Early this year a small group of BASA pilots proposed to organize a Cross Country camp or Safari this summer.
The original interest was quite high but as summer progressed, the number of committed pilots decreased. Due to the complicated logistics of a real safari, we decided to scale back our plans to a week of serious cross country out of Truckee with the goal to sleep in a decent bed, i.e. making it back to Truckee each night

Harry Fox, Jonathan Hughes and myself managed to reserve the 3 BASA Pegasi for 3 days (according to BASA reservation policy) and as there were no other reservations, we could use them most of the rest of the week also.

Monday 29 July 2002:
We start off on Monday 29 July when we fly the ships back from Air Sailing to Truckee. Arrangements had been made with the Pasco League participants that they could leave the ships at ASI.
The Monday is the best day in regards to soaring conditions, so it is an easy “warming-up”. Although !!! A too eager early release from tow makes for quite some struggle under the ridge of the dogskins and quite some sweating for being too close to the terrain for comfort. Instead of circling, making eights at speed to avoid the “Sinister Trap”.
We make it back to Truckee no problem. The chores like getting to ASI (2x), picking up trailers (and securing all the content) actually take most of the time.

Tuesday 30 July 2002:
On Tuesday the conditions are fairly good. Blipmaps show good conditions south, so we go south on the Pinenuts. From participation in 2 wave camps, I know the Minden area somewhat. This always helps me a lot in orientation. I had been at Mount Siegel before, so now Mount Patterson was my goal. Also the scouting of all the airports and turnpoints/landmarks in the area is an important goal for me. All goes fine and after turning Mount Patterson, next target is to make it back to Truckee.
We have been studying a lot the return to Truckee and also talked a lot to the “locals”.
However, the recent accident of Joe Findley makes me tread very very carefully, as I never have flown this route this before.
One alternative back to Truckee from the south suggests staying at the east ridge of Lake Tahoe (in stead of Pinenuts). This avoids the (in)famous Dayton Valley wash out.

It happens to be that a nice could street ends at Freel peak (Heavenly Ski resort), so I try this scenario. I start off at 15000 over Freel and end up at 10000 over Incline village. The Flight Computer indicates 1300 ft over Brockway Summit (plus 2000 standard safety altitude). I am sitting there on top of the ridge deliberating on my go-no go decision. However, not knowing exactly where to go and what to expect, I hesitate. No visual on Truckee and Mount Rose towering next to me. In the end, I chicken out and decide to jump of the ridge eastwards for a landing at Carson City. This is also a first time, but, apart from the turbulence, quite uneventful as is the aero retrieve from there back to Truckee. The good thing is to see the actual route back from a low perspective while on tow.
Jonathan takes the same decision and he lands a little before me. I see that we have to land short to make it to the first exit to avoid blocking the runway in a long and hot push back.
Jonathan makes it south as far as Mono Lake on this day.

Flight evaluation in the evening shows that I have set up my flight computer with a maximum L/D (no degradation). This means that I would have really needed still air to get over Brockway Summit !!
So in hind sight I am glad that I stayed on the conservative side ! (Lesson 1: never trust your electronic equipment blindly, never stop thinking and doing mind calculations)


Wednesday 31 July 2002:
Wednesday is pretty much the same thing with more overdevelopment to the east. I try again to make it back to Truckee along the same route (I.e Lake Tahoe east ridge)
I go out south as far as Topaz Lake (Topaz International) and again a cloud street to Freel Peak. This time however, I arrive ABOVE the cloudbase at Freel (bummer !) No chance to get high enough for final glide to Truckee. I skimp along north towards Spooner Pass (with glide to Minden) but get too low. I have to jump of the ridge into the valley. With a little valley lift here and there I make it to Carson City again at 8000.

Here I find some late lift over the hills and make it back up to 14000, but in the mean time I also drift east to Dayton Valley. I make a second run at the ridge at Incline, but get shot down again in the heavy Lake Tahoe wash out. I arrived a few hundred feet over the ridge with 1000 feet short for final glide to Truckee (with my new flight computer settings). So I bail out again.
Same story at Carson.

In the picture to the right, the intimidating view of the return path to Truckee.
This is a 14000 ft view from nearly over Carson City Airport. You cannot see Truckee Airport  as it is behind the ridge.
This is the area of the heavy Dayton Valley wash out.
Cold air from Lake Tahoe spills over the East ridge at Incline and kills all the lift in this area.


Thursday 1 August 2002:
On Thursday morning the Truckee tow pilots ask if they can wait for us at Carson City in the evening. In that way they don’t need to wait for our retrieve call and can be back to Truckee in time for the nice cold beer (Dougie’s best). We took the friendly ridicule of the cracks with pride. 

On Thursday first indications are for good conditions south. While heading out to the Pinenuts with the group overdevelopment became apparent.
We waived at a hang glider at 17000 over Mount Rose and some more 737’s !
We decided to change plans and head north to Air Sailing, which looked good. Flannigan Dry lake (north of ASI) was the designated turn point. The jump from the Pinenuts over the Virginia City mountains, to Pond Peak to Air Sailing is easy with good cloud markers and good lift.
While at Flannigan the South East is overdeveloping severely. Harry and Jonathan decide to fly west in the direction of Sierraville/Nervino and make it back to Truckee.
I feel uncomfortable at 12000 and stay closer to ASI (as landing airport). I make it up to 14000 and head for Reno Stead in a little opening between the overdevelopment to the south east and a last line of clouds to the north west.
I am still gaining altitude by cruising towards Stead (16000). Halfway between ASI and Stead suddenly 2 lightning strikes right in front of me in direction of Stead. Fortunately there is no sound yet, but I turn away immediately 90 degrees (North West) at high speed heading for the ridge north west of Peavine. I run into some light rain underway and arrive at the ridge with about 1000-2000  feet clearance. I cannot find lift immediately at the ridge and I am just too low (-1000 ft) for final glide to Truckee.
 
I decide to return to Stead, but as I turn around, Stead comletely disappeared nearly, totally invisible in heavy precipitation. The next moment I enter heavy sink ( > -1000 ft/min), rain, then heavy rain turning into hail. The noise in the cockpit is unbearable and pretty scary. It looks like Stead is too dangerous because of lightning and heavy precipitation. Also clearance of ridge between Cold Spring Dry Lake (just in front of me) and Stead becomes questionable in this heavy sink. I decide to go for the dry lake. Before this I had already called on the radio to ask for some expert advice about the dry lake bed landing. The advice was “do not land in the middle, do not land at the edge, land slightly of the edge. I decided to go for 1/3 from the edge.
Over Cold Spring Dry Lake I am still running in heavy sink but fortunately no precipitation. The sink rate is so high that I am just able to make one 360 degree turn over dry lake to determine my landingspot. Things go so fast that there is no time left to look for access roads. I am also not able to obtain a good wind indication, so I assume still a westerly wind (despite the heavy overdevelopment closeby. I decide to make a high speed approach to cope with potential wind shear. Flying at fairly high speed and still in heavy sink with no airbrakes, I immediate make a wide 180 degree turn, steep nose down to final at 70-80 knots. Airbrakes out, burn off energy and flare. Perfect smooth landing on the light wash board surface of dry lake.
Phffew !!!
I call Soar Truckee to inform them about the good landing and the retrieve possibilities. (the cell phone is part of my landout kit) Soar Truckee indicates that they will not tow out of the dry lake (for insurance reasons), but that maybe Air Sailing or Minden will. So I make a few more phone calls. Bob Spielman (NSA Tow pilot) indicates that he will come out to have a look. So far so good.
Now the really scary part of this adventure starts.
The rain starts at dry lake and I enter the glider again for shelter. The rain turns into heavy rain, then hail, lightning etc. Now I am having a severe tail wind and gusts. The water is blowing of my wings horizontally (FORWARDS !!!!!) The ship is rattling and shaking and I am trying to keep the glider on the ground (full breaks, stick in corner). I am thinking “Oh Jee, I made a perfect landing and now I am going to be lifted up and smacked down who knows where”.
This keeps on going for about half an hour. The canopy is completely fogged and my arm is cramping  from holding the brakes.
I observe that water is collecting in the "dry" lake and my next thought:  “Am I going to float in the water here ???”
After a while the weather clears. I try to step out of the glider (one foot) but immediately notice the mud sticking in a thick layer to my shoe.
Next thing in my mind are the horror pictures of a trailer retrieve of a glider floating in mud.
I get back in the glider and sit and wait with the canopy open for conditions to improve.
The sun has come out, a firm breeze is blowing, so the dry lake is quickly returning to its original dry shape.
I get out and notice that the hail has severely splashed the glider with mud, especially the left wing bottom which was on the ground.
After a while Bob Spielman (NSA towpilot) arrives by foot, his car way out in the distance. He is not sure if we can tow out today. He suggests to leave the glider behind and tow out tomorrow. It will depend on the development of the weather. We are still exactly at the edge of the heavy overdevelopment. We tie down the glider, nose into the wind, which has shifted to south east. I unload all of my stuff from the glider and we drive to Stead in Bob's car to check on the weather conditions over there and the NSA tow plane. Weather looks just OK, so we head back to the dry lake together in the NSA Scout towplane and land in the dry lake. The wet "dry" lake has dried up nicely.

We pull the glider back downwind about 400 yards behind the towplane. (Strange to use a tow plane as a golf cart !) I quickly wipe off the most serious bumps of splashed mud on the bottom of the left wing (to get back some flyable wing profile). We take off from the dry lake no problem. We are a bit low but the dry lake is reaaaally biiiig this low. Bob tows on the east side of Peavine (for rope break safety) then through the valley past Verdi. Quite an uncomfortable feeling to be this low in this valley. I release past Verdi for an easy glide back to Truckee. I was very glad that I did not need to call on Harry and Jonathan as my crew for a trailer retrieve out of this mud bath.
Lesson 2: avoid the overdevelopment like a very very bad tooth ache (again a Dutch saying)
Review of the flight trace showed a 1300 ft/min decent (and that was without airbrakes !! )


Friday 2 August 2002:
Next day I spend 2 hours carefully washing all the mud from the glider. See picture to the right
It seems that I broke a Truckee record: 3 consecutive days of XC and 3 outlandings !!!
This was more then enough exercise for me !

It was a great time with tremendous learning. We all achieved our goals. And the best part: Pilots and ships returned safely and in perfect order to their home base.

Thanks to Harry, Jonathan and the Soar Truckee crew for the good time and good learning. Special thanks to Bob Spielman for the retrieve.

Hans Van Weersch.