The NAM forecast from Dr. Jack was looking pretty good the night
before, and on Wednesday morning Dr. Jack's RUC modeled forecast was even
better. 9 MPH out of the south southeast, 500 fpm climbs to 5,000'. No clouds it
said, but at 10 AM they showed up any way.


The crew came out of their caves and the whole place brightened up as the spring
season rolled into high gear with the Tjadens dropping on by and suggesting a
flight to the north. My goal was to just get into the air for the first time in
a month and to check out the Moyes Matrix harness after a fix at the Moyes
factory.


I've got a series of FAI triangles in my Flytec 5030 so I can pull one out of
the bag at any moment based on the conditions. For a first flight of the year I
tried out a 25 KM triangle which while small has a tough record to beat (and I
didn't).


http://www3.onlinecontest.org/olc-2.0/para/flightinfo.html?flightId=781326025


The thermals were outstanding, smooth fat guys that got as high as 800 fpm when
I got near the clouds at 5,400'. The cloud base rose all day and was really high
around 6 PM (long after I landed). There was little if any turbulence throughout
the day.


The Tjadens went downwind. We haven't heard from them so we assume that they
went far.


I'm flying the Wills Wing T2 - 144 and darn if it isn't nice. I remember last
fall when I flew it (the same one) at Marshall and it seemed stiff, relative to
the Wills Wing Falcon 3 - 170 (which, btw, Marylin has here - she flew today-
and just loves as does Rhett). Well after flying the bigger Moyes Litespeed RS 4
(152 sq ft) in Australia for a month, all I can say is that this thing flies
like the Falcon. You think and it turns (maybe Andreas did a little something to
it when he took it to Utah).


And the VG, my god, is that easy to use. I mean there a light-years' difference
between it and the Litespeed's VG in terms of the effort required. The line is
so much shorter, but is so much easier. Unbelievable. I think I'm going to love
flying this glider, what a joy it is to fly.


Ah, the issue is performance, that's what you're thinking. Who knows? We'll see.
It's more equivalent to the glider than Jonny is flying, the Litespeed RS 3.5
(147 sq. ft.) and he weighs 155 pounds (I wonder if he uses ballast), while I
weigh 176.