Day four, Wednesday, August 23rd
The last couple of PF1 pilots have just got off for task 10, which is the old task 9. You get a limited amount of fuel, then have to fly away as far as possible. Dave and Michel were among the first to get away, making the most of the very thermic conditions. It’s blowing a steady 5-8kt but is very lumpy - we’re watching the poor pilots being chucked about the sky as they try to find good lift.
Andy (deputy team leader) is holding up a ribbon to show the wind direction. He confidently predicted that Michel would be among the best, and he’ll get 80km away. There’s no restriction on mobile phones for this task - people need them so they can arrange a lift home! (Mobile phones are usually sealed in an envelope to stop in-flight communications).
The increased wind leads to a slight change of take-off style - pilots pull the wing up while facing it, then turn 180 degrees before starting the take-off dance. Andy Griffin (**Who?? I meant Andy Phillips!**) quite happily admitted he doesn’t like these endurance/thermalling tasks. He said that in the same breath as telling me he did a mini-triathlon just for fun while on holiday. Andy has an active background, he’s not the shy and retiring type!
We (jury and stewards) took a quick trip to the nearest village to check on the accuracy of a timing gate based on a church - Michel narrowly missed one and quite rightly asked to check its accuracy on the scoring system. We drove to the church in question and took a GPS fix. When I got back to the airfield I asked Jose-Luis to verify that the gate was in the right place (it is). I have to admit here that it took us a little longer to get back than expected… Keith spotted a nice little tapas place so we had a quick bite to eat. The food over here is usually really good, it’s simple fare but tasty. We had patatas bravas (fried potatoes in chilli), then patatas al loio (or something - it means ‘in garlic’) as one of the dishes, so are warding off competitors with our breath right now. I bet they’re glad they’re getting as far away from us as possible! I said the food is usually good… the cafeteria on site served (pigs) tripe one day. I did try it, but I think the picture Keith took says more than any description I might offer.
