Glider Review: Wills Wing T2 150

I have been flying the new T2 150 for almost 6 weeks of competition so here is the summary so far.

 

Background:  Flying HG for almost 3 years, competing for a year and a half.  200-600 hours a year. Previous comp gliders include Combat 2, Combat L, 13m and 15m, Moyes CSX 5.  I am about 79 kilos or 178 lbs and fly with a comp harness and 2 parachutes.  I fall at the lower end of the weight range for this wing.

 

My last glider was also a big glider so the first thing I noticed about flying this glider was the ultra low weight.  Published weight is 73 lbs or 33 kilos which is pretty light for 154 sq feet (about 14.5 sq m?).  It is easy to pick up, easy to ground handle, and easy to yaw in cross wind gusts.  In the air the lighter weight let the glider respond very quickly to my roll and yaw inputs.  I can snap around in the smallest shots of lift.  The stall speed is very low so it has wide speed range while thermalling.   Initially I felt small on the glider until I got tuned to the speed range between min sink and stall.  Now I only feel small if I fly the glider much too slow.   Turn coordination is excellent and I have many choices on which thermalling style I can chose.  1) No VG, light hands and smooth. 2) Some VG, trim, and smooth. 3) Some VG, slow, and active. 4) ½ VG and flat.   I can climb very well on this glider.  Me figuring out how to predict and navigate gaggle traffic is the only thing slowing it down.

 

Transitions are very easy because the VG string is short but still very light.  Its my understanding that the designers put a lot of effort into this and it shows.  The glider has the wide VG range of the new conventional VG but much of the ease of the old cam system.  Adjustments are quick and precise thermalling AND gliding.  Gliding fast I can go from ¾ VG to full VG in less then half a base tube width without slowing down or comprising my straight flight stability.  Full VG the glider is stiffer but still very manageable.  It is almost too supple because there isn’t the stiffness that forces you take the VG off in turbulence.  I have to make a deliberate effort to take the VG down to ½ when I fly into or out of lift.  I don’t want to compromise my pitch stability.   The inboard sprogs compensated so bar pressure is positive but light with VG on throughout the entire speed range.  The performance seems to hint at more of an advantage at faster glide speeds so I really need to derive a new polar and explore different inter-thermal gliding speeds.  I think there is a significant untapped advantage lurking there.  I really need to test glide back at Quest with varying amounts of ballast to see how it flies with more then my light wing loading.

 

The hardware and build quality on this glider are of the absolute highest standard.  60mm 7075 inboard leading edges, 50mm outboards, Spectra VG lines, Oversize haul back cables, anodized keel (lighter VG), overbuilt and well designed bits can be found at every corner.  Even the screws that adjust the tip wants are larger high quality units (I used to work on cars and know how these differences can haunt the guy working on it 5 years later).  The new integrated X-bar/LE/inboard sprog bracket is extremely stiff.  I like to push down hard on this sprog and watch it just twist the entire glider back picking it off the ground rather then flex the airframe and droop.  The cross bar is beefy with oversize hardware at both ends.  There is also a UV protective strip across the top.  I am definitely not afraid to loop this glider.

 

I test fly many gliders as an aerotow instructor and this glider is arguably the easiest topless to land.  I fly fast approaches 99% of the time but in Croatia I was amazed at how secure this wing executed slow RLF approaches with and without a drogue.  I just fly it into ground effect and then shift my attention to the horizon.  When it drops I start pitching out and the glider does most of the work from there.  Like on a low performance glider I would be embarrassed to require even a few steps landing this wing.  On the first day of the Pre Euros I had to land in a narrow valley with agriculture fields that were more like big gardens.  It was easy to set up over corn and low trees for a precise final up the narrow grass strip between 2 crop fields.  I was so proud I took pictures to mark this novel Croatian adventure.

 

I would prefer a standard flip tip on the last batten rather then a string but in this configuration the tip is more durable to set up and breakdown.  I would also like to try the glider with the optional lighter batten set.

 

Kev

German Open Day 2

Yesterday was some strong rough air.  Today I hear that the weather stations on the high peaks upwind are reporting even more velocity.  I think the task committee likes to make tricky tasks rather then the safest tasks.  We are grabbing the same first turnpoint as yesterday but then heading up wind towards the big mountains and complicated valleys that get so crazy in a NW wind.  For a different twist the start circle is an entry of only 3k around the first turnpoint.  Start gates are again 30 minutes apart (very long) and only 2.  This turns out to be a big problem.  Before the start 2 small rain storms begin to dump upwind of the start area.  I am not in good position for the first start but in hindsight, I wasn’t in that bad a position.  With 2 storms in view it looks very tricky so I decided to grab a start, the first turnpoint, and then try to hang out on the OTHER side of the start gate.  Oleg and a few other guys follow.  We are high but hit a short period of rain and sleet.  Once we reach the other side of the start the lift is not very good.  Since we entered the radius late to begin with, fishing around in junk has the time VERY late.  I desperately want to get up and go back for another start but it just isn’t coming together fast enough.  With a group over my head I decide to check further down course under a nicer looking cloud.  My hope is that the pilots will stay and mark the thermal we were in so I could come back if I don’t find anything.  It seemed the obvious pimp move since the conditions looked so poor.  Boy did they let me down.  Fishing around I look back to see that they ALL followed me.  It is just a few minutes before the next start but now we are a few more K away.  It is clear that I am stuck with the worst start in the world.

 

Some rigids join us for a climb on a sunny finger.  It is mega turbulent and we all have a few close calls.  I am sure everyone is thinking the same thing that this air SUCKS.  Not sucks you up like a good thermal should, but sucks like sucks donkey balls.  Low, crappy air, I am a very unhappy camper.  We eventually get high enough to leave the thermal of despair and head towards the turnpoint.  A few rigids are high and fly towards the lee of the Lienz Dolimites.  I follow this line while Jorge and Oleg fly about 700m to my right more in the valley.  At first my line is better.  The rigids look like they are flying into a lee thermal.  I continue to follow, further sealing my impeding DOOM.  The rigids look like they are about to start circling.  I pull in.   They turn to the right….and run for the valley.  OH NO.  I hit the lee and plummet from the sky.  I turn 45 degrees to the right and try to angle my way out.  Its not working.  Because the shoulder of the mountain runs left to right down, the lower I get the further I have to fly to get out of the Lee.  I finally get the hint and fly straight 90 to get out of this crud.  I am too ashamed to even type how much altitude I lost in this blunder.  One of the rigids had left the last climb high and was able to just fly straight over the top of this mountain.  Bummer for me. 

 

Now on the other side of the shoulder I can’t seem to hook up with any good lift like I had hoped.  The other gliders arrived higher and have something but there is no love for Kevin or Christian the pilot flying with me.  It feels like this side of the shoulder is a bit lee also.  I charge on towards Lienz.  I have been drilled in this area before in similar strong winds and I don’t want to be here.  I carve around the bowl heading roughly towards the next turnpoint trying to get around the ridge.  I find a few thermals worth 4 or 5 turns but nothing more.  I have been here before and Christian is taking good advantage of the experience.  We are flying well together and he is very smart about grabbing the climbs I found, but also fanning out on glide.  I take the line closer to the terrain when hits something good further in the valley.  We grab another few hundred meters before it falls apart.  I head towards Lienz.

 

This town marks the confluence of 5 (I think) valleys.  Lots of complication, lots of action, lots of potential for convergence lift.  Right over town we find some light broken stuff and fight to get some comfort altitude.  I know that further below us one valley is strong tail wind even though the wind over our heads is a very strong headwind.  We are low enough to be out of that headwind so I am itching to charge ahead and catch a thermal where I am confident there is lift on the lee knob.  I glider is climbing in something tight close to the terrain so I head there as soon as I am high enough.   Just gliding there I can tell it is going to be a pissy little mother.  The wind directions are changing all over the place.  At this knob I can quickly figure out there are 2 different strong wind directions 180 degrees opposite of each other.  Great.  Lovely.  Just what every pilot dreams of. (Mom, I am being sarcastic).  At least this collision of winds should help with some convergence and the air has some pressure to go up.  Lee to the prevailing wind, hard 90 cross from the right in one valley and a hard 90 from the left in the other valley.  I was hanging on so tight that my fingers are still tired now while I type.  Flying fast, banking hard, and constantly having to switch upwind correction directions I slowly climb.  I want to seach around for better lift but with these crazy strong winds and strong sink the cost of gambling away what I have is just too great.  Thankfully with every hundred meters or so the climb improves.  There is a super fat cloud overhead and a group climbing high centered a little further from the ridge then me.  Once the air is consistently readable enough for me to explore I fish out that way and sink my teeth into the first fattie since before the start.  The cloud street is very broad and the lift is HUGE.  I rocket to base and grab the turnpoint just 2k away.  The line is on and there are other good short streets leading to the next turnpoint.  I get high and milk them for a downwind bullet ride.  The next turnpoint is something like 25 or 28k on the last ridge around the Italian border.  I get there high and I am amazed at the obvious collision of airmasses happening just along this ridge.  On my side cloudbase is around 4,000m (really stinking high) and on the other side it is maybe half that down to mountain top level.  I am high and clouds mark another good glide towards home so I just grab the turnpoint, turn away from that ridge, and keep gliding.  A large saddle between the 2 valleys is clearly working and strong lift has me at cloudbase again with 900m over best glide to goal even though I am still 12k or so from the last turnpoint.  I need to make a mental note that 900m is over 2700 ft and leave much sooner next time.  That or fly faster the whole way.  From the last turnpoint to goal I don’t think I ever flew below 65 mph.

 

The early weather goofed up many pilots.  Some opted to land, some got grounded, and no one agrees what the organization should do.  My small group got such a bad start that it hurt me in the overall but I can’t see the logic in canceling the task after we flew it.  I was openly against flying in this weather but the committees chose our task and sent us out there, and didn’t cancel while we were flying.  What a drama.

 

It strikes me as so ironic that the DHV is harassing pilots by measuring everyone’s gliders to “promote safety” but at the same time the true danger is being completely ignored.  Every day that we have flown has been questionable due to strong winds but the warnings fall on deaf ears.  In the air a pilot on the safety committee was asked his opinion if the task should go on.  He said no but they ignored his recommendation and we continued to fly.  Apparently a consensus could not be reached since the other pilot on the safety committee had already landed due to bad weather.  Hahahahahahahaha

 

Kev C

 

German Open Day 1

The German Open has a very deep field this year. Since the Pre Euros was just the week before most of the top pilots have just moved over here to Greifenburg. The weather forecast has the dreaded strong NW wind today so a task is set to keep us further south. The prediction is for tough times on the last leg into the wind back to goal. The last turnpoint is across one more valley then the routes usually cross so no one is really sure what line will work best. There are 2 starts separated by a half hour. I get very lucky about 5 minutes before the start window opens when a strong thermal blooms up on the side of a cloud. I am able to climb up the side for an extra few hundred meters on most of the other pilots. I lose that extra altitude and then some ¾ of the way through just the first glide. One pilot took a different climb further over the ridge and is much higher then the rest of us. Seppi led the charge to the first turnpoint in a saddle and we just glide on. The very high pilot lures a few aggressive guys further down course but I stop to fish through some turbulence. Too much time looking means all the slower pilots are now all above me. The air is strong, rough, and I am getting frustrated. We run down this high ridge on a great line stopping for the strongest cores. Oleg is at cloudbase and I struggled to try and catch up. By the end of the ridge I am still not at cloudbase so I have to just let the leaders go and work on getting established. They all headed straight towards the turnpoint but I head about 30 degrees to the left to get on a ridge where I see pilots climbing. The rest of the group I was with heads 90 degrees to courseline to take a climb in the distance. I guess I am flying alone again.

I found good lift where I had spotted gliders a couple minutes before and got high. The second turnpoint was across the valley and there was no clear view of the leaders strategies. The opposing ridge has some clouds deeper but not on the front fingers. I fly best glide to get there high. I fish around with a few pilots and finally spot Oleg, Seppi, and maybe Gerolf. They are heading straight west rather then NW towards goal. The fishing for lift isn’t giving us much more then 1m/s but eventually the lift cycles up and we get close to base. The last turnpoint is only a couple k away so it is easy to grab it and get back in the climb. By now those 3 leaders are gone so I head west as well to get closer to the narrow part of the valley. My luck was on, a nice new cloud was blooming straight ahead. Also, a huge cloud region is covering the tallest peak on the other side of the valley I need to cross. I can’t see the guys I was just with so I top out and best glide across the valley. The headwind is solid but the line is very buoyant. I arrived at the ridge above the peaks and the line into goal follows this same ridge line. Clouds dot the whole way. Racing relatively fast I still hold back fearing a vicious wind off the end of the ridge 8k before goal. My kidneys are screaming and I stop to piss. It is such a waste of time but I held it so long that I am frantically struggling to fly straight. The sky is empty so I stay conservative and milk it in. What a stupid fool I am. Never milk it in when you are racing. Out of nowhere Ollie appeared below me out in front. He came off the ridge a couple K north and just flew faster to pass me. I am much higher but it is too late to trade the altitude for distance. I stuff the bar deep but it is too late. We enter goal 1-2 but are later trumped by Guido who took the second start and flew faster.

I need to go easier on the hydration and keep my focus to the very end.

Kev C

Pre Euros Task 1 Croatia

The Pre European

Wish the news got out faster but internet is not so
available in this Eastern European Nation. It is not
like anywhere else I have even been or flown and I say
that with a smile. It’s the little differences that
make this place so unique. Little differences….and
big forests. Driving into this country the first
thing you ask yourself is of course, “Where could you
land a hang glider?” The second question you ask is,
“Where could you land a PARAGLIDER?!?!”

Now that I have flown I can admit that there are
fields to land in, they are just small. Really small.
Like really really small. At the start circle I
found myself facing a mental block trying to pick my
courseline. I was further into the valley then the
main gaggle and couldn’t decide which route to take.
First I used my regular standard of at least one 200m
field within glide, without crop or power lines, and a
nearby road. Well, that left me no options. So I
settled for less. On my next glide I faced the same
dilemma. Where to go, no acceptable landings.
Mentally this caused a great internal struggle. My
flying strategies were turned entirely upside down. I
could evalutate lift, clouds, courselines, etc with
this constant sticking point. The computer was
kirking out. But the funny part is how I resolved
this problem. I noticed with each glide the decisions
got easier. 200m became 100, no powerlines became no
big powerlines, no crop turned into no grape
vineyards. By the last glide of my flight I was
having no problems at all! As I laughed to myself I
realized life was so easy now because of my new
standards….green. It just had to be green. Trees,
crop, grass. As long as it was green. Ha Ha. Its
not as bad as I make it sound. With a drogue or RLF
approach I can land my new glider in the tightest
places. I actually picked a runway 3 shoulder widths
wide and 20m long to land in and it was perfect. I am
no longer a boy. I am now a MAN.

The task was very difficult. The first 2 days were
canned due to strong north winds. Apparently the
north launch is no good. Today it is more North West
so we can use the west launch. There are clouds over
the high terrain but not much out in the flats. The
whole area is a peninsula surrounded by the
Mediterranean Sea. Climb above launch and it is right
behind the ridge. Over the back means a cool dip in
no time. On the far side of the course you can see
the Sea on that side as well. It is a narrow strip of
land. At the start I headed more away from the ridge
following some clouds. The gaggle was up against the
ridge. My first glide led me to broken weak lift that
couldn’t even compensate for the strong head wind.
The next thermal wasn’t much better and my third one
found me stuck over a small 300m hill with the ground
about 200m below. The only thing this knoll had going
for it was a strong wind. I could ridge soar sections
and find some bits of convective flow either up the
front or up the shoulder. This knoll was my new home
away from home for the next hour and a half. To my
right I could see the main gaggle stuck on another
ridge trying to soar in a 90 cross. My only relief
was that they didn’t seem to be going anywhere.
Eventually some good cycles came through and got me
about 1000m above my little knob. Some pilots were
climbing off the ridge upwind of me so I joined them
for a taller climb. In my favor, this ridge lead most
of the way to the first turnpoint and was clearly
ridge soarable. I bolted for the turnpoint and noted
the massive numbers of gliders in the bombout field
under the other launch. Back to the ridge I took the
same line the pilots before had. Ridge soar down to
the bowl, then thermal up to about 1400m. That hooked
me up with a good line to some other bowls as I did my
best to milk it cross wind. Closer to the second
turnpoint there wasn’t much to fly in terms of ground
sources. The clouds were hours gone and it seemed to
me that there wouldn’t be anything strong enough to
overcome the wind away from the small ridges. I
milked what I could, and even tried to soar a small
town on top of a bump. I clung to that until I feared
spearing myself on the lightening rod atop the clock
tower (I am kidding, I left because I wasn’t getting
up…but the rod was getting closer!). I tried the
downwind end of a narrow valley where the trees were
shaking extra hard. I found some light stuff but had
to chuck the drogue and hit the deck. A couple of
gliders that had been following me were able to milk
that after coming in a little higher. They eeked out
another few kilometers.

Unfortunately I got the results from this task late.
The scratching paid off for me, I placed 7th.

Kev

Emberger 4

The sky cleared out nicely after yesterday’s overcast.
The sky looks good but there seems to be a bit of
north in the forecast. A large contingent of pilots
want a big task so the call is about 206k out and back
for the rigids and 189k for the Flexies. Freezy
launched at the start of the window as a wind dummy
and didn’t climb out right away. I was just zipping
up my harness when Wolfgang blew the whistle to
announce the starts would be moved back by 30 minutes.
With such a long task ahead I was disappointed about
the delay. I waited about 15 minutes and just
launched first. Who wants to stand around on the
ground waiting when you could be up there! The lift
around launch was not very good and it took me a long
time to get much above launch. I figured it was just
bad around launch so I headed towards the edge of the
start low. Freezy was doing the same thing and he is
kinda a local. Around the edge of the start circle it
wasn’t looking good for me. The last couple of
fingers gave me no love so I had to keep going onto
the other side of the start circle. Finally on the
last finger there was action. It was bad love though.
The small finger had a strong south flow coming
around the corner. Whatever lift I found was rough,
broken, surrounded by big sink and strong wind.
Nestled back in that small valley I didn’t like it so
I flew around the corner with my fingers crossed. I
was hoping for smoother lift but there was nothing.
With my tail between my legs I headed out towards the
main valley a defeated man. On the way I headed over
a small notch that was the last terrain feature before
the deck below. As I crossed over the knob I could
hear Dustin’s voice in my head….”FUCKING KABOOM” he
was saying as I got bitch slapped by some sharp lift.
This knob must have been a converging point for a few
different valley flows. The thermal was very strong
for the day but extremely hard to core. Pieces of
lift would randomly rip off in any direction. The
start time had passed and most of the other pilots
were gone. It looked like a survival day for distance
so I didn’t care. I was just relieved to finally be
close to cloud base. I backtracked to the start
circle and climbed back to cloudbase with a sailplane.

Heading out on course looked like a crap shoot. There
was a cloud line to the north or the direct route
straight west. I guess the clouds looked good because
I aimed more north. At cloudbase the wind had some
zip and crossing over the top ridge was a little
stressfull. Not much rotor but with cloubase only a
few hundred meters over ridge height I was not sure if
I would have to tuck tail at any minute. On the north
side of the ridge I meandered feeling like chump,
finally getting a really fat one to cloudbase. From
my new vantage point the north cloud line didn’t looks
so good so I headed straight west. I tried to hook up
with one last cloud before leaving the high mountains
but it didn’t work. Baffled, I trudged on. In the
air ahead were a few other stragglers taking a similar
line but lower in the valley. Crossing to the Lienz
Dolomites worries me since I have been flushed off
there so hard in the west wind multiple times. I’ve
learned flying here that the wind direction is not a
straight read. Just because it was north in one place
doesn’t mean it wont be a hard south somewhere else.
It wasn’t an issue though today, I got good lift on
the NE side of the dolimites That’s the halfway point
on my track log where it goes bright red. The lift in
this area was smooth, easy to read, and took me all
the way to base. Good clouds ahead so I picked up the
pace.

So here marks the slow and painful death. From this
point on I didn’t find any more worthwhile lift. Only
turbulence tucked in nasty places. Every time
something didn’t pan out I just bailed downwind. In
retrospect I supposed the best option would have been
to fly deeper into the finger valleys along this
mountainous ridge. At the time they looked like they
would just waste lots of time. There were nice clouds
so I wrongly assumed there would be an easy route to
them. It also seemed like the lift was working better
up high but the tops of the peaks were too close to
the clouds and too spaced out to take the easy route.

I finally bailed on the Dolomites and crossed the
valley to the north. It was shaded but I could see
some pilots scratching and it looked smooth. I had
committed too late and quickly descended into the
valley wind. At least it was tail and cruised me
towards the turnpoint. Seeing pilots scattered below
gave me a shot of morphine to ease the pain of a death
glide. Down to about 100m one of the nice fields had
a windsock and some nice soft looking grass. About 5
minutes later Shigeto came to join my party. Later,
Vladamyr scratched over us and made the turnpoint. A
couple hours later we spotted a couple of rigids on
their way back towards goal. Sir Jacques was the only
pilot to make goal.

Kev

Not enough good flight reports

So momma yelled at me for not staying up on my flight reports.  I don’t have time right now (internet café) to get into the nuts and bolts for pilot who find so much joy in learning from my mistakes!  Instead I will just fill my blog with images.

 

I moved into the lead at the Emberger Alm but then blew it trying to fly conservative the last day.  I dropped 2 places to finish 3^rd.   The weather was good and the last day was windy and a bit turbulent.  I got some amazing pictures and videos but haven’t figured out how to share anything but pics.  The last day it was easy to climb above the clouds in the start circle and I got some good videos of that. 

 

The Pre Europeans here in Croatia have had the first 2 days cancelled do to strong north winds.  Landings here are a little bit tricker then other places.  Mostly I think the problem is visual.  The landscape is 99% trees.  The only place I have ever been to compare it to would be Newfoundland.  Lots and Lots of trees.  I have been practicing with the drogue and also slow tight approaches so hopefully I am ready.  Almost 130 pilots are signed up so it should be a great opportunity for me to fly with the best. 

 

Kev

Great wind, great sky, wrong direction 

Last task 3D 

Gorgeous sky for flying! 

Hanging out in the Start Circle in Greifenburg 

Here is the Alm in a side view. Beautiful 

This is the Emberger Alm launch used for all the competitions in Greifenburg 

Does this look like an electric fence? Well, minus the insulator...just the ribbon. Go ahead, touch it and see what happens. 

Sir Jaques. Here is ballast that doubles as chest protection. He wears this under his harness. 

Emberger Alm Task 3

A low pressure system is moving in fast.  High winds out of the south west means that any flying has to stay in the valley.  Crossing valleys is out of the question.  With this reality the rigids opt not to fly.  They want big tasks.  The committee is willing to try a short task up and down the valley for the flex wings.  While we are heading up the mountain high cirrus quickly turns the sky milky.  By the time we set up and receive the task it is totally overcast.  The forecast is a deteriorating one so I am anxious to launch early.  It doesn’t look easily and finishing the task is definitely questionable.  5 minutes before launch opens a couple of free fliers are floundering around in front of launch and couldn’t seem to climb out.  All the pilots are standing around watching with their hands in their pockets.   Anxious to launch I suited up as the window opened a launched.  A rigid, and a paraglider shared the air in front of launch with me as we struggled to get some altitude.  I let my zipper string slip into the harness and wasted some control and climb wrestling with that.  The final solution was to remove my glove, split the Velcro for the zipper, and get to the pull from the other side. [side note, today is cancelled and I will be fixing that worn grommet so I can’t lose the pull string again!].  The PG pilot is doing pretty well but the rigid free flier seems to always be behind the curve on reading the air.  This thermal seems to pulse on and off and come up the hill in waves drifting 45 up and to the left.  Eventually I get about 200m or so over launch and opt to head around the corner.   This courseline put me parallel to the start ring and in a lee valley.  I found a few bubble feeders that took quite a bit of work to climb in.  Lots of surging, yawing and yanking.  I love that my new glider is big but yet still very light, I can dissect lift like this very easily.  The drift back here is straight up this sub valley (90 to the main valley) so I slowly creep in deeper.  I find some real cores and hit cloudbase which is a great feeling on a totally overcast day.  Back at launch I can’t see much action.  Seems like only pilots hovering a couple hundred meters over launch.  I can’t take that for granted though. 

 

Waiting for the start open I am impatient.  The first turnpoint is on top of a finger off the main valley.  I really want to stay deeper in the ridges.  With this cloudbase a turn less then 10k away is impossible to see.  I know where it is so no biggie.  At CB I have a good tailwind so I am careful soaring up over the ridges that are perpendicular to this wind so I don’t get rotored behind them.  The air is buoyant and I am flying only best glide.  Close to the turnpoint it starts to rain and I think about landing.  I am still high and the rain is intermittent.  The forecast called for rain and no thunderstorms. There is still lift so I continue.  Thermalling with a wet glider proves to be very difficult and from now on I will always have some soap in my harness for days like these.  Near the turnpoint there is another glider climbing up and it looks like he will make that point as well.  Other then that one glider, the rest seem scattered in random places low. 

 

I head back towards launch and the second TP beyond.  I have that point on glide even though the numbers are negative.  The air is buoyant and the approach numbers are getting lower.  I get the feeling that the day is shutting down now.  I see a cross in the LZ and my heart sinks knowing that the task is cancelled.  Here I am with half the course easily under my belt and its done.  My ego is pushes me to hit the next turnpoint to prove something but halfway there the air feels past dying to dead.  Laziness prevails over ego and I turn around and glide back to the goal/campground/place where my food, computer, and internet are.  I am told the task was cancelled because it started to rain on launch.  Its easy for me to be disappointed in that decision because I was flying well.  Maybe under other circumstances emotions would sway me the other direction so I am over it.  The day wouldn’t have been worth many points but at least I would have been rewarded something for reading the day well and scratching ahead.  For me the biggest reward was practicing in the alps under such challenging conditions!  Now that I know more pilots read this, I can’t give away EVERY trick I figure out!

 

Kev

Emberger Alm Task 2

Very few flex wing pilots made goal on the first day (Saturday) and Sunday was canned for rain. To placate the masses there are 2 separate tasks today. The forecast is for strong West South West winds so we are staying mostly in the valley. The flex task is west up the ridge 13k, reverse direction to the east, past launch, and to the last peak 25k slightly downwind. One more U-turn to head back west to a church close to the first turnpoint. One last U-turn back to the goal/campground.

Launch had a few real heavy potatoes. We all like to joke about a few countrymen who watch beautiful cycles blow in while they just crouch and wait. Its not a problem though because the launch here is very wide. I just set up off to the side every day and launch between the paragliders. Wolfgang the meet director is getting so used to my quick launches that he hustles the spectators out of the way (of the alternate launch) when he sees me walking up. I like my anti-potato reputation.

Both classes had the same start circle (I think) but a few flexies joined me out in the valley under a fattie, right at the 9k start circle radius. Unfortunately the ten minute wait pushed it back out of its’ prime location. All of the rigids parked back on the ridge downwind of the circle. The sky looked really good so I charged to the first turnpoint hard. Too hard. I passed up one decent climb and got stuck with a rat shit climb a few k’s further. Behind me Shogo who stopped for the first thermal, got high and glided over my head. I finally got impatient and headed for the turnpoint. It was located about 1/3 of the way up the ridge and the 5030 said I would nail it with 500m to spare. That seemed like plenty to find one of those nasty little terrain snakes on the ridge. The turnpoint was also flanked by a bit of a saddle so the prospects looked good for staying alive. As a pair though, those 2 slower climbs put me well behind the leaders. However, the clouds over the ridge clearly showed it was GOING OFF! Heading back I charged with the aggressiveness I had just abused. It immediately paid off as I impatiently zipped through groups. For the way back I opted to blow off the valley clouds and take fast lines alone the ridge. The lift was good and easy to find allowing for lots of dolphin flying. I am guessing a few thermals gave me almost 1000’ just flying straight. By the second turnpoint I could tell I had made up time on most of the leaders but I still was about 13 or 14 k behind the first pilot. I flew most of this second leg with Christian, a new german comp pilot. I caught him after the first turnpoint and jumped right into the caravaan. He opted to stay high, and I charged ahead marking the fatties. A few K from the 2^nd TP he got a bit squirrelly on glide but I could only react with amusement rather then anger. I know he is new with his glider and I felt fortunate having a wing that glides so much easier. His line carried him wide of the turnpoint so I just clipped it head on and didn’t look back.

On this third leg I could clearly see 2^nd and 3^rd in the distance and I could see where they were hanging back too much. I just charged hard and made up ground as quickly as I could. Shortly before leaving the ridge to dive out to the last TP a nice fat cloud gave me about a 1000’ flying straight again. Now high I could see the 2 pilots heading around the corner about 4k ahead. My 5030 was giving me great numbers, I knew the line back was good, so I raced very hard. Shigeto was taking a wide line back….staying closer to the ridge and flying slower then he could have. I know his glider is really good since it is Oleg’s last wing. With such a good wing I was amazed at how I was able to reel him in flying straighter and faster. The last leg was only 12k and change but it was clear I could slip in. For me, this was a very exciting chase. I burned it in all the way to goal passing Shigeto and getting within a minute of second. I couldn’t help but feel very proud of my wing handling a fast final so dam well. It was smoking!

A second and a third has me second in the overall about a 120 points out of first I think. Hopefully I can more then make that up in the next few days.

Kev

Task 2 up and down the valley 

My 3d track showing the big goof up gliding into the first turnpoint low.

Emberger Alm Task 1

Strong West to North West wind is the forecast. Uh oh. Not the best direction for this place. Any kind of north in a strong wind means rough air. Lucky for us it was mostly west. The task was a simple out and return that wasn’t so simple after all. The Flex wings and Rigids were set to run the same task 53k or so past Lienz then back to Greifenburg. 44 kilometer start circle put us about 7k from launch. The gaggle was big and almost everyone started together. Heading to the west end of the main ridge was easy and staying with the Rigids was Kein Problem (No problem). We all got up and headed straight across the valley below Lienz. I am told this was our mistake but what the hey, we were all following the Rigids and “they know this place.” The first half of the glide was cake but once we got close to the Lienz Dolimites Many of us began falling out of the sky. I was flying through that monster sink that could only be lee from a huge mountain. This was one of those points that illustrates when, in the right hands, the Rigids have an advantage. Many of them arrived at the lee ridge safely above the saddle height and began to scratch like Rock Stars. The Flexies started dropping like flies. Vladymir ran away into the valley, some hugged the terrain. Quite frankly, I don’t remember because I was in immediate survival mode.

So began the hunt for my lee side bitch snake. I found a marginally effective one on a spine above the lake in the valley. It was like hanging out over the barrel of a semiautomatic rifle in the hands of a twitchy crack dealer. Random shots of strong lift would bang through and drag me in one direction or another. It was never the same. Down below a litespeed struggled to drift back up the side of a large rockface. Something seemed to be coming together so I drifted around the corner with it. I got a steady enough light climb that I gave in to the will of the wind. As the thermal wrapped around the corner I had to correct upwind almost every 360. That drift took me 90 cross wind down a steep face and around to the opposite side of the spine I had just fought over. Tucked in here I found a true lee monster that took me high enough that comfort returned to Kev. This sucker had really weird drift patterns and there wasn’t an obvious wind direction. Now, west of Lienz the obvious route was north to the opposite side of the valley. The clouds along that ridge were a sight to behold, and the gliders ahead marked it clearly.

Once on the North side of the valley strong lift was easy to find but unfortunately it came with REALLY strong wind. I think at times I was registering 35kph headwind. With the temperature -4 C at cloudbase the fast flying had me steering with two curled up popsicles. As I made my way the last 20k or so up the ridge I could see the leaders starting to head back. Many of them were getting high in the center of the valley which came as a surprise to me since the clouds were centered more on the ridges. Hmmmm, so many unanswered questions. High after the turnpoint final glide said I had it by a couple hundred meters but there is no believing that from over 50k out! I chose to return to the north ridge and follow that same cloud street back. I think this was my big mistake. It was a longer route and required crossing over lienz in a difficult section of the valley. The massive tailwind lasted until I got just past Lienz and quickly deteriorated into a 25kph headwind! Dam, doesn’t that suck?! Strong head wind both directions on an out and back. Who woulda known.

I did the only thing I could and retreated to the “toilet bowl” as I call it. The locals have some other name for this ridge and it is something like the asshole of Lienz. The valley wind strikes this ridge at about 60 cross and makes some usable lift on the fingers. I scratched outta here free flying under very similar circumstances a few weeks before. On that day I had gotten flushed in the same Lee sink off the Dolimites as this day. Where is the learning curve you ask? I don’t know, I am still trying to find it! The one thing that was different this time in the “toilet bowl” was the lift was stronger. Too strong sometimes. Real cannon balls. I guess Cannon Balls are better then no balls so I will be more grateful for whatever balls I got from now on. Once high enough to safely round the corner it was a downwind ridge race to goal. The fastest rigids smoked me by 40 minutes or so and the fastest flex by about 10 or 15. The trick was getting high in the valley back at the turnpoint and then using the huge tailwind to cruise straight back. My longer route only got me further downwind when I hit the valley winds over lienz. Doh!

Challenging day, fun task. Only 4 flexies in goal. I was very relieved to be second.

Kev

Task One of the Emberger Alm. 

Training Hill

So I forgot the best story from the training hill.  When the wind picked up I decided to take my turn from the absolute top of the hill.  That meant crossing one or two single wire fence lines.  If I crossed the electric fence where it was low I would need to cross a ribbon fence about 20 feet after that.  I opted for the 2 fence route since I had to leverage the glider over the electrified wire.  As I was crossing the ribbon fence Jamie teased me for “going the hard way” with two fences.  Being a smartass halfway through stepping over the ribbon fence I discovered that ribbon to be electrified as well.  Don’t ask me how I know… I KNOW!   I think electric fences have a tractor beam for me.  Seems that getting my ass lit up is becoming a regular part of hang gliding for me.

 

Kev

Today I went out to the training hill with Jamie and Nina. We all got in some foot launch practice. It was Nina's first time footlaunching so the progress was VERY exciting to be a part of. It has been so long since Jamie foot launched that it was practically her first time as well. The weather changed constantly but we had more then enough opportunities to hike all our spunkyness away.  

Swis Champs Task 2 

Swiss Champs 2nd/Last Day

Strong winds and rain cancelled saturday and threaten to shut today down as well. Some high cirrus are covering the area but cummies are shredding off a few of the peaks as well. The wind is strong but mostly west...not the dreaded north. Every pilot I have talked to tells me how horrendous this valley can be in a strong north wind. The valley runs East to West.

The task is 90k first going East to the airstrip towards the top of the valley. We aren't going all the way to the end to try an aviod an area where the north wind can spill in. From there the task heads west down the valley to a turnpoint on the opposite ridge. A turnpoint has been selected that lies on a west facing piece of the ridge. This allows for good ridge soaring if you get to the turnpoint low. The third point is the back to the same place as the first, and then finally a goal near the campgound (center of the valley).


I goofed around a bunch after launch. Just hunting around to see the nature of the cores. Most of my experiments were wrong though so it was good I was doing them before the start. The run to the first turnpoint was relatively easy. We had a tailwind and the turnpoint radii were 1k instead of 400m. We stayed on the ridge only ducking out into the valley to grab the turnpoint, then back to the ridge. Lift was strong but not as strong as during the first task. Less turbulent as well (but still with a nice pucker factor). There was a nice sized group to fly with mixed between flexies and rigids. We all headed back near launch to get high again before heading down the valley. I climbed a little slow here so headed out lower then the rest. I decinded to make up for it by taking a more direct line across the valley. Here is where we hit the mondo head wind. I think I was registering up to 35kph on this leg. I had a tough time deciding what angle to cross this at waiting for the bottom to drop out at any minute. Most of us arrived on the opposite ridge relatively low but as long as I am average or higher I'm not too worried. These guys know this place and it is obvious the finger is going to be very ridge soarable. The air in the bowl was boyant with short lived strong bubbles of lift. We all got a little higher then ridge height before diving over the back. The pilots ahead of me stayed on the south ridge and Nichelle crosssed straight back to the north ridge and launch. I hugged the south for a bit then headed across as well. Overally the south ridge didn't have many clouds ahead and just looked like a bad idea.

Back at launch the valley wind had kicked in hard and the lift sucked. It was drifting 90 cross and hard to exploit. Nick was struggling below me but Richie and some other guys had hooked it quick above me. I tried to get under them but that was a mistake in the pulsing stuff close to the terrain. I got left behind and opted to go around the corner to get something better in the lee. Nick tried to follow me in a light one but the ladder had been pulled up (just like me under ritchie). In the lee valley I found light climbs and crept a little deeper to get high enough for the crossing. To the East was a fork between the 2 valleys that I thought should work well but I didn't want to cross there low and get stuck in the stronger valley flow below. I watched other pilots sink out there when the rest of us got to launch so I decided to be conservative. While I scratched some pilots had clustered up on that ridge but didn't seem to really be climbing. The moment I was high enough to get there comfortably I noticed a few of them climbing better. I headed right over and joined the party. More sun was coming out and this puppy was turning on. The last 1500 or 2000 feet the lift was really strong again.

The last turnpoint was the same as the first so mostly dophin flying down the ridge. I circled in a few strong ones and wasted some time hunting through a couple that didn't pan out. The leaders had dusted my new group back when I struggled at launch and this posse was still clearly made up of aggressive pilots. I found a couple things here and there and headed to the turnpoint higher. After the TP a few guys headed right back to the ridge but I took a more direct line. The lift had been so good I felt catching one a few fingers down was a faster route. It worked out well and I was able to take a conservative (fast) line down the ridge and finally across the valley to goal. I didn't know exactly where the goal point was and I wanted to be carefull since it was 1,800m up the side of the ridge.

Most of my mistakes were small with the exception of getting stuck at launch. That squeaked me into 5th for the day.

Kev

Int. Delta SM 2005 Flex Total Results
International Results

T1 Task 1 124.7 km
T2 Task 2 90.4 km
Place Name Nr Sponsor Constructor Class T1 T2 Total
1 HÄRRI, Martin 21 Moyes - Litespeed S 1 1000 1000 2000
2 MEIER, Richard 187 Moyes - Litespeed 5S 1 940 984 1924
3 MAYER, Walter 193 Icaro 2000 - Laminar Zero7 1 929 810 1739
4 DOBLER, Roman 1 Airborne - C4 1 781 920 1701
5 WÖHRLE, Roland 185 Moyes - Litespeed 4S 1 866 763 1629
6 NICHELE, Roberto 190 Williswing - Talon 144 1 859 753 1612
7 MATHURIN, Didier 11 Moyes - Litespeed 1 638 953 1591
8 GAFFNER, Françis 5 Aeros - Combat 2 1 786 804 1590
9 CARTER, Kevin 194 Williswing - T2 1 731 816 1547
10 CIMINI, Andrea 8 Icaro 2000 - Laminar Zero7 1 746 798 1544

Check out the clouds being pushed through the mountain pass. 2 Different airmasses on each side of the ridge. 

Today was cancelled for strong winds aloft. I was determined to get a picture of the glacier since I failed when I tired to get a pic from the air. I found a road that got me within an hour jog to this vantage point. Lots of work for a picture.... 

The swiss replacement for a housecat. They do this to keep mice out I think. Hard to believe. They store cheese and smoked meats through the winter this way.

Swiss Champs Day One

BIG.  So BIG. 

 

Big mountains, big lift, big turbulence!   I just don’t have the experience to know what constitutes rough air.  All the local swiss got a laugh that the air rattled me.  I woke up at 8 to clouds already popping on the high mountains.  Conditions were prefrontal and the organizers wanted to get us up and done as quickly as possible.  We rode the cable car to the base of the ski resort.  Even at the base, we were ridiculously high (check the pics).  Launch was a nice grassy hillside usually used for PG’s.  Task was up and down the valley twice for 124k.  Getting up at launch was very easy, only 15 minutes or so to make it to the start gaggle. 

 

From the beginning it was hard racing conditions.  Strong lift, good clouds, and high mountains.  I didn’t push hard enough and got separated from the lead group.  The lift was different then it had been in the Bavarian Open.  There I was afraid to fly past lift without knowing it.  Today it was big enough that if you were near it, you KNEW it.  The influence of the big-uns spawned turbulence over a wide radius.  Climbs quickly got to 4,000m (stinking high!) and it was pretty chips up there.

 

The views were nothing short of Amazing!  Behind the Galvera launch is a glacial valley that will take your breath away.  3 merge into one and run what must be 15 miles down the valley.  I wanted to take pics but focused on trying to fly fast instead.  I wasn’t flying very efficiently today.  Putzing in lift I should have left or flown through.  Taking the leftovers of the leaders rather then my own line and it cost lots of time.  Overally making goal was a no brainer, it was just going that made the difference.

 

After crossing the virtual goal line I flew back to a monster that tried (and succeeded)  in chucking me far off my course line.   A quick run up to cloudbase and I was ready to fill that flash card with pics and movies but I managed to somehow press a sequence of buttons that locked the camera up.  Massively disappointed I floated back down to join the carnage in the designated LZ.  The Valley wind was ripping (as expected) but it was quite a bit more turbulent then I expected.  I should have used the drogue for precision in this postage stamp but I haven’t practiced with it enough.  This wasn’t the time for anything unfamiliar so I just shoehorned in that sucker.  Watching others land I would guess there was only a 10% success rate.  Lots of whacks and dropped wings at the last minute.  Grrrrr.

 

A front is cruising through and ruining the weather.  Not sure if we are going to fly tomorrow, or anymore for that matter.

 

Kev

Waking up to clouds....at 8am! 

The wall of clouds pushing over the ridge 

Another shot of the clouds trying to push over the mountains from the south

The town of Fiesch 

So the house is on fire, or my car blew up, or you just want to chat and blow money by the fistfull. Here are my euro cell numbers.

Austria (June 10^th-19^th, June 27^th-July 4^th) : +43 650 7100618

Everywhere else:+49 175 8133057 but I am not positive about that one. Replace the + with whatever it takes to dial international. Like 0 or 00. Let me know how it works out.

Hope everyone is well.

Kev

PS http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=195

Free (test) flying in Kossen

Joined the late day paragliders for some ridge soaring and light thermalling in the town of Kossen on "Action Mountain." Funny how some names sound goofy in a different culture. One other HG pilot joined me at launch watching the dozens of PG's floating around. I was the misfit in the air insisting on circles rather then big passes on the center of the thermals. A little of that here and there and I was eventually high enough above the rest that it didn't matter. I could use my performance to comfortably drift over the back to grab some lee side luvin. I took a late flight here to test a new side wire length and evaluate how much (if any) high siding they added. Conclusion: not much if any....I'll take em! I'm not one for PDA (public displays of affection) but I love my new glider!

Kossen is one of the biggest PG parties I have ever seen. Guys were all over the ridge and packed in the LZ/Landing Field Bar. A real open air bar complete with historic Anotov Airplane in the front yard. Check this sucker out! I have never seen one before but yet in one day I saw two!

Kev

This is right in front of the LZ Bar.