I just remembered a classic nit-picker yarn. Sergio Colacevich figured out a way to get all three Diamonds in one flight by declared Death Valley and return from Truckee. That covered Diamond distance and he declared Death alley and return for Diamond Goal, but how was he going to get Diamond altitude gain? He pulled the spoilers in Death Valley and deliberately descended down to about 1000 feet above seal level, then climbed out, eventually reached about 17,700 feet on his way back to Truckee..........WOW, Wonderfull flight, right?

Our designated nit-picker had his hands full with this one. Sergio had obviously flown way over the required distance and his declaration looked pristine, how’s he going to throw this one out? Then he checked the max temperature difference between Truckee and Death Valley.............that worked, temperature rise adversely affected the barograph trace, just enough to decline Sergio’s 16,404 foot required altitude gain! CLAIM DENIED!

Old Sergio got the final laugh, though, he pled his case to the full SSA board and they recognized his claim!

JJ