Captain’s Report ~  Day #7 (August 4)
It was announced during today’s briefing that Sunday will be a rest day.
 
I have been posting the daily tasks, launch and gate opening times and pilot returns to the field on twitter: https://twitter.com/SoaringUSA
 
Some people have asked about the why the online trackers are slow: http://wgc2018.onglide.com/current-day.xml?class=Meter20 and http://glidertracker.de/.  We are seeing the same issues here in the US Team Camp which can be very frustrating at times. I think, the servers are a little over loaded at times. The online tracker people are aware of this issue and working on it.
 
They are towing with seven Cmelak (english translation = Bumblebee) towplanes.  4 equipped with turbine engines and 3 with radial engines. They were originally used for corp dusting. The turbine equipped versions are on loan from Slovakia where they use them for fire fighting. The turbine version will complete a tow from sailplane hook up to return in less than 5 minutes. All of our pilots prefer the turbine version.  :o)
They use the following tow patterns where the turbine Cmelak will basically tow you directly into downwind.  If you get a radial engine Cmelak they take you on a bit of a tour of around Hison before dropping you off in the drop zone represented by the magenta areas. 
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Stay tuned for more…