After 9

Pretty crowded at the top...

Sorry I could not be there.

Martian

Done for the day

Great day at DESS F5J.
Oleg knows how to run a contest

Shots from today!

What a great day we had.
From frosty cold temps in the morning, to very nice warm and sunny in the afternoon, and back to cool air at the end of the day. Clear skies with contrails piercing the blue vastness. Light thermals most of the day, and barely sustainable lift at the end of the day.
We seriously could not have wished for a better Fall day.

The last two rounds I survived by a miracle, actually a few miracles. In round 9 my plane was far and low, and probably would not even have made it back to landing, if I did not find a barely usable lift and persisted, under Brady's insistence. Same in round 10 - last group of the day at 5:30 pm when the sun was getting low - it took a couple miraculous thermals to survive after trying several different areas and nearly landing out.

More great flying to be done tomorrow.
The wind is forecast to be 6-9 mph, so a little more difficult and lower wind chill.

Cold and windy
Tough air

Bright sun but windy
Thermals are there but not easy

oops, duplicate post (phone malfunction and fat fingers)

Lots more heat from the sun now
Good thermals
Wind reduced but still not calm
Almost lunch time

Lunch!!!

Last group in the air
We are almost done

Done!
Thanks to all pilots for coming and participating!

I uploaded all scores into this

google sheet

for your browsing pleasure!

Most of my flights sort of blend in together but there was this one that sticks out. Round one first thing Saturday. It was not so much the flight but the landing. The air wasn't the greatest and difficult to make time. I believe we where all down low scratching out the last couple of minutes. I was no different and S turned back and forth just staying close enough to try for a landing. At the last moment of energy I started my landing approach but was early by 15 or 20 seconds. Just as I entered my landing circle at the tape I hit a little lift. I am talking 2 feet off the ground. I decided to make a turn around myself as we decided there was no landing direction. Then I circle around myself and I think I made another half circle before landing. Now I am not sure if I broke any rules as I stayed in my lane circled with in about half my landing tape? But what to do with your timer is a problem Maarten did a great job of running around from one side to the other then back again making sure I didn't hit him. It was a YouTube moment, so to say. I ended up getting the thousand Maarten didn't use foul language during or after but was a little unsure about my landing tactics in the end.