August 22, 2024
Another very hot day at Uvalde (high temperature 105F). It's said this may be the last of the current stretch of extraordinary heat, and that cooler temperatures – perhaps no higher than 100F – might be in store.
Today was the 18-Meter pilots' chance to head far north and disport themselves in the excellent thermal lift found there. Many chose to boost their speed by flying right to the back of the northern turn area, some 250 km from home, taking advantage of strong climbs to over 13,000'. The long return home was tougher than some expected – lift weakened around 5:00 and the clouds became less reliable. But nearly everyone got home, mostly with good speeds. Best distance was 681 km – longest of the contest thus far.
The Open class had a zig-zag task that caused pilots to spend more time south of home, where conditions were not as strong. But they did enjoy a run into the hills northeast of Uvalde, where – as expected – they found the best lift of the day. Jim Lee handled it well, finishing 4th.
20-Meter class drew the short straw in the tasking lottery. They headed west and then southeast, for a long leg along the Rio Grande (taking care not to cross the border). Conditions were blue, but decent climbs to above 7000' were available, yielding fairly good speeds. All were looking forward to a broad field of cumulus clouds predicted to cover most of the two southern turn areas. And the clouds were there – but the lift wasn't: climbs were consistently weaker, lower, and seemingly unconnected to the clouds. For all but three pilots (who elected to just barely touch the two southern turn areas) progress slowed badly.
On the run north lift improved slightly, but it was now a question whether it would be possible to get home with respectable speed – or at all. Sarah and Karl flew carefully, reached the final turn area at over 7000', then found the climb they needed to finish. They were 20 minutes behind the 3 early finishers, but 10 to 15 minutes ahead of a larger group that reached the final turn area lower. This yielded 4th place for the day – a reasonably good outcome on a day that at times felt desperate.
Today we look at gliders in the 20-Meter Multi-seat class. Three different models are flying here: Schempp-Hirth Arcus (12 examples), Schleicher ASG-32 (2) and HpH Twin Shark (2). It's said that this class was created by the success of the Schempp-Hirth DuoDiscus, which appeared in 1993 and quickly became popular (to date, some 750 have been produced). Proponents cited the rising number of these gliders as evidence that a competition class for them would make sense. Then in 2009 Schempp-Hirth introduced the Arcus – basically a DuoDiscus with flaps. Its performance advantage over the Duo at high speed made it the glider to have, and for a while this was effectively a one-design class: without handicapping, only the Arcus was competitive. In 2015, Schleicher introduced the ASG-32, and in 2017 HpH announced the Twin Shark. But the Arcus seems likely to hold a numerical advantage for a good while.
John Good