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16.09.2019
2019 Santa Cruz Flats Race



The task committee called a very appropriate task for a post frontal day with a
forecast for very light winds, a top of lift at 6,000' (we got higher), blue all
day, and light lift. The funny part was a thirteen kilometer goal cylinder
around a turnpoint to the west of the Francisco Grande making it so you made
goal when you got to the east side of the hotel.



The wind was light but a little sideways at launch which kept things going
slowly. Kraig Coomber launched in early bird just before me in the number one
position. The lift was light with a five mph east wind, but we were able to
climb to 6,400' MSL (5,000' AGL) just west of the launch area on the west side
of the hotel.


As we topped out it was still fourteen minutes before the start window opened
and we needed to get further east to get near the edge of the start cylinder.
The lift proved poor in that direction and there were just two of us high enough
to make a start at the first start window at 2:20 PM. I decided that I didn't
want to go out on my own (if the other guy went back) and hung back to circle
with those pilots who were a couple of thousand feet lower.


Everyone hung back climbing when the second window opened so we didn't start
until a few minutes after 2:40 PM. We all headed southeast pretty much along the
course line to the turnpoint at Sunland finding lift averaging 300 fpm.


I found a nice thermal out in front that proved to be pretty attractive and we
climbed to 6,600'. That gave us the altitude to make it to the turnpoint at
Sunland ten kilometers away and then back four kilometers to the north to join
up with others at 200 fpm. No one was running away from the gaggle.


Just south of Arizona City we climbed to 5,400' MSL from 2,000' AGL and that got
us to Casa Grade Mountain (hill) where we found 400 fpm to 5,500'.  The
hills are 2.5 km west of the course line which heads due north to Signal Peak,
but the detour was well worth it.


Not much was happening to the north on the east side of Casa Grande. Down to
1,500' AGL twelve kilometers north of Casa Grande Mountain we stopped for 240
fpm to 4,800'. The three kilometer turnpoint cylinder around Signal Peak was
only six kilometers away.


We found 190 fpm just before the turnpoint and then worked the weak lift with
ten or so first gaggle guys climbing as a pack slowly and thinking about the
final glide to the thirteen kilometer radius goal cylinder off to the
southwest. I was at the bottom of the top five or six glider and finally decided
this lift was just not happening.


I pushed out in front to the southwest, found much better lift just 1.5
kilometers up the course line and we all climbed up at 225 fpm to 6,000'. 
A Moyes pilot at my altitude headed out just in front of me and I went with him
on final glide. This was where I wonder what my instruments were telling me.
Remember we had the unusual circumstances of a thirteen kilometer goal cylinder.


Both my Flytec 6030 and my Volirium P1 said the goal was 30 kilometers away. I
knew that the last leg was only 17 kilometers long. The P1 normally gives the
optimized distance but I learned later that P1 defaults the goal to the goal
line, so I had put at 13 km long line in for goal on that instrument instead of
a thirteen kilometer radius goal. I learned how to correct that after the
flight.


My Flytec 6030 was saying that I had goal at -1,000' (that was altitude above
best glide to goal). The reported Altitude above WP (the goal) was +1,000'. The
L/D required to get to goal was 48:1. I was getting a good L/D but not 48:1. I
assumed that it meant to the center of the goal cylinder.


Well, I went with the Altitude above waypoint but was a bit too careful to make
sure that I made it back in to the Francisco Grande. I'll know better next time
we do this.


I had a slider on a landing in no wind. My first in a long time. Great packed
down field at goal. At the moment the Airtribune web site is down so I don't
know the results for the day.



https://OzReport.com/1568605600
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