Robert Samuels: It was not for want of trying ... that Chris did not make his 10K G & R attempt.  

Hi Flyers:  Chris scheduled today for his 10K G & R.  I met him and Glauco at the levee just off the JB bridge on the Illinois side for this effort.  I was selected for my superb air reading skills and also because my presence is so calming to all.  Glauco came into the picture because he has a pickup truck. 

Chris launched his Pike Pet (with onboard telemetry) using his bungee.  He quickly found lift and quickly lost it.  Oh, well.  A second launch was made and up he went ....  and then down he came.  A third launch saw him in good lift ... for a minute and then back on the ground.  A fourth launch .....    and so it went  .... for a long time. 

The vario Chris was using was interesting.  Every 10 seconds it would squawk "ALARM ... TEMPERATURE 290 DEGREES".  This glitch never ceased. 

Finally Chris found some decent lift and we jumped in the truck.  Soon we had to stop so Chris could regain altitude and then we took off again.  And soon we had to stop so Chris could regain altitude.  Didn't I just say that?  Well ...  we did it a bunch of times.  And finally at about 3 miles into the outbound leg he couldn't find lift anywhere.  And had to put it down.

So we went back to try it again.  While Chris charged up the plane (he spent a lot of time circling) Glauco made a run to the store for snacks and beer.  Drink the beer, eat the snacks.   OK .. let's do this again.  Bungee launch and look for lift.  Darn!  Launch again ......

Finally got some lift and it looked a lot better than the first round.  Way up and we are in the truck and barreling down the road.  Sure we had to stop a few times to get altitude but it was looking a lot better.  Until ......  we were 1.5 miles from the turnaround point.  Then Chris searched upwind, downwind, crosswind but lift was not to be found.  And another land out was made.  DARN!!

The drive back was not the happiest but what the heck, it was fun anyway.  Glauco was happy as always, I had 24 ounces of beer in me thus I was well composed and Chris managed to take it well also. 

Overall not a bad time.  A few hours on a beautiful day with friends doing what I love to do.  I can't wait for the next attempt. 

El Robert

What it makes specially difficult is the terrain of the course. There is the Mississippi river on one side and then flooded fields, corn fields, power lines and a bunch of stuff we can even see. So it is hard to predict where thermals are generating and where exactly to stop to get some altitude.

And from my little 2 km experience, the worst part is the pressure since there are two guys there that could be doing something more useful than watching you coming down. One example is rolling the high start since we can’t leave it at the levee, you launch and have to make sure you stay up since the high started isn’t there anymore.

We found out Robert was a bit slow driving compared to the speed of Chris’ Perfect so we bought Robert a beer for the next attempt and it indeed helped, he stopped paying attention to the runners and concentrated on going fast and pointing out Chris’ plane was going up.

But it was fun, we learned a bit more about the course and will be better prepared for the next try.

Glauco

First attempt in BLUE, Second attempt in RED

Link to the SkyTrace GPS log files (.kml format)

Chris Lee: This final LSF Level V task is proving to be elusive, but I think that’s the way it was meant to be.  As I’ve said before at various stages, the League of Silent Flight achievement program is about the journey, not just the destination.  Each attempt, whether you make it or not, helps you grow as an R/C sailplane pilot.

The 10km goal-and-return is a bit different than most of the other tasks in that you can’t just go out for a fun fly day, recognize ideal conditions and decide to try to get this one done.  In addition to lucking into optimal weather conditions, it takes a lot more logistics before the plane even leaves the ground: picking a day when two LSF II or higher witnesses are available, finding a suitable area with plenty of land-out spots, an obstruction-free course for 10km, a launch/landing location.  And then there’s the small matter of actually flying the course.

I scouted out the course via Google Earth a while back and it’s pretty close to ideal: sparsely traveled roads, flat terrain with few obstructions and a fairly straight shot from the start to the turn around and back.  It’s in the large Mississippi River valley so most of it is flat farmland and there is a levee system running parallel to the course.  A bit further west is the actual river, but with the southeast winds we had, it was not in play.

As Robert mentioned, it took a handful of launches (four, exactly) from the bungee to hook into some lift.  Conditions were very similar to the day before at the sod farm, cloudless sky, cool temps the previous night but with the forecast for a high in the low-mid 90’s.  The thermal conditions were basically the same as what we experienced the day before, big lift surrounded by big sink. 

I was able to find lift at the starting point fairly easily but there was a moderate wind (forecast said up to 10mph) and the initial leg was a bit cross but mostly upwind.  So whenever we stopped to thermal up to altitude, we got pushed away from the course and had to cross the same territory again before making headway.  I got comfortable with the terrain around the starting point and would have been able to stay up for a reasonable amount of time, but this task is all about covering ground, and that’s where it got tricky.

Every time we stopped to look for lift and gain more altitude for the next push, it was like arriving at a whole new flying field, with all new features, lift areas and sink holes.  I dropped low a couple times but got saved by the tree-lined levee as thermals sweeping across the flat valley floor finally found something to butt up against and build in strength. 

I think along two stretches we pushed on course and the plane maintained altitude or even climbed a bit just flying straight and level, but this was more the exception.  Usually, heading out on course led to a persistent “groan” from the vario as the plane traversed large areas of sink before hitting the pockets of strong lift.  So the game was to get high anywhere you could find lift, then point the plane straight ahead and try to keep up with it in the truck.  As soon as some lift was encountered, it was important to work it back up to the same altitude or higher and then repeat. 

At least, that was the plan, but in practice it was a lot harder.  There are lots of things going on trying to fly while on the move and concentrating on the flying bit was on the back burner for me.  I’m not used to the vario and found myself trusting it too much, leading to chasing my own stick lift a lot.  I found it was really helpful on the long straight runs to know I was in sink and needed to keep pushing or if I encountered lift to try to take a wrap in it.  But my thermaling skills suffered when I would take some of the speed from the straight-line run and interpret it as strong lift when I started my initial turns. 

This led to more hapless circling in the edges of the lift (also known as “sink”) and it would take awhile to settle down and sort things out.  Glauco took to turning off the vario whenever we stopped so I could just concentrate on reading the plane and flying it. This helped a bit, but it was hard for me to constantly switch from “flying the vario” to “flying the plane.” 

Still, in this manner, we managed to work a good ways down the course and when we arrived at the previously flooded-out area, I remembered the first attempt when there was good lift over the depression, but not much after it, so I concentrated on getting some good altitude.  The vario altimeter said I reached 1200’, the GPS log says closer to 1400’, and when we set out on course again I was feeling pretty good, plenty of altitude for a long run. 

But just as quickly as I had gained the altitude in the strong thermals, I lost it all on the course and in the end got stranded in a really flat, featureless area by a sod farm.  I had one chance to work some lift when we first arrived, but I took a couple sloppy turns and decided to leave lift (!) to look for “something better.”  Instead, I found a quick sled-ride to the ground with nary a bump after that.  The GPS showed the plane was only 1.5km shy of the target at the farthest point.

My concentration was shot by that time, it was 50 minutes into the flight, and this was after a first attempt that lasted an hour.   It was three hours since the first launch.  So even though the conditions were good (maybe not ideal, but at least manageable), we had all the logistics worked out (aside from the vario receivers running out of battery) and I had the two people I really wanted there to sign off on my last LSF task, we packed it in without much argument from anyone, least of all me. 

Some things I hope to improve on the next attempt:

1. • a bit better preparation, the vario receivers dying in the middle of the course on the first attempt was not too good when I just got used to relying on them
   

2. • work every little piece of lift for all it’s worth and gain all the altitude possible.  I felt a bit rushed knowing the other two people had nothing to do while I got to flit around and enjoy all the thermal flying, so I was always setting out on course lower than I should have.  It’s not a race, and it’ll take even longer if I rush and end up not making it at all.
   

3. • recognize features on the ground and plan stop points around them.  On the first attempt, we stopped next to a house with trees on the right, high-tension power lines running down the left side and some other obstruction on a third side.  I got boxed in and couldn’t find any safe area to even search for lift.  On the second attempt, I got much higher before this spot and we barreled right through it till we were in open ground again before stopping.
   

4. • treat my spotter/driver better.  Hopefully we’ll be able to enjoy some celebratory suds after the next attempt!  Or at least a Diet Coke for Glauco.  Thanks again guys for giving up a Saturday for me, I look forward to returning the favor.
   

SkyAssistant Vario Logger plot from second attempt.

SkyTrace GPS altimeter plot from second attempt.