Littlefeild 91

Fifteen minutes after I arrived at a bone dry airport, the rains hit. The rains continued steadily for 3 days. The practice day, and contest days one and two washed out. Yuck. Had some fun just shooting the shit. McKenearny, ME-2 told me about getting his Cirrus and kept us entertained for some time. Mike Reams came down to crew for the weekend and helped move the trailers about in the mud. Several pilots got discouraged and left. Finally on the 3rd scheduled contest day the rain quits. The sky is full of Q at about 3500agl. The wind is blowing 20mph. I take my tow, climb and go through the gate. Several dead Q's later I land with SH, a BG12 and MV a PIK 20.

While we wait to try again, Ron Clark in PPP enters the pattern. When I first see him he is very low. On base leg he is below the power lines. He has the nose up in a skidding turn trying to line up with the runway. On his base/final turn he hits in the field short of the runway. I believe left wing and main gear struck the ground simultaneously. The glider turns 90 degrees while sliding in the dirt and appears to hit the perimeter fence. In a few seconds Ron is out of the cockpit and OK, but his new LS-6 is a mess.

Mark Reams helps me re-launch and I nearly blow it myself on take-off. Trading off between elevator and rudder to try to stay on the pavement, the ship baloons with inadequate speed for roll control. The left wing hits pavement with the glider in the air. Yikes! Suddenly we are flying and all is OK. Again I climb and go through the gate, not really wanting to go out on course.

Within minutes of my start I hear pilots calling low and landing. While trying to stay local, the wind drift takes me downwind out of gliding distance and soon I decide to go. About 10 miles out I am down dolphining in the dirt. My low point was below 1500 agl. Circling in one weak thermal for 20 minutes takes me across the sand hills. A few minutes later and glory be I am high at Springlake! I see HDO and ME2 head south above me and strike out for Littlefield.

I would have been delighted to have any speed points at all! But today it is not to be so. I go south into the wind under a good looking cloud street but can't find any lift. While still high I passed up some weak ones that I judged too weak to beat the wind drift and move me South. At 3000 agl I decide I will try any positive indications of lift. I cross the sand hills. Soon I am back over the same fields I contemplated on the way south. 2000 feet and nothing, 1500 feet and 2 potential fields picked out. 1000 feet and searching under a Q on downwind for one field choice. A nibble and I circle for 3 or 4 turns then break off to land. The field is a cotton field and I am lined up with the furrows landing to the South. In the middle of the south end of the field is a farm house. On final I realize that what looked like a north south road leading straight to the house is really just a strip without any crop. No fence or sticks, I correct to line up on this and save the cotton. 50 feet and the open strip looks like it could possibly be packed hard enough to roll out so I dump the flaps and touch down at the very end of it maybe 500 feet from the farmhouse. I should have floated. About 50 feet into the feild I am stopped. The field is too soft to even push the glider!

I get my landing card and map and head to the house. I knock on the door and a lady about my age answers. "Hi, I just landed my glider in your field and was wondering if I could use your phone?". Seeming not the least bit surprised she invites me in. How disappointing, no double take at all! This usually gets me a funny look at least. Inside I get out my credit card to call contest headquarters. "It isn't long distance." the lady of the house tells me. How disgusting. I'd at least like to think I had gotten far enough out for it to be long distance! The farmer helps me out by pulling the glider up next to the house with his tractor, and for this I owe him many thanks. This makes a potentially back breaking retrieve a breeze. My Dad and I have warned Mark, my crew about retrieves from muddy fields, so as he drives up in the truck I hold up my mud caked tennis shoes and grin.

We get the glider in the trailer ok, but Mark says the road looks bad on the way back and he isn't sure we'll make it to the highway with the glider. The first bit of muck is in a straight run of section road, so I decide to just plow into it doing about 25mph. "I don't know Ron..." Mark says. The mud is about 6 inches deep for about 100 feet and when we hit it my little truck is all over the place. I grit my teeth expecting the trailer to whip us off the road at any second but the trailer is steadier than the truck. We emerge a real mucky mess, but we made it! The other spot Mark was worried about was not quite so bad but at a blind corner where we couldn't get such a running start. I plowed into it as fast as I dared hoping that if someone were coming they would have the sense to slow down for such a mess. The truck swayed and the mud flew but finally we made it to the blacktop!

It turns out that my Dad was the only member of the Leonard racing team to finish that day. Dave and Steve both landed out. Dad went and got Steve, and Steve went and got Dave. What a lovely day.

Day 2 emerged with the promise of improved soaring and a 3 hour minimum time task for the sports class. The cu's don't start until fairly late and I wonder if this will work out any better. Off tow I have no trouble getting up and playing start gate roulette. The task opens and I head into the wind. Soon I find myself with my Dad, 2X. We head south and make good progress for a little while but have started too early. In the blue we drive toward Levelland with no thermal markers ahead in a rather dead sky. I put myself about 1/4 mile off Dad's right wing, behind and below. We press on lower and lower. With about 1500 feet agl left, we hit a bump and make a circle which really doesn't work out too well. Now at 1400 feet I have no idea where to look for the lift so follow Dad's lead as he corrects and gets into a weak bit of up. As we circle around a glass ship enters at my altitude and I am forced to conform to his circle. He isn't staying in the lift!!

Dad climbs steadily away and finally the glass ship gives up and heads south and I re-center what little lift is there. It finally turns good and I work with Elliot (Use to be Falling Rock) in his 1-26. Again I head south and now the 15 meter guys are blowing past me. I take a picture at Levelland and head north. About 2 miles from the turn I work a thermal with Air Force, Jim Pane. We climb together in what for me is the best lift yet. When we head north, much to my dismay, his ASK21, handicap 1.2 blows the doors off of my HP-16, handicap 1.05. Showing 70mph on my airspeed he moves steadily ahead and above!

I go north with the wind to Littlefield and head on toward Muleshoe, electing not to photograph Littlefield. Near Sudan I finally get to Q! Now I make good time with good lift. From Muleshoe I return to Littlefield for a turn point picture, finding myself again with Air Force. He got low on the way to Muleshoe and I caught up. We glide together to Sudan. I watch him take his turn point picture from about 1/2 mile behind. I take mine and drop in trail heading back for Littlefield. Again I watch him glide ahead, up and away.

The gate at Littlefield is on the south end of the feild and I am coming from the north. My final glide goes atrosciously steep for 70mph so I use up the last few hundred feet in a steep approach and take a rolling finish. Mark Reams, my crew is elated that I actually made it!

That night we go out to dinner at a local steak house. The pilot of PSY tells us that at the 15 meter nationals, 10% of the entrants were TSA members. I reply, "At this contest, 10% of the competitors ... are Leonards."

Day 3 looks to be the best of all and a 3 hour minimum time task is called for sports. Today I start early and head down a nice cloud street to to south. I detour sharply west at the edge of the street and take my first turn point picture at Morton. Dad overtakes me at the turn having started well after I did. How does he do that? I turn back north under great Q and fly to Sudan. Here I decide to head east, but it just doesn't work out. I turn north and fly to Springlake to cut my losses.

From Springlake I go west to Williams. I had a devil of a time spotting that place! I went right to it but didn't see it until I was within 2 miles! About a mile from the turn ME2 was marking a great thermal with his Cirrus. I took two turns in it, then went on into the wind to take my turn point picture and go back to it. Great Q and great lift were everywhere! I headed back to Littlefield. I thought about picking up an extra picture at Sudan, but ran in lots of sink. I again found myself taking a rolling finish from the north. Home again!

Too bad the contest was already over. I had a great time flying at Littlefield with the Leonard racing team and KC Alexander. Dad took 2nd in sports! K.C. Alexander was great company and put in a great contest as well. He took 4th and was only a few points out of the 3rd place trophy! At the awards banquet, my brothers introduced themselves as Leonard racing team members. K.C. introduced himself with a big grin "I am K.C Alexander and I am being trained by the Leonard racing team!" Three days of rain in Texas made for a short contest. Ah well, back to Kansas.