1st FAI Pan American Gliding Championships

United States,   6 April 2015 – 18 April 2015

Apr 14 Report

We gave it a good try again today, but in the end we had nothing to show for it.

We awoke to gloomy skies and drizzle this morning, and the pessimists began to make their plans for shopping, laundry, and tourism.  The Director, whose job is to be an optimist, listened to the forecast of met man Tony Condon, whose job is to be neutral.  The forecast indicated that something might be possible in the late afternoon, so we took a chance and gridded after lunch at 1330.

The good news was that of the three layers of clouds, the bottom one was scattered cumulus.  The bad news was that the bottom layer was only 2000 feet above the ground.  So we waited.

Finally, the sun made an appearance, cloudbase crept upward, and we started the launch at 1505, which gave us just enough time to complete a modest 1.5 hour AAT in the 15 Metre Class.  The Handicap Class, second to launch, ran out of time, and their Task was cancelled on the grid.

After flailing around at low altitude for an hour, the 15 Metre Class pilots did not seem too unhappy with the decision to give up at 1600.  Cloudbase was just too low for safe racing today.

So, once again, the highlight of the day was another excellent cookout at the Chilhowee Gliderport.  The so-called stationary front will be on top of us tonight, so there's a very good chance that the pessimists will get their laundry done tomorrow.

Written on 15 April 2015 at 03:59.

Latest winner

1. Tony Condon 116.19 km
2. Ryszard Krolikowski 120.89 km
3. Sergio Reinaudo 103.31 km
Updated: 16/07/2015, 18:55
1. Erik Nelson 61.73 km/h
2. Sean Murphy 58.80 km/h
3. Jerzy Szemplinski 58.37 km/h

Latest task

Task 13, 18 Apr 2015
Task distance: 118.98 km  /  264.47 km  (186.60 km)
Task duration: 1:45:00
Updated: 21/05/2015, 06:50
Task 13, 18 Apr 2015
Task distance: 102.11 km  /  241.26 km  (169.18 km)
Task duration: 2:00:00
Updated: 21/05/2015, 06:50