Banff, 19. April 2003

Fellow dESPair nomads Finally, after two horrible attempts of getting familar with the Super-Blanik, I decided to perform my first run of the Banff glider contest. But first, some words about the mentioned attempts... When Victoria and I arrived here in Banff, I already had a good plan on how I could refresh my few glider flying skills. There was a plan to fly a recon tour together with Cpt. Brick, but this trip had to be postponed due to technical difficulties to hook up our two cockpit data transmitters. (But it was the first contact over RW since a long time - so I did enjoy the 1+ hour of trying anyway! Thanks, Cpt. Brick, Sir). So, I decided to pick a free Blanik bird, and get a first go around the Banff area to get familar with the terrain and winds along the mountains. However... as soon as I dropped the tow rope around 9000ft, just as I would do in the real run, the power-less bird was stired, not shaken, by the hefty turbulences and gusts. I fought for at least 15 minutes to stabilize the plane - to no avail. Worst of all, the thermals were extremely strong, but seem to have had a diameter of only a few dozen feet. The vertical energy meter went from -10 to +10 within a second, and back after another second... it was impossible to fly under that conditions. I took a steep dive, and got a drink at the pub... two hours later - the same situation. Going up to 9000, fighting for a while until I gave up and landed again. The third attempt went better, since I did a voodoo dance before entering the cockpit, and the weather gods were obviously content with my performance (read: I randomized the weather, in XP, set thermals to zero, flew a minute and re-adjusted the weather to fit DW's data). So, the third attempt lead me towards Canmore, smooth and nice. I found one big thermal around halfway towards Canmore, gained 2000 ft easily, and thought this altitude would give me some security to explore the cockpit in details. As you can see from the screenshots below, I got a Super-Blanik, but with a customized cockpit (used the PSD that came with the bird). I understood all instruments, except one little knob in the very lower right corner. And when I activated the knob ... zzzzap-whoooosssshhh!!! I was pressed into the seat with several g's. The know triggered a hidden JATO device!!! All in a sudden, I found myself at over 20'000 ft, and with the speed needle glued to the utmost maximum value... I don't remember how I found back to earth in one peace - I did red-grey-blue-pink-green-and-barf out. Butthe years of SOAS experience with dESPair comapany missions paid off - and I obviously manoeuvred the plane back to Banff without beinc really conscious about it. That was the moment when I was a little bit pissed about Blaniks... and I went to my hotel room to cool down by improving our online ystem, talking with the Lago Espirito IT center guys about the shared PIREP space... But a real dESPairado always gets back on its feet... and so, here I am, after my first trial in the Banff glider contest, safe and sound and happy: my trip time: 44:28 (+/- 5 seconds). Here's the PIREP: After talking to the mechanics and verifying that the JATO device had been deactivate, I took off in fine weather. I dropped the tow rope at exactly 9000 ft, and began headin towards Canmore. Again, approx. half way between Banff and Canmore, I found one of those monster thermals, and took the opportunity to perform two 180° turns to get up to almost 12'000 feet. I rather spend some seconds circling, than wait days for the rescue team... I reached Canmore heliport at around 13:10 minutes, in 9600 ft and cruising with 62 knots. First I felt this was pretty high... but when I was approaching the second turn point, I lost much altitude and the mountain peaks started to grow higher than the horizon... a view that I dislike whe flying glider in mountaneous areas... Reaching the second turn point at 22:15 (this pic is taken at 21:47, at only 8700 ft!), already planning to go down into the valley, where I am easier to recover than in the high mountains...but shortly before the turn point, I picked up another strong thermal. So, when it was time to turn towards the third checkpoint, I was already back to more than 10800 ft! While heading towards the third checkpoint, I was blessed with quite a couple of thermals, and was able to maintain a good speed without spending much altitude: I reached the third turn point at around 33 minutes, and from there, it was all downhill. Finally, the flight turned into something really enjoyable - because I was sure that I know how to loose altitude, in contrast of knowing how to gain it :-) Picking up speed (41:12, not far from home!): And arriving at Banff with a final time of 44:30 +/- 5 seconds. Now, I need a shower, a break and a second attempt! I think if the luck doesn't go away, I might gain a few more seconds on the second flight. Good luck to those of you, who have not yet done their flights! Best, Hak