08-10-19 | Day Eleven- Blaze of Glory

It was the last day of the competition and most of the pilots were getting tired, ready to pack it up and go home. Not the US Team! We were here to race and race hard. And we had a fantastic day in both classes, with all four of us making it in the top ten for the day!

It was another moderate-strength blue day. The wind was from the south, but it was to get really hot. The task-setter gave us a three hour Turn Area Task. We planned our route around the Tisza sinkhole and were ready to attack the day.

The grid was really fun today. The contestants were organized for a group photo and everyone was all together at the front of the gliders. Going back to the gliders, we were in a buoyant mood; it was so much fun being here! We were ready to make the most out of this day.

When we launched, we waited for a while for the conditions to develop. We were uninterested in playing the ridiculous start games from the previous day and were ready to roll our own. At 1:30, we topped out a thermal at the start line and dove for the task.

It turned out that the gaggle obliged by giving us chase. They left three minutes after we started and yet we somehow managed to hold them off!

We were driving hard. Team flying in the blue is very effective; we spread out, sometimes in a formation of three and sample the air. We call out when the air is lifting or sinking on one side and adjust the team accordingly. We managed to cleave along and maintain a good rhythm with the thermals.

The first leg worked out well. We had a couple markers at the back of the sector and pretty much maxed it out. The second leg slowed down a bit when we got a bit low in the band. And we didn’t realize that the gaggle started so close behind us as there were gliders catching up to the north of us. For a couple minutes we were really downtrodden; we thought that we had gotten rolled by 15 minutes! But Noah stepped in and said stop feeling glum and let’s kick back into gear already! There’s a lot of day left!

And sure enough, we drove to the back of the second sector and had the gaggle lined up in front of us. Most turned early in the previous sectors! Standard Class had started around the same time we did and were nicely marking our thermals to the east. Now we have to drive really hard; we have to stay connected with the group!

Pilots were floundering. They were climbing in stuff that was too weak up high. We left when the lift dropped to less than 2 knots and kept the pressure on.

At one point I hooked a bubble that JP and Noah didn’t connect with. I led out with the additional altitude, giving them information about the conditions ahead. Getting into the Tisza valley of death, I reported softer lift. They made consistent progress and I stayed one thermal ahead, noting my climb rates. They found a good thermal over the river itself (a 3 knotter for crying out loud!) and I found one under the gaggle over a town on the east bank. Upon reporting back that it was cycling in from 2 to 4 knots, they drove on in and caught me at my altitude.

That was some fantastic team flying!

After topping out that climb, we floated back westbound. There were gliders in fields and the conditions were softening up. It seemed like many pilots were flailing around like headless chickens. Don’t succumb to the temptation, keep the pressure on. Don’t turn in 0, move on. We floated our way to the better air to the west and picked our way up through the top of the gaggle.

Coming out of the final turn, we found a solid 3.5 and worked our way up. Once we were on an optimal glide, Noah and I charged out. Others were over-climbing as usual and we drove in for a perfect final glide. With good air near Szaytmaz, we finished wingtip to wingtip, going 200 km/h! We reported back final glide info for JP and he came in very close behind us.

Most of the time starting in front of the gaggle is competitive suicide. We didn’t expect them to go for a considerable time longer than after we went. However, by flying efficiently we managed to avoid getting rolled and falling off the back of the day on the final leg. This led to a very satisfactory result for us.

Alas, today was the last day of the competition. When we landed, we got to work getting the gliders cleaned up and packed away to go back to the Netherlands. All the crews were on deck and we got the ships in good shape pretty quickly. We enjoyed the party in the evening and headed back thrilled about our great day and a largely well flown competition.

__________

See my flight here.

See our scores here.

There are many thanks to go around. First off, I wanted to say what a blast it was flying with JP and Noah. We got totally dialed in with each other and were flying very well. It was an honor sharing this flying experience with you guys!

Thanks to Luke DuPlessis for being an outstanding crew! He was the best crew I have ever had. Conscientious, responsible, motivated, even-tempered and excited to be part of our team. He assembled and gridded the glider on a daily basis. He programmed the tasks and downloaded the flight logs. He was responsible for the equipment and made sure everything was charged and in working order. And he retrieved me several times. He was just totally awesome!

Thanks to John Good, our fantastic Team Captain! He is the master organizer and has been to over 20 World competitions of all different kinds. He did a great job of keeping track of the tracking and weather while we were flying and relayed this information accordingly. His fantastic stories and sense of humor make him great company for the three weeks we spent together. One of his riddles took us three days to solve!

Thanks to all the people who have helped make the logistics work out for us in Europe. Rein, Rene, and the great folks at Glider Rent, you guys are the best! And I wanted to point out that the LS-4s from Glider Rent in the Netherlands were absolutely outstanding. Well equipped and an absolute delight to fly. I highly recommend these guys for finding a competition-ready sailplane in Europe!

Thanks a million to all our supporters back home. You guys made it happen for us. This year we had more people chip in and support the Junior team than any previous year. And then there are the many people and clubs who have lent us tools, gliders and support. We are deeply honored to all the folks back home who have given us the opportunity to represent our country and we hope we did you proud.