Backyard xc

Today was a super-cool day of flying - I really felt like I made the most of the air that was around me - all but the start, that is. I launched just after BrianW and KarlT but instead of climbing up to the bottom of the inversion (around 1,100m) with them I spent the next 10-12 minutes scratching around below launch height. As I got lower I started the death-drift down Emily, but finally connected with a thermal half-way down the spur and stuck to it (tight little sucker it was too) all the way to the inversion layer.

I spent awhile drifting around over launch trying to get up through the layer, and watched Brian & Karl (who were always 100m or so higher...) fly over towards Little Mystic - but I was a bit to low to join them and didn't have the speed or the glide of their wings. They spent awhile circling at what looked like below ridge-height and I eventually lost track of them. I think they eventually landed in the landing paddock after some low work past Little Mystic - I doubt I'da made it back from there!

I'd been eying off Clearspot - wondering if catching a thermal from there would get one up above the inversion layer. Eventually I broke through the 1,100m layer and got up to 1,270, where I hit another layer (this looked about as high as Brian & Karl had got), and headed off towards Clearspot as all the lift in the area died. I didn't head directly towards it, as the top of the hill looked higher than I was, but to the spur running up it from the right. A good glide saw me to the spur, where I found a really light climb. I drifted along it up the spur-line - but got a little too eager and left it to fly into the clear spot. This was a mistake, as there was nothing lifting off from the peak and sink just before it.

For one moment I considered landing on the peak and waiting for a good cycle to come through before re-launching but wasn't totally sure I could re-launch (and clear the trees) and by the time I'd thought this and looked at the trees I was too low to try it so I headed back down the spur.

I gained enough height from a secondary knob to make it back to the end of Marcus - after which a flat glide took back back to the takeoff at about launch height. The air that was flowing up Marcus was lifting off, but very lightly, and I circled in it for nearly 20min for a height gain of 400m or a climb rate of around 0.4m/s. Slow work, but going up slowly is way better than going down and I knew it was near the end of the day.

There were three wings layed out on the takeoff, and as I flew around I realized why they weren't taking off - it was blowing lightly over the back. A bummer for the guys on the ground, but kinda cool for me as I was flying in some light local convergence. One of the guys unable to launch even drove my car down to the landing paddock!!

After a nice boat around above the hill I headed down to the landing paddock as well. Flight time 1hr 45min, max height 1,270m, max climb peaked at 4.2m/s.