A Golden Day
This morning I woke up knowing I’d fly some sort of distance today. It was just a feeling, but I prepped myself mentally and for the first time ever slid on an adult diaper (ha ha ha!), totally ready to be in the air for hours!
The forecast didn’t call for overdevelopment, but the wind had an easterly component again which in Golden isn’t exactly ideal. Thankfully however, it didn’t turn out to be a big deal, and flying was pretty cruisey. Plenty of cumulous clouds filled the sky and there were at least 20 gliders (hang and para) who started flying south, downrange.
It was pretty fun and climbs were decent. A bit choppy at times, but hey, this is Golden. Like on many cross–country days, things were easier if you stayed high, as climbs lower down were lighter and as the wind had an easterly component to it, they were also a bit leeside.
After flying 33k’s, I noticed the pilots ahead of me were getting low and some were hitting the deck. There were plenty of clouds, but with that came a lot of shade. I then saw a couple competition pilots turn around and to try flying back to the main LZ. It was more a case of monkey-see-monkey-do than my own decision-making, admittedly, but that’s exactly what I did too.
I got low once on the way back, but flying back was quicker than flying there. Lots of big sink holes, but I did manage to make it, so all in all, it was a really good day. A personal best for me in terms of an out and return flight (66k's!) which was great. I peed in the air for the first time too! Competition-wise the extra bonus is that out and returns count for more points than straight distance and landing back at the main LZ entitles you to an extra 100 points which is the equivalent of 10k’s straight distance. Not that the Willi is an especially competitive competition, but hey, it’s always nice to do OK.
I didn’t take any pictures from the air as I forgot to bring my camera, but I’ll try to do so tomorrow. Hopefully it’ll be another good day!
The forecast didn’t call for overdevelopment, but the wind had an easterly component again which in Golden isn’t exactly ideal. Thankfully however, it didn’t turn out to be a big deal, and flying was pretty cruisey. Plenty of cumulous clouds filled the sky and there were at least 20 gliders (hang and para) who started flying south, downrange.
It was pretty fun and climbs were decent. A bit choppy at times, but hey, this is Golden. Like on many cross–country days, things were easier if you stayed high, as climbs lower down were lighter and as the wind had an easterly component to it, they were also a bit leeside.
After flying 33k’s, I noticed the pilots ahead of me were getting low and some were hitting the deck. There were plenty of clouds, but with that came a lot of shade. I then saw a couple competition pilots turn around and to try flying back to the main LZ. It was more a case of monkey-see-monkey-do than my own decision-making, admittedly, but that’s exactly what I did too.
I got low once on the way back, but flying back was quicker than flying there. Lots of big sink holes, but I did manage to make it, so all in all, it was a really good day. A personal best for me in terms of an out and return flight (66k's!) which was great. I peed in the air for the first time too! Competition-wise the extra bonus is that out and returns count for more points than straight distance and landing back at the main LZ entitles you to an extra 100 points which is the equivalent of 10k’s straight distance. Not that the Willi is an especially competitive competition, but hey, it’s always nice to do OK.
I didn’t take any pictures from the air as I forgot to bring my camera, but I’ll try to do so tomorrow. Hopefully it’ll be another good day!
posted by Veronica at 7:06 PM
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