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Hangola December 15 - 22, 2004

Flight Reports

Anna very much appreciated the Xmas gift. She gave me a thank you card to everyone that I will circulate at the party tonight.

Flying was ok. It was too west and it was cloudy. Still, you could easily stay up east of the launch. I got 4 over in light therms all the way in the corner. Tried going west along the ridge but it was tough. Would have been doable with sun. (Or less west. Or if it was July. Or if I was in a sailplane ya da.)

Bruce and I met at the Woodstock LZ at noon and drove to launch. Winds were about 5mph from the WNW. It was sunny with a few little cu's. I launched the PG and worked a few thermals to a max of 1600 above launch, where I found some turbulence that was a bit challenging for my PG skills. I backed off and spent the rest of the flight closer to 1000' over. Bruce launched his U2 and eventually reported getting 3100 above launch.

I landed after a bit more than an hour, slightly chilled .... and caught a ride to launch from John Simon. In spite of the lighter winds, John had a great launch in his Discus. I followed soon afterward in the PG.

We were both able to stay up in light thermals for awhile, but never got much higher than launch. Eventually we both gave in to gravity, joining Bruce in the LZ. We packed up and retrieved our vehicles from the top before sunset.

Nice day.

'Spark

My first CHGPA mountain launch... ! What a gorgeous day. Sparky was kind enough (as always) to give me the thumbs up and wait for me to arrive out at Woodstock... 2 hr drive plus the DC traffic, so I got there about 2:30. Sparky was waiting and off we went... He landed early to help me out, nice. Set up (with some help from Sparky to expedite) and was on the launch. Very light conditions now at around 3:20 or so. Waited for a steady little puff and ran for all I was worth. Launch felt good and fast to me, plus I lived so I liked it.

Problem: Sparky and I had stuffed nearly everything into the High Energy cocoon harness (glider bags etc.) and when I got airborne all that crap was blocking me from getting a toe hold and getting into the harness. There was some punchy lift here and there and I was fiddling with the harness and basically held my own for 15 minutes or so... no luck with the dang thing. Then finally, I managed to wedge my toe in and boom... I'm in! Lost about 150' doing it but now much more comfortable.

Sparky launched in his PG and promptly climbed above me... we flew in scratchy stuff for a while together. Alas, the lift was petering out and after having climbed back up to slightly over launch in generally light ridge lift and a few thermal puffs (which I couldn't turn in) it was time to head out. I had a good approach around the cows and up the hill. Speed bleed off more quickly than I figured and there was basically zero wind at this point so you might guess the outcome. Fortunately no cow pies where I skidded in (after one aborted step) and I was ready to break down with fresh dirt/grass stains on my knees. My first mountain flight in nearly a year. Way cool! Can't wait for more. SO much thanks goes to Sparky and also Bruce Engen for helping me out and being there. Great little 25 or 30 minute flight and a great day.

John Simon

Well it started out NE and it was coming in nicely at OR. I set up a couple of streamers and watched the light cycles blowing between E and NE... perfect... until there was a SE cycle. Then there were more SE cycles before it went completly SE and SSE... bad for OR. This occured in the course of 30 minutes. It's now a lovely day but solidly SE and S.

Danny Brotto

'twas a great training hill day today for both paragliding and hang gliding. Winds were S at 5-10 with a several soarable cycles.

Hugh McElrath and Andy Harrah made multiple flights from the top. Kenzie MacDonald began her first kiting sessions and made tremendous progress. Mike McDonald flew his PG many times and helped Kenzie with kiting.

Karen flew her Sport 2 and Matt flew PG and HG. Ellis joined us, accompanied by Loan, who is interested in learning to paraglide. Ellis flew her PG and made a couple flights in a Falcon. Loan practised ground handling with Ellis's older PG.

Shawn brought his Delta Wing Dream 185. It had a pretty bad left turn in it, so we made an adjustment to try and correct it.

The hill is getting a bit torn up due to the earth moving and preparation for construction. Areas on the top have been graded to prepare for the house foundations and road. I was a bit dismayed when I saw that a large pile of dirt had been left on the front of the rodge. Later, I learned that it was actually a good thing - added to the lift band and made a great spot to launch and land. During peak winds, I was able to make multiple soaring passes on it. I don't think I have ever had so much fun with a pile of dirt : )

Scott, the land owner and construction project manager arrived late in the day to watch our fun. He told me that we will be able to continue flying there until spring! He is very supportive of our flying there and seems to enjoy watching. We have had several conversations with the construction workers there and they have all beeen very positive about our flying activities.

It is sad that we will lose this hill, but it is a real treat to be able to fly there, even if only for a few more months. The next time we have S winds, you should consider giving this spot a try.

'Spark

Hi Guys,

Although I'm still nursing a cold, today was just too damn nice not to take advantage of so I made the long trek (two and a half miles) to Quest. Lauren just caught my cold and was really sick so she decided to bag it and stay home. Guess I should have stayed home to take care of her but damn the weather was nice. Saw several old friends such as Lisa Cain, Jim Rooney, Joe Davis, Russ Brown and Awesome Bob but many others are in Australia for the winter comps. Due to a not quite yet healed cut on my knee, obtained during a power whack a couple weeks back, I decided to rent a glider with landing gear rather than risk a rough landing and possible re-injury. The only thing available was this ragged out Target 180 they use for first time solos but the strong and heavy landing gear looked pretty reassuring so off I went. Flew kinda like a truck but I still managed bragging rights with 1:20 and 4,850 agl. Of course Rooney kicked my ass all day long but I decided not to count his flight due to the fact that he was flying a Talon. I'm also pissed at him cause he assured me we wouldn't get above 3K and my turtle neck and speed shirt would be plenty warm.

Really not trying to make you guys feel bad but I think everyone should move down here. Noticed on one of the local weather news casts that normal high and low temperature for this date is 73 and 55 degrees respectively. Last night was abnormally cold with a low around 35 and all the locals were freaking like the world was ending. By the time I got out of the house this AM it had already rebounded to 55 and I was comfortable in a long sleeve T-shirt.

Hope some of you get a chance to visit us this winter. Who needs snow, who needs snow, who needs snow????

Paul

BTW, for anyone looking for a peek into Florida living, I keep two websites (sorta) running...
jimrooney.com
hangcheck.com

I figure that's better than blathering on about FL flying on a PA newsgroup ;)

Jim

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This page last updated December 23, 2004