Hobbs 1998
Left home Saturday at 6:45. Kit didn't understand why he couldn't go to the airport with me. Seeing him wave goodbye as I drove away about broke my heart. It was very hard to leave. Drove to Hobbs in 15 hours. Stopped only to take on fuel and dump ballast. Consistently pushing the speed limit on the way down. The minimum speed limit. 105degrees and 30mph head wind with trailer and hills makes for slow going.
Sunday, practice day, man did shit go wrong. Left my radio on at home so it was dead. Got out the Terra and let it get too hot and it quit working. Bob Holiday loaned me his radio and the Terra recovered. One of my camera's had its takeup spool drive mechanism die. Oxygen line blew up even when the regulator was off. I guess at least the needle valve doesn't leak.
Got a late launch (about 3:00) on a 3 hour post. Tape can loose immediately and oh boy was it loud. First turn was called as Jal. Got off tow in a fair thermal and climbed to about 7000 msl. Headed north and got another good climb to about 11,000 feet. Headed for the gate, Charlie calls out that practice start gate will close in 30 minutes! Was nervously looking for IP and other traffic. First start was too high. Second start was fine. Weaved southeast/southwest trying to hit good cu's. As I went south the cu's got much bigger and some over development was apparent. When I got to Jal it was completely obscured in shadow but still some lift. Cruise between thermals on the first leg was characterized with tremendous sink, 1000fpm or worse at 90 mph indicated on the Ball.
Got to 15,000 feet just north of Jal in a very strong climb and went on in for a picture. Headed back north and realized as I got close to Eunice that I could probably get home without additional circling. Favored the east side of the course line as the Cu's looked better there. Took a picture at Hamilton and then headed for Lovington. Got about half way between Hobbs and Lovington without hitting any more lift so
I turned for Hobbs and called it a day.
TO 3:00
Land 5:20
Jal 44.5
Hamilton 44.0
Return 15.5
104miles
1st Contest Day
In the morning, Charlie threatened to scrub entirely due to threat of severe storms. There were scattered mid level clouds for about 6/10 coverage and I was very doubtful that we would fly. Dick Johnson quietly suggested to Charlie that the local forecasters really tended to overcall storms and that soaring conditions would probably come in later. Launch began at about 1:00 with no qu's to be found.
TO 1:41
Starts: 2:25 2:49 2:56
Finish 5:57
Distance: Eunice 22
Lovington 36
Maljamar 22
Denver City 54
Return 25
159miles
Towed behind the L-19. The last 3 miles of tow we just didn't climb. When we just scratched up to 2000 feet I really didn't want to get off! Fortunately for me Dennis Brown in LY was thermalling just about a half mile south. I went and joined up with him in a very nice thermal where he proceeded to out climb me.
As I waited for the task to open I watched the weather. The required first turn was Eunice and there was overbuilding, dark shadow and virga to the south. There were two lines of it each running north south with a gap that was sliding east. A little after 2:30 the sun finally shone on a line from Hobbs all the way to Eunice. I dove for the gate and got a great start with 120mph right at the top of the gate. As I went south I got up to 11,000 feet or better. I was able to hold out for some good lift, managed to keep RA in sight most of the way down. Close to Eunice I got a nice thermal, dove in and took my picture. There were two gliders on the runway. From Eunice I ran north until I was north of Hobbs municipal before I got another good climb. I swung on north with Tatum in mind. Worked a thermal with one of the really big ships. After a few turns it died down and I headed on. Just west of Hobbs I thought about Dick Johnson's comments about it being good out west. It looked like Tatum was overbuilding so I decided to go to Lovington, take a picture and think about it for a little while.
At Lovington I got a nice thermal to over 12,000 and decided to go to Maljamar. As I went west it got rapidly better. I had one climb which averaged over 800fpm and went to 16,600 feet. I made the run to Maljamar and back to Lovington quickly enough I was starting to think I might be under time. I went south of Lovington toward good looking Cu's but missed the lift under cloud after cloud. I turned gradually more toward Hobbs as things went sour. Finally at about 6500msl about 5 miles from Hobbs on the Lovington Highway I hit a weak one. After a few more tries I got to 8500msl and decided I should at least try for Denver City. I worked up to Abandoned to the next decent Cus and tiptoed east for a little while. Denver City had looked like it would be dead but as I got closer the Cus formed and I got to about 12000 feet about 4 miles NW of the airport.
I dove in for a picture and set up for a final glide. On the way in I followed Chip?? in the ASW-15. I was not at all confident I would make it as mile after mile I went through more sink. Coming in from Denver City with no GPS I couldn't find any good position fixes. I cruised at 80 to 85 and watched the airport slowly grow in the canopy. I wasn't at all sure if I would make it or not. I ran in some moderate lift in the last two miles and ended up crossing at about 1000 feet and 110mph
OFFICIAL Day # 1 6/22/98 Printed 6/24/98 15:09
Sports Class
PILOT SELECTED TASK
Min Time: 02:30 Max Time: 05:00
Mandatory Turnpoints: 11
Comp --Day--- --Accum-- Speed/*Dist ---Penalty----
Rank Num Name Plane Rank Pts Rank Pts Raw Hdcp Codes Pnts Turnpoints"
1 2U Garner ASW 15 1 933 1 933 66.90 66.90 50,11,23,7,9,38,7,10,51
2 JD Johnson Ventus A 1 2 892 2 892 71.84 63.94 50,11,1,15,7,24,10,51
3 LAW Heath DG 600 15 3 801 3 801 64.04 57.45 50,11,38,28,23,10,51
4 G6 Hodgkins Grob 102 C 4 780 4 780 52.94 55.96 50,11,24,7,10,51
5 DUO Ecklund/Barry Duo Discus 4 780 4 780 66.89 55.92 50,11,23,7,20,23,10,51
6 4J Leonard HP-16 6 768 6 768 51.80 55.06 50,11,23,24,10,51
7 73 Calhoun ASH 25 7 722 7 722 66.12 51.77 50,11,3,16,28,10,51
8 GO Osoba Woodstock 8 703 8 703 28.75 50.40 50,11,1,10,51
9 AF5 Barnett ASK-21 9 635 9 635 37.15 45.55 50,11,1,2,10,51
10 V1 Herold SZD 42-1 10 608 10 608 50.41 43.60 MT 50,11,23,1,10,51
11 LY Brown Mosquito 11 601 11 601 44.42 43.08 50,11,1,23,2,16,10,51
12 AF4 Skillington ASK-21 12 423 12 423 *123.96 *152.84A 50,11,2,28,10,>51
13 R4 Bassett ASW 20A 13 299 13 299 *127.65 *114.88 50,11,23,24,16,>10
14 LP Smith Mini Nimbu 14 203 14 203 *70.09 *68.34ASI 50,11,1,2,>51
15 19 Holliday ASW19 15 187 15 187 *64.06 *62.14A 50,11,23,>10
We had Chips and dips in the hangar. It got a little exciting when the gust front from a thunderstorm hit with 40-50mph winds just as a towplane and glider landed! Chip Garner and Dick Johnson blew us all away but I stayed within a few points of the 3rd placer.
2nd Contest Day
Was 4th on the launch line, took off behind an ag wagon at about 12:40. There was not a single cloud in the sky. The forecast was for Cu's later, and decent soaring. The task was 3.5 hour post with a first turn of Crossroads. I was pretty unhappy about the call as Crossroads is not an airport and is 50 miles out. One of the things I have always liked about sports class is that I could stay close and only over good terrain. It turned out not to be too bad. Crossroads is still on the edge of the cultivated country, the empty desert is just to the west.
Dennis Brown in LY marked a good first thermal for me right off tow. We had a one hour start time interval so I decided to "waft" and just take it easy for a little bit. With none of the forecast Cu's yet forming I had no interest in starting right away. The cu's gradually came in and I took a start at about 2:00. I went through the gate with two others. One passed me on the left, the other on the right. We all hit the top of the gate at 100+mph within about 20 seconds.
I turned and headed north under some very nice clouds. I had several markers in site on the run north. I went under gaggles at least 3 times and just kept going when their thermals turned out not to be too great. I made good 60mph ground speed to Tatum. From here the trick was just to find Crossroads. What I first thought was the town turned out to be just an oddly colored patch of ground. I had to go about 3 miles straight west to get the real turn point. After taking the picture I got a really good climb in the blue and headed northeast toward Morton. I got to over 14,000 feet and fired up the oxygen system. At Morton I still was estimating my average speed at 60mph or better. I headed south toward Plains and started to botch it. I went under 4 or 5 clouds with the varios hanging straight down and got down to about 4000 agl. With no good looking Cu's ahead for another 5 miles I wimped out and took a weak thermal. I was amazed that I could find such tremendous sink without hitting any lift, it just didn't seem right. After being 10000 agl things looked remarkably big at 4000, amazing how your perspective can change. At this point I knew my flight would not win the day but I hoped to salvage a decent time.
I pressed on south keeping my options opened as long as I could stand it. It looked like going on south would be easy but actually going west to Hobbs might be tricky. I followed the best looking Cu's and they took me to Seagraves. If all went well on the glide back to Hobbs I would be under time. Good clouds went on south to Seminole but I decided to go for Hobbs. If I made good time I would take a picture there, go north to Abandoned and then finish. It was not to be as I hoped. From just west of Seagraves I fell like a stone. North of Hamilton I was down to about 2500 feet. With 15 miles to go and the kind of sink I had been hitting I didn't want to push my luck. I turned south toward Hamilton airport and hoped to find lift. North of Hamilton there is a refinery where one of the stacks puts off a tremendous flame. I came over the stack at about 2000 agl and got a little bump. Again there were no other good clouds close and I decided it was time to take anything I could get. I spent several minutes not going up or down. Finally I looked down at the flame and it was not pointing in the direction of the prevailing wind. I figured it had to be pointing toward a thermal so I went in the direction the flame pointed. It worked, I got into a small thermal and got up to about 8000 feet but at the cost of about 20 minutes!@#$. Now my decent time was downgraded further to crappy. From there I made my final glide in. Again, I wasn't sure I would even make it and then ran in a bunch of lift in the last few miles. I crossed the line at 800 feet and about 120mph.
Flew 5 Hours
Crossroads 52
Morton 38
Seagraves 56
Return 41
187
My one remaining camera malfunctioned and would not rewind. Oh good. Turned in with note, I hope they get the film out OK. At the very best I knew that the two protracted weak climbs would plummet me down the score sheet.
Region 9 Hobbs New Mexico
Hobbs Industrial Airport
UNOFFICIAL Day # 2 6/23/98 Printed 6/24/98 15:28
Sports Class
PILOT SELECTED TASK
Min Time: 03:15 Max Time: 06:
Mandatory Turnpoints: 9
Comp --Day--- --Accum-- Speed/*Dist ---Penalty----
Rank Num Name Plane Rank Pts Rank Pts Raw Hdcp Codes Pnts Turnpoints
1 2U Garner ASW 15 3 886 1 1819 68.64 68.64 50,9,26,28,2,10,28,2,16,51
2 LAW Heath DG 600 15 2 921 2 1722 79.54 71.34 50,9,28,26,1,28,51
3 GO Osoba Woodstock 1 1000 3 1703 44.17 77.44 50,9,2,1,10,2,51
4 JD Johnson Ventus A 1 5 808 4 1700 70.28 62.55 MT 51,9,2,1,28,2,1,11,51
5 G6 Hodgkins Grob 102 C 6 797 5 1577 58.41 61.74 MT 50,9,28,2,1,11,16,51
6 DUO Ecklund/Barry Duo Discus 7 762 6 1542 70.57 59.00 50,9,26,6,28,11,2,51
7 4J Leonard HP-16 9 706 7 1474 51.45 54.69 50,9,26,33,51
8 LY Brown Mosquito 4 834 8 1435 66.62 64.62 50,9,28,38,10,2,1,16,2,51
9 73 Calhoun ASH 25 10 653 9 1375 64.62 50.60 MT 50,9,22,10,51
10 AF5 Barnett ASK-21 11 648 10 1283 40.92 50.16 50,9,28,10,2,51
11 V1 Herold SZD 42-1 12 626 11 1234 56.06 48.50 50,9,2,28,10,2,11,23,51
12 R4 Bassett ASW 20A 8 749 12 1048 64.41 57.97 50,9,38,28,1,2,16,28,10,51
13 AF4 Skillington ASK-21 14 525 13 948 32.97 40.65 50,9,28,10,51
14 LP Smith Mini Nimbu 13 613 14 816 48.70 47.48 MT 50,9,28,10,1,2,51
15 19 Holliday ASW19 15 452 15 639 36.07 34.99 SI 50,9,38,28,33,34,16,51
PENALTY CODES
MT - Under Minimum Time SI - Start interval exceeded
Day 3
Higher wind today. Sports class is launched last. On the launch line I remarked to Chip Garner's crew that I had bought a ticket to that evening's bbq and that was surely the kiss of death for me. The task was 3 hour, first turn Seagraves. Seagraves? Yuck! Just before my launch (grid spot #50) the cu's start to form, none in the direction of Seagraves. Again we had a dry line running right through Hobbs. The clouds were in a narrow strip running from southwest to northeast. I decided to wait at least until 2:00 to start to give cu's a chance to form on course. The first start I took I was afraid I would get called for being too high and not be able to get back in time to keep from violating STI but just got under the wire. I pushed out a bit to the east and a bunch more sports class guys went through. Not wanting to be a marker for them I circled back and started again. This time I was low but hit fantastic lift just after the mark to make up for it. There was a really nice cu straight north and in an arc north of Denver City so I decided to try to go north of course and stay with the cu's as far as I could.
I had a couple of really nice climbs on course and got to over 12,000 feet. Finally I had to jump off the end of the Cu's and run the last 5 or so miles in to the turn in the blue. I spotted LAW a thousand or so feet below me. I got a climb in the blue about 2 miles from Seagraves and got comfortably high, 11,000 feet or so. I took my picture and headed for Plains. One of the air force ASK21's marked a thermal for me but it wasn't much so I pressed on. I got back to cu's at about 5000agl but went under several with no positive result ariving finally over the town of Plains. I finally turned north/northeast to the best looking cu along the direction of streeting and got to it with under 3000 agl after about a 3 mile run. A fair climb resulted and I got back to cloud base. About this time I spotted the storms between me and Hobbs. There were large areas of dark shadows and rain. The storm seemed to be a line about 10 miles long oriented north south. I pushed straight west toward Tatum hoping to get closer to home while avoiding the storms. About half way to Tatum I decided the clouds north of Tatum looked better so I deviated a little more north to Crossroads. As I took my picture at Crossroads another set of clouds overbuilt with rain and lightning just west of the course from Crossroads to Tatum. I knew every second would count in getting around the storms back to Hobbs.
I got a great climb just under the edge of the storm shelf and climbed to 13,600 feet. It looked like if I could get south of Tatum I would be south of the new storms and behind the first wall I had been watching earlier. It looked like I had a good chance of sneaking back into Hobbs. I headed south at 90mph. It was ominously smooth. I heard one of the air force planes call out that he was landing near Tatum. North of Tatum I ran into gentle rain. What a horrible feeling, with each drop I knew I was rapidly loosing altitude. I slowed down to 55/60 mph and held my couse line. In just a few minutes of rain my altitude dropped from possibly being able to no chance without another climb. About 2 miles northwest of Tatum I got out of the rain and spotted GO above me. At Tatum I was down to 10,000 msl. GO and I ran along the same course for about 5 miles before he stopped to make a circle, a moment of joy turned back to tension as I swung through his circle, found no lift and pressed on south. The further I went south, the further the shadows extended both west and south. With rain and lightning still about 2 miles west I watched the altimeter unwind as my guts wound up. The smoke off of a fire about 10 miles straight east of me indicated we had picked up a very strong wind out of the south. As I pushed south the situation got steadily worse. I had originally hoped to get to the Cu’s with 4000+ feet AGL. Finally I got to the edge of the Cu's at about 2500 agl. GO called that he was landing just north of Lovington. I was about a mile north east of Abandoned. The first two clouds didn't work out and I was clearly below glide slope for Hobbs. At the Denver City/Lovington highway I turned to the east to use my remaining altitude looking for lift rather than trying to squeak into Hobbs. Three times I got a small hint of lift and gained a little altitude only to loose the thermal again. As I got low I looked over the landing possibilities and they weren't great. Mostly desert scrub or the corners of circular irrigators. There was one where the area between the circle and the fence was over a wingspan at the narrowest point. There was a house across the street, a cattle guard (not a gate) and I watched a truck drive through it over to the house. I decided if I had to go down that would be the place. Finally at only 1000 agl I made one last try at thermaling. Looking at the runways at Hobbs I sighed and put the gear down. The landing was uneventfull if a bit rough. It was very hard to give up with the runways at Hobbs in plain sight.
After landing I went across the street to the nearest house. The family there was very kind, refilled my water bottle and helped me with directions for my crew. The storm now cast a comfortable and cool shadow with the lightning and rain a mile or two to the north. I sat down next to my glider and read a book until Jerry and Wayne arrived. It made for an easy and uneventful retrieve. I think they were a little disappointed. I sure was. Fortunately for me the contest folks had saved some BBQ.
Launch: 1:30 Start 2:40 Landing 5:45
Turnpoints: - Seagraves 41
Crossroads 60.5
Landed 10 miles north and 3 east of Hobbs airport.
153.19 miles
Region 9 Hobbs New Mexico
Hobbs Industrial Airport
UNOFFICIAL Day # 3 6/24/98 Printed 6/25/98 12:05
Sports Class
PILOT SELECTED TASK
Min Time: 03:00 Max Time: 06:00
Comp --Day--- --Accum-- Speed/*Dist ---Penalty----
Rank Num Name Plane Rank Pts Rank Pts Raw Hdcp Codes Pnts Turnpoints
1 JD Johnson Ventus A 1 1 629 1 2329 68.52 60.98 50,33,38,23,1,2,24,51
2 LAW Heath DG 600 15 4 442 2 2164 47.80 42.87 50,33,26,51
3 2U Garner ASW 15 7 341 3 2160 *188.71 *188.71 50,33,26,22,38,>51
4 GO Osoba Woodstock 7 341 4 2044 *125.53 *220.06 50,33,28,38,>51
5 LY Brown Mosquito 5 436 5 1871 43.57 42.26 MT 50,33,28,38,23,51
6 73 Calhoun ASH 25 3 477 6 1852 59.03 46.22 MT 50,33,10,23,38,28,51
7 DUO Ecklund/Barry Duo Discus 10 282 7 1824 *181.20 *151.49 50,33,28,38,26,>38
8 4J Leonard HP-16 9 304 8 1778 *153.19 *162.84 50,33,9,>51
9 G6 Hodgkins Grob 102 C 14 134 9 1711 *68.21 *72.10 50,33,>51
10 R4 Bassett ASW 20A 2 490 10 1538 52.81 47.53 MT 50,33,9,38,23,51
11 AF5 Barnett ASK-21 12 209 11 1492 *91.30 *111.94 50,33,28,38,>51
12 V1 Herold SZD 42-1 11 220 12 1454 *136.25 *117.86 50,33,28,38,26,>51
13 LP Smith Mini Nimbu 6 366 13 1182 27.19 26.51 MT 50,33,51
14 AF4 Skillington ASK-21 13 171 14 1119 *74.30 *91.62 50,33,10,>2
15 19 Holliday ASW19 15 0 15 639 DNC
PENALTY CODES
MT - Under Minimum Time
Day 4
Forecast is for strong winds and moderate lift and cloud bases. Got off tow immediately in a very nice strong thermal in a blue sky. Climbed out and moved off to the northwest. Cu's soon began to form and the day is looking very good. I took two starts in quick succession, after the second I got a good climb and headed off to the north. The first leg for 15 meter and motor gliders were both in the same direction so I decided to join them by heading to Morton.
On the way to Morton I used the other gliders as markers to great effect holding out for climbs which exceeded 500 fpm. Cloud base was over 14,000 feet and I made great time to Morton. The last climb I tried to get by using the markers was just short of Morton but I got there too late and missed it. I took my picture at Morton at about 5000 agl after about an hour on course and headed back south. I got more than a little nervous but finally got a climb from around 3000 agl back up to cloud base. Again a weak climb south of Morton and again I really hurt my speed.
I then headed south to Denver City. It was becoming a fantastic soaring day, I only stopped to circle for better than 500fpm lift. From Denver City I turned west and went to Lovington. The clouds thinned out there but the lift was even better. I got to 15,000 and headed from Lovington to Hobbs. I could have gone in for a finish but would have been a few minutes under time. A good street ran to Hobbs and to Abandoned so I decided to go a little farther. Just north of Hobbs I hit the best thermal of the day and shot back to 15,000 feet. It was higher than I needed but it was so strong I took it on up. I ran at 110mph to Abandoned. When I turned back toward Hobbs it was clear that I would not even be able to get below the TOP of the start gate for a finish. With a minute of hesitation I headed for Hamilton.
I soon realized that I had squandered too much altitude and really didn't have enough to go to Hamilton and still get home. I slowed down to 70mph and dolphined over to Hamilton taking a picture at 4000 agl. I headed for Hobbs not at all confident I would make it but with continued dolphining gradually got to and then above the desired glide slope. I finally dove into Hobbs crossing the line at 800ft and 110mph. I landed grinning ear to ear, what a great day. If only my euphoria were reflected in the score.
Takeoff: 1:24
Starts: 1:48 2:00:33
Landing: 5:46:51
Morton 72.5
Denver City 53.5
Lovington 24
Hobbs 17
Abandoned 15
Hamilton 18.5
Return 16
216.5 Miles
Region 9 Hobbs New Mexico
Hobbs Industrial Airport
UNOFFICIAL Day # 4 6/25/98 Printed 6/26/98 09:06
Sports Class
PILOT SELECTED TASK
Min Time: 03:00 Max Time: 06:00
Comp --Day--- --Accum-- Speed/*Dist ---Penalty----
Rank Num Name Plane Rank Pts Rank Pts Raw Hdcp Codes Pnts Turnpoints
1 JD Johnson Ventus A 1 5 889 1 3218 77.26 68.76 50,38,1,19,23,11,2,51
2 LAW Heath DG 600 15 3 939 2 3103 81.03 72.68 50,26,1,19,11,1,19,51
3 GO Osoba Woodstock 1 1000 3 3044 44.14 77.38 50,38,10,2,1,11,19,51
4 2U Garner ASW 15 9 831 4 3016 64.30 64.30 50,26,38,28,23,2,51
5 LY Brown Mosquito 2 949 5 2820 75.71 73.44 50,26,10,2,19,11,2,16,51
6 73 Calhoun ASH 25 4 894 6 2746 88.31 69.15 50,26,1,11,19,2,16,51
7 DUO Ecklund/Barry Duo Discus 6 883 7 2732 81.75 68.35 50,28,2,11,1,38,2,11,1,2,51
8 G6 Hodgkins Grob 102 C 7 872 8 2608 63.80 67.44 50,7,38,1,11,19,1,2,51
9 4J Leonard HP-16 10 806 9 2584 58.66 62.36 50,26,10,23,1,2,16,51
10 R4 Bassett ASW 20A 11 805 10 2343 69.24 62.32 50,24,28,19,1,2,28,51
11 AF5 Barnett ASK-21 12 778 11 2270 49.10 60.20 MT 50,28,10,2,1,11,16,51
12 V1 Herold SZD 42-1 14 710 12 2189 63.54 54.96 MT 50,28,10,23,11,2,23,51
13 LP Smith Mini Nimbu 8 851 13 2033 67.55 65.86 50,38,11,2,1,11,2,51
14 AF4 Skillington ASK-21 15 547 14 1691 34.32 42.31 50,19,42,1,51
15 19 Holliday ASW19 13 722 15 1361 57.59 55.86 MT 50,19,11,1,10,34,51
PENALTY CODES
MT - Under Minimum Time
Day 5
Forecast was for 10-20mph wind from the south, slightly better lift forecast than the previous day. As launch began winds swung around to blow out of the northwest! One of the 15M ships ground looped and two others pulled off. Charlie really didn’t want to do the elephant walk but soon had a rebellion on his hands. The rest of 15 meter class was launched and then we did the elephant walk. By this time the wind had picked up to almost 20mph and we had no real choice. That bloody airport is 2 miles long!!!! I really must make a tow bar before I have to do that again! Unlike the previous days the Cu's were just not happening.
Off tow I got a good climb to over 10,000 feet so I relaxed and studied the weather. A line of Cu's was forming from the southwest to northeast. No cu's were visible north or west. I decided I would head south after my start. Soon after the gate opened the sports class guys flocked to the start gate. I watched them go and made my run. I went through right behind V1 and hit the line just on the altitude and speed I wanted. There was a beautiful gaggle just to the south and V1 immediately tied into another great climb. The gate just flat missed me!#$!@#$
I circled back and climbed with great difficulty. I had missed a great opportunity and was now just wanting to get on course as I had a 3:15 task to do. On my second approach to the gate my handheld failed to transmit. I called IP twice with no answer so I broke off. I tried to find another thermal with no luck. Concerned that my STI might get too long I switched to my backup radio and went through the gate at 3000 agl. After another struggle I got into position again and finally got a good start right on altitude and hot.
I turned south into the blue knowing I would need at least one good climb to contact the cu's but nervous over whether I could find it with no markers. After a few minutes of free falling I was down to about 3000 feet and still not even to highway 180! Fortunately I spotted a wing flash, a thermalling glider! With renewed confidence I pushed over to 90mph and dove for his thermal. This climb got me up to over 10,000 feet. Two more short climbs would get me first to Eunice and then to cloud base at about 15,000 feet. From here I ran under good clouds and worked good lift higher and higher. I pressed on south to Wink as the clouds seemed to just get better. At Wink as I maneouvered for my turnpoint picture I suddenly realized I was over the wrong runway, a quick correction and I rolled up into the steep bank necessary for a picture. Flying left handed I made a most ungraceful maneouver that ended in a dive to 100mph before I could get the nose up and wings level. I spotted U2 beneath me and hoped I hadn't just scared the hell out of him!
U2 headed almost due north into the blue, I turned to the northeast to follow the cloud street. I was topping out at over 16,000 feet under the clouds but was a little concerned about being able to run back to Hobbs. The clouds were slowly moving farther east. I pushed on toward Seminole over terrain that can only be described as moonscape. I could not even see Seminole but was confident that in the worst case I could get there. As I pressed northeast things went well, but I could see that the big choice would be where to go during the last hour of the flight. With the cu's gradually moving east I was getting more uncomfortable over making the 3:15 minimum time with such a late start.
Shortly after I called that I was passing Andrews heading for Seminole I spotted U2 again. We pressed on to Seminole together. He went out into the blue a little northwest of me, again I pressed on down the clouds to the east. I lost sight of him when he stopped to work a thermal that I thought was not strong enough. I headed on north to Seagraves which was just off of the edge of the northwest/southeast line of clouds. At this point I still had about an hour left to go but a final glide from Seagraves would get me home too soon. I thought about going back to Seminole, but without any idea if it would work in the blue I decided to head toward Hobbs. If there was nothing working I would be high enough to glide home, if I got a good climb in the blue I would push on for another turn.
I got one good climb just over Denver City and headed for Abandoned. There was a large fire just northeast of the Abandoned which I was surprised to pass without any substantial lift. About a mile short of Abandoned and just beyond the fire I got one last climb of moderate strength that I took to 13,000 feet. From there I cruised to Lovington, shot one more picture and dove for home at 100mph. I crossed the finish line at 700 feet and 110mph.
I turned in my best daily performance of the meet with a raw speed of approximately 67mph and a 4th place daily score. I ended up 8th overall out of a field of 15.
Wink 69.5
Seagraves 90.5
Lovington 50.5
Return 17
227.5
Launch 1:50
Starts: 2:20 2:39 2:54:10
Finish: 6:15:33
Region 9 Hobbs New Mexico
Hobbs Industrial Airport
OFFICIAL Day # 5 6/26/98 Printed 6/27/98 09:09
Sports Class
PILOT SELECTED TASK
Min Time: 03:15 Max Time: 06:00
Comp --Day--- --Accum-- Speed/*Dist ---Penalty----
Rank Num Name Plane Rank Pts Rank Pts Raw Hdcp Codes Pnts Turnpoints
1 GO Osoba Woodstock 1 1000 1 4044 51.75 90.73 MT 50,28,33,10,28,33,10,2,51
2 JD Johnson Ventus A 1 2 818 2 4036 83.43 74.25 MT 50,19,34,18,19,23,1,16,51
3 2U Garner ASW 15 3 799 3 3815 72.50 72.50 50,34,19,42,18,10,51
4 LAW Heath DG 600 15 13 596 4 3699 70.42 63.16 100 50,18,6,19,1,2,51
5 LY Brown Mosquito 7 716 5 3536 66.95 64.94 MT 50,34,19,3,23,2,51
6 DUO Ecklund/Barry Duo Discus 5 735 6 3467 79.78 66.69 50,3,34,42,31,11,51
7 73 Calhoun ASH 25 9 699 7 3445 81.03 63.44 50,6,28,33,18,21,34,11,51
8 4J Leonard HP-16 4 786 8 3370 67.06 71.29 50,42,33,23,51
9 G6 Hodgkins Grob 102 C 6 720 9 3328 61.80 65.32 50,19,42,25,19,11,1,2,51
10 R4 Bassett ASW 20A 10 680 10 3023 68.59 61.73 MT 50,19,34,33,10,23,1,11,51
11 AF5 Barnett ASK-21 14 583 11 2853 43.18 52.93 MT 50,28,6,10,51
12 V1 Herold SZD 42-1 12 616 12 2805 64.56 55.85 50,28,33,22,10,2,51
13 LP Smith Mini Nimbu 8 714 13 2747 66.43 64.77 MT 50,33,34,3,18,34,3,11,51
14 AF4 Skillington ASK-21 11 667 14 2358 49.11 60.55 50,34,19,42,51
15 19 Holliday ASW19 15 568 15 1929 53.11 51.51 50,34,33,19,23,2,51
PENALTY CODES
MT - Under Minimum Time
Total Miles XC At Hobbs: 1047.9
Total Flying Time: 24.5 Hours
3 Flights Good For Diamond Goal/Goal Distance
4 Flights Good For Gold Altitude
Driving Miles 1900
Driving Time 31 Hours
The awards banquet that night was a real treat. Several soaring greats made appearances including "The Judge" Hal Lattimore and "Big John" Brittingham. Gary Osaba’s description of his flight was somewhat surprising. He spent the day west of the Cu’s. 51.7mph raw in the Woodstock was really awesome. I was glad to see him win. What a thrill for him in his first contest to win against Dick Johnson. It will be fun to see what happens to the Woodstock’s handicap next year.