The SkyBlog

I will blog more about it later, but we completed the first big triangle here in Florida today. raw distance was 102 kms. optimized it was 70ish.

Winner of the day Andy Macrae, i was second and third was Greg Babush.

Overall winners 1st Andy macrae 2nd Yours truly David Prentice 3rd Brad Chastain.

Serial class 1st Brad Chastain 2nd  Greg Babush 3rd: Nathan Grimes

The weather this year was by far our worst with the first four days blown or rained out,

on average we loose one day a year to bad weather.

My thought is that it’s always better to end with a bang then a whimper.

today the tow operation was shut down by 2:20, we towed the first competitor at 1:00 so about 25 tows in 1 hr and 20 mins.

Once again we had a incident free event, not a single towing accident.

Congrats to all the pilots who set P.R.s and many thanks to Steve Sirrine,Natan Beane,Vlasta, Dustin Pachura, Stephen Eigles, and any one else who did tow operations for us this week. Without these people this event would not be possible.

Thanks to Dennis for retrieval coordination.

that was the biggest ECPC event to date with 6 more pilots than last year a nice steady increase helps us on our way to our goal of a 40 pilot event.

Hope to see more new faces again next year, same bat time, same bat channel.

DAvid Prentice.

the forecast was for light winds turning south, we thought that a new state record could be had so we called a goal that would be a new state record, only problem is mother nature did’nt get the memo requesting the winds turn south.

We had alot of high cirrus that was shading things, and the winds seemed to be more easterly but we thought things were light overall and that the south push would come thru, but it did not and the only pilots who had a chance to go far were the early pilots about four or five pilots who stuck on the first tows got under way and shortly after the cirrus totally shaded us out and for 2 hrs no one stuck.

I finally got towed up at 2:20 and i fought like mad in dribbles but the drift was now taking me to the SW NE winds had come in off Okeechobee and it looked impossible so i landed back at the tow pad. I towed again 10min later and this time i got some better lift but the drift was again to the SW and after struggling at 2,000 ft over the orange Grove i decided not to risk a land out and hike out from a few kms away. I glided back and to the paddock.

Third tow’s the charm, at least that’s what i told my son Sky when he asked me if i was going up again. It was, but i still struggled for a while eventually getting up from 150 ft at the launch area, climbed at 400 fpm to 3,000 and then i glided for a cloud getting to 4,000 ft but i was fighting a fierce quarter headwind.

I flew for 1.5 hrs and made three low saves making a whopping 12 kms. Brad C won the day landing north of Palcid followed by Andy M and Greg B with Vlasta there as well. Those were the lucky pilots who got away before the shade shut it down.

The forecasters blew that call big time and that’s why it’s hard for me to put any trust in that back magic crap they spew everyday, it’s mostly bullshit. I do much better myself if i just look out the window, check the clouds and pay no attention to the forecasters.

TOday Day 7 looks to be a truly light day and we plan to call a big triangle or a out and return.

Stay tuned! the final task of the 2012 ECPC is at hand!

David.

WE had strong winds again at 3,000 ft but it was doable, we knew we would have really good tailwinds and decided to put a crosswind leg in the middle and goal near Arcadia.

Task set up:

Start towpad 5 k exit with indiv times open @12:30

TP1: RDNDHW 5k

TP2: HWY31n 5k

EOS:NW goal 5k

goal nwgoal 3k

We had 10 pilots in goal and several just short.

I had the fastest time of the day 2 hrs 3 min but the leading bonus for Andy and Chris kept them with the lead. I towed pilots till there where only five left in the que then i suited up and Steve from SDI towed me to a boomer. 600 fpm lift to cloudbase at 4,800 agl.

I had a great flight catching many pilots and only twice getting a bit slow, i had a low save from 600 ft as well.

Beautiful clouds and great consistent lift exactly what we love about Florida.

Lots of happy facesin goal and back at HQ.

Day 6 looks like it might hold a 100 mile task!

Stay tuned! Day 5 results are

Andy M 1,000

Chris G 993

Jaro Krupa 890

David Prentice 881

Alex Miranda 800

the day dawned the best looking sky so far this week and it seemed for sure we would get to fly a task today.

we set a primary task with a 5k exit cyl at towpad

TP1:La Belle 5km

Tp2:Hwy312

End Of Speed at Chrltc5km

Goal: Chrltc 3 km

WE had a secondary task which started the same but then went to goal at hwy 31n with 5km EOS and 3km goal.

The winds picked up on the surface and the task comm decided to postpone the launch open till 12:30 and then again till 2:30, we finally went tot eh tow paddock and watched a few free flyers take tows and we saw the winds aloft at 20 and the pilots did find good lift and were back on the ground in minutes.

The task comm switched to the secondary task and then Nathan Grimes went airborne and got some lift but dribbled for a long time not getting good lift to base and it was decided to cancel the day with gusts still hitting 20 the clouds drying up in lake effect.

We also think we will be getting really good conditions the next three days, so it was easier to call the day knowing we have three to go.

Just got a report from Jaro Krupa who flew and he said for sure we made the right call, the air was super choppy and not good lift. Charlie Geres was last reported at cloudbase leaving the paddock heading west.

4 wasted, 3 to go.

Later,

David.

That’s right we set a new record today! the worst weather streak ever for the ECPC, never before have we had 3 days cancelled in a row.  today the winds were steady 20 gusting to 35 mph. heavy rainfall again at times.

I think all the projects have been completed now, so the boredom is setting in for most of the pilots.

Luckily there looks to be some improvement in the forecast for tomorrow. only 10% chance of rain and winds East 7 to 11 with no gust forecast which is a very good sign.

Thurs,Fri,Sat look to be vastly improved and Sat might be the day we go for a huge triangle or out and return flight with light winds and temps at 91.

Stay tuned for some actual tales of flying.

Pilot briefing at the Florida Ridge May 2nd 10:30 a.m.

David.

The pilot briefing was even cancelled due to high winds. It’s still wanking now at 11:P.m.

Looks like tomorrow will be a blowout as well and then maybe we have a chance of a task on Wednesday and for sure Thursday,Friday,Sat are looking better.

The unusually warm winter up north and drought conditions here in south Florida have heated up the tropical wave earlier then usual. When i arrived in early April the conditions felt like May and now it’s  like tropical season.

Lots of projects are being completed!!!  So the bad weather is not a loss at all. WE can now do dual tows from my vehicle and Steve can dual tow as well, so as far as we know there has never been dual,dual tows ever before, yes that’s four pilots being towed by two operators at the same time. W will be tryin out as soon as the weather permits.

David.

The management at Quest air has welcomed the ECPC to Sheets field as a remote tow location.

The weather would have been flyable there today but we could not get everything in place to run a task for today and tomorrow does not look good at either location with the strong winds forecast and 40% chance of showers.

Pilot Update: Based on the weather outlook we will not travel the three hours to Quest to chase a task that has a high probability of stoppage due the weather.

Pilots will meet at the Florida ridge at 10:00 for a pilot briefing.

We will continue to monitor the weather and give burnt sacrifices in hopes of changing things, Anyone found to be responsible for bringing this weather with them will be the next offering.

more news coming soon.

David Prentice

We called a task downwind to the junction of hwy 78 and 31. with a Tp in La Belle, then goal at the junction of 78 and 31. then the rain started to fall and we shortly cancelled the task.

The weather is not looking good for the next several days, so we are on to other things like hacking a hole in the roof of my van so the tracking head of my new SDI paragliding tow rig can fit thru the roof.

More projects will be finished tomorrow if the weather continues like this.

Stay tuned.

We decided to take it easy on the Spring Flingers for the last task so we called a 53.5 km task.

With a 5km exit cyl and a 10k TP at top of the triangle of doom, then a control point 3km along hwy 74 and goal at the junction of hwy 74 and hwy 31, 21 miles south of Arcadia.

We had a great tow session with most pilots sticking with one tow, we also had two tow locations going and pilots were sticking on both sides. The clouds finally came in and that helped pilots see the lift and get out on course.

We had 7 pilots in goal with Israel Osbando winning the day, followed by Andrey K and then Tom Mis.

Over all results are 1. Vlasta Puczok 2629 2.Thomas Mistretta 2500 3.Andrey Kuznetsov 2279

Which makes a perfect trifecta for Gradient, Tom M and Andrey K  were flying the Avax XC3 and Vlasta was on the outdated  Avax XC2

The most improved award goes to Victor Leshtaev, this is his third year here at Spring Fling and today he got away for his first XC flight from the tow paddock. Many pilots had personal bests and some had multiple personal bests, and that is what the Spring Fling is all about.

It’s the spring training camp for XC paraglider pilots and it’s been growing every year sonce we started 6 years ago, each year we have new faces and each year many return for this week of magic air,good friends and some knowledge sharing.

Hope you can join us next year.

Tomorrow we take a break and get things in order to start the ECPC on Sunday.

Stay tuned, the Big Guns are comin to town!

David Prentice.

We called the primary task with a 5km exit cyl at the tow paddock and then a 5 km tp at the north end of the triangle of doom, then a control point at the Hwy 27 and US 70, and a end of speed section 5k from  US27nd and a 3 km goal cyl. start at 12:45.

We had cross winds from the east and did a 30 min sling session sticking many pilots in good lift over the trees but then it turned south, so we moved everyone to the east side where we have a clean south tow road and there we had tailwind and crosswind from the east. Slowly we towed pilots up in the cycles and most of them stuck, we again had several gaggles formed over head.

Earlier in the morning at the task comm meeting one of the pilots said “since it is going to be a challenging blue day again, it will be important for pilots to follow Cuervo’s advice” “follow the birds”. ” so we should follow Cuervo” I got the clearence to fly.

Once the tow line had dwindled down i got ready to launch and after a good 20 min cycle where no one stuck i was not sure i would be able to get out but after a 600 ft tow from Nathan Beane i cored out to 4,400 in 600 fpm lift. Love it! I had Bertus and Les Bauman above me and i climbed thru them and led otu front for the next thermal directed Les to search to my east and he found it. We skyed out and than again i led out the next time Bertus found it down low and we waited for him to bring it up and we got back to 3,000 ft before gliding for the 1st TP, we got low and had to run downwind over hwy 29 getting lift we drifted west and later had to fight crosswind to stay near 27 for the TP2 control point. WE got great lift north of Palmdale and had some clouds in front of us but an east wind came off Okeechobee and shut down the lift dirting a bunch of pilots me included. My gaggle buddies landed near-by.

Tom Mistreta made goal, Vlasta P was short and so was Andrey K. That’s a Gradient trifecta.

Weather looks good again for tomorrow!

David.

Should be another 1,000 pt day.

we were expecting S SE windflow, but once pilots got on course a stronger east component made it more of a challenge from the the get-go. The earlier pilots had the best shot, as the east wind came in later. Tom Mistreta was the only pilot to make goal. Andrey K, and Vlasta P were short a few kms.

There was a large group that landed just south of of lake Placid, Lee Boone,Don Bayliss,myself,KLes Bauman Merz, many pilots made it past the Triangle of doom and only one had to hike out.