Hello all,

The wx-man promised good soaring on Thursday and early 
cloudover on Friday.  Surprise, surprise:  He was (and is today) 
wrong.

Even the eagles had trouble climbing away.  Just before launchng Doug
Girard, from the winch I watched one scratching and clawing for lift
just off to the east.  He finally gave up in disgust and flapped off
to the south, perhaps to vent his frustration on some unsuspecting
mud sucker in the Kennetcook River.  He must have thrown a frosty
glare at Doug, who climbed away nicely after heavy sink took him down
to 1000 feet or so.  He would have been a trifle shamed to learn that
Doug had forgotton to put in his TE probe, but had a good soaring
flight anywar, oops, I meant anyway.  

However, once the local eagles got away, some proved they could soar,
as I learned to my shame later.

As I learned from visiting rodeos in BC, there are ranches that raise 
bucking broncos.  There must be similar operations upwind that 
are training this year's crop of thermals.   Yesterday they were 
at it again.  Perhaps they came from the Triple-T Bar Ranch: 
Tight, Turbulent, and Tricky, and working to Bar honest flyers like 
me from getting high.  Even Ironman Foote admitted he got shot 
down from 4000 feet.

Having been delayed by my project to install velcro instead of tape
to seal the wings, I never got away until 2:00pm or so.  With a
crosswind of 25 knots twisting the air, it was a wild ride once you
cleared the trees.  Tom gave me a super launch in the rodeo
conditions, dropping me into a thermal that took pity on me, taking
me up to 3000 feet before bucking me out the bar-room door.  A
gorgeous day to be aloft:  visibility to PEI, while trees along
stream courses fought over the bragging rights of First Place 
ribbons for colour display.  Although glider guiders blew 
downwind at alarming rates when "thermalling," the  Triple 
T thermals did reward those how held on by the teeth with reasonable 
climb rates.  

In fact I felt pretty smug until I joined an eagle in a thermal,
coming in 500 feet above him.  I banked her over and looked to see
who was going to win the "King of the Thermal" crown. 

Boy!  Did I get my comeuppance.  Yon young eagle came up past me
like a space shuttle heading for orbit.  The 8-knot "hot spot" of
the thermal was a wing-span wide.  So he cheated, parking
himself in the hot stuff while I had to fly far afield in my thermal
circle.  Whilst he came up even with me, he pulled up into a 
launch-style climb angle in the hot spot, then slowly cranked down 
the angle of attack of his wings while keeping his "fuselage" in the 
steep climb.  He gave me a look as if to say:  "Try this one dumbo!"

I flew off as he climbed above me, glaring at him frostily over my 
shoulder.  

The velcro worked by the way.   It should prove to be faster to
put on than tape now that the "eye" component has been glued to wings 
and fuselage.  As Karl and Alison pointed out, working vibration and
flutter makes velcro tighten it's grip, whereas these forces tend
to loosen tape.  Did you know that the dash of the of Dash-8 is held 
on with velcro.  Yep, 'tis true.  I heard from a dashing Dash-8 
dare-devil (he flies sailplanes, doesn't he?) that Dash-8 instrument 
panels are so affixed.  Velcro is reuseable, which fits in 
with the new mood of protecting yon environment.  Costly, though.

Don't let those pretty trees lose their colour banners without 
viewing them from your armchair in the sky.

Cheers,
gg