Update to JD's Road to Rat Race: Rediscovery

Task 5

Let's just get this off my chest right from the start. I am not comfortable flying in Lee, thermals or ratty air. I've experienced enough deflations, wingtip collapses, and sink for a lifetime. I know this may not be my normal writing style, usually upbeat, or at least hopeful, but I find myself in a different world. Let me explain why.

The winds today were quite reasonable at the launch site. North to northwest and well within tolerable limits. As I write this, I do not quite remember the task that was called but it does not really matter. I decided to watch the wind techs as long as possible and see where they were gettting lift. I launched early and thought I'd just get up there and feel things out for awhile before the start wind opened.

Alex launched about 20 minutes before I launched and I thought I'd not see him again. As my eyes continually scanned the horizen, I stood dismayed at the disorganization above me. The launch opened 30 minutes before I layed out my wing and still there was not a single gaggle formed above.

Upon launching, I looked above and saw Alex only 200 feet above me, which confirmed the difficulty pilots were experiencing in the air. I climbed with a few pilots to get away from the mountain, but soon found myslef wandering endlessly for something better, or further away from the unorganized flying all around launch.
In my wandering, I soon found myself south of launch in nasty, ratty air that I did not like and pulled a little left brake to head away from the mountain. Feeling somewhat relaxed again, I continued my course thinking I would find a thermal or convergence farther in the valley.

What happened next simply took me for suprise. I heard a rustling from above and looked up to see 50 percent of my right wing fold underneath the left. Instinctively, I went hands-up but did not have the where-with-all to weight shift onto the flying side. As the wing inflated, I was pulled back, while at the same time turning right. Before I could check the wing, it surged forward, resulting in an asymetrical collapse that pulled me left. Finding myslef in a much more pronounced wing-over than I'd ever pulled, I again went hands up, hoping the wing would fly. I managed to maintain my direction from that point forward and bring the wing under control. "Holy Sh!+" I yelled, "That's enought, I'm landing."

I made as smooth a turn toward the mail LZ as possible and hoped for no more collapses. I was still at 3900 feet and had plenty of altitude to get there on glide. I encountered more rough air along the way and reached the LZ at 1000 feet AGL. Unfortunatly, the convergence line across the valley lay smack dab on top of the LZ. "Great!"

For the next 10 minutes I descended and ascended, descended and ascended in air I did not like. The lift, and cooresponding cascading sink, had very rough edges caused by the temperature gradient between the heated rising air and cold valley air. Alex later told me that this was the cause of my earlier collapse. One side of the wing had entered the convergence lift, the other was in deep, deep sink. I did not want to pull ears or spiral down because, psychologically, in 5 seconds time, I'd lost confidence in my wing.

When I finally landed, I was still shaken from the flight. I called LeeAnn who had watched my collapse from launch and she was glad I'd landed. Pilots were taking even bigger whacks than I across the hill and several others were coming in to land.

For the next few hours, I was in a funk. I didn't like the flight. I did not like the way my wing performed. I did not know how much more flying I would do at Rat Race. Another pilot was injured on his way to goal and had to be evacuated by helicopter. He was diagnosed with a broken L7 vertebrae and broken wrist. Reports said he was low and stalled the wing about 8 feet off the ground when he came in to land in a very sketchy area. I found myself really questioning why I was putting myself at risk. As embarrassing as it is, 5 seconds had changed my entire outlook on flying.

I did not know where I would go from this deep, dark emotional pit of despair, but LeeAnn had been talking to Paul earlier in the week about getting a tandem flight since he is working on his rating, just like Alex. When Paul got back to HQ after making goal, he asked her if she wanted to go up and fly the glass-off. Indecisive still about flying, I decided it was best to get back in the air and exercise the demons in my head.
On launch, the valley winds were still very strong. There were several pilots at Mid who found a small window to get five or six wings in the air, including Duck and Andrew. Paul, LeeAnn, Alex, Australian Mattie and myself waited patiently for the wind to subside. After about 10 minutes, Paul asked LeeAnn if she was ready and that set the entire group in motion.

Flying in Hawaii prepares one for high-wind launches and my launch was really fun. I quickly spotted Paul and LeeAnn in the tandem wing ascendind in the convergence lift. I followed as Alex passed me on my right and then followed him to the West toward Fiasco Winery where all the competitors and volunteers were having dinner.
The flight was much better than earlier, however, I still found the air a bit rough. It was not quite glass-off because of the winds and lines of convergence throughout the valley. I headed straight toward the field behind Fiasco and didn't turn. After about 20 minutes of flying, I found myself parked above the near edge of the field. I wasn't concerened too much because I figured I'd hit a wall of convergence and was not yet on speedbar.

From there it was pretty much an elevator ride to the ground, sometimes moving forward, sometimes moving backwards. As long as I generally stayed in the center of the field I knew I was okay.

After packing up with everyone and giving LeeAnn a big hug for putting up with my pouting earlier in the day, we walked to the winery amidst clapping from all the competitors and volunteers eating dinner. I was back on the horse and ready to fly the next task.

When I finally watched the GoPro video with Alex and Paul Murdoch, they explained to me exactly what had happened and why. I needed to apply weight shift onto the flying wing--something I knew, but had not done. They also showed me that my wing really had recovered quickly and flew quite stable. They told me, as dramatic as I thought it was, the collapse was somewhat benign and that I just needed to trust the wing. I feel better having talked through some of my fears and look forward to another great day at Rat Race.

Task 6

A long 50k task was called but cancelled today because of the strong winds on launch. The wind was blowing at 15-20 mph, gusting even higher. We headed down the mountain and helped Paul and Whitney Murdoch at their store for the rest of the afternoon as they preparedn for their annual BBQ Revolution tomorrow. They are an incredible couple and have a great family. I will write more about them in the Credits after the race.

Task 7

I woke up today believing that I would have a great flight. The wind on launch was definitely strong but certainly launchable. The task called was the same as yesterday, only with a slight modification. The start was again WOOD LN, after which we would tag Isabella Peak (ISA PK), CEMETA, DARK-H, and goal was DONATO. It would be a 37k task.

Alex and I donned our gear and got in line. I wasn't in too much of a hurry and still did not know if I would attempt the task or just head straight to Longsword Winery. Personally, I didn't think the wind had decreased any from yesterday but there were wind techs and comp pilots in the air, who demonstrated some outstanding launches in difficult circumstances and plenty of lift.

Alex launched with his perfected torpedo grace and truly inspired my confidence. Thermal cycles were coming up the face of the mountain about every 10 minutes, plucking pilots off launch before they even turned around. I hoped to launch shortly after a cycle subsided but they seemed are very unpredictable.

Just as I pulled up my wing, I felt the cycle begin and didn't have time to pull the wing back down. I, too, was plucked off of launch and in the air before I knew what was happening. Luckily, I maintained control of my wing and flew off of launch, Reaper high-fiving my boot as I passed by him.

Within 5-10 seconds of launching, I was ready to land. Again, I did not like the air and felt very uncomfortable under my wing. Two more collapses within 50 meters of the hill and I was headed for the LZ. It was nothing as eventful or emotional as the previous day, just a conscious decision to land rather than fly in conditions I did not like.

The comp proceeded as it had the other days and a handful of pilots made goal. More still made the first waypoint but Isabella Peak repelled the majority who sunk out and landed at Longsword Winery. I found Alex there enjoying a free glass of wine. He made it much farther along the task than I but also felt conditions were to marginal to scratch any further. Maybe it was the "wine suck" that ended many a pilots day.

At the awards ceremony, Jack Brown took home the grand prize of 1st place overall. There were many great pilots on the podium, many of whom I had a chance to meet and talk with over the week. The hometown favorite was obviously Paul Murdoch. What an amazing pilot, friend, and family man! We were all honored to cheer for him throughout the competition. The volunteers were also recognized for their incredible work and even Reaper took home a beautiful glass trophy for his work rescuing three down pilots and assisting countless others off of launch.

My finish in the competition is not important. Of course I was very close to the bottom and that is fine with me. Mine was a week of rediscovery, something I will write about tomorrow as I conclude my blog with a prologue. If you are not yet bored with my blog, join me for one last post about Rat Race 2010. I promise not to disappoint you.