XC April 1

[Chris Grantham]

Finally got a chance to suck the tracklogs off my GPS so here's the
report!

Released off the tow low and late in the day with significant cumulous
development. I should have launched earlier when we had more sun and
more time to go somewhere. Found a small thermal that drifted me back
and topped out at 1500ft. There was a fairly strong wind aloft and
attempts to get back to the LZ were slow at best. I had plenty of LZs
downwind and was getting a 16:1+ glide so decided to commit to the XC
and see what happened. Almost as soon as I turned downwind I hit solid
lift which drifted me East and up. The drift was considerable which
you can see on the tracklog but it was drifting me toward an
unfamiliar airport and small landing zones. Not a chance I wanted to
take in stronger winds (which were forecasted for the afternoon).
Topped a 2k and continued 45º crosswind under the cloudstreet which
seemed to be in decay. A quick check confirmed that I was on the back
edge of the development and everything to my West was decaying. It was
going to be a race against the clouds. Back down to 1500 ft where I
finally hit something decent to 3200 ft. After I topped out I had to
decide whether to go into town, with no landing zones, or head for
sunshine and LZs but crosswind. Took the crosswind glide for sun which
quickly put me on the ground at the 16.88 mile mark in 1 hour. Fun day
with nice air after about 4:30.

http://atlantaparagliding.googlegroups.com/web/4-1-08.jpg?gsc=43o2twsAAAAhGnIChlxwe7GjCrJNPJuc

[Silvio]

Nice flight Chris! Way to go..
you've also taken the XC lead...now I have to come back to
Georgia....
;-)

> http://atlantaparagliding.googlegroups.com/web/4-1-08.jpg?gsc=43o2tws...

[Chris Grantham]

Thanks! Of course I didn't have all the extra crosswind legs you had
either.

How'd I end up with a P3 and 15 miles on the competition results page
anyway? I'm very particular about that extra 1.8 miles...;P

[Luis Rosenkjer - gmail]

Hey, I will correct that right now.
I did not have the exact distance when I uploaded the info.
Also, the system does not allow me to do P-4 yet :-(
Just a problem on the uploading program, but it should be solved soon...
Also Chris, I need the model of your wing.

Luis

[dir...@aol.com]

Chris,

Awesome flight! Thanks for the tows yesterday and the retrieve, I owe you buddy.

Dirk.

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