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Hangola March 28 - 30, 2002

Flight Reports

"Karen Carra" writes:

> Hey Christy

> Did you get to fly today??

Yeah, she flew. So did Terry, Bruce E, BVH, Paul T, Mathew, Joe Schad umm .. maybe more. Mathew gets the up down award with 2900 over thanks to his "Powerful Xenon Beam Hang Glider Fog Lights" from Sharper Image. Terry won the out and back trophy -- crossed the gap twice but was reluctant to keep going to H-burg due to radio problems.

What are Pilates? Pilatus? That's a mtn or lake in Switzerland and the name of a glider

It was a beautiful day at Ridgely yesterday. We were a little slow getting out of Rockville what with the traffic and all so didn't arrive until almost 12:30. Rich decided to see if he could take a tandem and was in the air before I was - with my windbreaker pants. I finished setting up and was looking all over for them (I'd told him he could use them, but didn't see him take them and never figured he stay in the air for 45 minutes) and by the time I got up, the cycle they were enjoying was ending. So I got 15 minutes off tow, followed by a crummy landing. Beak! So I took another flight and had another so-so landing. I then took 4 more flights with drop-offs at 1000 feet so I could practice landing. Got one perfect after some modest assistance from Steve Kinsley (Thanks!) and then one very slight beak (you can bet I was doing all I could to keep it from being more than slight) on the asphalt taxi-way when I drifted to far to the right at the end of my final. Another ok landing and I was finished for the day. Sure beats lugging a glider up the training hill. Sure glad I won those 5 tows at the Pulpit fly-in last year.

Christy

Steve, me and three CVHGAers. Steve got an hour and half, said it was great! One of the central guys got twenty minutes ..don't know why he landed early. The other two guys didn't fly, it was kinda windy. I got lucky and made it to base (5000agl) and prodded by Steve, I went downwind.. or crosswind..or something. Made it to Old Rag.. Soared it!

4mi hike, Gotta ride to Wolftown. Steve picked me up there. Then it was back to Daniel's to retrieve the truck,, another hike! Long day.. great exercise!

Terry

STFI@18. Lenko,Shawn,Tom G. and Bob B. in first wave launching about 1345 into lite overcast sky. Somewhat choppy air but nothing scary just the errant unscheduled wingover. Tops 2000+ OL ( 3500+ MSL). Times about 2 hours. Second wave pilots ( leisure group ) TR, Jesse, Keith O. Launched about 1600 into quickly dying air. Short flights but all had nice top landings to ice their cakes. Also one blue pair-o-panties flew but I have no details. Good times had by all......Bob.

No Good at Woodstock. Joe Schad and Gary Smith were setting up when Greg and I arrived. Looked okay at that time. Light breeze coming in with some West cross. Shoulda launched right away. Instead, we watched the overcast develop while hoping for more heating.. oops!

Joe and Greg received extendoes after alot of waiting for a decent cycle. I got lucky and the Sun broke through as I launched. So I ended up scoring a soar, by 100ft and 25min.

Terry

"Tweaked" my back somewhere between Rockville and opening the wing at Smithsburg. Really put a damper on more testing of the Ultrasport. Still sore but nothing that should not work its way out in a couple of days. Good day at Smithsburg. Still got in 2 good flights. Can not wait to get it high. Went from south to west to north to south to west. Never blowing much more than 10. Mark C. John C, Lauren, Frank, Max along with Richard Hayes and students and John Middleton and students. I think that was everybody? Also a bunch of RCer's including Eddie Miller.

Talked with the landowner earlier in the day. The crops are planted. He said that saturday with all of us on the hill would be OK but, most likely by next week he will close it down. Watch the sign. If it says closed we are out of luck till harvest.

Talked with Emma Jane, she is doing fine and I will have a full report in the newsletter but, she was asking about Fred and Raeanne. If you guys are still out there or anyone knows how to contact them... Emma Jane would love to here from you.

=====

OOOPS, Saturday

I believe it was Ed (maybe Danny?) from Dukes of Windsoar, flew his bagwing twice with beautiful kiteing and flying skills. All that towing pays off.

joe

(Sorry if I got the name wrong)

ot a late clearance from the control tower, so didn't hit the road until 10A. Arrived at 12 noon and nobody home. Mike C. shows up, then Dave P., Cragin, Tom, Pete S., and Carlos. Give it a whirl from the new ramp as soon as setup is complete. Conditions were relatively light, 5 to 10. The sky had high clouds, with a high cirrostratus moving in. Hang out in front of launch for a little while, then head south in search of some more lift. Caught a thermal down near the Rt. 16 crossing and gained a few hundred over launch. Lost it quickly and found myself on the deck. Found nothing, got real low, and put down in the bailout field. Saw Tom take off and get up good and high. Got a ride up to launch with Cragin, and we saw that Dave P. had taken off and was up a couple of hundred over launch. Tom had descended from his previous perch, and was a couple of hundred over launch as well. Matthew and Ralph were setting up. I had to be back early, so I cruised. Heard later from Dave P. that he and Mike C. made it XC to near Chambersburg, landing in the same field. Dave said he got to 5100' MSL. A great example of perseverance being rewarded. Seems like on light days the Pulpit turns on around 3P+/-. Something to remember the next time at the Pulpit when light conditions are around.

=====

Oops. Forgot to mention Karen (of Matthew and Karen) was setting up too, and that Tom had gone XC as well (don't know where he put down).

=====

Matthew,

You forgot that when I launched, it wasn't doing but 5 to 10 MPH on the ramp, and things had not turned on at all yet. No ridge lift, just weak thermals. Glad everybody else got to soar and go XC.

Bacil

Tom ended up with 7 miles and Mike and Dave P. bagged 14.5 miles. Karen and I arrived at launch at about 2:00, with Ralph right behind us, to find Tom in the air and Dave P. ready to go. Everyone else had run a shuttle to drop off cars in the LZ and pick up Bacil who had just sledded out. It was blowing like stink on launch, gusts to 30, and Tom reported nasty conditions with a turbulence factor of 8 on a one to ten scale. With all of that wind, we were really surprised that Bacil had ended up on the ground. Proctor suggested that maybe it was because Bacil was using a vario for the first time. And we all laughed, "Yeah, maybe he became confused by all of the beeping noises." But Proctor was just kidding. Bacil wasn't using no stinkin' vario.

We launched Dave. Shortly thereafter, Pete, Craig, and Carlos returned with Bacil, who headed home now that it was definitely soarable :) Pete was off next after a long spell of holding the glider down on the ramp for dear life. It was still blowing 25 plus on the ramp with gusts out of the North when it was supposed to be SW. Mike C. took the next cycle. Tom beamed out. Then Dave and Mike beamed out, leaving Pete alone on the ridge. I couldn't believe the amount of thermal activity on such a gray day with high cirrus clouds. That's twice now (Woodstock Wednesday being the other) in a week where it's been completely overcast but thermally as Hell.

Craig suited up and then waited for about a half hour till things started to calm down at launch. Of course, after being a steady 12-18 on the ramp for ten minutes, it gusted up to 25 as he climbed the steps. But he went off cleanly in a brief lull. Kurtis Kemerer had shown up while Craig was waiting and queued up behind me. I was treated to the same crap on the ramp that Craig endured and for a moment thought about backing off. But I got a decent lull and elevatored straight up. The air felt like a 4-5 on the 1 to 10 turb scale with plenty of small tight thermals mixed with ridge lift and the occasional "Where the Hell did that sink hole come from?"

With the North cross, Kurtis launched from the old ramp and the 4 of us used each other as thermal markers spread out along the ridge. Tom returned and stuck around long enough to Observe Carlos and then went to fetch Dave and Mike. I was working the Hell out of every bump trying to stay high as I watched Carlos just going back and forth along the ridge and climb above me. So I stopped working so hard and just porpoised in the better air unless I hit something really good away from the ridge. The best lift remained over and just to the North of launch.

Lauren and Paul (please let me fly in the big air, please let me fly in the big air, please let me fly in the big air) showed up after an afternoon at Smithsburg and helped Karen launch. Paul was more than eager to jump ahead of her and Ralph. But I made him wait until Observers Tom and Mike returned. I'm evil that way.

Even though the air was getting smoother, it remained strong and cross on the ramp. But Karen escaped the ground. I had worked my way back to the top of the stack and intended to stay there. As Karen and I were coming at each other with me being right above the spine of the ridge and her out in the valley as I headed South, I figured we'd just keep our positions. But no!!!! She moved into the ridge to strictly obey the rules of the ridge and forced me to dive under her. I never got back above her for the rest of the flight. She's evil too!!! Pete and Kurtis landed as Tom, Mike and Dave returned to throw off Ralph and then Paul. By then it had really mellowed out and Paul complained about the air being too smooth. Oy!

Craig landed and I followed him down twenty minutes later, besting him by two hole minutes with 2:08 and 1400 over. Paul and Ralph followed me twenty minutes later and Ralph missed his spot by just a few feet. Why he chose Paul, who was walking his glider down the hill just fifteen feet from the rest of us in the breakdown area, as a spot remains a mystery. Karen did her best Ellis impressions and was the last pilot down with an hour and ten minute flight. Lauren chose not to fly since she still wanted some more training on her eagle. What a fun day. I'm sure glad we didn't go to Woodstock.

Matthew (Happy Easter, of Karen and Matthew)

I got to 2700 over, Dave a couple hundred higher. We headed for the knob behind launch. He went a little more north and farther ahead, I got a thermal behind the knob with help from birds. Got higher and caught up with Dave over a junkyard. We both landed in a field just west of Chambersburg where some people were flying kites. Fast approaches, straffing the kites, one of which was a biplane, on the way in. The people were thrilled. It was the birthday of the kid flying the biplane kite, Dave put him in his harness and the parents took a picture. 14.3 miles, not bad for a cloudy day. Tom landed at about 7 miles and could see us flying on his ride back. Back at launch was a glass off and everybody was soaring. MC

Condolences to the Woodstock crowd - the Pulpit turned out to be the call for the day.

Bacil Dickert left too early to have a complete report on our flying yesterday. The conditions improved throughout the afternoon. Bacil reported his early short flight. The next set of launches after Bacil all had to work a long time in rowdy thermal and some high winds, but were eventually rewarded. Tom McGowan found one good thermal to the south at the tower, and then went north past launch to the bowl where he found a really good one. Pete Schumann was following Tom, and on each good thermal just could not quite get into the big one Tom had.

At 2400 over launch, Tom declared he would sled over the back. He later reported a distance of just over 7 miles, and an easy retrieve - he hitched a ride back to launch with a couple of kids within 30 seconds of walking over to the a filling station near his LZ.

Shortly after Tom headed east, Mike Chevalier found a healthy thermal near the towers to the south. Dave Proctor joined him in it, and the two worked to about 3000 over as they drifted back. Pete worked down the ridge from the north bowl, but could not quite grab the good one that Mike and Dave had. The two high flyers went east as a team, spotting thermals for each other. Pete stayed on the ridge, working various funky thermals. Mike and Dave landed together a mile off US 30, for a distance of 14 miles. Tom was able to pick them up after getting his own glider, so their retrieve was painless, too.

When Mike Chevalier headed to launch, I was suited up and right behind him. Then I saw the strong winds and cycles of north that he launched into. I decided to wait a few minutes. I watched three topless gliders report strong winds and very big up and down, and I watched Pete in his Sport park for minutes at at time. Seemed a good time for my Pulse to just enjoy the view from the ground. I sat hooked in under the glider at the hill top between the ramps for about an hour before feeling comfortable with conditions. There had been many obviously good launch cycles over that hour, but I was concerned with the strength at altitude. At 3:30 things looked a lot better, so Matthew Graham and Curt Kemerer wired me off. Well, we did wait on the top step for a renewed strong cycle to finish. I used the new ramp, moving down past the painted area to launch. Wind was still strong, and I barely got two steps of my run before lifting off.

Once in the sky I found lots of thermals and little or no ridge lift. Working right over launch I made it to 1300 over. Working to the south I lost that weight, and spent a long time about 500 to 600 over. For quite some time I played over Route 16 and at the house thermal between 200 over and 600 over. It took a lot of careful nurturing of the lift to stay up, but things got easier as the day progressed.

Meanwhile, the sky over launch was getting crowded. I watched more and more gliders join Pete and me on the ridge. Carlos Weill, Curt Kemerer, Matt Graham, Ralph Sickinger formed a swarm over launch. Carlos did a great job of using the entire ridge, joining me to the south and then going back to the better lift at launch. Paul Tjaden had called via radio from Smithsburg repeatedly asking if it looked like he could fly. Once Lauren finished her training hill efforts with the new Ms. Eagle, Paul rushed to the ramp. He had to wait for the XC team to return for Observer and crew support. Karen Carra waited for a a late launch as she continues to dial in to her new glider, and then Paul lifted off.

The air kept getting smoother, and folks were flying as long as they liked. Pete put it down with 3 hours of air time, pretty tired. I got just over two hours, as did Matthew. Everyone else got somewhere between one and two hours. Karen was the last glider to land, with 1:06.

Landing contest report: I flared late and bumped down to wheels and knees. Dang!

Ramp report. The paint is beginning to wear off. We may be able to safely do nothing and just let it wear down to wood again.

Dinner report: Six of us stayed for dinner in Mercersburg. McKinstry's Pub was closed for the holiday weekend, so we went to McLaughlin's three doors down. A bit pricey, but good food, and the waitress did have Easter treats for us after the meal.

Cragin Shelton

Hey Craig

Not that it really matters but I launched before Ralph. Actually he was the gentleman in letting me go first so that I would have a 3 person crew whereas he would have only 2. As it turned out before he launched Tom Mike & Dave reappeared so he did have a full crew.

Karen

Matthew and Bacil got most the details down. It was really an enjoyable day; especially after thinking we missed the opportunity when it started blowing really hard. It was about 2:30 pm. I think it was about 4:00 pm when I launched after Kurtis, thanks to Tom who stayed around before getting Dave and Mike. The air was smooth but the thermals turn on and off quickly. I stayed on the ridge within the power lines right of launch and the radio towers where 16 is. At one point I was at 850ft over but in a few seconds I was almost at launch level. I thought it was time to head for the primary, but as I started going that way I gained some more, I wanted to explore in the valley but didn't find anything significant and returned to the ridge.

I wasn't sure when the sun would set, the clouds were too thick then so I decided to land. It was easy to move along the ridge but reaching the LZ took some effort, but I reached the LZ with plenty of altitude. The landing was one-stepper, best one in a long time. It was my longest flight, but I didn't break the two our mark yet. Days like this I don't mind repeating.

(Warning: this is addictive)

Carlos

While hang gliding on Saturday I saw my absolute favorite sight in nature. I was about 1500 feet above the top of the mountain. The winds aloft were a little strong at around 20MPH. I see a hawk about 500 ft below me, and he is doing this high speed glide into a quartering headwind. He has his wings tucked back so far that the widest point on his wings is at his shoulders, and the wingtips are folded back under (or over?) the tail. His total width is probably only about 1/4 or less of his spread wing dimension. He has his head tucked down really screaming along. His wings are so compacted into his body that even from above I can see the soft white feathers on his underside. His entire being is formed into this beautiful reverse delta shaped lifting body. I can see the subtle arch of his body and wings from shoulder to tail. It is hard to convey the pure beauty of this shape. I am going to have to drag out my 400mm lens and camera on those strong days in hopes of capturing this image while hanging out on the mountain. I only see this sight once every year or two, so it is always a thrill. For those who have seen this you understand, for those who have not you have something to look forward to.

This was topped off with my first real cross country flight in quite awhile. I topped out at 5.1K MSL and flew over the back landing on the outskirts of Chambersburg PA. A total of 14.3 miles. Spring is here :-)

Dave P

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This page last updated April 2, 2002