Day 4 again - and MUCH better!
The twinkled-eyed Gauntleteers assembled for another contest day at sunny Worcester (mouse over for names!): 
The weather was forecast to be a strong NW with good heating (for winter!) to 24C and no cloud. Adriaan and Adri had taken a pre-briefing flight to check the weather and confirmed turbulence and 80kph at altitude, making the Contest Director a little nervous that the conditions on the ground (calm at briefing) would blow-out and become too turbulent to launch the grid. Launch was set for 11h00 with the start point at Rawsonville / Renosterhoek for a 3 hour OLC variant task.
With superb help from Alison, Jerry and Craig (the latter two on duty), the grid was soon launching (after a brief breathe-held pause while June Sterling execute a perfect first-solo landing in the Motor Falke, well done, June!)
and with many pilots "gliding in" to Vic Peak, tug-times were sometimes under 6 minutes (not for the faint-hearted).
Martin and Hubert (slightly in shock) deserve special mention for getting to Rooi Els but marred their otherwise winning performance with unfortunate airspace infringements! They were also unfortunately joined in that unholy activity by two other pilots resulting in a devalued day.
Most pilots had smiles on their faces when they landed (or were they grimaces?) and it seemed like everyone had pushed themselves a little and achieved more than they thought was really possible in the conditions. It was perhaps disappointing that the wind stayed too northerly for the front ridge to work as we might then have seen some spectacular winter distances.
But Ari "Circles" Cotton proved that it was possible to do it the old-fashioned way - in thermals (no, not underwear) for a good day-result. And Adriaan is now navigating the pitfalls with aplomb (and mainly in straight lines) making him the winner on the day and giving him a commanding lead.
See the detail results here, and 'till next time, fly safe!
The weather was forecast to be a strong NW with good heating (for winter!) to 24C and no cloud. Adriaan and Adri had taken a pre-briefing flight to check the weather and confirmed turbulence and 80kph at altitude, making the Contest Director a little nervous that the conditions on the ground (calm at briefing) would blow-out and become too turbulent to launch the grid. Launch was set for 11h00 with the start point at Rawsonville / Renosterhoek for a 3 hour OLC variant task.
With superb help from Alison, Jerry and Craig (the latter two on duty), the grid was soon launching (after a brief breathe-held pause while June Sterling execute a perfect first-solo landing in the Motor Falke, well done, June!)
and with many pilots "gliding in" to Vic Peak, tug-times were sometimes under 6 minutes (not for the faint-hearted).Martin and Hubert (slightly in shock) deserve special mention for getting to Rooi Els but marred their otherwise winning performance with unfortunate airspace infringements! They were also unfortunately joined in that unholy activity by two other pilots resulting in a devalued day.
Most pilots had smiles on their faces when they landed (or were they grimaces?) and it seemed like everyone had pushed themselves a little and achieved more than they thought was really possible in the conditions. It was perhaps disappointing that the wind stayed too northerly for the front ridge to work as we might then have seen some spectacular winter distances.
But Ari "Circles" Cotton proved that it was possible to do it the old-fashioned way - in thermals (no, not underwear) for a good day-result. And Adriaan is now navigating the pitfalls with aplomb (and mainly in straight lines) making him the winner on the day and giving him a commanding lead.
See the detail results here, and 'till next time, fly safe!
posted by CGC Reporter at 10:04 PM
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