Back to Main Page Back to Archive 2005

Index to weather maps

Hangola April 9 - 15, 2005

Flight Reports

Awesome day! Got an early start ( 8:30am ) to avoid a potential blow out by noontime which...never happened. Dead nuts straight in at about 5-10 all day with some North cycles and a few East cycles. Otherwise....NE baby! Glen Hardy, Morrison, Yanni and Tim Hurlinger all did really well with some of the guys really skying out up there. Some gusty cycles came through and we watched some dust devils tear up some leaves but aside from that, it was golden out there.

Hope the mountain boys had fun today. Hope Jim Hodges got an Observer and got to soar...

Rich Hays

Pop! My weak link broke, and I involuntarily shuddered. The last time this happened, I found myself in a severe stall followed by an uncontrolled slipping dive, and brushed close to the ground before I recovered. But my visualization of what to do in this situation helped, because I pulled in so hard and fast Griffin's nose barely had time to rise. Hurray!

Soon I had a new weak link attached and ventured into the sky again. I had dreams of flying to Wallaby, but I found only rat-sh** lift, weak and broken, and never got about 2700.

Actually, there was one exception, when I flew into the nastiest thermal I have ever ridden. It screamed upwards at 700 fpm, but only for maybe a minute, and it pulled my pitch so high I dove sideways a couple of times. I have no idea of where it came from or went. The air was rough, but I have never been in anything like that demon thermal before. After 45 minutes of scratching, I decked it.

Conditions started to look better when Jamie called, needing a ride. Jamie is the guy who spent 9 hours or so on Wednesday picking up Paul, Jim, and I, plus hiking out my harness and glider with me for over a mile. It didn't seem fair to tell him it was too bad, I wanted to fly, but that hitchhiking might work. Daniel Broxterman's father, Bert, saved the day when I begged him to take our truck and go fetch Jamie.

The rest was easy. I towed into much smoother conditions, with soft thermals that often lifted as fast as 500 fpm. I found a trail of clouds to follow, and aimed for Wallaby. I flew by myself and listened to Griffin. I flew by the field that I got to on my little out and back, and then over Seminole glider port. I jogged sideways to another likely looking street, watching the miles tick off. I got there at over 5000 feet and managed a perfect landing in front of a zillion people. Woo hoo!

And guess what? ALEK flew there too -- his first XC! Wills Wing was having this huge party with a band and BBQ. We hung out and had cocktails with John Middleton, Bob, Raean and Fred P, Mike Barbor, etc. So many old friends. I met Linda S from NY, too. John, a pilot from NY who is doing the clinic this week with me, gave us a ride to Quest after an hour or two. I met Paul back at Quest but we both felt too whipped to go back to Wallaby and celebrate.

Paul flew a 70 mile triangle. This boy goes from strength to strength.

Lauren

Hit the road to Bills around 7:30A. Saw that the normal access road was shut down (getting paved all the way down to the bottom of Sideling Hill). One other way to get there is to continue on Rt. 915 towards Wells Tannery, like you are going to Fisher Road. Once you are at the bottom of the hill, take your first right (heading north, which parallels the backside of Sideling Hill), then in the little crossroads of Enid (a couple of miles), take a right onto Enid Road that climbs up the backside of the mountain and intersects the Summit Road around a mile or two north of the launch. Got there at 10:30A. Nobody around yet. Put in streamers in the slot and picked up trash. Mark C. the first to arrive around 11A+. Conditions were light, some nice cycles coming in as indicated by the streamers, and a cloudless sky. A couple of paraglider pilots, John Kelly and Brian Fowler, from Cleveland show up. A good crowd showed up for the day. From the Pittsburgh area Pat Halfhill, Pat Brooks, Jim Meadows, Mark Gardner, Sheila and family. From the mountaineers Jim Rowan, John McAllister, Adam Arkfeld, and Marvin Presley. Locally Matthew and Karen, Tom Cuenen, Dan and Cragin, BVH, Dave Bodner, Hank Hengst, Joe Brauch, and Jim Hodges. The PA forestry guy Jim showed up early to watch us clean up the slot and see John Kelly sled in his paraglider. The flight went well, and Jim departed shortly thereafter. Around 12:30 Tom Cuenen launched his paraglider, got up briefly, started sinking out, went out to land, and nabbed a low save 300' over the trees, climbing out to a couple hundred over launch. He then flew all over the valley stinking high at times and was still up somewhere when I left at 4:30P! The hang glider pilots waited for it to really turn on. Matthew launched his paraglider and extendoed. By 2P some good cycles blew thru, but nobody was on launch. So I got on launch and waited. Grabbed a decent cycle, launched, turn right abruptly, and maintained at ridge level heading south, dolphin flying, but not getting above. Hit a pothole and had to head out. Got some nice bumps along the way, but to no avail. Landed downhill, flaring late and rolling in. Mark C., Joe Brauch, and BVH joined me in the LZ. Jim Hodges was walking the LZ with Matthew. Jim, Joe, and I climbed the mountain. 3/4 of the way up we hear Gardner above us hooting and hollering in his Stealth. He was soaring right above our heads. By this time it was around 3:30P. At launch Gardner had drifted back behind launch 500' over, and Pat Brooks was getting up right in the launch slot area in light lift in his Falcon. Retrieved the vehicle, drove down to Enid, took a right heading north to Rt. 913 east, went through the gap north of launch, took a right on Rt. 655 south, and then took the first right onto Black Mt. Road, which is the road by the LZ. This is actually shorter by 5 minutes to the LZ versus the way we have always gone to the Bills LZ. In the LZ were a few more hang gliders with pilots lamenting about their short rides. In the air were a few paragliders and hang gliders soaring. Gardner and Matthew in his paraglider were soaring high above the mountain. A flush cycle hit and claimed everyone but Matthew and Gardner. They finally ended up landing just before I hit the road at 4:30. Hopefully it went magic for the pilots who stuck around till sunset 3 hours later. Although the conditions were light, it was still a nice day to be out in the beautiful Pennsylvania countryside.

Bacil

The promised spectacular spring conditions have arrived along with Joe G., Tom Mc., Steve, K., Dave P., and John Claytor who are here for the XC clinic with the Kevin and the US Team.

Unfortunately, they arrived too late to join in a fabulous day here. Lauren did a great job flying to Wallaby and could have gone on much further. She arrived there with 5,000 feet but decided to land and celebrate rather than try for more miles. She can do that next time!

I flew a 67 mile triangle with a few other rigid pilots and Paris Williams. Paris hasn't flown for months so he cut the long crosswind leg short but made it to Wallaby and then home to Quest. I was the only other pilot to complete the course. Ron Gleason and I raced hard the last two legs after I caught him at the first turnpoint. (I had a late start due to a weak link break.) But I got high and stayed high and just got home before the lift died. Ron landed about 9 miles short. I'm certain the results would have been different if we had traded wings. Ron has an ATOS V but my VX is definitely a better glider.

Glad you guys got some flying in at Bill's. Maybe Highland or Blue Sky will work for today.

Paul

Fortunately I took a wrong turn a half dozen years ago when coming from Bill's, so knew that the gravel road splits and goes to each half of the 'Y' intersection of the paved road. Only slightly different from the usual route, and was able to guide several folks in via cell phone.

The slot was already fairly clear: we just had some tussocks and sticker vines to wack down, though Cavanaugh took down a few trees. It would be nice to continue to take all the sticker vines out next week.

I did a sled, then came up and watched in awe as the Gardinator climbed out doing his trademark 360's nestled right up against the ridge. Pat Brooks did the same in a falcon, and I've never seen a more impressive display of finesse flying - spinning around a wingtip within feet of the trees. Looked like a bat. Those guys really know how to feel the air and their gliders...but I sure ain't gonna try to imitate them. It was worth the drive up just to see that kind of thing happening, pinch yourself and know it's not movie special effects.

Did a second sled then climbed up the mountain with Dave Bodner. We were already feeling out age before we summited the LZ, and that was only about 50 feet vertical. Made the full climb in 35 minutes; 10 of them spent in sticker bushes. They make a band only about 30 yards deep but about 100 yards wide. I think the key is to veer off to the right on your way up to bypass the briar patch. Take heed.

Though it can't compare to a soaring flight at Woodstock, I hope Jim Hodges will post a report of his impressions of Bill's.

Brian Vant-Hull

Friday April 8 2005

What a beautiful day to fly the SAC, although it was a tad more East that preferred.

The day commenced with Joe and Karen putting up a new windsock in the pine tree below launch. I arrived to the bump at 12:30 with soarable north winds with NE cycles. Joe and Karen returned to the top followed by Jim, Shawn and Doug. There was only one sled run, retrieve and relaunch which turned out to be a "straight-out-the slot" with no turns to 1000 ft over. Everyone soared for over an hour. Top gains were over 4000ft.

Now for the good news.

Since I'm writing this, you get to read about my personal flight. Here are the numbers - 3919ft over, Max climb 1023 ft/min, 3:23 hours. (The time does not include the time in the helicopter nor did they get that high that fast. ) The first hour was rough - up to 3700, down to launch back to 3000 back to launch and so on. The second hour had one thermal after another and the next bottom was always higher than the previous. The third hour was go anywhere buoyant but still had big fat 200ft/min thermals. I had not flown with a few pilots yet so hung out playing for a while on the ridge and out to middle of the valley. The air was so good I could not see landing even though half the pilots were in the West field already. I approached the field only to catch another pilot below me so just hung out doing lazy circles at 600 over. Few minutes pass and I notice I'm at 800 then 1000. "Oh alright just one more." I took it to 3700 and past the airport over the back and only lost 1000 to get back over the LZ.

The approach, better know as bad news...

I had not landed in this field for a few years and had not walked it in longer. I was a bit complacent because the flying was so easy and I was confident. I might have been tired and dehydrated although I do not think so. Down wind, base and final. It is a no brainer. You loose altitude at the upwind leg then adjust the other turn points and speed for hitting the spot. You never take your eyes off the LZ after making the decision to begin the down wind leg. It is as easy as that and there is no other. I broke every one of those rules and then some.

I started giving up my altitude directly over the spot I wanted to land while drifting down wind. My downwind leg was actually quartering away from the field and out of sight of the LZ. The wind was stronger than I thought and now not only was it an impossibly long glide to the field but there was a house and a tree between us, I was in a valley behind a foot hill and unlike some of the houses in this valley, this one had power to it. I was headed on final to a field to the north of the west field.

The worst news is that you guys present had to witness this horrific accident. I am truly sorry.

It pretty much happened that quick. I saw a pair of green wires 10 feet in front of me then heard a loud twang probably from hitting the top one. The look on your face as you read this is probably similar to the look you would have had in the LZ. "What is he doing over there?" POP .. Leading edge snapped, nose first 50 ft down. Whack. "How did that happen?" "He's dead." I was unconscious and redreaming the day of flying. When I regained consciousness, Doug was kneeling next to me with a gentle touch on my shoulder repeating, "Hey buddy are you still with us?"

The great news is the guy writing this is the one that hit the electric wire. After being airlifted to Hershey Medical they found no broken bones, no internal or external bleeding and catscan was fine. They literally said, "Take these two aspirin and call your doctor in the morning." It was not time for me to go Home. The Good Lord has a few more plans for me yet.

Walk the LZ.

Imagine yourself in bad LZ situations and get out of them while your feet are on the ground.

Houses always have wires to them. Stay clear.

Don't get complacent ever!

Loose altitude upwind of the LZ.

Down wind base and final.

Saturday as my head was still spinning, I sat in the chair on the front porch watching my wife walk our greyhound Soar up the driveway. Walking at 5:30am every morning is our special time together. Not a cloud in the sky, warm sun on my clothes and a gentle breeze from the east wafting across me and I had to watch her walking alone cause I was sore. Worse than dead I could have been paralyzed and just allowed to watch.

For those who have witnessed death, I apologize for reminding you. For those who have not, may this be the last.

Yes Doug, I'm still here.

Tom

Pretty good turnout at Highland today, maybe 15 or so pilots showed up which included PK, John Simon and Heather, Ken Church, Mark C., Tim ?, John Hope, Steve ?, Christian, Tad E., Geoff Mumford, Christy Huddle and Rich Alexander. Sorry if I left someone out.

Winds were about 5 from the N.N.W. switching a little more Westerly later in the afternoon. With a 30 degree temperature differential from the morning low to the days projected high, hopes were up for a good thermal day, but the ground was so saturated from the previous weeks rain that it pretty much put a damper on things (pun intended!). Dry ground was at a premium. But lots of people came out to shake off the winter rust and cob webs which included me, so in that respect it was good that things stayed fairly mellow.

On my first flight of the morning I hooked up with a bald eagle for about 20 minutes, flying about 100 feet below me. Later Mark C. came over and joined us in the thermal and a couple of times that ole eagle swooped down to Mark with talons fully extended. Mark never saw him since the bird stayed above his wing the whole time. I got a kick out of watching him turn his head and look up at me from time to time.

20 minute flights were the norm for the day. Ken Church got the FOD with 45 minutes and 3500'. I got in three good flights and drove home as elated as if I had flown a 100 mile XC, just happy to get back in the air after a long dismal winter.

The Highland guys still need some volunteers to help during the June comp. I volunteered, Adam said I could have trash detail, that I can handle!

Paul Adamez

Holly and I decided to head down to Blue Sky for our first flying day of the new season. It was great to see the whole gang there---regulars Bill Priday and Daniel Shapiro (both with new Sport 2s), Mike Wimmer and Megan Chapman (Megan with her new Eagle 145), Sandy & Nick, Bill McCorkle from NC, Ray, and CHGPA pilots Joe Schad, Craigin, and Dan Tomlinson.

Holly opted to fly her Moyes Sonic, being her first flight in 4 months (the LiteSport stayed in the shed). Clear blue sky, light winds. Bill McCorckle and Holly aerotowed up and had great flights---both over 4k, Holly with an hour and Bill with 2 hours. But Joe Schad (typically) had "meritorious" flight of the day with 2 hours+ and more than 4k...off the truck! (We attributed his success to the Nomex flight suit.) Mike Wimmer got 45 minutes, 3k plus, and Craigin had a nice 45-minute flight (can't remember your stats Craigin?).

Me? Not much news...my goal for the day was to dust off the cobwebs. 3 truck tows on my Falcon, all tows and flights fine (tho' sleds), mediocre landings, skidding in on my knees due to not being prepared for a BIG gradient (like the bottom dropping out even with the Falcon's bar stuffed). It felt good to fly again (and find out I can still do it!)

My next 3 flights were on a new Eagle 180 that I'm buying from Steve. (Yes! A new glider---my first double-surface wing!) I found the Eagle to be exactly as advertised: not dramatically different from the Falcon, but generally smoother, better glide, nice! I had a nice (for me) 15-minute extendo by working some light lift on my first Eagle flight. Landing was fine too. I'm psyched to be flying an Eagle---hopefully deserved after a year on my Falcon.

Overall a beautiful day with friends, and success at getting back in the air. I'm happy for Holly that her first flight of the year was such a great one. Now I'm looking forward to my first mountain flight of the season!

Scott

Not quite magic at end of day. Brian and John sledded in their PGs. We all did forward launches. I launched last in my PG, turned left and was staying even with the ridge... not losing any altitude... hugging the trees real tight. Thought about flying down to the gap and landing out. But I didn't have my vario or radio. When I turned around to come back towards launch I lost about 30 feet. So I made another pass and headed out to land. Very buoyant end of the day air.

Matthew

That was quite the hang gliding/paragliding festival on Saturday. The weather was incredible. The pilots were all very supportive and friendly. I would like to thank Matthew Graham for his assist as my observer walking the LZ, batten tip repair, and pre-launch. Trust me, always have spare batten tips. However, duct tape worked like a charm. Brian V. advised that its "not for aviation repair."

By the time I launched the air was sliky smooth like butter. This was the type of air where the captain tells you you can take on your seat belt and move about the cabin. Of course, flight time was too brief for that. This time I didn't have any issues with my cocoon harness lines as on my first mtn flight at Woodstock. Conditions in the LZ were very light unlike the teeth rattling situation I encountered at Woodstock. Perhaps this was more of an ideal first mtn flight situation than Woodstock. Getting to soar on the first one was amazing but this was safer in my opinion for a fledgling.

I look forward to seeing you guys [Joe, Dave, Matt, Brian, Karen, Crag, Bacil....and others] on a mountain again soon.

Thank you Rich Hays for your support and instruction.

Jim

Oops, I was referring to taking off the seat belt.

Jim

I am already tired after one day in the clinic. I will toughen up as I go, I'm sure. I flew my little task of a ten mile cross wind out and back flight successfully, but it took me 2 hours to do it, fighting the stiff wind. Actually you were supposed to do this twice, but it was getting late (after 4) so I landed after the first trip. Ha, Tom and Linda made it back both times. Linda noted that she landed right when I did. Yup. The longest 10 miles I ever flew.

Curt ended up flying with me most of the way since one of our team wasn't good enough to tow in the conditions and one got lost, another couldn't fly for some reason. Curt was remarkably good natured given the fact he had to circle and wait while I floundered around the sky, and try to explain via radio which way was north to another of our group (oh, you are doing great, Lauren -- this is while I am nursing zero sink at 1600 feet a half mile from Quest-- and, Jason, if you are at Seminole you need to turn around, you have flown too far). He gave me lots of good advice. I should be pushed out more while thermaling. Fly slower.

I think most of my decisions are OK, though, or at least reasonable. Not all. Frankly, the performance of my glider is not much compared to most of these sleek machines. Obviously many of the pilots have a higher skill level -- some much higher-- but my glide puts me low quickly, and I need to fly conservatively.

I learned more about flying in lift while other gliders are above me, too. When I look up and try to follow other pilots, I am at my very worst. Nearly decked it early due to this. I should just use them in general, be aware, and then feel my glider.

Later, Curt spent another half an hour or more discussing the flight with me. Really nice guy. I am going to get to fly with lots of the top pilots this week. Flying lectures go on through dinner. Paris spoke last night. (Paul brought me some chicken breast to eat so I could avoid the pizza, he is just amazingly helpful, thanks Paul). Gotta go fill up the camelback now!

Lauren

I had two launches yesterday. Original plan had been to put in a few truck tows and then move to aerotow. However, there was sink all over the field, and Steve was having trouble dragging even light pilots above 700 feet. I went out to the AT option.

BTW. Joe Schad's flight of the day was off a truck tow to 800'! He got multiple hours and pleny of sky. Damn fine pilot.

Anyway, on my first tow, Tex entered a thermal at just over 1100 AGL, and I failed to track properly behind him. I got turned away from him (not badly) and as I was about to get back into position the weak link broke at 1200 AGL.

I set up for a 2d tow, which was after 4:30. Tex took me back to exactly the same thernal, dropping me there at 2300'. I spent the next 30+ minutes playing in the thermal between 2300 and 3000. I expected to have to track a lot of drift. Surprisingly, it remained pretty stable over the ground the engtire time. I was surprised no one jiumped up to join me, but they told me later they did not expect good lift that late in the afternoon.

As I was working back down, I found a surprise thermal at 800 above the gold course paved parking lot. Played in it briefly before heading in to land. Gonna keep that trigger in mind.

Flight time just under 40 minutes (including tow), max alt 3050. Sweet flight. Landing not pretty, but safe (nose popped on transition, then flared early and dropped down)

Really great to see the Blue Sky crowd again. The season has begun!

Cragin

2-part Report
1. Had a great visit with Jim Smith, our PA Forestry guy. He came out early and saw a PG launch and some site clearing. (great work, Mark C, Brian V-H, and Mark G Thank you all).

Jim was quite pleased to see us out there, and I think had good chats with several of us. He is a big supporter of our flying and appreciates the low impact we have on the environment. We talked about ATVs, hikers, birders, and (ugh!) wind mills for electric power.

Bad news.. the wind power advocates continue their assault on the bureaucracy. The owner of the land next to Pulpit launch has been in Jim's office 4 or 5 times trying to get him to support putting windmilss on that ridge. However, Jim thinks that particular ridge is safe for a while from such impact.

Tidbit... the PA Forestry folks refer to Bill's Hill launch as the heliport. It is regularly used for helicopter landings, particularly during fire watch exercises and bug spraying ops. The pilots like it because they take off by flying out of the slot just as we do.. they prefer forward flight over vertical lift.

2. My flight - OH MY GAWD!
Ok, so an unnamed pilot had earlier in the day thrilled the crowd with a sinking launch after 2-step run, but then soared for hours like an eagle.

I launched late, in very light conditions, and gave him a stiff competition for worst launch of the day. I went off with left wing low and high nose. Damn, that was dumb! Got turned left, aiming at the trees, and initial turn correcitons were not effective. Pulled in, turned right and popped over the trees at the bottom of the slot.

Headed on out, and flew through 2 or 3 small bumps that I did not think big enough to work tha tlow. Hit one bogger one at teh norht end of the LZ, jsut before enterring final glide. Flew long on the LZ because of that. Feedback from the peanut gallery later was that they thoughy I could have worked that one and gotten up. Oh, well. I flew. And I confirmed I have winter break cobwebs I need to dust off.

I will!

cragin

p.s. Damn Tom Ceunen is good! Soaring all over the sky in negligible lift day, and then top landing!

Cragin and all the others thanks for recognizing my flight.

I hope you all can be proud on that we 'free flight pilots' more than once can feel like real birds, soaring through the air!

Little flight report:
When I took off the cycle was already blowing a while. Normally I was waiting for the next but because it took so long I launched.

I tried to circle agressive at the right side next the left side but no luck. I flew last year the 1st of April at Bills and remembered the thermal just before landing. It was still there! Flying slow and centering is the key. With some height I flew off to the right, accelerated but hit immediate turbulance and needed my whole body to stabilize. I soared the ridge and get very low just before the highway. Before landing I got another low save. Next I opted to avoid the ridge as much as possible. I love XC overland flying and Bills Hills - Valley worked well Saturday. I constantly set little waypoints ahead that I tried to mark. At the inversion (+6000 feet) I met several vultures cruising the valley. I noted strong lifts >1200feet/min that dragged me to the inversion. I also hit big sink and the common spring turbulant zones a lot.

So after a bad season uptill now and a red-eye flight from Las Vegas (too much wind to fly at Jean's Ridge at friday) we drove home with a satisified bird feeling!

See you all soon again!

Got an early start again, as I had a large class. Flying was in session by 9am. Conditions were light to dead with some trickle cyles straight in. The more experienced folks got alot of light air launches early. The beginners did the usual groundhandling stuff. By noon it was beginning to cross from the North. The cross got worse and we packed up by 4pm. BUT...the more advanced guys' got all their flights in that they could muster. Congratulations to Yanni for getting his H-1 on Sunday too.

What a weekend; don't get back to back teaching days very often at the same site. Very cool !!

Rich Hays

Bridget (3 1/2), Charlotte(1 1/2) and I managed to make it to Bills Hill on Sunday to catch up with good friends and watch Mark fly. We had an awesome time and the girls were great (I was a little worried). It was wonderful seeing everyone!

Since Mark doesn't post - I want to post about his flight since its a learning experience for all of us. The last time Mark had flown was in December at High Point so it was a good day to brush off the cobwebs. I didn't see his launch (I had turned away for 1/2 second) but I was told that he took two small steps then sort of dove into his launch. I did see the next part which was him way down in the slot headed for the trees (the slot is HUGE thanks to all those who worked on it!). He managed to pooosh out at the end, cleared the trees and proceeded to have an awesome flight after a low save over the LZ.

I know of three pilots who decided not to fly because they didn't care for conditions, or they didn't feel conditions were ideal since they hadn't been flying or footlaunched for awhile. This is a very difficult decision to make when you drive all the way out there and everyone else is flying. Of course everyone knows their own skill and comfort level. I have to say that I was tempted to fly myself even though its been ages since I've footlaunched but fortunately or unfortunately - we forgot my harness. Probably a blessing in disguise.

I felt really bad for any new pilots that might have tried to come out and then there was the construction. It would have been difficult to impossible to find it if you weren't there before. The only thing I can suggest is to always have phone number of someone you know is going (lots of people have them at the end of their posts). I thought I heard that a few pilots were cell-phoned in. How many of you tried to get there but couldn't find it?

Congratulations to everyone on their flights - - or their decisions not to fly!! I hope to see you all again SOON!

Sheila

Had a wonderful week (Tues thru Sun) at Wallaby during Wills Wing demo days. It was flyable/soarable for me all except 1 day when it was windy and chance of storms. Flew a bunch of gliders including Attack Falcon, Sport 2, U2, and the new Talon T2. If I didn't love my U2, I would probably order the T2 because it flew real nice, great speed and glide. Wills Wing thru a great party on Saturday evening and I believe Wallaby set a new single day tow record of 270 tows Saturday! Both Lauren and Alek (his first XC) flew from Quest to Wallaby on Saturday which was real cool. Congrats to Paul on his 150 mile flight and Kevins super flight during the week! It was great seeing some of the PA pilots and transplants from our area down there.

john middleton

Monday evening with winds ~10 mph straight in, flew for an hour all by my lonesome. 1400 over the valley in smooth conditions.

Just getting back into gear from a great week in Florida. I had a number of flights throughout the week, but unlike Daniel and most other pilots I was not really able to stick. A half hour flight and a number of extendos was all I could manage. That is until the last day.

A few days prior, that day when Kevin flew to Georgia and Paul flew 150 miles, the conditions were too strong to boat around Quest, you pretty much had to commit to XC. Never having flown cross country and without GPS, Daniel and I drooled on the ground while we watched more experienced pilots skyout downwind. Should we have gone for our first XC's, we thought? Perhaps. But we didn't.

Our last day in Florida was good again. The winds tracked directly from Quest towards Wallaby and the cu's started building early. Unusual for a north day in Florida as I understand. I dropped my radio from 3200 feet earlier in the week, so between Daniel and I we had a full set of gear - Daniel had a radio and I had a GPS which pointed towards Wallaby. We were well prepared. By the time we got ready, most of the other pilots who wanted to fly had long gone. Steve, an experienced pilot from Toronto, let me borrow his backup GPS and graciously agreed to try to shepherd us along towards Wallaby. I launched first followed by Steve and Daniel. The idea was to try to stay together and follow Steve. After loosing a couple of hundred off tow I stumbled into solid lift that took me to cloud base at 4200 or so. I looked around for Daniel, Steve or anybody else really, but did not see a single glider around. Well, I was up high and drifting in the right direction, what the hell, open country here I come.

Lots of things that came to my mind at that time: How far is 22 miles (37.5 km, I borrowed the GPS from a Canadian) in a hang glider? Can I ride this cloud all the way to Wallaby? Stay close potential LZs. Think about easy retrieve. Where is the lift? Where was that Bronson Farm with disgruntled landowner? Where did the lift go? Again, how do you tell if a cloud is building? I was in lift a second ago, where did it go? I wonder how long the batteries will last in that gps? Why is the next cloud so far? Man, there is some wasteland in Florida. Where is everyone else to show me lift, damn it?

A few miles out and below 2K I finally found my lift marker, a sailplane working weak stuff. I scurried over and slowly but surely worked my way back up. Now do I fight slight crosswind and stay close to the main road or just go downwind for that extra fraction of a mile before I land. Hands down - go down wind. A few miles on glide and only a little weak broken lift on the way. I picked out a good LZ and arrived at it with plenty of altitude, a good 900 feet over. I was about 10 miles out, half way there and about to land . For the first time in my short flying career, I cursed out loud to myself. But then, there was something brewing over the field. Never had I worked weak lift so hard. If it was over a flight park, I would have surely gone to land. But I wanted to get back up sooo much. With about seven or eight miles to go I topped that baby out at over 4300, the highest I got on that flight. Finally, I saw another glider, a rigid flying upwind. Must be from Wallaby, I was getting close.

I've only had two short flights at Wallaby prior and was not familiar with the terrain around it. The GPS had an arrow pointing to the SE, but I just wasn't sure which of those fields it is. I was getting low again, down to about 1800 with limited landing options further on until Wallaby. And then I saw a gaggle, half a dozen gliders and right below them a bunch of white triangles in a field - my goal, Wallaby. There was some lift, nothing strong, but I was getting closer and closer. Once I had it on glide, I left the lift and went to land rolling in right in front of Greg DeWolf's camera.

At the beginning of the flight, I tried to think positively and told myself that it was a really good day. The wind direction was perfect. I thought that there should be experienced pilots all along the way and I'd just latch onto somebody and follow them right in. At the same time, it was hard to think that I would just cruise on over to Wallaby and be realistic about it. In the end, it was a lot of luck, great conditions, four good thermals and a borrowed GPS that got me there. I flew my own flight and made the best decisions I could. An hour and a half later I knew how far 22 miles is.

Alek

Over Wallaby

Quick update: Monday, the task was around 18 miles downwind (West) towards the Cheryl turnpoint, and then north towards the turnpike another 20 miles. Chris was my instructor. I'll tell you how it went, but I will add a note about the clinic format first.

All of the instructors seem to care a great deal about their students and want to make sure we all feel we have gotten our money's worth. We have Kevin, Jonny Durant, Curt, Dustin, Brett and Chris, with Paris helping. Not a bad group, huh? We meet at 9 AM each morning and have lectures. We meet again at noon and have our tasks set and are assigned our instructors for the day. After discussing strategies, we get ready for our launch time, which is usually set an hour before our start time. So the format is much like a little competition. After we fly, we have dinner together to discuss how we flew, with a lecture after dinner.

Anyhow, Monday. I had a hard morning emotionally as it was the 2nd anniversary of Chad's death here. For those of you who didn't know, he taught me to fly and was a treasured friend. I thought about not flying but then decided that was the last thing that Chad would want; me hanging out on the ground crying over him. I decided trying for a good flight would be a better way of honoring him.

I pinned off in the most amazing lift, a solid 900 fpm. Really nice fat stuff, that I I could thermal in with my VG full on and one hand on the bar. Eventually it weakened to 700 fpm but that was OK too. Well. My radio transmit came apart, and I never even saw any of our team in the air. Such is flying. I took off downwind at 4500 feet. I am not actually sure of the altitude without looking at my logbook; we have just been flying too much to remember.

I found another thermal that boosted me to 4000. Never saw anything more than 350 up, though. A few gliders came in with me (the chickens, letting a king posted glider go first!) but I began to lose a little, so I left again. I farted around for a minute first but I need every foot I get on Griffin. The clouds had mostly disappeared, so I just tried to feel my glider and look for little haze domes. I passed over some pilots on the ground, which pleased me. At least I beat someone.

The pilots who had joined me in the previous thermal sped past a few minutes later. The difference in performance is obvious when you fly with topless gliders. Like racing a mule against a Thoroughbred. I flew their direction when I saw them circle (miles ahead) but I caught the thermal very low, at maybe 2000 feet. They sped away again after filling up their gas tanks, while I dribbled around in the rat sh** below. After that my whole flight was series of low saves and struggling between 2500 and 3500 feet. I reached the turn point very low again, 1600 feet. I caught another weak thermal. I followed it up to 3000, drifting downwind. When it died, I spent every inch of altitude I had gained struggling back upwind to the turnpoint. When I reached it the second time I was right back at 1600. This was huge error on my part. I should have flown much further upwind before the first turn point. Oh well.

My GPS, although I thought I had carefully read the instructions in the morning, wouldn't click onto the next point in my route. I punched buttons and cursed. No luck. Cursed more. Did not help. Uh oh. Getting very close to the ground. Maybe I needed to fly the glider, and also maybe find a place to land. Like, yesterday.

I needed to keep my cool more. I allowed myself to get flustered and although I found a decent field, I ate up much of it with inefficient turns. Well. The barb wire fence and power lines I was screaming towards took up much of my concentration and I rolled in, the only time I have had a bad landing XC except for my very first one two years ago. It was very gentle but I was mad at myself for allowing myself to make a bad approach. I still had 100 feet or so before the fence but this is bad form.

Really very positive stuff because I worked out GPS glitches, worked out approach glitches, etc. I will never make the approach mistake again. I do accurate approaches when I focus. I kinda had a hard time looking at it that way Monday, though. BTW, Linda made goal, as did Tom. Some of the pilots are really good.

Yesterday I flew with Kevin. We had a difficult triangle of almost 50 miles as a task. Got hysterical laughing at Kev trying to organize our group in the air. Some quotes: You stay in that thermal. Please wait there. What are you doing on glide? No! If you want to switch gliders, you can, but you probably cannot fly a new glider and fly with me today. Where did you go? Talk about herding cats.

The day turned out difficult and very few pilots made goal, even on rigids. I basically landed out, like 3 miles away -- and I got the most distance for our group! I had a very nice landing, though. Kev drove out with Roman to help me break down. Talk about nice. Claire V. from the US and Tovi, a woman pilot from Australia, have been very kind to me, as well. Paul was nearly assaulted by a totally freaked out, pissed off landowner where he landed, but he escaped with his life and glider. The adventures continue.

Lauren

It is with much regret that I have to post this accident report on myself Sad, but it also is with much relief that I am able to do this for myself and that someone else is not doing it in place of me Smile

The accident occurred on Monday afternoon at Highland Aerosports West, the now official name for the location of the RC field when it is being used to stage flight operations (as opposed to Highland East, the normal takeoff and landing area). We all were joking about how flying out of the RC field made us feel like we were at a different flight park, so we had to give it a name. The normal staging area is undergoing a rehab in preparation for the upcoming comp.

The morning was blown out, but by mid afternoon, the time of launch; it had become variable 5-11 from the East to the Southeast on the ground and maybe 15 above. There were periods of calm wind and what seemed to be thermals blowing through from time to time. The sky was clear and visibility unlimited. Pilots present were Adam, Sunny, Christy Huddle and Rich Alexander. I was flying a Wills Wing U2 160 with the stream line control frame and wheels; I use a High Energy cocoon harness and Icaro full face helmet. I am 55 years old and this is my sixth season in the sport. I only aero tow from Highland and do not fly during the winter. I have had the U2 since September of 2003.

The tow toward the east was a little choppy but not too extreme, passing through punchy areas of lift and sink, the typical spring mixing bowl. I released early at about 1800'after having passed through what I thought was some decent lift. I spent all my time drifting downwind pushing out in lift, diving out the back side in sink, coming around and then pushing out in the lift again, over and over and loosing altitude. The core was narrow and the edges sharp. It was all very tiring since I was pretty sore from flying the day before for the first time since October. I am not in very good shape this time of the year.

Since I was tired and the air was rowdy I decided to set up for a long conservative right hand approach into the RC field. My downwind leg, heading west, was choppy, base and final were smooth until I hit a big bump of lift (thermal?) at the threshold between the RC field and wheat field coming in on final. All was fine until now. Now came the critical decision point causing the accident. As I was getting bumped up the first thing that entered my mind was, crap, now I am going to miss my spot and go really long, the next mistake was thinking I had just gained enough altitude for a quick 360 to the left to come around for a new lower final. The actual altitude I had is not too clear, but I'll guess less than 100'. Going long would have presented no problem other than a longer walk back; I had plenty of clear landing area in front of me. I chose to execute the 360.

As I was turning I saw my altitude dropping extremely fast and became very concerned but not panicky. I had false confidence. I pulled in as I banked left into the crosswind component. I then lost reference to my landing point, to the horizon and to my attitude. If I had been more clear-headed at this point I would have turned the 360 into a 270 and landed cross wind into the wheat field which would have been better than what happened next.

I got fixated on completing the 360. As I started pushing out and coming around in the turn and watching the ground approach rapidly I saw that my left wing tip was about to impact the ground first, but somehow I had the false belief that I would recover it. Then, like the transition between scenes in a movie I went from the picture of that wingtip to looking up at the sky with absolutely no memory of who I was, where I was or what time or date it was and having these strangers looking down on me. I had no idea that I had just crashed. I was probably out only for a few seconds although I have actually no idea. I knew I could speak and understand English because someone asked me a question and I understood them and answered them back. I asked where I was and someone said, Highland, and I wondered what was I doing at Highland? Sunny said he told me I was at Highland "West" and he said I laughed. Sunny asked me if I knew what day it was, I thought about it and said I had no idea, and then he said, "let's call 911". I could not remember my wife's work number but was eventually able to recall her cell. The ambulance arrived, there was some discussion and a decision was made to airlift me to Maryland shock trauma in Baltimore to be on the safe side. While waiting for the helicopter my memory faculties slowly started to return back to normal. The helicopter ride was a surreal sensation of motion, vibration and sound, with strobing sunlight reflecting off the ceiling. I was in a trippy world.

At the hospital I was monitored, scanned and checked thoroughly and eventually given a good bill of health. The great folks there released me with instructions to take it easy for a few days and monitor myself for any adverse symptoms. I walked out with a cut and swollen nose, a minor laceration in back of my right knee, slightly sore throat from helmet impact, a very sore neck, and the world's worst hangover, feeling extremely thankful for being spared any major injuries.

My helmet was returned to me at the hospital, the mud residue on the forehead and chin guard area, along with the dirt up my nose and in my mouth and swollen nose indicted a full face impact with the ground. The full face ICARO helmet and the soft ground of the wheat field were a significant factor in my not having a major facial injury. I was still prone when I impacted the ground and there was a significant amount of dirt on my parachute which probably helped cushion my impact. I just recently bought an open face helmet for mounting my new video camera to. That helmet will never be used for hang gliding.

Both down tubes and the lower flying wires on the glider will need replacing, Sunny will give it a complete inspection for me and see if any other damage was sustained.

Conclusion

First, I want to thank Adam and Sunny for preventing me from trying to get up or move my head around until help arrived, and for taking care of me, my glider, and other personal items. I also want to apologize for exhibiting poor judgment at their flight park.

At this time I am evaluating my future in the sport and what I will do from here. Fortunately I have the support of my family to continue on if I choose to, and I appreciate that, since I really upset everyone with what I did. I have a major question right now about my ability to make proper decisions with regard to flying and I owe it to my family and flying friends to be able to do this if I continue on.

It's now time to get honest.

This is the second time I have pulled a low 360. The first time was when I was a new solo pilot and it was from 25 feet in my Pulse and that time I got away with it. The crew was not too pleased. I have a tendency to take risks that crop up from time to time. This was evident in other sports I have done e.g. skydiving and motorcycles. I have a risk taking personality, although I try to keep in check some times it sneaks out.

I also have a problem with getting bumped up on final approaches and it throwing my spot off, I get confused on how to handle it. Since I like to go XC I also have a fear of how to handle it if I am forced to land in a restricted field (although I shouldn't allow that to have to happen). And why haven't I ever mentioned these concerns to someone before? I feel I have to figure out and solve problems on my own instead of asking for help. I have a tendency to not ask for help if it may make me look stupid, although I do ask for help I am not consistent with it.

What made me think I could get away with that turn when Adam said that as soon as I executed it he knew I wasn't going to make it? I was not in the best frame of mind for executing proper judgment. I misjudged my altitude and my ability, especially in light of the conditions of the air. I admit that at final approach I was a confused person. Why?

I was tired and I am sensitive to excessive sunlight. Sunlight and I have a love hate relationship. I need it to feel well being and love to be out in it, but too much of it can make me feel bad and muddle my brain, especially after being out in the open all day at the airport. Usually I need a few days to feel better if I get too much. If I don't get enough of it I start to feel depressed. I especially need to acclimate myself to it after the winter months. It helps me to keep covered and use ample sun screen. I used no sunscreen that day. I know I should have used sunscreen but deliberately chose not to. Sometimes I do not properly look after myself.

I also had a sense of false self confidence because of how well I performed flying the previous day after a 6 month absence. I pushed my self too much by choosing to fly another day in a row; I monitored my condition and found myself to be less then 100% but chose to push on anyway. I should have been satisfied with what I got on Sunday and not pushed myself to fly again on Monday. I sometimes ignore vital signs and clues.

I was impatient to get quickly back up to peak flying ability so I can continue to increase my flying skills. I feel I am getting older and time may be running out. Hey there guy, your time did almost run out!
I tend to be impatient.

I know at times I can be a very good pilot, I know at times I can be a very poor pilot. I know I can be inconsistent which bugs me. I want to be consistent all the time but can I?

Can I be happy in this sport as just a casual pilot with just average abilities and not push myself to have the best flight of the day or the longest XC? What do I expect of myself? I only fly half the year. I don't get that much time in, I can't expect myself to match up to the others that have years of flying experience and airtime. If I am up for an hour I can be very happy and content to land, but I have found myself pushing my limits trying to eke out the extra time for a new personal record. My wife asked me what ever happened to the days you came home on cloud 9 after just having a few evening sled rides. What about that thing you wrote about always being in the sweet spot and never forgetting the day you soloed. Can I be content on not taking risks and choosing not to fly during times I am not at 100%? Can I trust myself to stand down when I need to, or to consistently do what I need to take care of myself? Can I ask for help? Can I be safe in an aircraft? Can I attain consistency?

I will not fly again until I can honestly answer those questions.

I would like myself to be that pilot who is comfortable with their limitations, can work within them and accept whatever results that brings, rather than be like I am, someone who wants to hide their limitations and present myself as something more than what I really am; a person with a lot of limitations.

So, in summary I will not choose to state that the cause of the accident was performing a 360 turn too close to the ground, but say: The cause of the accident was pilot made a series of bad choices fueled by defects in personality traits.

During my time in this sport I have learned a lot about myself and always felt it was helping me to be a better person, I still very much believe in that.

Thanks for lending your ear, sorry for all the personal stuff, but this has been a good exercise for me and will hopefully help me to improve on my faults. If anyone who was a witness to my accident and has some insight or corrections to add to my report please reply.

Thanks again.

Paul Adamez

Just under an hour and I did end up on top!

----- Original Message -----
From: gcargen

Hey Rodney

How long was ur last flight Sunday? I had to leave when Wayne was flyin circles around you above the field!

Gary

Wills Wing and Wallaby finally got a break weather wise. I had planned to arrive on Wed. but got delayed until a Noon Fri. arrival. By then there had already been 2 or 3 days of good soaring with someone doing a 225 miler (or thereabouts) into Georgia (from Quest).

Fri. was a bit too strong and choppy for test flying new gliders but a few flexies and a handful of stiffies flew with the stiffies hanging at cloudbase.

Sat. thru Tues. coughed up ideal conditions with puffy CU's and lite to moderate wind making it ideal for test flying, going XC, or just hanging at cloud base. Sat. it was 4500' over and 30 miles. Sun. 6000' over, Mon. 5000' over, and Tues 4500' over all with multiple face washes and hours and hours. ( All dates, times, gains. etc. are approx. it's all just a blur now). On Sat. alone they did 277 tows. The Wallaby/WW crew was EXCEPTIONAL in every way. There was very little waiting, every tow was to a thermal, there were 2 kinds of free premium beer on tap at ALL times, a free margarita stand, and all the food you could eat. The good news is there were no accidents/incidents. I think the total carnage was 2 broken down tubes.

I flew the U-2 160 I had ordered, a couple of times, the T-2 150, the T-2 144, a couple of times, and two U-2 145's a couple of times. To make a very long, very stressful, very agonizing story short...........

< snip, refer to original post>

................Bob.

I arrived to find the expected 10-12mph wind, but not gusty and about 15-20 deg. cross. The first tow left me at 1150. I quickly found some lift in the browner field on the other side of the pond. The general lift was pentiful with punchy, small cores. I rode that almost to the other end of the field (1mi) quickly to 2500. I didn't want to get blown down wind away from the field so I headed back to the other end. With all of the massive sink PLUS fighting a headwind, that 1 mile trek cost me 1800' of alt. loss. I did finally find another cycle and rode that again to over 2k but concentrating to not drift quite as far downwind. Again, fighting my way back was through massive sink. I couldn't seem to find another cycle so made my approach to the field, sometimes wondering if I'd make it across the alfalfa to the tow road. If I hadn't of made it, it would only mean more walking. Flight time prob. less than 30 min.

I waited just a bit for the second flight. Again, I got high on tow but experienced massive sink the whole way down to the ground (literally). Truly a contender for my shortest truck tow.

Neither landings were stellar. I had fun in differently turbulent air and it was nice to get out.

Rance

	previous page	back to top	next page

This page last updated April 15, 2005