River Flight with CLee

​Nice winter thermal day, overnight low was in the 20's so even though there was high cirrus cloud cover all day, enough sunlight fed the thermals.  Punchy thermals up to 3m/s and even larger swaths of big sink.

My first launch was through some of the strongest lift I can remember, I glanced at the vario and saw 9m/s at one point, the logger recorded 7.27m/s on the integrated climb rate.  I pinged off early and was relieved to find that while the lift was good for the flatlands, 3m/s, it wasn't insane.

On my second flight, I followed the levee north along the Mississippi River, relying on it to trigger thermals in the SE wind.  It also looked like heat was getting trapped in the forested areas between the levee and the river, making for a somewhat reliable generator.  

As the river made its bend near 7 Mile, I couldn't take the climbs as high without ending up way out over the river, so my glides got shorter and I landed just on the other side of Fountain Creek.

1:49hr flight, 18 miles.

Thanks to Chris for the tow up, and thanks to Richard for the retrieve!

http://www.xcontest.org/world/en/flights/detail:clee27sw/12.3.2017/19:30#fd=route