More flying

The weather hasn't been particularly cooperative lately.  Unfortunately for our club, we have had a "normal" to "wet" spring as far as rainfall is concerned and our soaring season is not nearly as good as it was last year.  I flew YYY on June 3rd for 3 flights which were all basically sled rides. Best was 30 minutes.

Today was my next opportunity to fly the Cherokee so I did.  The forecast was looking pretty good although there would be a strong wind out of the south at 20 knots.  Clouds were predicted though so I was hopeful for markers and streets which would help with running upwind. I bravely declared a 300km triangle and set out about 1 PM.  Unfortunately all the lift I found was torn up by the wind, unorganized, and weak.  Each successive climb was a bit better than the last but the drift was so bad that I wasn't gaining anything, I was just barely making it back to the airport after each climb.

Finally, with some help from club-mate Steve in his Zuni I found a good climb to a little over 5500 feet and set out to the south.  No other good climbs were to come though, a few turns here and there in some weak stuff. Obviously I was too picky as I was looking for something strong enough to allow me to continue to make progress rather than getting blown back to the airport.  I ended up landing in a cut wheat field 7 miles south of the airport. At least the retrieve was easy for Leah.  We got back to the airport before operations were finished for the day, visited ,and headed home, but not before a stop in Hutchinson for Ice Cream.

The flight: http://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-2.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=2492758

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