Estrella – this was day two of the Arizona Soaring Association’s summer series Sports Class race, held on 19-20 Apr. The route was Estrella-Lake St Clare Dam-Eds Field-Estrella. The route was 104 nm. I hung about the start gate for 30 minutes before setting out on route. I struck out boldly, but got in trouble near the Ak Chin reservation and spent time climbing in three separate thermals. Finally got high enough to set out on route again. Proceeded pretty well until just southeast of Potters Field where the Lake St Clare Dam sits. There I caught another thermal to altitude and pressed southeast towards Eds Field. As you can see the wind at altitude was getting strong from the southwest. On the leg from Lake St Clare Dam to Eds Field, I saw that a high cirrus was moving in. I figured I only had another hour or so of good lift. Got down to 4-5K above the ground and had to climb in three thermals, one on the way in to Eds, one over Eds and one on the way out. The lift was dying and I was now turning in anything I could find. The last good thermal I caught was at Burns. My Ball Graphics Computer said I had within 500’ of the altitude I needed for a final glide, but as I got about halfway from Burns to Estrella, the wind shifted slightly and I was no longer high enough to make it. I ended up landing 7.2nm short, in the overflow parking lot of the Ak Chin Casino, on the reservation. I had an audience of about 20 tipsy slot machine players who had watched my landing. They all converged on the lot, drinks in hand, wanting to know if I had crashed, where the tail was, where the motor was, etc. My crew showed up about 20 minutes later and we packed up for home. All in all, a very challenging flight. Of the 20 ships that started, only 2 finished. I landed the closest to home, of those who landed out.

Mike Hostage's Pioneer II D