LaGrange

May 4th, 2017 was my sixth attempt at the Spring Go South flight. The plan came together quickly once the weather window appeared. Mitch Hudson was going in his Discus B, Mike Westbrook in his Discus 2b, and Keith Smith would join in his PW-5. My crew would be KC and John Wells, running in reverse chase—they would start at the southern end and work their way north to intercept us somewhere along the route.

Our declared task was ambitious: Sunflower to Weatherford TX, then to Giddings TX. If we could make both turnpoints and return, it would put us in contention for the National Standard Class Distance to Goal record—roughly 537 miles. After that, we were free to push further.

The Flight South

The day started well. Cumulus were building to the south and we launched and found good lift early. The first stretch into Kansas was straightforward, with solid climbs and cloudbase rising as we went south. We crossed into Oklahoma with good altitude and worked the familiar terrain toward the Red River.

The tricky part came in Texas, south of Vance Air Force Base. I found myself down to 1500 AGL with the terrain changing beneath me and not much to work with. It was one of those moments when the flight hangs in the balance. Fortunately a thermal materialized and I grabbed it, climbing back to a workable altitude. That save changed the character of the whole flight.

We worked south through Texas, finding the thermals more reliable as the day matured. Weatherford came and went as a turnpoint, and then we were pointed east toward Giddings. By the time I reached Giddings, TX and banked around the turnpoint, I had well over 500 miles of flying behind me and the state distance record was within reach.

ZZ Top on the Radio

After Giddings, I found a climb and started working northwest. That’s when Mitch came on the radio. He was climbing nearby, in a good mood, apparently. He started singing ZZ Top’s “LaGrange” over the air. If you’re going to have a soundtrack for a record flight, that’s not a bad one.

LaGrange, Texas. We were pointed toward it now—a small town southeast of Austin. It had not been part of the original plan. But the day was holding, the wind was favorable, and the numbers were adding up. We pushed on.

The Record

I landed at LaGrange at approximately 7:30 PM. The flight measured approximately 560 miles from release. The Kansas state distance record had stood for years; this flight exceeded it by 2.5 miles.

Mitch Hudson also made LaGrange. The crew had a long drive to find us, but that’s part of the deal on days like this. The Kansas soaring community had been chasing this kind of flight for years—deep into Texas and beyond, riding the spring thermals as far south as the day would carry us. This was the best one yet.