Shaded, cu's and lift in the dark, great buoyant, air then a wall
of rain to the north.

The flight.



Cu's were already forming at dawn. There were high clouds shading the ground
from early in the morning and the clouds just continued to grow, and thicken and
spread out with more high clouds. The forecast was for a 50% chance of rain.
Let's go flying!



We called for a noon launch window to get going early as RUC/Dr. Jack forecast
called for no lift at 5 PM. Might as well get a task off early if that is
possible.



I launched second and pin off at 1,500' in 200 fpm. In spite of the fact that
all the ground was shaded there were cu's and there was lift.



The wind was 11 mph out of the south and we quickly drifted back toward the
north in the light lift getting to cloud base at 3,300'.



The launched proceeded below us as we worked our way east to get lined up for
the first turnpoint that was just outside the start circle on highway 27. Paris,
Kevin and Tom would somehow neglect to remember where the first turnpoint was.



Jim Yocom, Jamie Stinnet, and I found lift near a small field fire as the 1 PM
start time got closer. We were able to get over 3,000' before heading out to the
turnpoint and to a cloud that had a few turning gliders under it just past the
turnpoint.



To the north northwest right along the course line it was much more than just
shaded. It was very dark. The clouds were thick, and maybe there was rain
underneath them, although we didn't see any. There was no sunlight anywhere and
still we were having a great time working light smooth lift and getting near
cloud base. It was hard to differentiate between the bottom of the cu's and the
areas next to them that were a little less gray but still without sunlight.



After climbing back to over 3,000' we headed north northwest on the course line
toward the Lake Placid Airfield. After a 5 mile glide into the gloom it was
clear that there was a wall of rain between us and the goal.



I found good lift climbing at a little over 200 fpm, but it seemed like the lift
was combined with the rain that was five to ten miles away. It was at this point
that I saw a glider heading back and it was clear that the task had been
stopped. In fact it was stopped at 12:55 five minutes before the task started.



We turned around and headed back into a 17 mph south wind. Early on I had
thought that I would just fly back to the flight park, but that didn't look
reasonable so I decided to land by highway 27 in a huge field. Seven other
pilots decide to land with me and the local hired ranch hands give our British
visitors a hard time. Not very hospitable and frankly an embarrassment to their
fellow Americans.



The flying was great fun, but we didn't get a competition task off. The next two
days look iffy.