We were up on Mystic again. I was over in the alternate launch again with the Jeffs and Davis. There was only a little smoke in the air today and the wind was coming straight in at launch. The task was a just over 100 km. Up the Ovens valley, across through the Happy valley into the Kiewa, north a few km and then back to the airport. I was almost done setting up my glider when they called one of many pilots meetings that day. When I came back to finish putting my glider together I had a little problem. 4 of my 6 carbon under surface battens had been crushed about 2/3 of the way up. I am not sure what had happened but I was a little pissed. I taped them up and put them in anyway as they still seemed quite stiff. I launched 18th right after Davis and found lift just to the left of launch. It was rough, punchy and I was unable to make a complete circle in it without getting tossed out and losing everything I had gained. The big problem was that everyone else was having the same problem and I was getting increasingly uncomfortable. I left the "death Gaggle" to try to find some air I could have by myself just long enough to get above the mess. Not a good idea, I got flushed in the biggest way I have ever been flushed before. I ended up groveling 100 ft over the trees at the base of the mountain as 2/3 of the pilots that were in the air landed in the bomb out lz. I finally succumbed and landed it a nice tree rotor. Me and my glider were ok but I was quite unhappy. Montana Jeff pulled a low save out of the valley but couldn't survive the sink and valley winds and went down a few km later. Our hero Jeff O'Brien got up above the inversion after 1 hr and raced hard to finish 2nd for the day 3 seconds behind Lucas. I am very proud of my friend this is his best result ever and has been flying like a pro this whole trip.
I got invited to play a pick up game of cricket. This is the national passion here and it was great to play with these guys in the campground. I am still not sure about all the rules but a I do know that I can't bowl worth s#$t but I did smack it out of the park a couple of times.
On the ride back we went through a lot of area that had just been burned. These fires have ravaged the entire area.
1 comment:
Scott, you were in good company, even though you sank out. Don't forget that some of the other best pilots in the world are there also, and a lot of them sank out on the same flight you did. All the reports I've read from that flight indicated it was tough to get up and stay up.
Sucks about your battens. Maybe Moyes can get some replacements to you before the meet is over, or they can show you how to repair yours. Nice pics, even though you'd rather be flying. Remember everything you do in Oz is helping to prepare you for the World's.
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