On Tuesday, 11 July 2017 20:43:57 UTC+1, Tony wrote:
Thanks Fat Albert, not sure what FES had to do with it. The terrain here in Hungary is much like my home of Kansas. Half of the fields are wheat, the harvest is in progress, and there are a million places to land. There also are a lot of Sunflowers here too. Just like home.

For the record, SeeYou says the bottom point of that climb was 780 ft. AGL.


Tony

I've flown in Hungary, do they still burn 2km square stubble fields by lighting all four sides at once with multiple vehicles towing burning rags? Often ducked clumps of burning straw when climbing in a field fire, Hungary is the only place I ever ducked a burning bale!

I've also flown an, admittedly non self launcher, FES sailplane.

My estimate of your above the ground height came from seeing altitude 250m or so on the tracker with the ground there about 100m ASL. Whatever, 500ft or 750ft, it was brave to drift off over what appeared to be an unlandable area at that height.

For me the decision would have been influenced by the FES, it's the only virtually instant start thermal-on-demand system out there, would you have made the same decision without the FES?

No criticism intended, that's the whole point of the FES to me, no compromise on soaring decisions, no abandoning of soaring because you've got an ion thermal [geddit :-)]

Uli didn't, he chose to land there pretty much.