Contest Day 7 - Whatever Can go wrong Will go Wrong...
Went like a rocket on the first 2 legs – very few turns for a long long way. I had 120kph to the 2nd turn, but softer 3rd and 4th legs. Afterwards I compared my flight with Michale Streit (the winner) and he started 10 mins earlier and didnt have the same issues in the south part of the task. The soft 2nd part pulled my down the scoresheet and I was frustrated that I couldnt keep the average speed up from the first half of the flight.
However I was feeling good about the flight overall at 108kph an improvement in terms of flight management– but when I checked the scores later that evening and I was astounded when I had an airspace violation which gave me a technical landout. I went through an active control zone and the LX9000 didnt warn me. I must have disabled the wrong airspace for the day (there is another one next to it with the same name...) This is a problem with airspace that changes regularly and it was a setup issue on my superb moving map system.
Todays airspace thing was a data entry error not a flying error. C'est la vie- but really annoying. Im not worrying about the score now - its pointless - but the quality of my flat-land flying is improving now and thats what I'm here for. . Today was better. Tomorrow is rumored to be a long task - perhaps round Berlin, but it may be our last day as we're expecting frontal rain on Wednesday.
Everyone here is fabulous and supportive - a great atmosphere – the top guys have been friendly and helpful – they have a different attitude to pilots in the Nationals here – almost all say that if any of the top 20 pilots are on form then they are potential winners – so if a pilot has a poor contest its regarded only as a temporary setback – very healthy and refreshing. Tomorrow may be the last day - rain on Wednesday..
Tuesday July 12th Putting it all together – at last.
Today we had our pilots meeting at 9.30am and were to be gridded and ready to launch by 11am. The day was to be the best of the contest and we were given our longest task – a 540km polygon of turnpoints in a ring around the Berlin airspace.
Lessons from the last few days were that I had to start earlier to ensure that the last leg wasnt soft – yesterday that was the key difference between my flight and the winning flight (Michael again..) I was in the first wave of launches – towing again behind the Wilga this time with a tuggie who flew consistently above 120kph.. so it was comfortable.
Conditions were weak at first but the day started to improve almost straight away and I was at cloudbase in good time. My start was earlier than most and I had a pretty good first leg by myself. This was a long flight and I wanted to be more conservative on time for the task – Basically it all went very well – long glides bouncing between clouds, keeping course deviations to a minimum. I found good thermals by myself when I really needed them and was flying similar task speeds to some of the top finished who I was on task with from time to time.
The flight was fast and uneventful – busy of course, with a few 8, and 9kn climbs. Comparing with Michaels winning flight (124kph) my flight was 118kph – ie 96% of his speed. I was very happy with this and on a long task where a lot could have gone wrong I kept up a consistently fast pace. I did see several pilots low today.
Wednesday July 13th - Rain – Day Canceled. Contest Summary
At the pilots briefing – the day was cancelled – its all over. Time spent exchanging contact information with all my new friends, somewhat down that its all over , but very happy I finally put it all together on the last day on such a glorious task.
This contest was very tough and the highest quality field I've flown against. The average level of pilot is higher and its more compressed at the high end than was the Prievidza WGC last year, and the decision to focus on my flying development in a deep immersion environment has been priceless. This soaring soaring competition was a reality show against the best. I got crucified on points with the WGC system but my major priority here was to develop my flying for the upcoming contests and early on in the contest my reasons for wanting to come here were confirmed,and I had work to do. I was able to re-build my flat land flying technique and approach, work on all important starting strategy, task planning, cloud reading, and more - and re-establish a foundation for successful flatland flying (my least practiced form of flying) at the highest level in the future.
At the Worlds last year in Prievidza I was drinking from a firehose and was without any training or practice flying at that level of competition. After this contest I now have a much stronger foundation for Argentina , something I have real confidence in and have tested and developed by flying with some of the best pilots in the world.
Socially, I made some great new friends, one thing I have been very lucky with in my life - and the chance to share frustrations and learnings with some very good pilots here has been a big part of developing confidence in what I was doing and having faith that the approach I was taking would eventually come together.
Now its time to pack the tent, say my goodbyes and drive the glider back to Frankfurt. I am very glad I was able to come here and the experience has been priceless - I only wish it didnt have to stop.
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