2 Aug post-briefing

Jerzy will fly today. Nick and Dave are taking a rest day.  One more day of official practice tomorrow, pre-competition party Friday night.

Yesterday, it was only 102F here, but all around us it was 104F.  Del Rio, Tx, on the border, beat a century-old record with 106F/41C, from 1912.

Today, Trigger temp is 97F/34.5C at 1300, climbs should start at 1315.
1300 - 2-3 kts to 4,000
1400-1600 3-4 kts to 6 to 7,000
1600 5-6 kts to 7,000.
 Cloudbase 7,000 at noon, 11,000 at 4 pm - few Cu expected.

Today's task for the 18m class is a 470.6 km racing task, going east, then south, then north-west (NW of Uvalde), due east, and returning.  So, last two turnpoints in "the hills" about 2,000' MSL, and with very few landing opportunities.  Many of the pilots have been avoiding going into the hills on blue days so far (there are "limited landing opportunities" up there); this will likely change in the contest proper, which starts flying Sunday (opening ceremony Saturday).

T-38 jets (we'd call them CF-5 dual seat) are doing low-level training 5 miles east, 3 aircraft going by at 3:44, 3:54, and 4:04 pm this afternoon, North-South, at 500-1000', 360 knots...  The fleet should be on task by then.

The German and Austrian teams are hosting a party tonight for those with any energy left.

The aircraft are flying with water ballast, to increase their mass.  Two identical gliders should go the same distance from a given altitude.  If one is heavier, it will have more potential energy to convert to kinetic, and thus can go faster. The extra weight improves efficiency of low-speed wings as well.  Therefore, when lift is strong - like in Texas - it pays to be as heavy as is legal to improve speed around a closed course.

During pre-contest inspection, very accurate weights for the glider/pilot/water/food/etc were taken, and on each day, gliders are weighed on their way to the grid, so they cannot exceed legal weight for their glider.

They dump water on return (to reduce landing speed and stress on the airplane, or if they get low (in order to turn tighter).  Dumping hundreds of litres of water is very pretty against a blue sky.

Dan Daly