see also: [Peter Weldon's flight article for Friday]

Derek Musashe
Friday, 1/31/2020 (last day of the January Hoe Down Task)

EJ Launch  to Thermal Factory to Painted Cave to Parsons Airpark
Last day of the 2019/2020 Santa Barbara Free Flight Hoe Down January Task
Task 5 Wonder Woman's Wang - January 2020

Total SLOFD (Straight Line Over-flown Distance between 2 points) 19.6 miles
2020 LFSD score: 19 points

Reference: [IGC Text Data File] and [Google Earth KMZ File] or [Ayvri Web Animation]

Article Copied from SBSA Telegram Chat Box > Ayvri
https://ayvri.com/scene/095m7r6m5z/ck633pg5500013g68770jlsms

I took a half day off work to fly the last day in January.  January/December 2020 was a tough stretch of bad weather for flying, so I was excited to get in the air.  I didn't expect much of the day, and I didn't actually intend to try the task while I was setting up on launch.  Nevertheless, things just kind of evolved in flight, and it seemed like a fun thing to try once I was up there flying around.

The day was characterized by very light (almost non-existent) winds at altitude all day long.  The lapse okay above 3k, but most climbs were fairly mellow.  I launched a little before 1pm. I  had spoken with Andrew Byron prior to launching, and he recommended that I try and stay high since there was a very stable layer of air around 2700' MSL.  I took his advice to heart and throughout my flight, took pains to take every climb I could while up on the back ridge.

I thought tagging Painted Cave would actually be the crux, but things were working well back there and I ended up finding nice climbs west of VOR that took me to over 4k.  Tagging the cylinders all the way out front ended up being the biggest challenges in actuality.  I tried to hoard altitude before tagging them, so that I could stay above 2700'.  I ended having to get lower than that after tagging the big East Beach cylinder, and I ended up not being able to bench back from Antenna Farm to Thermal Factory again and just decided to take my chances and head to Parker's out front with maybe 2700' or so. I ended up eventually getting back to Shadow Peak at a decent spot and really got back in the game there, back up to well over 3k. That was my proudest moment in the flight, as I had previously thought it was probably over, and now I had a whole range open to me to the east.

It was kind of delicate flying from there on out, and I eventually got low a low save with the help of three hawks and a gaggle of swifts at Snowball's Daddy and got back up to 3800'.  Still, the day was getting late and things were shutting down, so I took the altitude I had and made a go for the final goal cylinder at La Conchita.  I ended up coming up just short, landing by Hwy 150 behind Bates (at Parsons Airpark), but I am nevertheless quite happy with the fight.

I had a lot of fun, and that's what counts!  A big thanks for Tom Truax for retrieving me and Peter Weldon, and thanks to Logan, Andrew Byron, and Cayley for retrieving vehicles from launch.  There is nothing better than knowing your friend has driven your vehicle down while you are still flying, and you can then just enjoy the rest of the flight without worrying about getting your car down. Thanks Andrew! :)

Editor's Notes: as of Logan's Flight Article Submission, this flight is in [3rd place] for the [2020 LFSD Challenge] with a score of 19 points

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