Mystic Cup 5 & 6

Every other weekend the local PG club puts on a 2 day comp called the Mystic Cup. The comp is geared for intermediate pilots which makes it fun for everyone. Five bucks per day gets you in the comp and scored using compgps - what an inexpensive way to improve your comp skills!

We had good conditions and great tasks both days. Sunday's task seemed a bit harder because we had more wind and patience was required to do the upwind part of the course.

On Sunday, a few of us were pushing cross/upwind to try to get over a ridge. I looked to my left and saw a pilot spinning backwards with a cravat on one side of the glider. I didn't see the glider collapse originally but I heard the story from the pilot afterwards. He was on 3/4 speedbar and took an asym collapse, and when the glider opened he had several riser twists and the cravat.

When I saw the glider doing the backwards spin, which very closely resembles a SAT, he wasn't all that high and I wondered if the reserve would come out. I was quickly approaching the lee side of the ridge and couldn't watch any more, but I did see his wing flying normally a wee bit later so he made a nice recovery.

He related that he had to kick out the twists, then slow the turning glider way down, then pick out the cravat by pulling the stabilo line, pretty clear thinking considering he was fairly G'd up without much extra altitude. But all that loss of height meant the race was over for him, he was too low to do anything but find an LZ.

From my own experience, and as obvious as it seems, taking collapses is very counter-productive when you are on speed bar and racing. I have heard from pilots better than I that it is possible to fly the wing (including comp wings) in such a way that almost no collapses result from being on the bar, and the ones that do aren't big and messy. I had an experience just like the one above, but mine ended in a reserve ride, so I am a little more cautious on bar now.

I saw a handful of gliders up high today, looks like more of the same for the next couple of days.

Stay Tuned