Jim calls the above photo of the foehn gap over Minden “America’s Corridor of the Wind.” It was taken on the first leg of the world record claim (above Minden looking north toward Reno at 10:40 am).



Wrap-Up - The mighty Sierra Wave worked from North to South on April 5, 2015. The moisture in the north was a factor. (After this monster wave system moved through the Sierra some ski areas got 24 inches of snow.) Based on that forecast Dennis Tito opted to launch at sunrise from Inyokern in the southern Sierra. He soared 2180 kilometers for 2000+ OLC points. Jim decided to stay in Minden. They both launched around sunrise and flew till sunset, just from opposite ends of the Sierra.

11:30 pm PDT Update - What a fabulous wave soaring day on Easter Sunday 2015. Jim and Alan went over 3,000 km all told, but only six legs will count for 2,907 km (1,806 miles) at an overall speed of 249 kph (154 mph). The last 100+ km was returning home before sunset on the seventh (non-scoring) leg. We think this is the highest scoring flight ever in the history of the OnLine Contest with 2,566 points, beating Jim’s previous top point flight of 2,486 points in Argentina. Today’s flight was 2.5 hours shorter (and faster).

The embedded 1,000 km Out and Return World Record claim is at a speed of 255 kph (158 mph). That’s under 4 hours to do 1,000 km! It will smash the previous world record of 213 kph if approved, of course. They were 45 minutes faster than previous record.

Here’s a link to the OLC flight page -

http://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-2.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=4195856



Here is a link to the entire day as a time lapse satellite photos from Walt Rogers. Although we never talked ahead of time, he is a very knowledgeable weather man and glider pilot. Caution: it is a 9 meg file!



https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/e3eycgl9850dcku/SierraWaveWorldRecordDay_20150405.mp4?dl=0

More in flight photos to come after Alan’s phone thaws out (just kidding, but the battery did die!) (Photos now added-Thanks Alan!)

Upon landing at sunset, the Minden runway extends to the autobahn in the sky.





Three big smiles!

6:30 pm PDT Update - 2800 km at 245 kph. That’s 1800 miles at 160 mph. Day is almost done. Lots of moisture up north.

5:15 PDT Update - 2500 km. Best flight in the world for this OLC season thus far. Getting a bit of clouds spill over west of Minden. We will see how this plays out.

4:00 pm PDT Update - They are over Mono Lake heading south. They have around 1350 miles at about 153 mph cumulative thus far.



3:15 pm PDT Update - Just bagged 2000 km. Jim and Alan have turned south at Stead, so they are now on the 5th leg. They will work the Sierra south bound then try to return to Minden for sixth and final leg.



1:55 pm - Below is what the sky looked like on the second leg of the World Record claim. Photo from near Bishop looking north toward Lake Crowley near Mammoth.

1:30 PDT Update - Looks like 255 kph (158mph) for 1,000 km Out and Return World Record claim. But the paperwork has to be right so we will see that before celebrating. Jim said to say thanks to Oakland Center for their help up north and Joshua down south. At Inyokern they finished about 2,500 ft below start altitude in 9 kts of sink. You are allowed 3,200 feet below start altitude. Now proceeding north.



1:10 PDT - 8 km to go, in sink but still close to finish altitude. Cross your fingers!

12:40 pm PDT Update - Still World Record pace for 1,000 km Out and Return embeded task, but not finished yet. For those watching on glideport, Alan’s (AC) battery died about 2 hours ago. They are still in same cockpit going fast together. About 1350 km at 230 kph cumulative thus far.

11:10 am PDT Update - They just turned south bound. This leg may be a bit slower since wind is from SW. But their average speed is 145 mph or 227 kph for just under 1,000 km (616 miles). In photo below - Frost shows on canopy between clear vision panels. Note how much more moisture there is in the north





10:40 am Update - Jim and Alan have 525 miles at 140 mph average. That is blistering speed and a world record pace for Out and Return task. Photo below is over Bishop looking west with a bit more cloud showing, but no lennies.



Photo below is near Inyokern looking north at Haiwee reservoir and Owens (mostly) Dry Lake. This is at the beginning of the first leg of world record attempt. Note how blue (dry) the sky is near the southern Sierra -



ORIGINAL POST: The Easter bunny brought a wave present to glider pilots this morning. Jim and Alan Coombs took off from Minden in the Arcus at sunrise. Jim said that watching an Easter sunrise from the air was a religious experience. Alan said that he felt closer to God at 18,000 feet. The first photos they sent did not come through due to poor connectivity.

But it is a very fast wave run thus far. At 10 am PDT they have 400 miles at 130 miles per hour. (That’s 650 km at 210 kph.)

Updates will follow, but here is a near real time tracking link. Click on either JP (one has altitude) or AC to check them out.

http://glideport.aero/map?p=GlidePort:472



Happy Easter,

Jackie