Another Forbes, another great turnout of enthusiastic pilots wanting to rack up some serious airtime.
Dave has pretty much given us the run down of the weekend so I’ll just weigh in with a couple supplementing observations.
Firstly, with all the rain over the past couple of months the air is pretty damn mellow. There’s still nice big climbs but they don’t have the harsh edges we normally experience during the peak of the season. This makes for really nice towing conditions which can still put you in to some great air in which to spend the day. Ideal for anyone looking to gain some aerotow confidence.
Keeping in mind that I have never actually flown in Florida, I can’t help but get the feeling that it might be something like this. The substantial surface water seems to defy all my usual rules and acts as quite a reliable thermal trigger. I hear that this is along the lines of what happens around the swaps when flying from Quest Air. Novel.
The predictable air over the weekend gave me a chance to reflect on a few of the key components that go into putting a smile on the face any hangie.
Having a really nice feeling glider is essential in autumn conditions. Making the most of the air going up is more important than during the peak of the season where a single cracking climb can make up for a previous bad decision. I really enjoy this mellow type of flying. A lot of that enjoyment comes down to flying the glider I feel most comfortable in.
Moyes have really kicked a goal with the Litespeed RS 3.5. I always hear remarks about it’s superior glide ratio at speed but the stand out characteristic for me is how well it climbs. This holds true regardless of how much ballast I have on board or how allusive the lift on a particular day.
Much of flying skill is handled by the subconscious and muscle memory. A key to the really being happy with how you perform is to have a glider and harness that does not impede this process. Harness wise, I am in the process of switching makes and models, stay tuned to hear how that goes. On the other hand though, I am convinced that I have found the right glider for the foreseeable future.
Dan Shaw, is also loving his new beast, a Litespeed S5. He is climbing really well and managed a PB triangle on Saturday. Awesome flying mate!
Finally, we get to the title of the post. With two 90km triangles in opposite directions we end up with tracklogs that look a little something like this.
This is about as much class as the usual Forbes crew can conjure up.
Thanks heaps to Steve for putting us all in the air so fast and efficiently. Thanks to Simon and Steve (again) for jumping in the car when needed. Thanks Mum and Dad for hosting all the usual crew. Thanks also to the Forbes Aero Club for preparing the strips by getting rid of that foot high green stuff all over the place – someone said it’s grass but I doesn’t grow that tall out there, does it?
Cheers,
Trent
