2008-07 - Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association of Canada

MILES IN MAY
happy with, especially after leaving so
late in the day.
Ross was the only one to make goal,
and I finished second for the day with
Leif a little ways behind me.
Day 2 was a race to the Bassano airport
— 73 km. Ross won the day again,
managing to get within site of goal while
the rest of us struggled to make the minimum
distance. How does he do it
Fiona managed a low save from a few
hundred feet to make it farther down
course, finishing second for the day.
Doug Litzenburger and Leif managed to
make it beyond minimum distance.
Day 3 was a race to Bassano again.
Doug Keller wanted to swap roads, as
the 255 crew were getting better flights.
The forecast looked good, but when we
arrived at the tow roads, there was high,
thick cirrus cloud over us.
Off to the west, the sky looked great, so
we set up and visited for a bit while waiting
for the cloud to push off to the east.
Lorne took the first tow and soon
landed. He claimed he found some good
lift and that a better pilot would have
climbed out. I took his advice and suited
up. I towed up just after 1 p.m. and managed
to climb out slowly. I was happy
with the slow climb, as I wanted time
for the cirrus cloud to push farther east
ahead of me.
As I looked back to the west, a huge
cumulus cloud had shaded in both tow
roads. I felt like I had timed it perfectly.
I headed on course, taking my time to let
the clouds move ahead of me. After about
35 km, I was at cloud base at the edge of
the cirrus cloud. Behind me, the nice blue
sky with puffy clouds was getting smaller,
while the sky was starting to overdevelop
further west.
My choice was to head north to betterlooking
sky or head out under the high
cirrus clouds. I didn’t see any point in
going north when it wasn’t going to get
me any closer to goal. I headed east under
the clouded area and, as I expected,
I found no lift and landed after flying 50
km. I called Cathie for a ride, assuming
Ross is most likely going to be close to
me, but she told me Ross hadn’t gotten
away yet.
I was confident that I would win the day,
as the blue patch was getting smaller.
I called my driver to come and get me
and just as he arrived, Ralf called. He landed
on the same road 10 km east of me.
I was stunned he got by me, but happy
to finish second to him, as it will add validity
to the day.
When we got to Ralf, I received a call
from Ross. He was just short of goal —
again! I really can’t figure out how he
got so far when I flew into the abyss and
never got a beep. On our way to get Ross,
we saw another glider land on the Trans-
Canada Highway. It turned out to be Darryl
Bosser and he told us Bruce Hanson
landed just down the highway from him.
They launched between rain cells and
flew through snow and rain and landed
just short of goal. So much for my perfect
timing.
By Day 4, the forecast was for rain for
the rest of the week. I headed back to
work and every one else heads home.
Camrose has a better forecast so several
of us head up there for the weekend. Friday
and Saturday turned out to be pretty
good days and Ross continued to school
us in northern Alberta.
Thanks again to Ross for organizing
the meet and kicking our butts. Also a big
thanks to Cathie for all the work she put
into organizing and retrieve. Thanks to
Karen Keller, who was out helping as always.
We also had drivers for the tow rigs
this year, which made it so much easier
not having pilots tow each other up.
AIR MAGAZINE | JULY 2008 17