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Old October 9th 18, 01:36 AM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
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Default R4N Monday Day 1

Buongiorno, Day 1 Recap

Buongiorno race fans. The first contest day for Region 4 N is in the bag and it was a mixed bag at that. The day started in heavy fog. While we could see the tree line across the runway, the ski hill remained obscured. Good times. Regardless the forecast looked promising and after the morning meetings, we got down to the business of rigging. The sky began to show through and the ski hill began to appear; yeah. Then the temperature and humidity began to rise; huh? “Is this Pennsylvania in the fall or Georgia in the summer?” someone quipped.

CD Marshall McClung sent off sniffer Danny Brotto (P6) and acting-sniffer Karl Striedieck (Duo Discus KS with Peppi Sare in the back) into a 2K AGL cloud base. Lift was pretty weak and broken but when P6 announced “lift for a full circle on that one”, John Seymour declared “fait accompli” and it was on.

Launch commenced and everyone stuck with no relights required.

As expected about mid-afternoon, ground crews began to get busy. I went off to pick up Lou McDonald (LM), Mike Smith for Baude Litt (LBL). FES and SOLO also were called in for retrieve duty.

One of the sustainer-equipped pilots had engine run problems and actually had to thermal back home; hmmm…

Peppi Sa “We struggled like everybody else”.

Baude Litt (LBL): “I never struggled. It was great, good climbs. It was great up until it wasn’t and I had to land out.”

Eric Mann (P3): “I used the Power Plant multiple times. It was working great and was very reliable.”

Karl Striedieck (KS): “We went over to the Power Plant and it was not working. Landed in a field near the power station.”

The 18M guys got a day in but the FAI and Club classes did not. Check scores for more detail.

Mid-evening, a compact thunderstorm formed over Hancock Md about 40 miles to our west. The blow off from the cell spread out across the sky making for a particularly colorful close to a very busy day.

Dinner was Lasagna (www.stouffers.com/Frozen/Lasagna) and a very nice salad (salad prepared by Christiane Litt.)

Day 2 beaks foggy. A half hour ago, the tree line across the runway was not visible but now we can see an outline of trees, sort of. Looks to be improving. Pilot’s meeting at 10.

Danny Brotto