Bright 321, Day Four

Today had all the makings of an excellent day for flying. It was coming up the face at Mystic and a 71 km task was set that took us to Blackfellas, Smoko, and then into the Keawa Valley for a turn point at Running Creek with goal at Mt Beauty airstrip.

The wind techs were high, and it was on - I launched during the 15 minute open window, and getting up was easy. There was some turbulence at the inversion which was around 1300 meters, but nothing unusual for Mystic in my opinion.

Pilots had made the crossing to Clearspot and were getting really high there, they later reported the air was friendly. I needed a stronger thermal so I could break through the inversion - leaving for Clearspot at 1300 meters isn't enough height with my glide.

Then they cancelled the task because of turbulence. After landing, I talked to pilots and many thought the cancellation was premature. In retrospect, they may have a point considering the Mt Hotham observations backed off below 10 knots after 1pm today.

We have four more days left in the comp. The picture was taken during Task 1.

Stay Tuned