, on the later tasks, I made some decisions that committed me to routes that, ultimately, didn't work out.

This comp was held at Dunlap with the hope that the competitors would leave with a yearning to fly this site in future events. The weather, terrain, and great tasks all made for a wonderful week of flying. The St. Nicolas Ranch also worked out well in providing a comfortable communal environment to eat, sleep and party.

Jugdeep Aggarwal did a great job in planning this event. He even left his wing in the bag to ensure the meet was safe and successful. I know how much Jug enjoys competing and appreciate the sacrifice he made for the good of the other 70 competitors.

Bill Hughes was a painfully patient scorer who worked long into the night to provide scores for the morning briefings. John Ivey served as safety Director and did a great job even when he had his hands full with 3 reserve tosses and the incumbent pilot extractions. No injuries resulted from any of the irregular ops.
Connie Locke, Sonnie, and their group of retrieve staff did a good job of getting the pilots back to camp after a "break-in" period, in all this was a successful and enjoyable competition.

Congrats to Brad, Rob, and Eric for flying very consistently and showing the way.

Tim

U.S. Nationals - Dunlap, CA - Day Six - Task Five

The weather was dreary when we arrived at launch around noon. Cloudbase was at least 400' below launch and the visibility was a half mile. We waited it out ans finally called a 38K task - A 2k Exit start around 49917 then out to wolver (near Squaw Valley) then down valley to Woodlake. Cloudbase was just barely higher than launch so things were a bit interesting before the start, but lift was abundant and I had no issues with the call to fly the task.

My start was a good one and I was with a contingent heading directly along courseline across the Dunlap valley. The other group was working from 49917 to Bald and then out to Wolver. My group included Dean Stratton and Babush so I felt the gamble was a sound one. We had the potential to be 5-10 minutes ahead of the Bald group *IF* we could contact lift along our route. It looked good with dark spots under the clouds, but nothing substantial was found by the collective. Meanwhile the Bald group was able to get up to 5000-6000' over Bald and continue on course while my group slowly dwindled as we landed one-by-one. I found a bubble of warm, buggie air with thermal birds buzzing around and was able to hang in there for 15 minutes before falling out and landing in a nice field with 5 other pilots. Dean made it over to the other side of the ridge but also landed - our gamble had failed.

Meanwhile the other group had made the Wolver turnpoint and were headed South in dwindling conditions. Looking at the SPOT page, it looks like Pete Shaefer has made well along the course and Josh Cohn has also made it down the valley also -

It's been a great comp with 6 straight days of flying and one canceled task. The conditions have been very good.

More to come after the awards party tonight.

Tim

U.S. Nationals - Dunlap, CA - Day Five - Task Canceled

Prefrontal conditions obvious at breakfast. We hustled up to launch hoping to get a short task in before theskies opened up - We almost pulled it off.

A task was called down to Orosi then back to the pizza place at Squaw Valley. About 40k if I remember correctly. The rain gods won this one & quite a few guys got wet, either while flying or packing up. When the task was called a bunch of guys were nearing Orosi.

The weather events allowed us all to get to camp early enough to blow off some built up steam. The margaritas were expertly prepared by Steve Forslund which made the comp experience complete.

It's Sat. morning and the skies look good for one more task today - I love post frontal conditions in this area so it should be a fun day.

More to come -

Tim

U.S. Nationals - Dunlap, CA - Day Four - Task Four

Today's weather looked much like yesterday's with light winds aloft and a fairly stable airmass. We still built a big task since yesterday's flying was better than anticipated.

A 80K task was called from Hill 49917 to Squaw Valley then down valley again to Eckert Field in Strathmore (about 12 miles South of yesterday's goal.)

The pre-start gaggling was desperate. We were clinging to the ridge at 500'over to 500'under launch height. There was much conversation in the thermals as we all attempted to get high enough for a reasonable start that allowed us to get to Hill 49917 high enough to surf up it's face to get the 400 meter cylinder. Once on the way to Squaw valley, the gaggles thinned and the work began to hack away at the 50 mile task.

Squaw Valley had some lift and we worked together to find the best core. Top of lift was around 4000' so we had to climb often and got much lower in the valley than yesterday. It was a scratchfest.

I worked with a few buddies along the way and pushed to keep the lead gaggle in view, but lost them after an hour or so -

My undoing was a ridge with the Cliff waypoint on it. I got up and was waiting for a couple others to get up so we could leave together, when I got hammered with sink. I came in under the others and couldn't connect with the thermal that I had previously topped. I was within 500' of landing when I found a weak thermal that got me just high enough to dive into the lee of the ridge and I was on the ground 15 minutes later. My favorite retrieve driver, Phyl, soon had me in the van and we headed out to find others.

We had 5 in goal today. Quite a feat. I placed 34th for the day and don't know how this will affect my hold on 20th place. We'll see tomorrow.

Unfortunately we had a mid-air (strangely, it was after the start when traffic had thinned out) with a reserve deployment. And another reserve was thrown in an unrelated event. All pilots are OK and planning to fly tomorrow.

Results are HERE.

Tim

U.S. Nationals - Dunlap, CA - Day Three - Task Three

Today’s task was a ridge run twice, along the ridge that launch is located on, then out to Squaw Valley and South to Lindsay. Total task length was 80km (50 miles). I was looking forward to this task because I lived with my girls in Visalia for 25 years and would be flying just East of Visalia if I made goal.
The start went OK but I was a bit low so to avoid getting in a hole I slowed a bit. I still managed to find myself lower than I liked, at times, while negotiating the first two turnpoints. Conditions were beginning to get a bit turbulent near the ridge due to the normal afternoon winds. At one point one of the competitors took a big asymmetric and cravatted . He successfully threw his reserve chute and landed unscathed on Hill 49917.
As we all headed across the valley to the Squaw Valley turnpoint, we were glad to be leaving the ridge. There was some nice lift during the leg to Lindsay. I was running between (back and forth) two small gaggles – trying desperately not to fly alone. As we worked our way down past Antelope Valley (yesterday’s goal) I found one of the best climbs of the day. The thermal was big and strong and took me to 6200’. This allowed me to head South on 1/4 bar with 50km or more groundspeed. The winds were gradually shifting to the NW and looking like a tailwind at certain altitudes. I took any climb over 300’/min. and watched the miles tick away for the last 20 miles of the flight. I crossed Woodlake high and had to decide on a line from Woodlake to Lindsay. I started with a direct line, but soon decided to dive into a large field with burning stump fires for a much needed climb. I was below 1000’ agl when I arrived at the field but was able to core a rough 300'/min. smokey climb to 4000.' This gave me a 10:1 glide to goal for a short time. I knew I needed a bit more of a climb but now I had Rocky Hill made and I knew that there were usually thermals over this hill since I have flown RC gliders over that hill.

I didn't connect with any decent lift and fought the fight, but ended my flight 3.6km short of goal. We had 21 in goal on a day when noone thought we'd fly 30km!

All my flights can be found here

We've had quite a struggle to get back to camp before 9pm this week, but some improvement has been made. That, along with the archaic internet connection available at the facility has made updating this blog impossible unless I sit outside a gas-station before breakfast.

The weather looks good on Thursday so I'm looking forward to more good flying. The comp has has some rough edges with regard to organization, but the site has proven itself worthy of great flying and adequate facilities to host a comp.

Tim

U.S. Nationals - Dunlap, CA - Day Two - Task Two

We woke to stratus obscuring the launch and very heavy dew at the HQ. We headed to launch around 10:30 and waited for the stuff to break. A 50 Km task was called - Start at Hill 49917 then out to Squaw Valley, then down the range to Antelope Valley (near Woodlake).

My start was perfect and we made it to Bald & climbed to 6000' cloudbase. The lift looked dependable so things were happening fast & the gaggles pushed out on course at a good pace. I had a good run and finished in just less than 1:57 while Brad G. and Keith Mac placed 1/2 in around 1:42.

I placed 14th for the day and am now in 20th overall.

Cumulative ranking (if memory serves)

1. Brad Gunniccio
2. Jack Brown
3. Keith McCullough
4. Josh Cohn
5. Hayden Glatte

There is almost NO internet access at the ranch so I'm sitting in front of a gas station to update -

It looks like today (Wednesday) is going to be good flying, more to come -

Tim

U.S. Nationals - Dunlap, CA - Day One - Task One

Today the cu's were popping early so a 72K out and back task was called to Sandy Crk. then to Tivy Mtn. then out to Kaktus in the flats and, finally, back to Sampson Mtn. behind launch.

I had a good start and was firmly in the second gaggle for the first couple of turnpoints but found a bit od a hole near Tivy Mtn. I landed with Babush, Keith Mac, and Bill Hughes. I placed 20th for the day. I'm typing this on the fly so I'll make it short.

More to come -

Tim

US Nat'ls - Dunlap CA - Practice Days

I arrived in Dunlap at 1PM on Saturday hoping for a couple practice flights before the comp begins on Monday morning. The weather, when I arrived at launch, was spectacular. Cloudbase was around 6500’ and there were cloudstreets that begged to be followed. I said my hellos to some of the regulars and suited up to fly. Launch was a bit windy at times but lift was abundant and strong. At times I saw 800’/min. on my averager. One other adjective that describes the flying on Saturday is ‘COLD’. It was finger numbingly cold at altitude. I had worn my winter gloves and still was cold.
Some of the early launchers had headed out to the flats and points South but I really didn’t feel comfortable creating a situation that demanded an epic retrieve, so I did a large tour of the area that allowed me to drop into a field in town so I could easily negotiate a ride to launch and the comfort of my trailer. It was a good day with roughly 30km covered in 2:00.
Josh Cohn was one of the early launchers and he made a great flight to a small spot near Fountain Springs. This little spot is South of Porterville and is easily a new site record at around 105km. Nice!

Sunday was a warmer day and mostly a blue day. Climbs were topping out at 6000’. An informal task was called with an exit cylinder at Dunlap Launch then down to Cutler, then back to a landing at the ranger station. I really worked on this task and made some good decisions, but found myself flying alone for the majority of the day. It was particularly lonely on the leg to Cutler and I was fortunate to get back out of the valley after tagging the waypoint. I was definitely ‘tail-end-charley’ today but it was great fun. Many of the guys turned back before reaching the turnpoint but I really pushed to make the full task.
Today I ran into some massive areas of lift that carried, with them, debris and bugs from the orchards and fields below. In these areas of lift (and often flagging the lift for me) were what I call “thermal birds.” These birds are swifts or swallows that dart about catching bugs. It’s not uncommon to find them snacking at 4000 to 5000’ and they are a great help in finding lift.
We all moved into our lodgings at the St. Nicholas Ranch tonight (Sunday Night) and had a great meal before retiring for the night. Unfortunately there seems to be a bit of an issue with the amount of internet use that is available vs. the amount this crew is using, so I don’t know how often I’ll be able to get the word out.

That's it for now -
Tim