08.08.2006
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Big Spring - only one competition today
Results:
http://www.flytec.com/Events/2006/Big_Spring/scores/scores.htm
We seem to be having a lot of moisture here in Big Spring. Maybe that's why
there is a big spring here.
Like on Sunday the cu's started forming just over town to the east at 11:00 AM.
This was not a good sign as the forecast called for no clouds at all at 1 PM.
Earlier we had set a triangle task near Big Spring but with the clouds forming
this early that looked a little too iffy.
Out on the flight line as we saw plenty of vertical development in these clouds
we changed the task again to the backup, straight out 92 miles to the northwest
to the airport at Denver City. There were no clouds in that direction, so we
weren't sure that we'd find lift out there.
The rigids were off first and we found weak lift toward town aways. Campbell,
who was off first, was high under the thick clouds over town, while Jim Yocom
and I climbed to his west in weaker lift to 7,000' (4,500' AGL). There were by
then plenty of clouds forming out to our northwest.
At a little before 1:15 PM, our start time, Jim and I followed Campbell out
toward the start circle toward the good looking clouds. Things seemed fine
except for the cu-nimbs to our north near La Mesa and to our west and northwest,
sort of along our course line. This was not looking so good.
As we thermaled up we noticed that it was raining back at the airport. We had
cu-nimbs on three sides of us. Not only that, but the air felt a little too
weird.
David Glover and Drew Harris checked around to see how we were doing and then
decided to call the day as it was raining on the launch area, and raining hard.
Plenty of pilots had been flying in the rain near the airport.
I left Jim behind and headed for some thicker clouds to the west. The cu-nimb
over La Mesa was blowing out its top and I could see lightening hitting the
ground from it. It was still forty miles away, but the air was still weird, or I
was.
I was no longer in race mode, but just staying up, heading in the general
direction of goal, continually checking the sky to see if the cu-nimbs were
building and spreading, the one over La Mesa was. It looked like it might be
possible to get around them.
After a while Jim caught up with me, and we headed north toward La Mesa, as
that's where the cu's were. The cu-nimbs had apparently cleared out the cu's to
the northwest.
I was no longer interested in being in the air, The cu-nimb to our north was
just way too big. I got low on a glide and was happy to be closer to the ground
where the air seemed a lot better. I hung around in light lift for a while but
it gave up and I landed in a cotton field.
The other rigid wing pilots went on for a ways but then ran out of lift in the
areas cleared of cu's.
Thirty percent chance of rain tomorrow.
http://OzReport.com/10.159.0
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