Long Days

The long daylight here is truly amazing – there are only about three hours of twilight, and no real night. We go to bed in the light, and get up in the light – fortunately our bedrooms are in a loft, so little light gets in and we can sleep well.

The long days of flying are also amazing – the contest has lucked into some great soaring weather at the moment. Chris and Andy sat through many days of rain and cold before the contest, so they are appreciating this weather. We get up early for us (we are all night owls not early risers), are rigged by 9, team captains meeting at 9, pilots meeting at 9:30, gridding closes at 11 and first launch at 11:15 to 11:30. The flights are long, so the finishes have not been coming until around 6 and there have been landings as late as 8. After de-rigging, we have a beer and post the blog, leave for dinner and then its bedtime!

Most of the junior pilots are flying longer tasks than they have ever flown and at faster speeds, so are experiencing many personal bests. It is interesting to overhear them chatter about their accomplishments. It is a pleasure to be here and see these young pilots fly so well.