Start
-
December 10, 2020
National Champion...or Not
This is a story about the fastest, most locked in, the most gorgeous thermal flight I ever made, which counted for absolutely nothing.
The Task
It was June 25th 2017 at the Club Class Nationals in Hobbs NM. Up to that point, I was having a decent contest and was in the top ten with a shot at the podium. The forecast for the day was good enough by
-
October 01, 2020
Picking up the Pieces
As the well known Gerrad Dale of the UK says, "Gliding is a game of skill & chance". You can do many things to improve your skills, many things you can do to improve your chances, but sometimes, the ducks just don't line up. In this article, I aim to talk about my thought
-
December 12, 2019
When it comes to racing gliders, choosing the start time is critical to your overall result for the day, overall for the Championships too for that matter! How does one do it comfortably & reliably though?
I try to think 3hrs ahead of the glider. I can comfortably think 2 now, but not three, only sometimes. This is where pre-flight planning can help. At the nationals, I broke my task
-
July 12, 2018
My first consideration if I want to take a restart. How long will it take? Restarting can cost you more time than you are expecting. Not only do you need to get back to the line, but you need to get high enough to start again. Which means finding a thermal that is in close proximity to your start. So just getting 5 miles back to the line won’t help because you need to find a thermal near the
-
April 12, 2018
Based on the ancient Roman game plumbata, lawn darts were banned in 1988 in the US. Whoops, wrong Wikipedia page... What I actually want to discuss is a term we use in racing, lawn darting.
You start and go straight into a field. Maybe you found a thermal. Maybe you didn't. We will not get picky about the duration of your short flight before lawn darting.
What caused it? It's doubtful
-
March 22, 2018
Again I will start with a common theme to reduce the pressure of this one small part of the race. You have the next 4 hours to screw it up.
Do not worry about a few hundred feet. When I team fly even being separated by a 1000 ft is not the end of the world, annoying yes, but there is a lot of fluctuation in the air. Defiantly 200 ft is nothing to worry about (until you are on a marginal
-
March 15, 2018
Clearly, the start gate that is closest to the line is the best one to use. The shortest distance makes sense. Problem solved, go there.
If it was only that easy. It might be the shortest distance but it could come with a lot of disadvantages. Sometimes the best start gate to use is one that is farthest away from the course line. In an hour you are not going to be concerned with being 1/2 mile
-
January 18, 2018
It is easiest to think about starting on the upwind side of the line or cylinder. But unless it is really windy my biggest concern is getting the best energy line or strongest thermal. If you are starting a race and your first climb is good you are better off mentally. Even if someone took a slightly better start upwind, you mentally are better off with a strong climb. Imagine the pilot just upwind