The UK 2001 Junior Nationals - Part 2 By: Andy Holmes Posted: February 13 2002
The team aren’t sure about Wednesday, so they set an Assigned Area Task. Unfortunately the team aren’t sure about AATs either. There is much discussion at the briefing as we realise that the task sheet is unclear. In the end it transpires that they want us to fly to Andoversford then fly north-east between 040 and 080 as far as we can then return three hours after our start time. Simple! I won’t try to explain the scoring rules here - suffice to say that the best score would be for a fast, long flight of exactly three hours landing back at the airfield. There is a disadvantage for returning early or late, and a penalty (although not as disastrous as in a normal task) for landing out. My first concern is how the Discus will handle with some water in. I try hard to find the best rate of climb in the pre-start thermals and find I’m flying it exactly as before, except with a couple of knots of extra speed for the same angle of bank. Great! If it still climbs well, and I can fly slightly faster for the same glide angle, things are looking good. With the nature of the task and the expected blue conditions, I’m expecting to see lots of other gliders on the way round, so I’m in no rush to start. There’s a thermal in about the right place so I join it and see a few LS-8s - here we go. I gradually work my way up using a nice tight bank and end up at the top with the LS-8s, waiting to start. Sure those guys will have more water on than me but it’s still a confidence booster. Jess and I see a haze cap and cruise there to get some more height and start together.
Starting later and catching up with the gliders in front, this is the largest group of gliders that I’ve flown amongst cross-country. Rejecting weak thermals that some of the gaggles are using pushes me gradually up the pack but also lower, but there are always good climbs to be had and more gliders in front to mark them. This is high workload flying in terms of lookout but I can see why people were catching me yesterday. Good air and gliders climbing on track convince you to keep cruising to find that strong core.
The proximity of lots of other gliders is shown by my GPS pointing 2nm behind me after a good run. The last time I glanced at the GPS I was about a mile from the TP. I take a gamble that I flew through the 1km diameter circle during this busy period and keep going. My rough plan is to fly in the middle of the sector unless the weather suggests otherwise. I meet up with Jess again - she is slightly ahead in her LS-8, but therefore just watching her progress gives me enough information to slowly catch up. Thermalling gliders we meet are either bounced, joined or, occasionally, coaxed into a slightly better core. All the way we are gaining on other gliders and leaving thermals before the gliders we joined in them - I could do this all day, not just for three hours. We’re having a fairly even run now. Some thermals I arrive at first, some I leave first - sometimes for no reason than to show I can lead too. As we’re not talking on the radio, a fraction of my capacity is spent wondering if Jess minds me cruising with her. I guess not.
There are three of us running past Edgehill. Dan Pitman from Bicester is with us now. Jess and Dan deviate away from our previous course when they see a haze cap, but I miss this and not wanting to follow blindly I continue on our original track roughly towards Lyveden which we visited on Monday. I’m still covering the ground fairly quickly but I preferred it in our earlier trio. As this is basically an out and return, assuming even conditions, I need to turn around about an hour and a half after I started. As the final glide should increase the speed of the return leg I decide to turn around “late” rather than “early”. As I approach half time I’m cruising near Kettering having passed a lot of gliders going home from the Husband Bosworth area. I decide that after my next good climb I’ll set off for Aston Down. After a while I realise that with this logic, if I don’t get another good climb I’ll keep flying towards the Wash which may upset Mum and Dad (my top notch crew). I see two LS-8s still flying north-east and 1000ft above me. We turn for home.
So, looks like I’ve got Leigh Wells and Luke Rebbeck helping get me on my way home. The only slight problem is that by the time we are heading for home they are 1500ft above me. Did I mention they are in LS-8s and in the British team? I hope that I can join their thermals and gain even just 100ft on them each time but each time we are in the same thermal I’m a little bit lower. It keeps me moving I’m operating a lot lower and the thermals are difficult.
Here I should have changed down and climbed up, or the piece of white tape on my panel which shouts water! should have prompted me to dump my water, but instead I press on, trying to remain in contact with the LS-8s. After a low scrape I’m forced to climb up again and now I’m on my own. I guess I turned round a little late. I need to get home but more importantly I need to keep pushing until the three hours is up at least.
I’m 50km from home and the time elapsed is 2:50. A good climb soon will get me on to final glide. Unfortunately, the day is dying and I dump my water way too late cruising on to the Cotswolds at 1500ft as I slow down to McCready 0.5. Just one good climb... The air is dead somehow and I look at the huge stubble fields below. OK to keep picking them ahead. I’m in survival mode now. I don’t notice but the time runs out after 206km. Only the LS-8s did better at 215-220km, but they have got home and I need that get home bonus or I drop down the score sheet. I’m quite low now, and concentrating very hard. The air is smooth and it’s easier to fly accurately. The only noise is the audio vario, informing me of weak bits of lift to drift around in but nothing to power me up on to final glide. I scan around at the field situation and jump from field to field searching the air for my last chance. Darker patches and small hills facing the sun delay my decent and help me move around but don’t rocket me skyward as I would hope. My last glimmer is some buoyant area over the centre of a huge stubble field which tries to help and I park in it at first, then gain a few hundred feet. It dies though and I search around but the weather has beaten me. I land in the field that the gently rising air came from.
My emotions are mixed. I’ve never scraped that low for that long before on a cross-country, or continued to cover ground while doing so. The silence and concentration was exhilarating. I reflect - the first two hours of the flight contained the most decisive, press-on gliding I’ve done and, landout or not, I’ve learned lots and flown with water for the first time. Scores-wise, it’s an Assigned Area Task, so the landout penalty is small compared with a conventional task and, although I’m convinced most have got back, I’m also convinced that I’ve flown one of the furthest distances in the three hours. So, in the unusual position of needing a retrieve despite potentially being due for a good score, I phone in. I’m about five miles east of Winchcombe and at the end of my field is a house with a well-to-do woman with a Range Rover and posh dogs with short legs and everything! Mum and Dad arrive for a speedy derig and a funny wave at posh woman, MP husband and well-to-do friends.
After a really enjoyable flight, a duff forecast for the next day and the news that I came 19th despite my landout, a few mates and I have a bit of a late one! Thursday is only good for karting and pizza. A scrub in showery but soarable conditions on Friday and there are whispers amongst the grid about the Nympsfield ridge. Most of the grid launch and tow towards Nympsfield. We spend the afternoon ridge running about 30 at a time then climb up in the evening thermals and glide back to Aston Down. I’ll leave this to your imagination! Mum and Dad came to watch and I had to take them out for a nice pub meal for making them watch our ridge antics, especially Mum. It turned out that the pub was full of my mates enthusiastically describing their hairiest formation beat ups. Sorry Mum, but if you can’t beat them...
Weatherjack says Saturday is likely to be the last comp day and it looks like a good one. 300km is set. Aston Down - Southam - Thame - Watford Gap - Aston Down. There are good cumulus but the launch is delayed for group photos. We’re quite keen to get going as a warm front is out there somewhere. Once again I have a barrel of water per side in the Discus and I release from tow at 1500ft in a good surge and climb away. I’m an early launcher today, and after getting frustrated with the number of gliders at cloudbase I cruise around for a bit, aimlessly to start with, but then on track and to each side of the start line to get a feel for the conditions. There are cumulus all around, so this will be a very different flight to the earlier blue days. Once the start line is open, I remain patient. One group of gliders starts, and a second group starts shortly after. I start at the back of the second gaggle. My mood is instantly lifted - let’s get going!
