contests

This has been the phrase used repeatedly by the contest organizers. Despite that, on Day 8 we had someone not looking out. I am not here to speculate what happened. You can download the IGC files and make your own assessment of what happened. What I will say is that the entering glider impacted the thermalling glider and had not seen him. Both gliders flew back to the airport and had very minor damage.

Going into the last day at the 2010 WGC I was in the top 10. Ron Tabery and I were flying very well together and our scores proved it. It was pre-start and probably 20 Minutes before our thought about start time. I was on the top of the gaggle, let’s say 500 ft below cloudbase... but I was on-top and it was glorious. Ron was right below me and all we needed to do was wait. However, the entire open

There are a lot of things to remember when flying in these turn areas. Being low on the into the wind turn and high on the downwind turn, the last cloud might not work, putting all of your eggs into one basket...

Now we put these concepts into deciding where to turn in a turn area task. Before you start the flight you need to have a good weather briefing to determine where you are more likely

This is one of the topics that George Lee would remind me of. This also goes along with the thinking of Jay Rebbeck where you should plan all the way to the ground.

Jay's thinking was you would plan under the clouds, then trying towards the town, trying for the factory, then landing in that field. Keeping that plan going all the time. That way when the lift is being elusive, it was the plan

What is worse is getting to the downwind turnpoint too low and drifting beyond the turnpoint. However, that generally doesn't happen from a planned tactical decision.

You might have heard of the theory to get into the upwind turnpoint low and the downwind turnpoint high.

Let's discuss doing this correctly before I admit how I did this incorrectly. As you are looking ahead for thermals

How many different ways can we make this mistake?

At the 15 m Nationals in Tonopah NV, I was in one start group for multiple days. The organizers warned us that they would be changing groups daily, however, when my group changed, I didn't notice. I quickly entered the task and started in the wrong group.

When I finished the task, the SN 10 said I was over 100 mph. Congregating outside

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

This is the first part in a series of 'How to Lose Points'. Bright Ideas that slowed me down, lost me points or got me stuck.

Saving time by writing over my previous day's task. Sitting on the grid inputting the flight computer I would just click on the previous day's task. Click on turnpoint Number 1 change it to the current turnpoint, and continue with the task edit that way. This saved me

Plain Soaring in Australia is a paradise for glider pilots. We paid a nominal fee to cover our meals (where I was introduced to trifle), wonderfully prepared by Maren. We would alternate days flying with George Lee in his beautiful Nimbus 4DM. George, a 3 time consecutive World Gliding Champion, took his retirement with his wife Maren outside Dalby, Australia where they built Plain Soaring and invited