FIRST LAND OUT

Tuesday and our first task day. Also my first landout. The day promised partly cloudy with a northwesterly breeze and some showers, looked like the ridge was working and there seemed to be good thermals. Towing out on the grid it looked like the Libelle and I were going to be front of grid. Nah said Trev Terry more to come and they will go in front of you. By the time I got back from hooking up the car to the trailer I was still front of grid. Standing beside me, the glider launch bloke told me the other row was not ready and could I get going first. A quick don of parachute and glider, strap in, pretakeoffs and away, so quick. The GPS then packed a sad and needed a reset.

Once I got sorted out and went looking for a thermal and found a weak one up to 2300, down to 1900 and into another weak thermal that I worked to 2500. I started looking towards the ridge but found nothing and by 1700 around Wardville looked to come back towards Matamata having picked a paddock. Hopefully coming under another possible cloud produced some weak lift half to one and a half knots that built as I climbed until cloud base at 3300. From here onto the ridge and good ridge lift took me up to 3600 just under the clouds.

Im here, Ive crossed the start line might as well get going, so I headed north to Te Aroha finding the low cloud forced me off the ridge and out over Te Aroha round the cloud and onto the North Face. I recovered height to 2600, again cloud base and pushed on North towards Paeroa working some weak thermals as I went. Trevor Terry with Terry Dagnin in the Duo Discus came underneath well below with the motor out and turning, climbing up to me before putting the noise away. We worked what we could but were both in and out of rain and soon the inevitable decision that I would be landing out. Terry T had the motor out.

I had a paddock identified and crossed at 1000ft for an orbit when a I spotted a windsock ahead ....and a farmers strip. Alright! Ill go there even with the cross wind. The approach was over trees one paddock back and finals revealed a couple of surprises. Looked like cows had been there real recently and there was what looked like a short cross fence either side. On the suspicion theremight be a wire strung across I landed beyond and stopped in 130 meters, yes the cows had been there recently, we will need to wash our baby tonight. The cross fence turned out to be touchdown marker boards for John Bubb's strip and no wire.

John wasn't there but his farm worker was most helpful. Eventually the retrieve crew arrived and home we came... washed and rigged.

The course managed a 100% landout record today so not a good day and the rain around Paeroa really finished me off. Im pleased that I have my first outlanding under the belt