Well we all managed to get out and have a fly yesterday. After the usual buggering about involved in getting 5 people coordinated and in taxis we rocked up at about 2.30pm to a windy and strong looking El Penon launch still arguing about whose fault it was that we were so late. As usual it was agreed that it was mine as I’d apparently spent all morning writing yesterday’s blog and “blowing Russ’s loo up” instead of getting my kit together. Hey ho…
The first flight on the new glider was a bit ‘sporty’ as my brain tried to remember how to control a modern comp wing (and a new one with very different reactions at that) 5 months after I was last in the sky. I suspect many competitors will be in the same boat this week which may well keep the reserve packers busy.
The air was unpleasant lacking very much lift but with very strong ‘horizontal’ thermals ripping over and around obstacles. On top of that I bombed out so by 5pm I was in a field, without water (which had been left at base during the arguments about leaving late) and with about a hundred small children who, as so often in less-developed countries, had appeared in incredible numbers as if by magic the moment I’d landed. There was also a goat and a toothless old lady who kept trying to whip all the children with a stick every time they came near my glider. Things were fine till her goat decided to try to eat the edge of the wing but a bit of ‘shooing’ and some more whacking with her stick soon got that sorted. I managed to flag down a passing truck and for 5$ the nice chap took me all the way home along with a few other unfortunates we picked up on the way.
Back in town the French Team van pulled over to see if I needed a lift to my house. On the way up I learned that their bus had been broken in to the day before and Simon Issenhuth’s glider bag containing not only his flying kit but also his passport and personal papers had been taken. The French Team manager put the word out and it didn’t take long before an unsavoury character had contacted the local school trying to sell a glider he’d “found” 40km from Valle “in a ditch by the side of the road”. Yeah, right!
Via a local intermediary the chap was offered some money to bring the glider back ‘no questions asked’ but after considering the offer he requested drugs in exchange for it instead. Not really wishing to get involved in trying to buy illicit drugs to trade for the return of the stolen glider the Team reluctantly contacted the Police and set up a meeting where the thief was arrested when he turned up and the glider recovered. Hurrah! Except the fun was only just beginning…
Once the Police had the glider it was taken to the Police Station for “safe keeping” and for “paperwork to be completed”. The French Team manger presented himself at 2pm to retrieve the wing but only managed to finally get it back at 9pm after an afternoon of various and lengthy demands for a “contribution to the police fund” to facilitate a speedy outcome. He refused and eventually got the glider but it is questionable whether the 7 hours he spent in the station were worth the 5 or 10 dollars it would have cost just to pay the bribe.
We all think it’s been pretty rough flying and I have to admit I’ve been quite uncomfortable so it was a small relief to run into Greg Blondeau (European Champion) who said he’s been ‘shitting himself’ most of the time. Yassen Sassov reported the ‘worst cravat he’s ever had’ whilst Anja Kroll, Anders Baerheim and our own Kirsty Cameron either came down on reserves or were in trees on Thursday, all without injury. Apparently this run of weather is being influenced by a low pressure that is very unusual for the area at this time of year.
Unfortunately it looks like this is going to get worse. I’ve just checked the long range forecast on the only site that seems to model this region accurately and it’s looking a bit breezy to say the least. Are the weather demons that seem to bedevil all the World Championships stirring? What concerns me from a safety point of view is that the organisation will be under terrific pressure to fly a task on Sunday for all the media and, believe me, you don’t need high winds over the back of the main launch to make this place any rougher. Let’s hope if it is windy it will be very windy so there’ll be no question of holding a task, avoiding us all having to fly in rotor for an hour before it gets canned, probably with reserves and injuries to boot. God I sound cynical! I must have been doing this for too long…
Thursday night’s glider trimming went well (more outer arc, slow the tips a little, shorten the stab lines, flatten the centre chord with centre B’s and add 3kg of ballast), giving a much nicer ride when I tried the glider again yesterday. I almost sounded like I knew what I was talking about then!
Oh, I think there’s registration and an opening ceremony today too so there’ll be no flying.
The old lady and the goat will just have to do without me.
Mark H
