Rolda (Los Tanques-3)

Feb 15th, 2015

This was another more typical weather day for the valley. This time, we determined a task; fly north along the foothills to La Union, head out into the valley to La Victoria, go south to Zarzal, and then back toward Roldanillo. All this was dependent on actual winds as the day progressed.

Julie S. had the waypoint file for the FAI Worlds from the month prior. She figured out which waypoints would work best for our discussed task and shared them on launch. It would have been good if we all could have had some kind of basic waypoint file for the trip - overall. Maybe we can do this for the next trip.

We launched with good cycles coming up through launch. Some of us got up in the launch thermal directly overhead. Others found lift in front of launch at the house thermal; across the high-tension power lines and above the twin peaks that spawn reliable lift. From there, those that felt comfortable in the air worked their way north along the power lines (generally) toward La Union. Some went east into the flats prior to the first turn point and others worked their way behind La Union and east from a point just north of the town. Lift over the hills was working quite well, but it was a bit punchy. I figured this to be due to early heating. There wasn't as much cloud cover as we typically see in the morning.

The lift on the flats was much more smooth and widespread. Many Chulos marked the rising air and we oscillated between flying with birds and finding other pilots to piece together our individual cross countries. At times, we flew as a team, but teams split up easily as each pilot seemed to find their own way with the many lift indicatorss that presented themselves.

At one point, not far from the massive thermal-spawning town of La Victoria, Kari, Julie S. and I teamed up. We decided to go north instead of south to Zarzal. The winds seemed to favor that direction. But it wasn't long before we found ourselves on the ground. Julie S. was very near the main N/S road (Rte 255) and hooked a ride with the retrieve van as it went further north toward Cartoga to get Mike and Kent. Kari andy I waited patiently by the road for the van's return to the south. Without even indicating to anyone that we wanted a ride, three different vehicles offered. In addition, four or five commercial autobuses, would have stopped with mere eye contact. Self-retrieve here is almost too easy.

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Note to others chirp in with your recollections via comments. I will roll them into the account. Thanks. on the trip. I am missing many of your inputs and details. We al had good flights on the flats this day. Please