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Hangola May 13 - 17, 2004

Flight Reports

Me and Lauren and Steve and Ric and John and maybe a few others flew. I thought it was dang hard and cloudbase was only around 3900. I struggle for 24 miles--and Steve gets 32.

As for Ric the amazing boy wonder--let's just say the Ridgely $1,000 100 miler award has bee claimed! I hope he fills us in.

Marc Fink

Ooooops! forgot to mention Lauren's fine effort--after decking it twice after releasing she got back on the horse ans managed 7 miles--solo and well after others had left.

m

Finally got a nice long flight. Seems like my first real one since '02. Pretty sad I know. It looked great driving in - cummies popping. Launched at 1:45 and got 2+ hours (local) zooming around on my recently tuned Stealth 3 - thanks Sunny those upwind runs take on a whole new meaning.

Couldn't quite get to 4K. Saw 1000 up on the burst and 480 on the 20sec. averager, but things were much tougher below 2500ft.

I thought I was the man until I landed and all the other reports came flooding in from the XC boys...Way to Go guys.

John Muldoon

The sky looked exciting as I set up Thursday morning. Cumulous clouds billowed, and the wind trickled from the South. No dramatic gusts blew through, and but enough breeze existed to push an ambitious pilot on a lower performance glider across the fields.

Last year, I only flew one XC, and while conditions rocked on that day, I was too novice to take advantage of them correctly. This year, on my 2 previous XC's, conditions have been marginal. But Thursday looked awesome; and clouds bloomed everywhere. I have never flown XC with clouds before. Have always struggled to fly by feel and by which way my wing lifts.

When I asked Ric if it looked like soup yet, he just shrugged. Then I asked if we could fly to his house (North of Ridgely), and he said we would fly lots further than that. We all launched shortly thereafter. Ric turned in rat crap off the West side of the runway, not plummeting towards the ground but not really getting high, either. Windsor towed me to the South side of the field, towards a promising cloud, but it dissipated just as I released from tow. I was lucky to make it home. I tried again, and by then, Ric had disappeared. Bastard.

Windsor dropped me in lift, and I began to think that I might do better this time. But my cloud petered out, and I made the wrong decisions. Paul shouted to me on the radio to turn right!!! But I opted for the cloud on my left, and I was wrong. Sunk out, watched the better pilots turn into specks.

My third one tow was challenging. Windsor spun in a circle while I pulled in with all my might and cursed. Ginny leapt around like one of my racehorses, unsettled and hesistant to obey. I considered pinning off but clenched my jaw and declined. I need very foot of altitude I can steal. I quit cursing when Windsor found a boomer and left me there. Thank you, Sky Goddess.

That was IT. I felt sooo happy. Spiraled to 3900 and then sped downwind. In half a mile, I found another thermal. Rode it quickly up next to the clouds. I am smarter this year, stay the hell away from them. Have no fondness for looking at mist. That's what gin is for.

Took off again downwind. Maintained altitude, or almost, just flying straight under a cloud street. Started to dream big. This was the day I had waited for. Flew out of the end of the street. Didn't bother to milk altitude out of the cloud before I left. This was going to be sooo easy. Was still at 3500 or so.

Flew towards a big ass nasty cloud, dark bottom and bright on top. Arrived with 2500. Nothing. I hit my vario, wondering if it had broken. Nothing. I think I got suckered. I wasn't feeling my wing like I usually do, looking for birds, I was just aimed at the cloud and it had died. Arrggh, what now? I poked around below another cloud but I was pretty much screwed by then so picked a corn field to land in. Landed great, met a red headed boy who lived at the farm, Colton.

Paul was already on the road when I landed. I told him I was by a silo painted like an American flag and it turned out he was parked at the end of the driveway already. I was very disappointed in myself. I felt the day had opportunities, and that I had blown it.

Rushed back to Ridgely, set up again. Dammit, I was going to fly a decent XC, even if it was at midnight. Towed up again about 5. Surprise, surprise, the day was over. Was too exhausted to fly La Goddessa Discus (Paul says this is unbelievably hokey, it is the Discus, not La Goddessa Discus, what is my problem, but she is really sleek and cool, he is just cranky 'cause he is grounded). I watched Zach land her perfectly about a dozen times. I was jealous. She is MINE.

Supped a martini while I broke down, heard the big news about Ric. Waited for Paul to return from all the pickups. Big joke, he got in after 7 to Ridgely, told him he had to go pick up Ric by Allentown, said Karen was in Pittsburgh. Paul was freaked out for a bit until we told him Karen was fetching Ric after all.

So I have tons to learn. Made lots of mistakes. I guess the good thing you can say is at least I am playing the game. And I love my friends and my glider and my poor crippled, frustrated husband who wants to fly terribly. To bad he can't help me; I'm sure I woulda gotten further. But I am not wasting the days, even if I am not exactly a prodigy.

Thanks to Tom, who wrote me and told me about watching cloud shadows to help determine wind direction, too. I never have had the opportunity to use that before. Next time I will fly further and better. Oh, yeah, Niehaus better watch his ass!

Lauren Tjaden

Pulpit was flyable, but not too soarable. I arrived at about 4:30pm and took two sled rides.

I did a forward inflation on my second launch and busted my left brake line due to the f&*^% snags and rocks. That launch needs a major work party.

This was my first forward inflation at Pulpit, and my first experience at landing with no brakes. I had no problem with riser turns, but I didn't get a very effective round-out. Next time, I'll remember to flare a little harder with the D risers. Wow, the grass is REALLY tall in the LZ. ;-)

'Spark

OD'd early shutting off any hope of big gains but meant smooth soaring fish bowl style. Gains to 1K times to 1.5 hrs. Shawn, J/K, TR, Jesse, Me and all the usual locals, 12 total.

wx report:

The fcst 4 hyner was ovcst till noon then clear. It did clear up about noon but soon OD'd to a solid deck. There were very lite watery thermals but mostly it was smooth ridge lift in fish bowl traffic. Glad you don't take offense at a little mild chain pulling........Bob

Holly and I camped at Blue Sky Saturday night---good times hanging around the fire BS-ing. (Just remind me to bring more blankets next time---woke up at 3am freezing to death! I was surprised how chilly it got...)

The new pavilion is now complete and really nice. Lots of shade, and (best of all) Steve donated his hammock to be permanently mounted there, and Tex installed a wooden front porch swing.

Holly, Tex, Mike and I had an incredibly mellow time Sunday morning, just rocking in the swings/hammocks, playing guitar and kalimba, listening to birdsong, and reminiscing about Looney Tunes cartoons. <smile>

They're still considering names for the pavilion. Candidates so far include "The Whack Shack," "The Sled Shed," and "The Roost."

Conditions weren't great for flying (or scooter towing) Sunday morning...Holly and I bailed by noon, leaving Mike to hope for good flying conditions. The stay was well worth it just for the relaxing time at the pavilion Sunday morning.

Side note: if you're a fan of North Carolina-style pulled pork barbecue (especially with vinegar/pepper sauce), found an awesome place in Ashland, Virginia---take exit 92 (off I-95) Rt.54 West...go through the intersection at Rt.1, and it's on the righthand side. Amazing barbecue!

Scott

Went to Taylors on Saturday and found besides being too windy, the grass is getting too high. I spoke with a relative of the Taylor's who lives near the entrance about cutting the grass. We paid him a bit last year to expand the area I cut. I asked if he could cut the landing area and he said he would try to get to it during the evenings this week. So we will be taking donations to pay him for his effort. Please let me know if willing to contribute.

Also, spoke to the land owner of Kirshners and he said he thought the grass wasn't too high yet but he was going to try and get his brush hog hooked up this week and start to mow it. We had a class there on Sunday and the grass is fairly high in some areas and probably by next week will make it un-safe for flying until mowed. We also give him a donation so anyone interested in contributing please let me know.

Smithsburg does have crops getting to a level that now closes the site (according the Sparky/Eddie).

- john middleton

http://treetoppers.org/ Starts this weekend.

I played that suprise game as a cyclist in the very very early days. Its fun that way :)

Everyone send good Karma to Bo even though he seems to be the luckiest SOB ever. I'm just glad he has 9 lives.

Flew Highland this afternoon. Sunny has tweaked up a High Perf version of the big Discus. Flew incredible! I liked it better then the stock medium. Thermalled like a champ. Handled like a small glider, climbed like a big one. It was suprising to be able to disect the cores so precisely on a big wing. In a cocoon it seemed to glide upwind very well also. One hell of a pimp ride.

Rita got her first HG flight and had a blast. I underestimated just how scared she would be before hand. Sunny made her feel great. I asked her how the view was and she replied "Awesome after the tow!" I couldn't figure out how the view is different on or off tow until she explained the eyes were closed the whole way up.

This evening we met up with Sparky and James for some PG play near Sparky's place. It was a total blast and I can't wait to soar that little hill.

Kev

> What was the cloud cover in this area yesterday and did anyone do Lizville? (or get done by her)

Since you asked: http://www.jiminger.com/Jim/Flying-20040516/index.html

About 2 1/2 hours total flying time.

Bob writes:

So I can deduce from your reply that it was also overdeveloped here (the pix), the winds were lite (the balloon), and you burned 2.5 gallons of gas (2.5 hours X 1 GPH). Thanks Jim.

Jim responds:

Ah Bob. Brilliant deduction, but though a bit off however. I'd say the overcast ranged. Maybe a total of 50% but large areas of blue and large area's of cloud during my first flight. Many of the pictures have the sky washed out (overexposed). I was thinking about playing with the contrast at the higher ranges to bring out the sky better but I didn't have time. The pictures were taken over two flights. The first one (about 3:00 - and only the first two pictures in the list were from that flight) was probably 45 min engine off (1 1/2 hour total) but the lift was sparse though nice when you could find it.

The second flight was rather late in the evening but even then, while chasing the balloon, I hit a thermal and cut the engine for a short while (5 minutes) during a climb through the balloon's altitude.

The photos that I took at the Pulpit yesterday are now available:

http://photos.sickinger.net/20040516_pulpit/index.html

R2

Sorry it took so long.

Ric

RIDGELY TO DUBLIN, PA

May 13, 2004

The day began with a decent weather channel forecast promising south winds at 5-10. With a busy schedule full of family, flight training, taxes and an interview, the anticipation of my first XC of the year was great.

My flight began at ten after one in tow behind the very capable Miss Windsor. After scratching around for a few minutes and losing about 1,000 ft., I began to head back to the runway for another tow. To my pleasant surprise, I stumbled upon a decent core that would commence my journey. I never dreamed how this day, which began with such humble beginnings, would end up.

My first goal was to make it past the 5-mile radius from Ridgely which is the minimum distance one should fly XC to prevent bad blood with the locals. Fortunately I managed to scratch my way up to cloud base at 3,400 ft. and reset my goal to the 20-mile mark. I decided I could be happy with this achievement feeling quite rusty since not flying XC for over seven months. The joy of realizing my new goal was quickly squelched by an agonizing descent toward 630 ft. nearing Smyrna, DE. Thinking my flight was soon to be over, I unzipped my harness but continued in a desperate search for lift. This desperate mode would be revisited quite often on this particular day. With the help of a loose gaggle of feathered friends, Buzzards to be exact, I managed to scratch my way out of the hole. Passing through 2,000 ft. I radioed my wife on the 2-meter that I had placed in the dining room window that morning. I gave her an update on my progress and told her I thought I could make it to Middletown, DE, my newly declared goal. Having spent a lot of time on this part of the Eastern Shore, I found the sightseeing to be quite pleasant. Of particular interest was St. Andrews school, the setting for the Robin Williams' film, "Dead Poet's Society". Soon finding the ground too close for my comfort I had to abandon my tour and return to a single-minded focus on flying. After struggling to find a decent core for some time, I managed my best climb rate of the day at over 400 fpm on the 15-second averager. This success allowed me to again reset my goal to leaving the Delmarva, which I knew would occur around the 41-mile mark. Wow, this day was turning into much more than I had expected.

After a joyful crossing of the C&D Canal, my next obstacle was to avoid the airspace around the Wilmington Airport. Feeling confident with a fortuitously timed climb to cloudbase which put me at 3,800 ft., I chose a coarse to the west of the nice looking cloud street passing over the middle of the airport. Fortunately this departure didn't put me on the deck as I had feared but allowed for a safe passing of this busy airspace.

As I approached the suburbs of Wilmington the suitable landing fields began to be fewer and farther between. This was acceptable at first but became more disconcerting as my altitude once again began to diminish. Approaching West Chester I found myself gliding desperately towards a housing project under construction bordered on the east with a small ridge that I hoped would trigger some merciful lift. Here I struggled for what seemed an eternity in weak lift too low to move on. Most of this period was spent between 800 and 1,000 feet. As I slowly drifted northward approaching the end of the pseudo ridge, once again my feathered friends were instrumental in my successful escape from gravities pull. I was soon climbing towards 3,000 ft. realizing this flight was going to reach the 60-mile mark, my latest goal and a key number in the Region 9 contest.

Wanting to share my elation and also get my retrieve started, I decided to attempt a phone call to my wife. At the risk of dropping my un-tethered phone from thousands of feet, I carefully speed-dialed my house. At this point I debated the sense of allowing this distraction at a relatively low altitude. Fortunately it wasn't long before I heard my wife's sweet voice and yelled into the phone, "Head to West Chester, I'm buying dinner!" After cautiously returning my phone to its place, I refocused my concentration on the task of miles.

At this point in my flight I set my sights for the Ridgely site record of 76.3 miles. I began to realize some of my unexpected success of this day was attributable to my patience during this flight. I believe this to be a function of my lack of recent flight experience (4 local flights totally under 2 hours and no XC) and the overall average quality of the day. I mention this because I have a bit of a history of impatience with weak lift or zero sink, which has often resulted in a quick trip to the deck. This realization helped me to stay the coarse through some pretty frustrating and unnerving passages between less than ideal landing zone options. Some of these included soccer fields, football fields, fairways, construction sights, and large industrial complex lawns.

Elated at the passing of the Ridgely record, I now set my sights on a solid 80 miler. This goal came and went relatively quickly as I began to notice a general improving of conditions. This realization and the subsequent climb to well over 4,000 ft. allowed me for the first time to fantasize about the 100-mile mark. Approaching 90 miles, I once again phoned my wife to update her on our evolving destination. I yelled into the phone, "Head to RTD's house", our dentist in Lansdale, PA and, "I think I can make 100 miles!!!" At first she wasn't too excited about the thought of the long drive ahead but quickly found some relief when she remembered our deal to split the proceeds from a 100-mile flight.

My need for turns became fewer and farther between as I began to dolphin soar the last few clouds of the day. Ironically, the final cloud was located at 101 miles from Ridgely, MD and was to be my final climb of the day. I picked a town slightly east of my track for my destination and soaked up the peaceful evening landscape as a Beechcraft Bonanza buzzed by at a comfortable distance. What an overwhelming feeling of joy, blessing, and satisfaction was felt in that tranquil descent. I spotted a restaurant with a lot full of cars promising some of the best cuisine Dublin, PA had to offer. I continued my glide past the large field behind the restaurant anxiously waiting for my GPS to read 104 miles then quickly turned back to my LZ for a decent run out landing. I touched down at 6:24 PM for a total flight time of 5:14. My highest altitude was just under 4,700 ft.

I phoned the crew at Highland with my news and explained that Karen was on the way. They couldn't help but prank Paul Tjaden who had graciously offered to pick me up if I happened to go XC. After already driving for hours to pick up Lauren, Marc and Steve, they told him that he had to come get me because Karen was out of town. Thanks for the offer Paul. We all owe you one.

Karen and Jabin showed up an hour and a half later and we celebrated our day with a nice meal at Lamberto's Italian restaurant. We arrived home in Galena, MD around midnight where I tossed and turned all night reliving the wonderful memories of that amazingly unexpected flight.

My Spiritual Reflections (Read at your own risk)

This flight came at a particularly low time in my life. The following morning I received the news that one of my friends from work had been fatally injured in a plane crash and the day before I learned that my nearly two-year campaign for employment at Southwest Airlines had failed.

I've always believed that God is in control of our lives even when we don't understand why things happen. I often talk to God when I hang glide because it's such a spiritual and beautiful experience and maybe also because you never know how soon you might meet your maker with our beloved sport. On this particular day, I found myself low and struggling quite a bit and would often ask God for some help. At first I kind of felt strange asking for something so simple as a thermal but I nevertheless asked. I remembered the scripture that tells us that God even cares for the raven (Luke 12:24), so why wouldn't he care about his child's recreation.

As the day progressed, the flight began to unfold as a sort of picture of life. It seemed as though I spent a fair amount of time down low where I needed God's merciful uplifting. I began to see that just as the low, frustrating and difficult times in a flight improves our flying skills, so do the low times in our lives strengthen us. We all want to be cruising along in life at "Cloudbase" with no worries, but it's the low times that develop our character and strength and make the lofty times that much sweeter.

I thank God for the timely blessing of this flight and for the life lessons that came from it. I was reminded, that when I turned to and trusted Him for the seemingly meaningless things in my life, that He is faithful. How much more can I trust Him with the heavy-duty stuff? I was also reminded that He wants our worship and attention not only in the low times but also at cloudbase. The clouds and lift ending quite poignantly at my ultimate goal of 100 miles spoke to me of how God can lead us successfully to the end of our lives through the ups and downs if we only put our trust in Him.

I've had friends that seemed to have no belief in God ask me for prayer in a time of crisis, others who acknowledged Him only briefly after the death of a friend or loved one. What do they really believe? I think it takes an incredible amount of faith to believe there is no God. There's too much evidence of Him in our lives and in the world around us. If I am wrong in believing God is real and the bible is His word, I've only risked a life striving (and often failing) to love my neighbor and be more like Christ. For the uncertain, the risk is too great. Do you really have that much faith?

On a lighter note, I don't hope to pray my way to hang gliding greatness. I just felt like sharing some of my thoughts and convictions resulting from a really cool day of hang gliding during a really difficult time in my life.

Blessed Air :^)

Ric

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This page last updated June 1, 2004