Bob Peloquin

The Rat Race
Comp Dates from Tuesday 5/31 - Saturday 6/4/05

It was an amazing week.  The flying was terrific and the people were fantastic, always willing to help out the new guys.  Other pilots told me that I would learn a lot at Woodrat, but this was an understatement!  By the end of the Comp it was as if my brain was on overload, so much information in such a small space.  Sharing the RV with Dean and Bo worked out great, what a brain trust to be able to draw from.  Traveling with Dean was a different experience.  He liked the stuffed animals on the dash, maybe a little too much.  His relationship with the Beaver got weird, leading to an attempted suicide and the Beaver in therapy.

The place was beautiful with great views of snow capped mountains, green forests and lots of open fields (love those alternate LZ’s).  The texture of the air was a wide mix of just about every type, from strong lift (1,400 up), plummeting sink (1,400 down) and just plain rowdy (one full frontal that took me back to the days at the SIV clinic).  My mentor (Hayden Glatte, a well-known local legend) later told me that these turbulent conditions were not the norm for the site, lucky us.

It quickly became apparent that I needed to focus on just a couple of skills for this first Comp.  Learning to be proficient with my GPS was number 1.  Flying in a gaggle with countless others was number 2, it reminded me of the first time driving on the freeway.  I’m happy to say that by the end of the week the GPS was no longer evil and swimming around in circles with the all the other fish became far less intimidating.  Making several turn points before “dirting” became very gratifying.  The concept of reaching goal took on new meaning, something to aspire to.

On day three I had my best flight, almost.  Bound and determined to take advantage of the best conditions so far in the event, I pressed on to my best flight.  Valuable lesson here; leaving the start cylinder several minutes early gets no points.  Oops, I won’t do that again, log book entry in red.  What the heck, it was a fun flight.

I really had a great time at this, my first Comp.  The anxieties of being a first timer were quickly eased.  The old format with more emphasis on the introduction to Comp flying may have been more novice Comp pilot friendly, but with so many top pilots at this event the education by osmosis was intense.  After several days to recover I want to go back!  Dean had a great idea, set up local tasks with marked waypoints and courses.  Kind of a quick start to Comp 101.

Bo, why is the Bear smiling?