Back to Main Page Back to Archive 2002

Index to weather maps

Hangola July 10 - 16, 2002

Flight Reports

Due to a not-so-stellar outlook for the weekend, I decided to try out the SAC this afternoon. Turned out to be a good decision. Got there at 3:50P, Doug Rogers had sledded, and Joe Gorrie was soaring out in front. Wind was pretty much straight up the slot, and the sound it made in the trees told me it was soarable. Sky was totally blue; the clouds on the way up had dried out. Shawn MacDuff was on launch, so I set up quickly. Shawn got off and up, then Karen Gorrie got off and up. Doug returned to launch with the trailer, and he, Jeff Harper, and Dave Fink helped me launch around 4:30P. Turned right and stair-stepped my way above the ridge. A frustrating flight, with the lift narrow and having "racetrack" shapes. I managed a measly 800' over, spending most of the flight around 500' over, landing after 1:15 in the air Karen got 4K' over, Doug Rogers 3.6K', Shawn 3.1K', Joe 3K'+, and Jeff 3K'+ over. Shawn complained about having difficulty in getting down from 3K' over. Later launchers were Wayne Boulden?, Dave Fink, and Alana Harper. They all had soaring flights, with Dave and Alana still in the air when I left at 7P. It was still soarable at launch when I passed by it on the way home.

Bacil

Rich and I took the day off since it was looking pretty good for soaring the eastern shore. Rich signed up for a lesson in the morning and ended up taking 4 lessons, 2 in the morning and 2 in the evening. The LilB'td will be outflying me soon. (I'll break his other leg!)

I got to fly with Ric Niehaus (sp?) and Larry Huffman with Brenda and Rich driving retrieval. There was some pretty strong lift and big sink inbetween. I got to 6200 and 6300 (no clouds), the latter time I was way over Ric and Larry. Didn't matter, though, since we kept heading east and when we hit that easterly flow (it was blowing NW back at Ridgely), I decked it. I overshot the big field I was circling over (wanted to make sure of the wind direction since there is a big difference between landing into the wind and downwind on these topless gliders) and finally turned into the wind with about 10' too little field in front of me. I flared hard to avoid hitting the two rows of corn that bordered the veggie garden and planted my feet on 2 bean plants. I later bought a bunch of veggies from the land owner (they have some huge fields planted) and when I handed her the money with some extra thrown in for the bean plants, she protested that it was too much and put a bunch more veggies and tomatoes in the bag. Larry and Ric ended up on the ground (also because of the 10 mph east wind) further down the road (29 miles).

Totals for me 1 hr 35 min, 6300'msl, 18.3 miles, 2 bean plants.

Christy

Not much going on for us in PA, so me and JD headed down to Ridgely to see what all the hub bub was about. Well, we were impressed. That's a fine operation they got going down there, well worth the trip. Chad and company are as freindly as can be and run the place in a professional manner. The two tugs are big turbocharged dragonflys and boy howdie do they get ya up there fast! Being newly minted tow pilots, we got Chad in touch with Bill so he would have a good understanding of where we were at (greenhorns as the case would be).

After the weather burned off and the evening glass off rolled in we took our tows. I haven't quite licked my yawing problem on the Sting, though I had a did do a lot better this time. I'm going to try a fin next time. JD as usual towed his falcon on rails.

Oh yeah, for you experienced tow pilots, it was BOOMING! We didn't fly it of course, but the pilots that did said that it was a great thermalling day.

All in all quite a fun day.

If I hadn't had obligations today, we wouldn't have left. Ridgely sports camping facilities with bathrooms, showers and a kitchen. JD was talking about returning today.

It was soarable consistently from at least 11 to 5. Huge widespread lift (steady 800up) and some massive sink in places. Not many solo pilots. I had one tow for a 2hr 45min local flight. I got up to around 6,200 but couldn't get up to the guy from out of town who stayed out of reach at 6,800. Others went xc and got some miles, 19 i think. Tandem students had some great long flights with Chad & Sonny.

Breezewood PA Sites July 13

The day was a scheduled site maintenance work day at Bill' s Hill. More pilots had announced their inability to participate than showed up. A total of fourteen pilots and one hang-baby were on site. As the workers hacked and cut and pulled, winds at 3:00 p.m. were straight in to launch at 8-10 mph. Once gliders were set up after 4:30, winds changed to 2-4 and crossing from the south. Cragin Shelton and Sheila Gardner took sleds to the LZ. Others saw those results and packed it in for Fisher Road. Flying at Fisher began after 7:15. Mark Cavanaugh, Ellis Kim (paragliding), Frank Sherman and Brian Vant-Hull each flew in the late day marginally soarable south winds. Dinner commenced at the Breezewood Pizza Hut at 10:00 p.m.

Cragin

Cragin left out the best parts!

Not completely sure what was up with Sheila's launch, but we had been telling the 2's that if things go wrong just aim at the trees, keep running, and you'll be able to pop over them at the last minute if necessary. The reason things might go wrong was becasue it had turned cross, but we were still getting occasional puffs in, just like launching at Oregon ridge when it's crossing, which is most of the time.

Then Sheila launched. If you've seen "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" you'll remember the scenes with them running over the tree tops. Well The She scampered all the way down the newly cleared grass and stubble (good work at the bottom guys!), then just when we were convinced she was gonna bury it in the trees crouching-tigered her way right over them. Damn impressive.

So I turned to John and Connie and said I still thought it was launchable, it was just a matter of their own confidence. They decided to pack up.

Then nearly everyone decided to head to Fisher Road. Cragin didn't think anyone would really fly, so said he'd wait for us at the Pizza Hut. This was around 7 pm. So we went to Fisher Road and it was blowing in perfectly, just a shade below soarable. Ellis was preparing to launch the bag, Cavanaugh was already in the LZ, but by the time Ellis landed and Frank was set up the cows had taken over part of center field. There was enough gap for him to make it through on the right, so Frank felt good enough to launch and made it in with no problems.

By the time I launched the cows were strung clear across the center field. No problem for a falcon, but I was flying the K-2. I came in a little higher than normal to avoid the cows (they skittered around a bit as I flew over them) but the damn thing just wouldn't come down fast enough. By the time I saw the trees coming up at the end I was still ground skimming at a pretty good clip, so punched the flare and parachuted in about 10 feet in front of the trees. I haven't nailed a flare that good in years.

Connie couldn't drive in with frank's bag on account of a flat tire, so we tossed his rolled up glider on top of ours and drove out. Frank had a can of "fix a flat" so we made it to pizza hut around 10 pm. The last thing I expected to see was Cragin still waiting for us, but like the boy scout he was he was sitting with Gardinator in the parking lot (he had TWO lawn chairs, just for cases like these) having spent three hours taking in the cultural extravaganza which is Breezewood. What a guy.

-BrianVH.

I neglected to mention that the reason the gardinator was sitting at Pizza Hut with Cragin was because he had volunteered to drive all the damn way back to Bill's to find frank's tip fairings which had been left behind. What another guy!

Thanks Mark for getting Frank's wing tips.... Really appreciated it!!! Thanks to you also for volunteering to observe for me at Bill's!!! Maybe next time!!!

Thanks again...

Connie and Frank

By the way... we made it home without having to change the tire. Frank changed it Sunday morning...

Brian thanks so much for walking the landing field with me, too bad I didn't get to go. But thanks so much for volunteering to observe. Maybe next time...

Connie

Bills hill would have been my first mountain flight.

Like they said, winds were good while we were clearing the launch.

After the twos set up and walked the LZ, thanks Brian VH, winds were far too switchy for a first mountain flight.

The launch is beautiful though, and I managed to not get poison ivy.

Next time it's Connie's and my turn.

Played in crystal clear river with friends, then drove friend's Suzuki GSR750R sport bike up to Morningside while another friend brought my wing in my car. Reached speed of 135mph on highway 91 on the way to Morningside. Fastest I've ever gone. No traffic. My other friend flew by me at 165mph on his Honda CBR900.

Flew (PG) for 20 minutes at Morningside (www.flymorningside.com). Crowded skies because small site. Still fun, all ridge lift, a little gusty. Never got more than 150 ft. over launch. Spot landing at edge of smallest bullseye ring on second flight.

$2.50 rides to top. 450 ft. hill. Great scenery. Lots of HG and HG towing across the field on grass runway (ultralight towing).

Thinking about moving to Vermont. 10 months of winter and two months of bad sledding!

JD

Steve Kinsley, Joe Schad and I went to the top at Woodstock and found that it was calm.. dead calm. So we left.

We arrived at Dickey's sometime later and began to hump our junk up the trail to launch. The heat and humidity began to take it's toll.

It was cycling in nicely and we became optimistic. Steve suited up and launched in what would be the last cycle for awhile. His launch was very good and things looked terrific until a small dark cloud grew into a behemoth. The valley became dark and the air was saturated. Steve never had a chance and would have to settle for an extended sledder.

Joe and I chose to wait for the sky to show more promise. Joe worked on the slot while I was busy trying to gauge the precise moment that the Sun's rays would hit the Mtn below us.

When the clouds drifted off, the cycling began again.. only it was cross.Each cycle offered a very, very brief opportunity to get off the Mtn. My last launch at Dickey's was a weak one and I was cutting daisies leaving there. I was considering breaking down on top when a light straight breeze cycled in. With my very strongest effort, I ran off the ledge and fell into my harness. My glider was flying okay, only lower than I expected. (this could be a problem). My basetube hit the sapling that holds the streamer. Clearing that hurdle, I pushed out and popped over the trees.

The Mtn was dark with shadow, I was surprised to find lift...weak lift. A couple turns netted zero so I drove down the ridge and was able to get above the road. At some point during my 29 minutes in flight, (most of which was below the road) I gotta pop that took me above launch. So I "scored a soar" by 41ft.

To double the fun, the wind was tailing in the LZ. The wind below the gradiant was calm, but at treetop level, it would be pushing me while on final. I'd have to bring it in tight, in an already tight LZ. Screaming ground speed over the fence and the galloping sheep. I climbed over the hill and nailed a no-stepper-parachute and landed with a jolt in the high grass! It was the closest that I ever came to overshooting at Dickey's.

Joe was still under his wing hoping for something safe to launch in. It would not come and he would breakdown on top. In spite of Joe's objections, Steve returned to the top to assist with the chore of humping the stuff back down!

Terry

Conditions were pretty great today. Seven of us showed. All of us logged multiple hours with Bruce Engin winning the duration prize with 4+ hrs. DeWolf and I got 3+ the others were in the 2 1/2 range.

I got to cloudbase right after launching and for the next 2 1/2hrs I was never below 4500msl. Reaching Base two more times and topping out at over 6500ft. DeWolf bested me by a few hundred late in the day. He reported 7000ft with base being higher.

Inspite of the conditions, no one went XC. I was tempted but instead, I was just thermal surfing with Greg. We were all over the gap, Edinburg, and Woodstock. A street had set up, providing fun soaring.

Back at launch a couple hrs later. I bumped into Steve Kinsley at 6000ft. Hadn't seen him all day. Really surprised to see that he hadn't gone over the back. Everybody got home on time anyway!

Terry

That is all very touching. Frankly, I think us guys should be more supportive of each other like the ladies. The other day at Dickies I sank out and was watching Terry fly. I was thinking "That Rat Bastard! He's staying up and he's not even circling". Those were not supportive thoughts. And I really should not have radioed him the wrong wind direction for landing. That wasn't right. I should have said "Go Terry!! You can do it!" And given him a big hug when he landed. That's the way we should do it.

ps: Good day at the Stocker today. Spent 2 hrs getting deliciously chilled. 4400 over. Greg, Terry, Claude, Joe Schad, Gary, Bruce. Think that's it. Hopefully, my man Terry will post a detailed account.

Sparks and I went to High Point yesterday to 'fly the fair'. The wind was coming in around 10-15 mph NW when we arrived on top around 4:45. We set up our respective topless gliders, wondering if there would be enough LZ left when it came time to land (the LZ is the parking lot and it starts filling up during fair time). JR, Danny Loudermill and Rick 'Stretch' Minas arrived around 6. Sparks had tested the air with the Zagi and found it definitely soarable. He and Rick wired me off first. The lift was only enough to maintain around 2400-2500 msl. I landed after Sparks and Danny, using quite a bit of that field in the process. JR landed next on his trusty Falcon and Rick, who had launched last, landed last.

Christy

I recall Christy reminding us sometime last month. Y'all should join the Mountaineers and get the newsletter.

That LZ get's kind of small when the cars are parking. I popped the Delta Dragger and really pulled on the speed, diving in from about 100' agl. Whoops, I was going way too fast. Things got even more interesting when I accidently hit the rear wires with both hands as I went for the downtubes :-{ Rather than risk getting off-track, I decided to just grab the rear wires and flare from there. I was amazed at how well that worked. Didn't use too much field and pulled off a decent landing. Mr. Zagi landed on top as usual.

Wednesday July 10th Sacramento. Nice turn out for a week day, even Basil joined us from down south and was rewarded with a nice flight. Karen had the flight of the day topping out at 4000' above the mountain while touring the valley. The rest of us had great flights also with the norm gain of 3k+ and great visibility coupled with cool temps made for a most satisfying afternoon. Joe, Karen, Shawn, Jeff, Alana, Basil, Dave Fink, Wayne and Cindy. We also could hear T.R. and Jesse at Jonestown. I heard one transmission from T.R. that he was 4900' over.

Friday the 12th. Went to Ridgely later in the afternoon. Ric, Larry H, and Christi H took off early and went XC not sure how far the went but conditions were nice. Flew with Bunkhouse and Jeff M for 1 1/2 hours topping out at 5900'. Very severe clear conditions with a few clouds to the south and east of us but they never made it into the field while I was in the air. Was the first time I ever remember being able to see the coast line to the east so clearly. Kind of a light turn out for a Friday with such a good call wish there would have been more pilots in the air to fly with.

Saturday the 13th back to the eastern shore. First flight was 1 1/2 hours with a low save thanks to a potential crop circle forming and the help from a local buzzard. This thermal got me back up to 4900' over the Chestertown watching the boaters enjoy the water. Later on I took a second flight as a huge cloud street formed right over the field. Jimmy towed up first and reported getting above base, (in the blue) in smooth lift. He wasn't kiddin I released at 2000' into the whole state of Maryland going up. I had never been able to get above base in blue before so I had to try and with little effort I was rewarded with a spectacular view from 5300'. For the next 1 1/2 we flew in a convergence line from the farm to the river (Chestertown) and back twice, only making a few 360's to stay above 3500'. The lift was truly magic, smooth everywhere as long as you stayed under the street. When you wanted to come down just fly out in the blue and you were rewarded with nice smooth 180fpm sink to the lz. T.R. Jesse, Jimmy, Shawn and Sheila, Ben, Wendy and some friends and family.
Thanks it was outstanding!!

Gotta love these late season cold fronts.

Doug.

	previous page	back to top	next page

This page last updated July 16, 2002