Monday, March 3, 2014

Busy days - 2 tasks done

It's busy here in Mexico. We head for launch at 9 AM and yesterday we were back at 8 PM, so it's hard to keep you updated...

But, we had 2 tasks until now. The first was a 108 km out and return task which took us to the foothills of the Nevado de Toluca, which is a huge volcano. We launch at 2400 m, but as the terrain rises towards the volcano, you find yourself flying over 3000 m high landing fields. I really don't want to land there, because the thinner air seriously increases your landing speed. It's hard enough at 2500 m already.

Anyway, the first task started well for me, but the whole middle section was slow. I lost half an hour on Christian, but ended up 7th, which was way better than expected.

Yesterday we had the second task, which took us around the volcano. Cloudbase was at 4400 m and that really gets to me. I actively remind myself to breathe deep and hold my breath for a short while to make sure I get enough oxygen in. It is special flying here.

Sadly, they made a huge mistake with the goal coordinates yesterday. We ended up with 2 goal fields 2,5 km apart: one defined by GPS coordinates and another with a physical line on the ground, Red Bull tents, music and a whole crowd. I made both, but a few only did the physical goal line. I fear there's always going to be somebody unhappy with whatever compromise we could get for the result and that the day will be canned after protests. It's a shame.

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