Linda Salamone's Blog

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

I am so bummed I have to try to write this all again. It's never quite as good the second time around! There was an error when I tried to post on Monday and I was unable (even with the help of my IT guy) to recover it.

Task 4: a "box the swamp" like last year. Mark predicted this would be the task today and his Tarot Card mind was ON IT! I had a great start, great climbs, great lift line at the edge of the swamp that I ran all the way across gaining 1000' to boot. Last year I frustrated Dana by landing square in the MIDDLE of the swamp, so this was looking rosie. I tagged the 2nd TP, and tried to gain a bit more altitude before going on glide. Instead, I floundered around in weak broken lift and drifted back into the swamp a little. There was a cell that was dumping in there, a couple miles away from me, and I thought- Oh shit. Then as I was desperately trying to make my air turn into a real thermal, I saw a rainbow superimposed on the rain, and I thought- oh how nice, must be an omen of something good. As I continued to struggle- and drift into the swamp further, I saw lightning, and I thought - OH SHIT!!!! and I was all alone save one glider struggling much further away and out of the swamp. To give up now would be to land IN the swamp, and likely IN a gustfront. So I kept at it and then suddenly the lift got really good, eerily good, and a bunch of birds joined as the lightning continued and I knew I was in that "really good lift" near a storm that they mention on the hang 3 test! I guessed I had little choice but to use it just to get the hell out of there. And the other glider joined me and it was enough to get me back to 5K and snag the third TP. But not much else. Besides, I was so freaked out by that whole predicament I doubt I could have done much more. Later the pilot that was with me (Jack Simmons) said he couldn't believe how "in the swamp and close to that cell" I was. I landed 16 miles short of goal with a french pilot who gave me a ride back to Quest.
This was the first bad day I had had since I came down for the meets. It was amazing how my mood sank. I was determined to fly faster and not lag behind so much the next day.

Task 5: out and return for 66 miles total. Seemed like an easy task and I launched way too early. I think I should have left before the start clock since the OD was what kept us all from goal. Well all of us except for one pilot. I was having a grand old time and keeping up and all, until I wasn't. Then I was in the same situation as the day before with crappy climbs, and apocolyse looking cloud this time on my left, and not enough gliders in climbs within reach. I saw Jack leave a climb low and I thought no way was I going to follow him since he wasn't doing too well lately... So I tagged the TP and went down shortly after, taking a downwind landing since the brewing storm had switched things around on the ground. Bill (the driver with something EXTRA) got me after the rain forced me to find refuge, and said that Jack made goal. When we got back to Quest we heard that just one unknown pilot made goal. Wow. You all know the rest of THAT story! He really needs to retire since that experience will be tough to top!!!!!

Anyways, the whole trip was a great experience. Even though the Flytec meet I spent mostly slipping in my position overall- I learned so much. I think us NE pilots are so used to flying in pure crap that we excel on the tough days. Then the racing days put us in our place because we aren't used to going fast and counting on good climbs. The crowd at Quest was so generous when we raffled a Tshirt, and Jeff O'Briens mom made a big donation with her cousin to the Women's Team. Just a great bunch of people.

The first time I wrote this up it definitely came out a bit more cohesive- Oh well... this is all I got for now!

Monday, April 24, 2006

I will try to recap the last two tasks we flew at Flytec but sitting here at my desk in rainy NY it is pretty hard to get myself back in the groove.

Task 4: it was a big box they called around the swamp and i recall this same one from last year. mark said this would be the task, and he was right. i had landed right IN the swamp last year so this time I was determined NOT to. i was really going well right from the start, and i flew with the french woman just before hitting the swamp area. when i finally crossed the swamp, it was at 5000' under a OD'd street, and I gained a grand by the time I was across. I hit the 2nd turnpoint, and then shit got ugly. I say Mark and Lauren fly overhead on course and i tried to get more altitude there before I went on glide. it was burbly and i lost more than i gained. i also lost ground and was drifting into the swamp again. finally i see that the OD area i flew through was raining. shit! so after struggling some more and stressing out a bit, i see a rainbow has formed in the swamp. oh how pretty, how promising.... yikes! struggle some more, things are bad, i have run out of landing options now. gotta get up before I go anywhere. Another glider is struggling further out of the swamp than me, finally I get a decent climb and work it. Uh oh, now lightning a few miles away from me and no one else is in sight and closer to this storm. But it is in the same place after half an hour and i think the seabreeze that is pushing me towards it is also keeping it in the swamp. Then the lift gets REALLY good and a billion soaring birds are with me now. oh this is good, really good, uh oh, TOO GOOD. The storm is in full swing and I am proving that Hang 3 test question- ya know the one about "the really good lift near a thunderstorm" question that we all get wrong???? I have no choice but to let it get me high enough to get the freak outta there! And i do get out and high, but i am shaking. I go on a big glide to the third turnpoint, tag it and continue on glide into a field with a french guy who I think is the one who was left behind near me. I find out later it was Jack Simmons who was near me. So I landed 16 or so miles short of goal and I am pretty freaked out but the french guy helps me get back to Quest. The next night Jack Simmons told me he couldn't believe where I was in relation to that cell. somehow it helped knowing that my assessment (not necessarily my actions) of the situation was correct. it was BAD!
This was the first really "bad" day I have had here in Florida. I was riding high until now. It was amazing how quickly I sank so low emotionally. I didn't sleep very well that night.

Task 5:
Seems like an easy task, an out and return to the north (and back). I launch early after a conflict with all the french pilots at the staging fiasco we have every day. I am flying with Curt Warren and another pilot for half an hour before the start, and considering leaving very early because the day is getting pretty big. But i wait for the start stupidly and of course i see an apocolypse cloud halfway to the first turnpoint. Bill Vickery (our driver with the mostest) saves Mark's ass on course. Funny story, I will let him tell it. And I get low and slow once again after such a strong start. I saw Jack flying in a weak thermal and joined his gaggle- he left the thing lower than I was willing and I waffled yet again to the turnpoint and got a few miles past to land in the calm before the big storm. When Bill retrieved me, it was raining hard and Jack, he said, had made it to goal. Damn! Shoulda stayed with him. I figured 20 people had to have made it as well. When we get back to Quest, Michelle tells me that just one guy made it in. Holy crap. It was Jack Slocum. We were stunned. He had been having less than stellar flights and here he beat even Oleg and ridgid pilots and oh my God. Very cool, except his 1000 point score pushed him past me in the final standings! DAMN! He told me later he used that "really good lift near a thunderstorm" to get to goal. Wow.

Okay so not a bad meet, 5 tasks out of 7. I flew consistantly at least. I had gotten my hopes up early because my rank in the tough early days was high. Each day I fell further and further behind that early lead. My theory is that us Northeast pilots know how to fly in pure crap, so on tough days we excel. Then a racing day is where I fall behind because I am tenacious, not fast. So i think i know what to work on.

Quest is such a great place to hang out. The band was fun on Friday night- not the Red Elvises, but a fair replacement. We all went skinny dipping in the lake after dancing our asses off and that was a new and different experience for me! So many people were wearing our Women's Team T-shirts all week and the crowd was very generous when we raffled them off. Jeff OBrien's mother, Ingrid, and her cousin donated some cash to the womens' team after hearing our plight. I was 43rd out of around 70 pilots, so that was a huge improvement over last year. And in continuing to get ready for the World meet, it was a great experience.
Sorry for the typos.....I really should get back to work now....

Thursday, April 20, 2006

i will try to sum up a few flights quickly.
NATs were disappointing on that there were only 2 tasks but the meet was great otherwise, good people and some fun stuff to do. it was sort of a weird victory when it was only one other us female pilot i had to beat to get the title. but can i help it if no one showed for the party?
i also got to spend a nice birthday with my mom and sister in naples on the 11th.
so flytec started sunday and we got some air the day before. of course the practice day was sweet air-but the first task was like a barroom brawl fighting upwind (both ways!!!) i was desperately trying to just get back to quest since i was too tired to break down the glider. what motivation. i found myself flying right over huge lakes and areas that looked mighty unlandable- praying for thermals and swearing the next climb i got i would take to a decent landing area.....i landed2 miles shy of quest even though i was supposed to fly on by for 20 more miles and THEN back. 4 hours and 24 miles.... but it was a whole lot better than a ton of other people and only one rigid made it to go (yay russel!) but he collapsed at the end from exhaustion and dehydration from what i hear.
next day, big long run to the south. jeff and i flew the whole task together and made it to 7 miles short. my flight was a ton of fun- we scraped each other off the deck over and over and the guys flying at wallaby (must be marty's buddies) were nonstop chatting on the frequency we picked. thank GOD for the kill switch on my helmet. when i say NON STOP, i mean NON STOP. we flew past wallaby and heard them for 4 hours. even after they all landed they were using the radios on the ground. UGH! but we found that we did pretty well that day so i am in the top 20. holy shit.
so yesterday, we did a 67 mile rectangle flight with quest as goal. as soon as we got in the air- the wallaby guys started again. jeff asked them to consider a different frequency but tough to change when you are already in the air. they never shut up. NEVER. sometimes it was impossible just to ask where mark or jeff was. gotta switch off that one today for sure. i had a bad start- i was 5 miles away from quest thinking i was still in the start circle and as the gaggle rushed by at the first gate- i realized i had to go back to 3 miles and tag the start. so the whole flight i was feeling very behind. i did catch up with people, and got past a bunch. but the mistake cost me probably half an hour. i caught up with mark at the 2nd TP after a 1000fpm climb almost into a cloud. he was so low and i thought he was toast for sure. way later on my last leg, i heard him again, he had a really low save and came into goal. i flew very conservatively at the end- i didn't want to miss by inches again. i took an extra climb 2 miles from quest for insurance. so i finally made goal at flytec. but so did 46 other pilots and i am in like 30th place overall for my5 hour effort!!!!
so here we still are waiting for the second half of the meet- and i am so stiff and sore i can't sleep well. i think the 42 year old body is giving out. meesha is having a blast.

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Linda Salamone's Blog

Forgot to say how good the Cliffs was on Sunday April 2nd. Got an hour, 2400 over and had a nice landing. I used my new harness for the first time and had a 10 inch gap where I couldn't zip up.
Then I drove to Florida Ridge and flew for an hour at 4k or more over on Friday, April 7th.
Saturday, April 8th began the US Nationals at the Ridge. Firts task was a 75 mile ziuggling downwind of course line gzag downwind sort of flight. I got left in total crap at 1400' by Bobby (wtf?) and landed to launch again in the incereasing wind. It was 22mph when I finally launched behind Rhett and I had to leave with the shitty thermal I had because there wasn't much else. So, I waffled on across the canal, after flying with Jim Kolynich a little, then I waffled low over the swamp and caught a good boomer in the middle of it- thank God! But it drifted me over to that big ass lake (Okeechobee) and I found myself struggling downwind of courseline yet again.... but I did make that first elusive turnpoint, and the next leg was downwind so I thought it would be an easy run.. too bad I never found another climb until I was 800' over a long pasture, and I struggled with it all the way to the end and when it finally seemed to turn on I couldn't grow balls fast enough to take it low over a mile or two of very unlandable terrain. So I already knew Mark had landed back atthe flight park when his instrument failed, and my ride would be nearby, and when I landed it took 10 minutes or so of hanging onto my glider nose down before I could unhook and secure it. Mark arrived and helped me break down.
I found myself in 18th place the next morning, but the wind hasn't let up since and I don't know if we'll even get the day on Friday that we all voted to add to the comp. We are bored out of our skulls and even though I am an ace Tug pilot now, I am still not getting enough airtime. I became a Dragonfly student when Bobby realized at dinner one night it was me he left off in sinking air.
So one day of a task, one day canoeing, an hour of cloud fucking, 4 hours of sunbathing, hours of eating, an afternoon with my mom and sister's family.... oh so sometime soon this will be a hang gliding adventure.


 
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