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Hangola March 12 - 15, 2004

Flight Reports

I just got back from a sunset PG flight. I'm headed out in the morning to fly Jean ridge, then catching a flight home on Saturday.

'Spark

Four fliers: Tom McGowan, Steve Kinsley, Gary Smith and me.

I attempted an xc but ended on the north side of short mountain. Guess I need to work on the crossing skills. I did manager to cross the gap but was lower than intended and reluctant to bet there would be lift if I just headed straight to the mountain when I was 3 to 400 below the ridge. So I turned back to an lz and got a ride to my truck. I picked up Steve who managed a significantly longer flight.

Joe

It was a pretty good day, although Steve Kinsley just out flew all of us. I had 2.5 hours and 4k over. Winds were west, but not too strong. Made it half way down Short Mountain but gave up since I was making so little progress and went back to the main LZ. Next time I will take my bar mitts.

Tom

I finished off my week in Vegas with another 1:30 of PG airtime at Jean ridge. My earliest flight was an extendo. When the winds finally kicked in at 4pm, the thermals were real blasters, boosting me up and backwards to 700' over ... I pulled big ears and landed after 15 minutes ... just plain scared. At 4:45pm things smoothed out and I relaunched and flew until sunset in a combination of ridge and mellow thermal lift to about 800 over. I was flying with two other PG wings and snapped many pix, soon to be posted to Webshots.

During my stay, I was able to bag 9 fllights and just under 4 hours. It was a real kick to return 'home' with my PG and get such great airtime.

I hope y'all sky out on Saturday.

'Spark

I didn't outfly anybody, I just kept at it longer. Very slow going. Made it to Keezletown and landed near Steve W's training hill. So I don't get a prize. Close tho. Could see the lifts at Massanuten. ps. got some extremely Gary Smith looking gloves in my car. (?)

I felt too tired for breathing today, much less flying, since we had a CHGPA BOD meeting last night. While the meeting was needed, we arrived home after midnight, and I am incapable of sleeping past six. Need my 8 hours.

Woodstock won the popular vote over the Pulpit today. I felt in favor, simply because I love the launch and ridge and LZ at Woodstock. I guess that would do it. Cast of thousands. Kelvin, Gary, Carlos, Wesley, Christie (too sick to fly), Rich, John M., many more.

Winds diminished as we arrived. Paul launched, after he helped Cav into the air. Bacil and Gary already soared. Ellis wandered into line in front of me, but her PG lines got tangled and she said I could bypass her. Felt guilty, particularly when Pete S. asked why I didn't want to just wait in line, but Ellis urged me to launch, said she would be a few minutes picking brush out of her lines. Air horniness quickly surpassed any politeness I might have possessed, and I trod over her bag onto launch.

Ginny yawed terribly with the cross that plagued us on launch but I assured my crew I really had no intent to run until she straightened, much to their relief. Finally the cycle blew straight and I managed a strong launch. My last footlaunch was Jan 1st, but I can't spend my whole life at the training hill. Or maybe I can but I am tired of the teasing.

Found a thermal, spun higher than Paul in two seconds. Still just 550 over. Anyhow. I wussied out following the thermal over the back. Could have done it with the light winds. I have so little mountain experience though. Don't know how far to push. I am getting OK on the flats. Found nothing out front, upwind. Nabbed 20 minutes. Paul pimped off me but had more balls, stayed with my thermal, got high, flew for 50 minutes and 2,000 over but hit the deck when he ventured out into the valley.

Mark snagged the stud award, with 3 HOURS!!! Steve disappeared and we called him but don't know where he ended his flight. Just got the cell phone voice mail. He is flying brilliantly this year.

I napped in the truck while we drove some of our buddies back up top. No more fun for me, I needed food and some sleep. Lots of really good pilots in our club, I admire them all so much, gotta learn this stuff. Mark Cav will be sorry he had such a long flight, though, when he finds all the cow shit we packed in his car as a punishment. I am the sky goddess or else!

Lauren

Joe and I didn't make it to Raven Haven today. We bet you who went had some great flights there,though. It was strong and blustery here all day as we did alot of chores around home . About 5:00 we started to realize it was turning more North and so went up top and flew magic 'till dark at a thousand over. Got lucky, and how! We hope to catch some air time Sun. at Kirk's Ridge with my brother, Jonathan. Anyone for some SE fun?

WS was certainly fun today but this AM I was voting for the Pulpit and wanted to know if anyone checked it out? WS was mostly thermal soaring today, at least after I launched. In spite of Mark C's spectacular flight (we definitely need to buy that guy some lead shoes), several people had pretty short flights when they weren't lucky enough to catch some lift soon after launching. A bit more wind would have been helpful. I didn't talk with them, but I think Bacil and Gary Smith might have had workable ridge lift earlier in the day.

Paul

Glad you guys had fun. TR and I flew Jonestown today and it was also rather pleasant! Some real workable t-mals got TR to 2200 + ' and moi to shy 1900'. Not 'xackly silky smyooth, but soitenlee woikable and lotsa fun. Got stuff ta doo t'morrah--- have phunn!

On Sat, 13 Mar 2004 19:15:30 EST Tjadenhors writes:

"....Steve disappeared and we called him but don't know where he ended his flight ... He is flying brilliantly this year."

This listserver is no place for sarcasm. Think of the children! Bentonville. Maybe 10 miles. Thwwwwpth!

Why oh why is Mark C always 200 ft over me? Well, not always. Sometimes he stays home..

Paul,

Trust me, if you had gone to the Pulpit in the AM, you would have been sitting around watching it blow 20+ until the afternoon. Winds at Hagerstown were NW between 17 and 20 MPH between 9A and 11A. You may have been lucky if a cycle came through with lesser winds during the wait, but it would have throttled right back up shortly thereafter. Only if you would have been ready and waiting to pounce on the cycle would you have launched. Any hesitation would have run the risk of it throttling back up on the ramp while in position with 3 people preventing you from being blown off the ramp. However, if you got to the Pulpit later, you may have been in synch with the afternoon throttleback, and the winds would just be strong. Timing is everything. :-)

Gary and I both got to Woodstock around 9:15A. We did this because we both felt that it would be better earlier versus later. We felt it was going to die down as the day went on. It was soarable until about 9:45A. It lightened up and only a few thermals were blowing through. They were medium strength but short-lasting. Around 10:30A Mark Cavanaugh showed up. Shortly after Mark started setting up, it started cycling consistently, prompting Gary to launch first at 11:15A since he had to be on the ground by 12P. I followed around 15 minutes later and got up easily in ridge lift. Gary and I both got over 1000' over in thermals, but there was ridge lift to buoy us after we lost the thermals. I watched Gary land at 12 while thermalling SW of launch a couple of river bends. Then a flush hit. I made it back to launch skimming the ridge. Gained a few hundred around launch. Mark C. was to the NE above the ridge a few hundred. I headed SW and a REAL FLUSH hit. By the time I made it back to launch, I was below the launch slot and Mark was below the ridge, but higher than me. I landed and he survived (boy did he survive!). He got stinking high and must have spent at least an hour way upstairs without losing much at all.

It's a big dilemma that has happened before, going to the Pulpit versus going to Woodstock. It can be dead at Woodstock and blown out (for a while) at the Pulpit. Take your pick: a pure thermal flight at Woodstock versus easily ridge soarable but challenging launch conditions on the Pulpit ramp. Or get to Woodstock early and catch the remnants of the strong conditions the day before.

Bacil

It'd been November since my last flight, so I headed up to Smithsburg to brush the cobwebs off my glider. It was blowing strong enough for Eddie and Shaun to soar the hill. I kept my glider bagged.

Kevin showed up on crutches and made a joke about being man-towed into the air. At least I thought it was a joke until I helped him launch. His friend pulled the line and Kevin took a couple of hops, then he was flying. Of course he did well. On his second flight, I think he had a little trouble landing, though--I counted four hops.

I flew four times. As I was humping my glider up the hill after my first flight I suddenly realized I don't need to go all the way up if I'm just practicing launches. So, the next three flights started much lower. Out of shape that I am, I was still exhausted afterward. After starting the thread on running out landings vs. flaring, I decided to try a flair to a no-stepper. Winds had smoothed out, and I pulled it off nicely.

Oh man, oh man, was I desperate for a flight like today's at Woodstock! Especially after work wouldn't cooperate with my plans to play hooky on Friday :( .

Arrived at 10:45 or so, and was third off around noon, after Gary and Bacil. Gary landed just as I was on launch. So I'm thinking "damn! flush cycle! damn!". But turns our Gary just had to hit the road early (which I knew, but I didn't know *how* early). Was very glad that my worries proved needless.

Springtime kind of day. Bullet thermals. Took a while to get back into crank&bank mode, but once there, I was able to take a bunch of rides up to 2K over, and 2.7K over twice. All the good stuff seemed to be at the finger just north of launch, and at the rockpile just beyond. I think there may have been an inversion capping things off; I had some really solid 5-600 up when coring, and instantaneous lift of 1000+. Can't even count the number of times I was spit out, sheesh!

After a brief foray north about an hour into the flight, I gave it a second go a while later. Tom (?) on a PG had headed toward Strasburg, and I damn sure wasn't going to let us hangies be left out ;-) . It was tough, very north cross. When I caught up with Tom, he seemed to be just boating along without a care in the world! Meantime I'm gettin' beat up, and even worse, I start getting pounded by sink. This was up past that "fat finger", with the very picturesque farm property in the valley.

So there I am, sinking like a rock, flying faster and faster, and there's Tom just floating along. Arghghh!!! I found myself about 600' below the ridge and was starting to flail around... but then I noticed that there was a steep bluff above the river, and decided to give it a try. Found something, started working it and mapping it, and crawled my way back up. Whew!

Briefly headed north again, to maybe a mile or so shy of the resevoir. But things started to feel weird again, so I finally gave up and headed back south.

Had fun at that magic finger north of launch for a while: was in a good one with Steve K. He took it over the back... I prob. shoulda followed.... but I was really tired at that point, with a touch of motion sickness from all the spinning. So I bailed back to the main ridge and set down around 3:15.

Headed back up top, and helped with some PG launches. Wesley also had his third mtn. launch, after a (25?) minute soaring flight earlier in the day. GREAT DAY!!!!! Can't wait for warmer springtime temps!

--mark c.

PS: Steve, about that 200 feet, can you say "wing loading" ? You might want to bring along a couple bricks to sneak into my harness next time :-)

PPS: The load of cowpies in the back of the SUV was just perfect for keeping me awake on the drive home.

Thanks Lauren! :-)

Beautiful day at Smithsburg. Pretty strong when I showed up (grinning). I knew my only chance at airtime required a stiff (but not Viagra stiff) wind. Eddie won me dinner without even knowing it. As we drove up I could see a glider above the crest of the hill. I proclaimed, "DAM BABY! It's ON cause Eddie is soaring!" They couldn't believe I could tell who was flying from over a mile away. I said, "If it's a glider above the hill on a day when it isn't blowing THAT hard....trust me, it's Eddie." Eric bet me for dinner and I won.

Plenty of wind, a man tow line, and hooking into a small SS glider made for easy 2 hop launches. It was weird flairing a single surface again. First one took a few hops...I wanted to stay close to the ground. Second one was a no-hopper. Overall it was even easier then I expected and one of the most rewarding flights I have had this year. All the crutching has been rotting my brain. It felt great to fly again....thanks David and my siblings.

Kev C

Had three very patient students who....after watching me and Eddie attempt to soar the hill in the ratty conditions ( early in the day ); finally got their turn around 4:30 ish when the conditions mellowed out enough to begin the instruction process. Then...the conditions got extremely sweet and everyone ( Jim, George and Gary ) flew numerous flights from the mid point of the hill. All did fantastic and were grinning from ear to ear as we broke down in the dark.

Also in attendence was Steve Vogel. Yes....Steve Vogel was actually on the training hill !!! Steve was polishing his foot launch skills for a future trip to Torrey Pines. Shawn did really well transitioning to his new POD harness, commenting that it felt extremely natural getting into the boot section.

One very cool thing I saw ( later on..just past sunset ) way up high, was a military jet light its' afterburners. It lookied like a ball of fire for an instant , then just a puff of smoke. Gary thought he heard it boom but..I tell you, it was kinda unreal to see. Earlier in the day we had seen one go over. Very cool, distinct sound.

Smithsburg was also in really good condition. No mud to speak of either. Two weeks ago it was mud hell.

Rich Hays

Glad to hear you all had nice flights at Jonestown and the Sac. Keith, Shawn and myself in that order launched into the brisk spring air between 2 and 3pm from Raven Haven. The 3 of us flew together stickin around the launch area for the first hour. We all topped out around 2500' over launch and had flight times averaging 2hrs. One of the highlights of our day was the three of us sharing a thermal with a mature bald eagle. We had him/her sandwiched in between us for a few minutes which gave each one of us time to share airspace with such an awesome creature. Then we chased each other around the Antenna's for a while before we headed off seperate ways on the ridge. Shawn took off and headed east towards the Tusk ski area with Keith while I headed west and ran the ridge till it starts to drop off and dissappears into the ground. Thermals were very evenly spaced out, you could almost count on one every 1/2 mile or so just like clock work. Heading back to launch you could easily see the Sac ridge and I think it was the Klingers town gap and also the end where in meets the river. Visability was good and temps were tolerable. We all landed in the main lz and followed up with pizza and Rootbeer. Sure is cool when so many sites work on the same day, Sac, Jonestown, Raven Haven, Woodstock, Smithsburg.... I wonder if anyone flew Little Gap or the Pulpit?

Doug.

Met at the shop at 10:00 am and headed off to Long Green, which is about 10 minutes away. Arrived with conditions strong but straight in to slightly SSE cross. Set up the new Falcon and popped off. Ratty conditions away from the hill ( similar to yesterday ). Bob "Beard" Stillwell test flew his newly repaired Sport and did great. But...seemed to be suffering from the hike back up. LOL. Direction progressively went SE. Still very launch and land-able there.

About 1:30 all hell broke loose. Strong gust rolled through, but fortunately we were breaking down by then. All in all it was pretty good, and lots of fun.

Rich Hays

Holy crap that new tug climbs like a banshee! 1,000fpm+ on tow! I'd heard it was a rocket, but it was an other thing to experience it first hand. Bit on the breezy side, got strong twards the end of the day. Sleds most of the day, but a couple of us found some lift around 1k to boat in. Sooo happy to have my Talon back. The WW guys did a bang up job getting rid of the flutter. As an added bonus, the tighter sail seems to spin a lot easier. Ye Haw!

Jim

I flew my PG just after 4pm today - needed to shake the desert sand loose. I soared for a few passes, landed mid-mountain, relaunched and landed in the lower field. This was my best soaring flight at this site and my first top landing. On my second (technically the third) flight, I landed at the top of the lower field and relaunched, landing near the access road turn-in (technically the 4th landing) ... just as the rain drops began to fall. PG fun. Y'all should try it sometime.

'Spark

Craig S and I went to Taylor again today to continue my rehabilitation. Thanks Craig!

Winds were strong and crossing from the east for the most part. John had four students who all seemed to be progessing nicely. Craig had four flights and I had three. All of them were pretty good given the condidtions. I've been exercising and feel fitter and stronger than I have since shortly after I made H2 nearly 7 years ago.

Hope everyone had a great day!

Dan T.

Oh, I feel satisfied and sloppy, kinda like when ... oh never mind, but I feel GOOOOD. Met Kinsley in the LZ. Arrived at launch to find Karma hunched under her glider there, waiting for a breath of wind (she launched well, sledded). Set up and decided I might as well be the afternoon no-wind wind dummy (the previous dummys had landed).

Paul taught me how I could sit down in my glider when I had to wait for a long time to get a decent cycle, very much a relief, not so exhausting. Remembered what Pete S. told me about moving forward on the launch (a few days ago), how it would help to keep my wings straight. Very helpful.

20 minutes later I found the conditions I desired. (BTW, I worded what happened at Woodstock day before yesterday badly -- Ellis didn't "wander" in line in front of me, she was there all along, and she even allowed me to bypass her when she needed to reorganize. Ellis has never been pushy in her life.) Launched great, payback for all those days at the training hill. I finally feel confident, way safe.

I better cut this short or I'll ramble all evening. I thought I flew better than I ever have before. I stayed up for an hour and 15, with no one else in the sky. Am learning to feel the thermals, depend on my feel instead of my instruments. Remembered my blunders of the last flight and looked for thermals on the ridge, not upwind like I do on the flat. I mean, hey, what's the biggest trigger around? I saw signals of lift early, like birds and dust. I finally headed out to land when my shoulders ached from the rowdy spring air, I mean, I deliberately landed, first time since last fall. Had a low save when I plummeted from more than 2000 over to 300 over in minutes. Thought I might be toast but I used what I knew and it WORKED!

Adam and Joe and Steve and Paul, plus Hank and Karma, all flew, some (like Paul and Kinsley, of course) had great flights, and some didn't fare as well. But hey, I'm still grinning. Even landed on my feet. I can't WAIT for the season to begin!

Lauren Tjaden

Great fun at WS today but I couldn't let this slide. Not only did Steve pimp off of me, launching only seconds behind me when he saw I was getting up, but he even figured out a way to chase me to the ground ahead of him. Let me explain.

After a great flight, with the sun getting lower and lift more scarce, I found myself about 350 feet over the LZ working some very light lift and managing to just stay alive. Suddenly, Steve's voice is in my radio saying he's 100 feet above me and that he's concerned we may end up having a landing conflict. Being afraid that I could easily loose the weak thermal, I radioed back that I'd dive in and get out of his way which I quickly did. As I scrambled off of the field to give Steve room to land I thought it odd not to see him coming in. I reached the breakdown area and still no Steve. Finally called him on the radio and (in a sheepish voice) he informed me that he was right over the LZ at about 800 feet and climbing out nicely. At least he did have the decency (after climbing another 800 feet or so) to come down and land.

So I thought it necessary to inform all who think they know this "kindly gentleman and statesman of our club" what really lies below the surface. A fiendishly clever rogue who will stop at nothing to maintain his Sky God status and to insure he has the FOD.

It may take some time but be aware, Steve, payback is hell !!!

Paul

The lesson I learned from Steve yesterday was, when you see someone getting up in front of launch on a light day, LAUNCH ASAP. After Paul launched, Steve moved on launch and was gone in seconds. I, however, moved on launch next and waited for an ideal cycle while Steve and Paul climbed out. Won't happen again. I got a sled for my wait. At least I got a 35min flight earlier.

Joe

(Late post on Saturday at Woodstock)
Well, not flying since Jan. 1 had me feeling somewhat inept. After launching in a light cycle and finding nothing on the ridge, I tried to work whatever it was Paul was in south of the LZ. Scratched around for a couple of minuets and then headed to the south west corner of the LZ to set up for an approach. It looked a little high, so I made a 360. As soon as I started the turn I sank like a rock and came out a little low. Headed for a low spot in the tree line on the southern side of the field, noted the wind shift from west to the north, dropped in and turned for a safe, but ugly landing complete with grass and mud stains. Yeah, feeling pretty rusty, at least I had a good launch, at least I had thought so, but even that could have been stronger according to an observer who’s advice I value. Rats! I need more practice.

Rusty

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This page last updated March 16, 2004