August 29, 2024
Better weather today – a return near to genuine Uvalde Weather. This began with a low overcast – note a good sign at most soaring sites. But here, strong sun breaks this up into a field of cumulus clouds that rise to good altitudes. Today they never reached excellent altitudes, but showed almost none of yesterday’s tendency to morph into rain clouds.
Tasks were again long, in the face of a predicted early end to good soaring conditions. (Lift that persists until sunset is a feature only of baking hot days in south Texas, and these are now in the past – perhaps not to be seen again this year.) But most pilots were able to finish, only a few after 7pm. Speeds were down a bit, reflecting lower temperatures that produced generally weaker climbs to lower altitudes.
The Open class had the toughest task (614 km), the most late finishers, and the most non-finishers: five. Sadly, three of these were the consequence of airspace violations: if you touch forbidden airspace, you are scored as if you’d landed there. This is unwelcome reinforcement for the notion that the sophisticated and expensive instrumentation found in every panel here is nonetheless badly inadequate at its most important job: to keep pilots clear of airspace they must not enter. At the other end of the daily score sheet, Jim Lee posted another strong flight, good for 4th place.
We have some additional information on yesterday’s water landing: The pilot was Alena Netusilova of Czechia, flying A7 in the 18-Meter class, a JS3 featuring an electric motor and propeller that stow in the fuselage behind the pilot. She’d flown a good flight (4th place for the day) and, having run short of solar power (thermals) was looking to fly the 80 km return to Uvalde on battery power. Due to weight restrictions, she was carrying just one of two possible battery packs, which likely meant that available range was a concern. The glider’s engine system almost immediately reported excess temperatures and refused to produce adequate thrust. The nearby area is mostly scrub vegetation and mesquite trees, without any safe & dry landing option; she thus selected a small lake (it’s a bit larger than a stock pond, measuring about 480 x 200 ft) and landed safely near its center.
The lake is shallow, but Alena was concerned about the hazard of being in water near to a powerful – and now submerged – battery. So, having reported her landing by mobile phone, she stood in the open cockpit for more than an hour, awaiting help. This arrived in the form of a helicopter, generously provided (and flown) by Mark Huffstutler, the Deputy Director and task-setter for WGC2024. An eager crew promptly waded into the shallow pond (encountering no electric shock hazards) and rescued Alena. They were able to roll the glider on its main wheel across the shallow lake bottom and eventually clear of the water. But as it emerged, the battery produced steam, smoke and even flames. Mark dealt with this by removing the battery pack and re-submerging it near the shoreline. He then brought Alena home in the helicopter.
The glider was retrieved later; strain during the landing made the wing pins difficult to remove. It’s now in its trailer at Uvalde, feeling a bit sorry for itself. Full details are not available, but some serious TLC will be needed before this bird flies again.
John Good