LSXC Update #5 (July 27-August 1)

Sat., July 27, Bruce Goldsmith and Adrian Thomas arrived from Europe (both from England, but Bruce currently lives in France with his wife and children). Bruce and Adrian are competition PG pilots flying for Airwave. They have come to Texas to attempt some big distance flying and to test out a new wing design by Bruce (the Airwave 10). They are accompanied by Markus Villinger, the owner of Airwave, who is from Austria. The three arrived in San Antonio late Friday evening and drove to Hearne on Sat. for some flying. The weekend definitely brought some strange conditions to Hearne. Sat. the winds were blowing 15 mph, gusting up to about 20 with soft lift. Kent Robinson, local Dallas pilot, towed both pilots up Sat. afternoon, around 3 pm, using his winch system. Bruce had the first tow which was just under 1000', and was able to get away from the airport. Adrian towed 2nd, getting a much higher tow...1800'. Bruce only flew a few short miles, but Adrian was able to pull off an 78 mile flight to Corsicana. A personal best for Adrian and a new PG site record for Hearne! He flew the 78 miles in about 3 hours. Not bad for such a late launch and light conditions. They both really enjoyed the terrain that the Hearne area offers. Sunday the winds were a bit stronger, more like 20-25 mph. Kent towed Bruce at about 1pm, and the winds were blowing strong. After an exciting launch and tow, he pinned off at 1000 meters (the new restricted tow altitude when attempting record flights). Adrian decided to bag it for the day after watching Bruce's take-off. Bruce flew about 24 miles straight up Hwy. 6.

We left for Edinburg Mon. afternoon with the PG pilots. The winds were honking when we arrived at 9 pm that evening. Tues., July 30, 7am the winds were light but had picked up considerably by 9. Tom Rheman, what a great guy!, brought us his winch early that morning, and Bruce and Adrian were ready for launch by 10:30. Cloudstreets had already formed and the winds were blowing (a bit gusty at times) from the south. Bruce launched at 11, got about 1800' from the tow and was quickly out of site from the airport heading N-NW. Adrian had some minor problems before launch, but finally got off around noon. Bruce flew 119 miles and Adrian pulled off 129 miles. Personal bests for both and a new PG site record for Edinburg.

Wed., July 31, conditions are S-SE winds at 20-25 mph and cloudstreets forming by 9am, very soarable. Bruce launched first at 11 and was on course but had to land out 5 miles because of instrument problems, he was quickly retrieved and launched again (50 min. turnaround time...and that's back at altitude). Adrian launched at about 11:20. Bruce flew 118 miles and Adrian flew 70 miles today.

Thurs., Aug. 1, same conditions as the previous few days. Today Adrian launched first at 9:15am and was on course, but was only able to get 46 miles. He landed about 12 miles out in the middle of nowhere, but Markus was able to get within about 1 mile of where he landed. Markus had no trouble getting help to get through locked gates and rescue Adrian. Bruce launched about 9:40 am. He pulled off another personal best and new site record flying 158 miles!

Fri., Aug. 2, the boys are taking the day off and we're heading down to Mexico for some relaxation and fun! So far the weather looks good through the weekend.