TC-2015 - Day 1

I want to tell you that forecast was completely wrong, and I soared for the first time in Sequatchie Valley... alas it wasn't exactly the case.

Yes, forecast  was wrong. It didn't rain at Whitwell, it wasn't 100% overcast, but soaring part... that didn't happen.

The morning started from reviewing the weather for the day, and forming the teams. The weather forecast improved dramatically, but we were still in high pressure atea and even with sun out, it was very hazy. No wind, and thermals would be most likely weak. But we were going to fly!

Since I was team-less this year, I was semi randomly assigned to a team. Fred Kaemerer, ATOS pilot from Colorado, was assigned as A-pilot for the team. Other pilots were David Johnson, flying Captain America color scheme WW Sport 2, and Rich Elder, a Fitz pilot. We didn't put much effort into naming our team and simply called it "Thermal Thugs". 

With all that improved forecast, the task for the day was set :

    C-pilots - Whitwell->Wagner field
    B-pilots - Whitwell->Wagner->Galloway
    A-pilots - Whitwell->Wagner->Galloway->Wagner->Galloway

Explanation of waypoints http://www.tennesseetreetoppers.org/waypoints.asp

So after that was done, we all drove to Whitwell launch. Fred drove his truck with all our gliders, and I drove mine as a backup vehicle that we left at the church LZ.

After a chilly morning, launch site was amazingly hot. I was getting hopeful that day might turn out very good. Paragliders were climbing

And the skies were looking pretty good too

So after pilots meeting, and Ollie giving us a few words of wisdom

we all started running off the cliff.

I launched behind Fred and tried to follow him. In retrospect, I should have gone into a different direction to cover more ground, but I did not. Fred was turning really close to the ridge, milking whatever lift was there. I tried to do the same but that felt very uncomfortable being that close to him and the ridge, so I flown away from the ridge toward castle LZ. I hit a few pockets of lift, but turning in them proved to be a losing proposition. I got more sink than lift on each circle. 

In 7 minutes I was landing into the cow shit filled LZ. I was lucky enough to miss all the smelly spots. And my flying for the day was done. As well as for many other pilots. All pilots in my team landed in the castle lz with me. No points. Not that I care about points or anything.

Another day is tomorrow. It is going to be a tough week.