Your Best Flight

Again, I find myself with a shot at winning the national title, this time the 20m nationals held out of Corowa, NSW with my good friend Keith in his syndicates Arcus M.  We’ve flown a great comp together, playing the percentage game.  We were just 160 points from the lead on a tricky last day, third place was 500 points behind us.  We knew that if we put in a good day, it was possible to snatch the victory on the last day, albeit unlikely.  We also knew that we just had to get around, even if the third-place-getting pilot won the day, we’d still keep second place.  Interesting mindset already, but all we can do is put our best flight in, this is true for any given day you fly.

Launch starts on time, being last on the grid this particular day, allowed us plenty of time to observe the incoming high-level cloud.  The observations were that it’d slide past us, but not at a great rate.  The forecast was that we should be able to start at 7000’ in good climbs, we’d fly in the blue for the start, meet CU in the North, blue to the second sector, then connect with CU for the last hour of the task, all with reasonable climb rates.

It’s our turn to launch, we are ahead of schedule and the gate is set to open early.  Keith shuts down in a thermal and we gently climb away.  I decide to move on before it tops out because it’s my first thermal.  I look for another one, but it’s also weak and I do the same thing again.  I see the eventual day winner making a start at low altitude and early.  It sparks my interest. Only at that moment I realise with my Bird's Eye view now, that the high-level cloud is moving in far quicker than I ever imagined, cutting off the sun to the ground.  Suddenly, urgency comes upon me. Climb Adam, climb, but there are no real strong ones around...

Finally, I get up and make a low start myself.  The competition winners start 5 min before us at the same height, and another at the same time, 500’ higher, but on the other side of the start line.  The first glide out is at best LD, aiming for what is left of the sun.  The eventual winners find a great climb to 7000’ under the murk, the other guys just in front, but just out of glide also climb to 7000’, they are away.  Meanwhile, we’re in 3kts to 3500’.  That’s ok, every time it dies off, move on and find a better one…

The better one didn’t come for 100km.  Fortunately, I had a great support pilot who kept me positive and supported my decisions to keep moving along at low altitude, while others seemed to street ahead easily at altitude and in the CU.  I felt like I was under constant stress all day, never really understanding where the climbs were coming from when under the CU, they seemed to be erratic in climb rate, and after being so low for so long, I didn’t want to get low again either.  I also knew that it was possible to outland on this day and that would mean we’d come third.

We eventually make it home and come fourth, 150 points behind the day winner and only 75 points off the competition winners.  We were seriously surprised by this result, we felt the day was a total disaster, when in fact, by keeping positive and putting in our best flight with the conditions we were faced with, we were able to bring home a credible day and finish a very comfortable second.

Key lessons for the day were to remain positive and optimistic and to always put in your best flight.  Finally, don’t think about things you can’t control, in this case, it was my competitors who were seemingly streeting away from me.  This is a distraction that is pulling you away from your best flight, perhaps even sending you into a paddock.

Look out, look up, and have fun!

Banner Photo by Mika Ganszauge

 Adam Woolley was born into the gliding world, being the 3rd generation in his family. Going solo at 15, his thirst for efficiency in soaring flight & quest for a world championship title to his name has never wavered. One big passion is sharing his experiences & joy with other glider pilots all around the world. Adam is an airline pilot in Japan on the B767 & spends his off time chasing summer around the globe. He has now won 7 national Championships & represented Australia at 5 WGC's & 1 EGC.