Crew Nightmares

Hi all, well Day 1 has come and gone - thankfully! The forecast had been for heavy rain throughout the task area later in the day, but in spite of this, a 1hr 45minute AAT task was set with 80km/hr required to achieve the minimum distance! We decided to aim for the minimum distance as 80kph looked optimistic for the sky. Our flight started well enough with Mike, Brendan and I a few seconds apart over the line, but one climb later we got separated by a cumulus which I went round and he went under. Flying separately felt strange after all this pair-flying, but fortunately all 3 of us linked up again after a few km. As we headed south it was clear that there was a massive rainstorm spreading from the east that could potentially cut off our return. We had to make a decision - to just touch the circle and head for home, or to keep flying downwind to a certain outlanding to maximise distance. We decided to go for distance, convinced that no-one could finish the task. A gaggle of 5 or 6 seemed to have the same idea and came with us. Finally, a few km from the far side of the circle, and with the rain pressing in from the east, we turned and headed back north. Unfortunately we were now being cramped by airspace to the west, and as the rain advanced we were finally forced to turn directly into the storm and go for a final glide into the rain. Mike chose a ploughed paddock; Brendan and I chose stubble - and we were down. Mike and I soon met up on foot in the rain and found a dilapidated railway station to shelter next to.

Unfortunately, Toby in Standard Class had also landed out, so we had 3 vehicles, 3 crew, and 4 outlanded pilots. By about 6pm Graham arrived for Mike's retrieve, but it wasn't possible to get the trailer to the glider because of the Darling Downs - style blacksoil. So with the help of a friendly local we carried the glider to the trailer, becoming absolutely filthy in the process. Then we got a call from Charlie who had gone for Toby - they were bogged in a paddock and could we help? So we all headed back towards Prievidza via Toby's paddock. In the end it took 7 of us - 3 crew and 4 pilots - at least an hour to get the glider out of the mud. We left exhausted at about 9pm, just as the last light was fading.

The plan for my glider was that as soon as we got back to Prievidza, we would go back for it. We were back at about 11pm, having hit a deer on the road (thanks Brendan for putting it out of its misery with the car jack). Everyone was ready for a meal by then, so after that Charlie very kindly offered to take the rest of the crew out to get my glider, and let me get a decent night's sleep. They headed off about midnight, and I headed gratefully to bed.

I think they finally arrived back about 5am after an uneventful if drowsy retrieve. The roads were relatively quiet. What a stupendous effort by the crew - who took a well-earned morning off to sleep.

We did quite well in the end scorewise, with me coming second, Mike 4th and Brendan 5th. The only problem is - the day was only worth 78 points!

In fact it now looks like the day will be invalidated since not enough people covered 100km.

Still there are plenty more days to fly, it's just a pity to try so hard and get no credit for it!

More news soon on Day 2...