A day in a thousand: December 17, 2005
It is often said that one should not look back, but ... Here is the account of my 1000km FAI flight out Worcester on 17 December 2005.
Well rested after the previous day’s flying, I woke at the crack of dawn. The bunkhouse at Worcester is perhaps not home, but sleeping over certainly facilitated the preparation for the day’s flying. The previous day was absolutely beautiful - on the Porterville ridge the approaching front could be seen in all its magnificence - layer upon layer of different cloud. It was blue at Renosterhoek and as one went south, the cumulus gathered under the high cirrus and thickened into stratus at Huguenot Tunnel. The return run to Renosterhoek was teeth clattering and on the way back to Worcester there was no need to thermal, one could merely pull back in the very smooth lift to arrive at the top end of the Tulbach valley at 5000ft, followed by an easy transition onto the Witzenberg. Here the coudbase was again dropping and on Waaihoek it was 4000ft, making it impossible to connect onto Audenberg. Martin and Otto, ahead of me, had managed just that and they turned at Swellendam and made it back to Worcester using wave!
I had known for some days in advance that the 16th to 18th of December would be good for flying and my good wife was agreeable to me staying over in Worcester. Particularly good according to the NOAA forecasts would be the 17th. The streamline and wind speed forecasts at 900Mb for the 17th became progressively more favourable and as at Thursday night looked as follows for 11 o’clock Saturday:
By 14h00 local time it would look as follows
And at 17h00 it would look as follows:
The usual showstopper on the east bound tasks, the clouds, would be a factor, but the indications were that the airmass was dry and drying even further:
The forecast sounding looked good, but not wildly exciting, indicating blue thermals at 2m/s to 2000m.
The good news was apparent, however, when compared to the sounding of 14th December 2004 (a day on which both Alan O’Regan and I flew more than 1100km on a free flight OLC task):
This Saturday would have an inversion at about 8000ft, but the airmass appeared far drier than the 14th of December.
By 8h00 EY, my ASW 27, was ready, filled with 100litres of water, and by 8h40 I was on the grid. The cu’s were already building and the classic convergence line that runs across our airfield early in the day had formed.
Luck plays a significant part in such endeavours and my luck for this day was in having as duty pilot (and official observer) Alan O’Regan. He gave us all a weather briefing in the club house at 9h00. The weather forecast for the day predicted southerly winds with higher than usual cloud bases to the east, making a flight to George (approximately 270km east of Worcester) a real prospect. For a moment I vacillated between declaring a 750 km task (having failed to complete one a few weeks earlier) and the lure of the 1000km. Yet to be flown from Worcester was a FAI 1000km diploma (around three turnpoints).
It was only a moment’s introspection and I declared a three turnpoint FAI task: Apiesklip- Jonkershoek (267km) -Apiesklip–Ruiter (249km) –Apiesklip as a task, for a total task distance of 1031,4km. The task would, in accordance with paragraph 1.4.4b of Section 3 of the FAI Sporting Code, if completed, qualify for a 1000km diploma. Apiesklip is a farm nestling at the foot of Brandwacht peak and is a favourite startpoint of mine. Jonkershoek is the last peak before you arrive at George and just a few weeks earlier I had seen Alan outland in the foothills 255km from Worcester. This, by all accounts, constitutes a record distance for an outlanding and also a record for the retrieve. Alan promptly arranged a booking on an SA Express flight from George to Cape and retrieved himself. He subsequently outdid himself by outlanding at Trawal, 205 km to the north (see March KK). This entailed a “proper” eight hour retrieve. Ruiter is at the foot of the Robinson pass, the main pass between Mosselbaai and Oudtshoorn.
I was number three on the launch list, but again luck intervened and the other two pilots offered me what turned out not to be a sacrificial first launch. I took off at two minutes past 10h00. The tugpilot was Mark Siegelberg and he piloted ZS-MIV, a Super Cub. He took me as requested to my start point at 5000ft (1500m), and on the way there it was already clear that it was going to be an exceptional day. We took one turn in a very strong thermal that lifted us a few hundred feet higher. Approaching the start point I directed him to turn 15 degrees to the left after which I released and turned to the right to cross the start line, at 1549m at 10h12 local time. The time elapsed between release and crossing the startline was too short for comfort, but it was fortunately detectable. I soared along the Brandwacht slopes without the usual easterly flow. The air was carrying well and there were strong bursts of lift from the thermals coming of the steep slopes. I crossed over to Audenberg and continued eastward along the slopes of Keeromberg. I was not maintaining height and abeam John Fischer’s strip, approximately 25km out of Worcester, I took a climb under a forming cumulus in a nice 2,5m/s thermal to 1600m and continued towards the east. After a further 25 minutes I was down to 1100m along the Ashton ridge and a couple of figure eights took me back to 1400m. My ETA was 18h50. Now it was plain sailing along the ridges and there was no need to turn until I left the well-defined ridges at Vreysrant. My ETA was down to 18h05. The next 100km would, however, determine the outcome of the flight. It was approaching noon and the day was far from its peak. I was now in the boondocks between Vryesrant and Robinson pass, a stretch of 50 kilometres which would slow me down and would entail the riskiest area to cross. At five past twelve I was down to just below 930m (400m agl) over decidedly difficult terrain and I had to beat a retreat to the front ridge, finger on the dump valve. I connected a weak thermal and with no real visible prospects, decided to climb rather than forge ahead. The climb was slow and it hampered progress significantly. At 1300m I set off for the first turnpoint, connecting the ridge at 1100m and a few figure eights at 250km from Apiesklip took me to 1500m. Later in the afternoon this ridge did not serve me nearly that well. I ran the ridge into the first turn which I rounded at 12h28, climbing in a strong thermal triggered in the lee of the upwind mountains. Past Ruiter, and running along the back ridge, I connected a 3-4 m/s thermal which took me to 1930m, the highest point of the flight, and close to the lowest point (where I had been at 12h05).
Gliding from it I see TR (Otto Toenges and Martin Grunert) east bound. Approaching Vreysrant I took a few beats along the ridge before crossing over to the front ridge at Vreysrant where I see GVG, an ASW15 flown by Wally Tamsen. Now I am back on the well defined ridges and the wind, which is still quite westerly, is consistent. My ETA has, however, gone back to 19h00. I see more of the east bound traffic, GII (a Kestrel) and GSC (a DG400). Ahead of me, also west bound (having turned whilst I was still east bound) is K17 (Adriaan Hepburn) and KS (Peter Wooley). The crossing at Tradoux pass is without complications and I keep running. At 14h30 I round Apiesklip with KS just ahead of me. The average speed for the leg was 134 kph and my projected finish time was 18h50. At this stage I nearly abandon the flight, as I need to go for a wee. It is quite painful and I try to concentrate on flying accurately and catching the two gliders ahead of me. At Nuy I take a thermal to get high so that I can relax to answer nature’s call. No success and I race on.
Gliding across a big gap at about 160km out, I manage the trick and I get my mind back to the task - it looks achievable but I need to be careful crossing the boondocks after Vreysrant. I calculate the distance from Vreysrant to Ruiter and back - it is far and I can see that the clouds are broken and flat - they only really build on the ridge beyond Ruiter (at the Robinson pass). I take a single turn at Weyers to lift me to 1550m and again approaching Vreysrant I climb and glide on. Short of Ruiter I am down to 1130m and the valley floor is really not that far away.
The terrain also rises toward the turnpoint and the wind has a more easterly component. I get up to 1400m and set off for Ruiter, pinning my hopes on the slopes of Robinson pass. I overfly the turn but the ridge is not working. I have to glide quite far (at least it feels far when you overfly the turnpoint and it is so very late to be so far from home) before it gives me some lift. I turn and run back through the turnpoint, 248 km from the finish at 16h50. I glide on and it is only where I was at my lowest nearly five hours earlier that I find a 1.5 - 2 m/s thermal. It must be triggering from the same source, only the wind has now become more southerly. I climb up to almost 1400m and as I leave, not 2km on, I hit a 2.5 - 3.0m/s which I take to nearly 1800m. From there I head straight to Vreysrant, following a cloud street over the lower broken front ridge. Ahead of me I can see the wings of TR, having turned earlier, and now ahead of me, glint in the lowering sun. The wind seems to be straight onto the ridges and I arrive at Assegaai at 1100m. I gain height from ridge to ridge and I can still make it onto the back ridge approaching Tradoux pass, the next tricky traverse. I have to go to the front slopes as I approach Swellendam but the lift carries me and I creep onto the back ridges again. Just after Swellendam I climb to ensure that I can cross the Ashton ridges at altitude as I can observe the wind as being parallel to the ridge. I connect the Robertson ridge and again top up to cross the Robertson spur without problems. At Naudesberg I climb again to ensure the final stretch around Keeromberg to Audenberg and thence to the finish point. At 18h56 I cross the finish line and glide out into the valley towards Botha railway junction, finally gliding back to Worcester airport. for a landing at 19h14.
The task took 8h44minutes and 50 seconds at an average speed of 117,92km per hour. On OLC I scored a distance of 1064km at 118 km per hour. The flight itself presented no real low points. I consciously applied my mind to flying the immediate stretch ahead of me to the best of my ability and left the conjecture as to what the weather elsewhere or later may be out of my mind. A lack of concentration was the only thing (except for the call of nature) over which I had control and which could have deprived me of completing the task. I therefore concentrated on flying each ridge, crossing or thermal as if it was the only one I had to cope with that day. This strategy served me well. I merely point out at this juncture that one would need to know the ridges and which lines to follow across them, as well, of course, when to climb up against them (or in thermals) and when to push on. Put differently, you need to know how to avoid unnecessary turning as this will deprive you of the opportunity to complete the task. According to my software I thermalled only 5% of the flight (24 minutes). I took only five or six thermals, but boy, did I need them!
The real trick it would seem was to get the right day. In this regard the NOAA information as well as the BLIPMAPS are indispensable. Without regular use and understanding of these it would be impossible to prepare for such a task or to set it correctly. Alan O’Regan, who had accessed the BLIPMAPS that morning was able to confirm the NOAA forecast soundings at the met briefing and this facilitated my task selection. A very big thank you to Dr Jack.
Against all of this I should also point out that this was probably the only day in the last three years that one could have completed a declared 1000km successfully from Worcester. It is really only on very special occasions that we get the weather to go to George twice on one day.
Now the race is on for the FAI 1000 triangle and the BHC (I only need 914 km for the latter, at
least as matters stand at the moment).
