Adventures and Misadventures, Flight Reports, Scores... http://fracas.us/2006monarca/ Wed, 01 Feb 2006 04:35:11 GMT http://fracas.us/2006monarca/?file=SA700499.JPG pic Wed, 01 Feb 2006 04:31:53 GMT http://fracas.us/2006monarca/?file=SA700370.JPG pic Wed, 01 Feb 2006 04:28:58 GMT http://fracas.us/2006monarca/?file=SA700437.JPG pic Saturday was a day for free-flying, with pilots heading to the Peñon in the morning. In the afternoon, the competition organization ran free shuttles to La Torre from where pilots flew out over the lake to perform acro for crowds in the LZ. I took the morning off to do some gift shopping, passing by the shop looking for Day 6 results. The organizers posted the task results, but not the cumulatives which they would announce at the awards ceremony. I did well on Friday, coming to goal 30th. At the awards ceremony, plaques were given to the top 3 pilots in three categories: Mexican pilots, Women, and Overall. Frank Brown from Brasil took overall 1rst"and this was his first time flying Valle. Second was Louis Gomez of Venezuela. And the Bay Area's own Josh Cohn took 3rd in a stunning comeback. At the end of Day 4 Josh was ranked around 15h, but he crushed tasks 5 and 6 to push a mere 14 points ahead of Farmer (Matt Beechinor) and take 3rd. Congrats Josh! In general, americans placed very well with Josh, Farmer, Nick Grece, and Len Szafaryn all in the top 10. Eric Reed just missed the top 10 with 11th place. Tom Moock came in at 27th. My final rank was 33rd"just outside the top 25% and well over my goal of hitting the top 50%. After the awards ceremony we had a party in the landing zone with video and stills of the week's flying, DJing, burn barrels, fireworks , and a lot of tequila"not unlike a good night at Burning Man! The party slowed down around 2:30am, just when the towns clubs get going so a crew including Brad, Frank Brown, myself, and the local RedBull girls (doing there best to take care of Frank, their sponsored athlete). Around sunrise I headed home with a great comp and a bit more tequila under my belt. Tomorrow I head to Australia. I have a week of sightseeing in Sydney, and then I fly the Bright 3-2-1. Tue, 31 Jan 2006 20:00:38 GMT http://fracas.us/2006monarca/?file=79 text How can an experienced competition pilot and organizer make scoring mistakes and invalidate his flights? Well, Jug found two ways, and Eric Broyhill a couple more. Amazingly Jug essentially invalidated 3 or the 6 tasks. While the rest of us flew and scored a full competition, Jug was scored for only half. Eric lost a full 1/3rd of his possible points. Twice he entered the start cylinder before the start time and on Task 5, he recorded the wrong start-point"entering the wrong place at the right time. Eric, for his part, forgot on Task 1 to turn on his track log, so his flight was not recorded. Later, on Task 3, he simply forgot to give the scorer his GPS unit. So how does this happen? Jug and Eric can explain better than I, but here is my theory: in the rush of adrenalin, mixed with the desire to do well, and the innate fear and stress of flying, it's easy to get confused, forget the basics, and rush. Luckily, I didn't mess up any tasks in this comp. But last year I almost received a zero for the one day I reached goal. I had turned off my GPS to 'save batteries'. Fortunately I had a back-up and witnesses to my location. But it was a dumb screw up that almost invalidated my best day. Here's my advice for avoiding screw-ups: Have a system Keep it simple"remove all unnecessary steps Trust it Be 100% certain of every turn-point"even if it means flying deep In practice I do the following, mostly cribbed from other competitors: Before the meet, confirm all proper GPS settings, then forget them. They won't change themselves. Before each task, replace batteries in main GPS unit"I actually cycle them down to my backup unit. Before each task clear track log in Main and Backup GPS units Each task meeting, write the task with pen on my GPS. This means: task type, start cylinder radius, start type, each turn-point in order, any non standard cylinder radii, start-time, end-time. Write the turn direction on the GPS"so I never have to think or second guess, just look down and I know it. Double check the task board point-by-point against what I have written Enter the route in the GPS unit Double check the GPS route against BOTH the task board and what I have written on the GPS unit The point is that I spend a while, longer than most, sitting in front of the task board, and when I am done I am 100% confident that I have written everything I need to know to fly the task without thinking or second guessing. Despite this I find myself often in flight wondering if I recorded a turn-point incorrectly, or got the start time wrong, or am turning the wrong direction. But since it's all written down right in front of me, I force myself to trust what I see. And lastly, as I approach the stat or a turn-point I focus carefully on the distance countdown on my GPS and if for some reason I am not 100% certain I've hit the point (maybe I've been thermalling near the point and think I crossed into the cylinder, but am not sure), I turn and fly deep into the point, as much as 20 meters further than necessary. When I get better and consistently make it to goal, I'll start worrying about hitting the points tighter. But maybe not. A few days ago I saw Len turn away from the lead gaggle and flying a couple KM out of his way. I thought maybe something happened to his gear and he was going to land. When I asked him later he told me: "I wasn't sure I'd hit the start." He made up a good deal of time by flying fast, but he wasted a lot of time doubling back. For now at least, I'd rather be a little slower and 100% sure than risk a detour, or worse, a blown day. Sat, 28 Jan 2006 19:39:42 GMT http://fracas.us/2006monarca/?file=78 text Day 6 was a 60 K task. The task committee wanted a fun race with lots of pilots in goal. Weather conditions were classic for Valle with cloudbase at 11,000 feet at the start and rising to over 12,000 feet along the course line. Once again the task committee was spot on with their call and the sky was filled with pilots flying around the course. A memorable moment was shared by about eight pilots who got very low and close to landing near the Mesa Delores turnpoint when they spotted Len turning and climbing in a thermal close by. As they jetted over and joined him to climb out and back in the race the sky was filled with pilots yelling and laughing "Thanks Len" as they circled and got back in the game. All in all it was a typical Valle De Bravo competition. That means 3-4 hours of flying each day with lots of happy pilots and great comraderie. Because we flew six days in a row, Saturday will be a rest day and everybody will have a chance to wind down and get ready for the most dangerous part of the competition - the main party on Saturday night!!! During the day Saturday there will be an acrobatics demonstration and exhibition for the townsfolk. Since there are so many talented pilots here from around the world it should be quite a show. I expect the rescue boats will be kept quite busy as pilots push the acrobatics envelope over the water. Every year this competition seems to improve and develop a bigger and better reputation around the globe. I expect next year this event will again be one of the more anticipated events in the Pan-American region. Sat, 28 Jan 2006 10:52:35 GMT http://fracas.us/2006monarca/?file=77 text Sat, 28 Jan 2006 04:35:01 GMT http://fracas.us/2006monarca/?file=DSC01090.JPG pic Sat, 28 Jan 2006 04:31:59 GMT http://fracas.us/2006monarca/?file=DSC01086.JPG pic Sat, 28 Jan 2006 04:29:03 GMT http://fracas.us/2006monarca/?file=DSC01101.JPG pic Sat, 28 Jan 2006 04:28:00 GMT http://fracas.us/2006monarca/?file=DSC01099.JPG pic Sat, 28 Jan 2006 04:26:20 GMT http://fracas.us/2006monarca/?file=DSC01095.JPG pic Oh dear, is there anyone in the area who can cheer her up? Sat, 28 Jan 2006 04:25:34 GMT http://fracas.us/2006monarca/?file=DSC01094.JPG pic