01 June 2014

Region 5 South, Cordele, Georgia

I am now in Cordele for the Region 5 south contest.  Cordele is about 2 hours south of Atlanta, straight down I-75.  The task area here is quite good with lots of large fields and sandy soil that dries quickly when the inevitable afternoon thunderstorms form.  To the east, there are a lot of pine forests and some low ground along the river valley that always results in soft conditions in that area.

This last week has been interesting from a weather perspective.  An upper level cut-off low pressure formed over Alabama and this has been spinning Gulf moisture into the area and developing showers and thunderstorms most days.  I have managed to fly a couple of nice 300 km + triangles at around 100 km/hr this week.

Last night a cold front pushed through the area from the north east to south west.  This is a very unusual direction for a front to travel, but the upper level low has really mixed things up. 

Today is the first practise day and tomorrow is the first contest day.  With the cold front now through, it looks like we have a great week of soaring ahead of us with no more than a 30% chance of thunderstorms all week.

I am flying in the 15 meter class again to get some practice in the short wingspan in advance of Leszno.
 
Dave