Photo of Sarah Arnold and Karl Striedieck, winners of the 20 Meter Class yesterday.
The tow planes are being manned up and soon the launch for Day 11 of the WGC will be underway. The race for the podium in each class is still close. Today there is a little bit of uncertainty in the weather, but not like yesterday. The tasks are all to the west of the unstable weather around San Antonio.
An update on the ship that landed in the water. Like all sailplanes, it does float. The pilot had been using its electric propulsion system when the motor failed at low altitude. The terrain was rough, and the lake was the safest option. The sailplane was being pulled from the water when the batteries started to make noise. There was just a small amount of fire coming from the batteries that did not damage the glider. The ground retrieve crew opened the engine bay doors and took the battery out of the ship and left it in the water. It continued to smoke under water for some time. Although the glider may be a total loss, no one was injured during the landing or retrieve of the ship.
During this day we had 14 ground retrieves that required several borrowed trailers. It was a study of teamwork and cooperation as trailers were lent out to those who needed them. Crews helped each other to affect rescues of gliders in fields. We discovered that law enforcement in Texas have a good relationship with the ranchers and were instrumental in opening gates to retrieve gliders. It is also helpful to have a helicopter to get help to a scene fast. Thanks to all the crews, volunteers and those who lent trailers to other teams. Now, let’s move on and fly!
