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Carol Clifford .................
..................discovers the wonders of Wi-Fi and sends news from Bloemfontein >>
Discretion has obviously made sense as all the pilots have opted to land back at New Tempe. It would have made no sense to continue the task beyond the first smaller triangle as the sky is not at all conducive to gliding, let alone any other sort of flying!
Already a bolt of lightning has been seen, so we are happy to have all the gliders back on the ground - even if Anders Andersen is not back on the airfield but in a field some 17 km. from the airfield.
This evening we will enjoy another party - this time hosted by the SA Weather Service, so we look forward to that.
LEO, Pieter Nouwens, has landed back at the airfield, as has Bruno Pieraerts and now Dave Mortimer. Anders Andersen has outlanded. And we wait for more news!
Well I think we could have a total mass outlanding day - the weather looking out of the hangar looks decidedly horrid and I think we'll be lucky if we see actually see any of them finish today. So much for the expected forecast!!
The over development has spread virtually as far as the eye can see, and I do not believe that they will be able to get around. On the tracking system we can see LEO (Pieter Nouwens) who has done quite well and is approaching New Tempe to overfly the airfield. It would mean he will get the bonus point as the first to overfly it.
The gliders started at 13.35, and the bets are already placed for the finishing time! Yesterday's winner of the finishing time for the first glider home was jointly won by Richard Glennie and Michelle von den Nieuwenhof. It looks as if the winnings are being kept and held for a big celebration on Saturday evening!
13.05 All the gliders are now launched and the sky does not look at all like the forecast. There is definite o/dev to be seen and the pilots are not so happy! Anyway the start gate opens at 13.35 so guess they will have to go and the start altitude will remain at 1000 m.
The following task details are courtesy of Peter 'Boris' Wyld - thanks Peter!
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| Day 4, 07/12/2006 | |||||||||||
| Unknown script | |||||||||||
| Turnpoint | Distance | Direction | Observation zone | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP Start Line | 1.1km | To Next Point, R=3.0km, Angle=90° | |||||||||
| Dealesville | 54.0km | 315° | Symmetrical, R=3.0km, Angle=90° | ||||||||
| R4 | 28.5km | 229° | Symmetrical, R=3.0km, Angle=90° | ||||||||
| New Tempe | 62.9km | 110° | Symmetrical, R=3.0km, Angle=90° | ||||||||
| Crossroads | 83.9km | 330° | Symmetrical, R=3.0km, Angle=90° | ||||||||
| Zoltpan | 36.3km | 23° | Symmetrical, R=3.0km, Angle=90° | ||||||||
| Peilkop | 87.4km | 170° | Symmetrical, R=3.0km, Angle=90° | ||||||||
| GP Finish Line | 23.2km | 146° | To Previous Point, R=3.0km, Angle=90° | ||||||||
| Total: | 376.2km | ||||||||||
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Latest update - a change in the task as they are worried about overdevelopment to the NW, so task C which they will now be flying takes them further north than NW is:
Polygon with 6 points, distance 375.6 km.
GP Start line - Dealesville - R4 - New Tempe - Crossroads - Zoltpan - Peilkop - GP Finish line
Our met lady is a little confused this morning as she says it should be dry today and blue, but already we can see some cloud forming here and there.
The winds are quite strong gusting 20 knots but should be NW'ly approx. 10
- 15 knots. The good news is that cloud base should reach 15 - 16 000 ft and thermal activity about 5 m/sec. The temperatures will be in the 32 -
33 deg. Further north there is more chance of cu developing. As a result two tasks have been set with A task Polygon with 5 points distance 474.2 km.
GP Start line - R9 - Christiana - New Tempe - R4 - Peilkop - GP finish line
B Task
Polygon with 5 points distance 365.6 km.
GP Start line - R1 - R19 - New Tempe - R4 - Peilkop - GP finish line
Today the pilots have been asked to relay to the ground when they are turning overhead New Tempe.
Last evening we were hosted by ATNS (Air Traffic Navigation Services) to drinks and snacks, which were most enjoyable. It was a beautiful warm balmy evening with barely a breath of wind and the pilots could relax and talk about their day's flying.
Yesterday was a really good day with speeds well up in the 130's kph.
Laurens Goudriaan was really in form and came steaming home with a speed of 138.5 kph. He left Doc Mark Holliday behind who was more than 2 minutes later at a speed of 136.3 kph. Sven Olivier was 3rd for the day at 135.2 kph followed by the Austrian, Heimo Demmerer, at 134.9 kph.
The dissipation of the clouds yesterday afternoon did happen but only late into the afternoon, so there were clouds for most of the task although there were less than when the pilots launched - so the pilots had good conditions with some excellent climbs up to 12 000 ft. or thereabouts. A few had problems on the final leg, but for the most part, were very happy with the conditions. On the whole, I think the pilots are happier flying when there are clouds than on blue days . . .
So today's forecast will set them the challenges again, as the forecast looks as if it will be another blue day! The wind is blowing yet again and again pretty strongly.
Briefing as usual will be at 11 a.m. so more news thereafter.
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