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Hangola May 5 - 11, 2005

Flight Reports

I was the the only one there except for some spring turkey hunters who hung around to watch. There was persistent thin to moderate cirrus overcast, no cu's, and cooler than Pittsburgh; upper 50's. Didn't look so great but there was wind; east at 5 to 15, occasionally 20.

It was typical Bill's - you could stay up only if you did all the right things with the stingy ridge lift and small thermals; I didn't, for a 12 min flight.

Oh well, better than a day at work...

Hello up North..!!

Took my finals on Wed. and the semester is finally over. Haven't flown since Feb. so I headed over to Wallaby today for some fun in the sun.

What appeared to a marginal day ended up being stellar. Pinned off at 1100' and worked the first thermal to 3800' in light but consistant lift. Next it was up to 4500' and back down to 3500' each time getting a little higher. Once I broke 5000' it was golden. Max'ed out at 5800' (cloudbase). Flew 2 ten mile out and returns and never got below 5000'. Duration - 2 hours.

About 30 pilots took to the air today and most successfully made it to cloudbase. Lots of smiles back at the Ranch.

Tomorrow is supposed to be even better so I'll be heading over in the morning once again. My goal is to fly cross country home (Melbourne Shores) this summer. Just getting familiar with the area for now. It's about 70 miles as the crow flies and crossing the gator infested St. John's waterway will be a challenge.

I've been keeping up with everyone's posts and it's great to hear everyone is getting some airtime and keeping the sites clean.

Stay safe !!!

Dave

Quite the crowd at Woodstock. Lots of weather changes. Something for everyone. A lot of taking down and setting back up. Carrying gliders back and forth. Hang gliders doubled as shelters Multiple sled rides after some wild weather passed. Even the cows got involved by knocking down and munching on the wind sock.

Thanks to John Middleton for observing us.

How about tomorrow?????

Jim Hodges

Arrived around 11A to a work party going on. Joe Gorrie, Shawn MacDuff, Lenko Kovach, Pat, Christian Titone, Gary Cargen, and Jim Carroll were sticker-whacking the slot. Winds were 5 to 10 MPH varying from NW to N. After putting in streamers in the slot, I borrowed some loppers from Lenko and did my part until 12:30P. By that time cumies were popping across the valley and the winds had picked up to near soarable velocity. Joe, Jim, and Shawn went for some lunch while I leisurely set up. The conditions picked up to pretty strong by the time I launched into STFI winds at 2:15P, with Gary, Shawn, and Jim assisting. Got elevatored out of the slot, turned right, and stair-stepped my way up above the ridge. Lift was strong, punctuated by small bullets. Went east to my customary turnpoint opposite the gap in Good Spring Mountain, turned around, and noticed a distinct NW cross on the ridge. Passed by launch and pressed on to the Klingerstown Gap. Caught a nice ripper just before the gap, getting to 1500' over. Bailed and crossed the gap with ease. Noticed to the west some haze, and what looked like a different airmass (the upper level disturbance mentioned on the NOAA weather station). Midway between Klingerstown and Pillow caught another thermal, this time much mellower. Got to around 1500' over again before it petered out. Cloudbase was much much higher. Headed towards Pillow and the air got downright nasty. Flew through major turbulence, keeping the speed moderate and the bank angles small. Might have been the two airmasses rubbing against each other. Had altitude to shoot the Pillow Gap and did with ease. On the ridge there was absolutely nothing going on, and I got low just before the "saddle" gap in the ridge. Bailed off the ridge and landed in a plowed field around 3:30P. Around 15 miles. While breaking down a passerby offered me a ride, which I accepted, even though I set up a retrieve with Gary. Left a message on Gary's cell. Passerby returned with his dad, and Gary calls and says he'll come and get me. Chatted with the father and son while waiting for Gary. While waiting for Gary, the sky gets decked over above us, and spreads east towards launch. Get retrieved, go back to launch, and nobody's around. The conditions aren't too bad at launch, but the sky is dark. The missing pilots had started setting up when the conditions backed down some time after I launched. The conditions ramped back up and the sky got darker from the west. They bailed to a restaurant on Rt. 125 called Jacks of all things. Gary and I went to Jacks, joined up with the rest of the crew, and got some chow. When we exit Jacks around 7:30P, the sky has cleared, and it's still blowing nicely on the ground. Big thanks to Gary Cargen for the retrieve.

Bacil

I'm up in Rochester at the Finger Lakes Flight park to teach a vario/XC clinic. Yesterday was looking pretty good with cummies cranking about 15 miles downwind of the field. Lake affect was kicking up so we needed to get the hell out of dodge! Wind on the ground was strong but we figured it was a local effect that didn't extend very high. Got up with Linda Salamone for some XC training and started blundering downwind. Top of lift was between 3,300 to 3,800 for the first 15 miles or so in the blue. We didn't have any big plans as we headed south and I was VERY cold.

At the top of the figner lakes region my heart sank when I saw how high cloudbase was. We were now getting to over 4k and they towered above us. Linda asked me on the radio why I was upset CB was so high and I felt like a total wimp for whinning how cold it was going to be when we got up there ;). I was so cold I conceded I could only go on another half hour or so. Hands were useless brick on the end of stick.

Then, the inspiration hit. Last year Rhett egged me into trying to fly to a nearby mountain site from the park. Said it had been attempted, but never done. He challenged my manhood, teased me, and inspired me to try. Hmmm, is this his style? Thinking back I realized 30 miles was a big flight for this place. Here we were almost that far already, at 4k, with cloudbase AT LEAST 4k higher, and a 16-20 mph tailwind.

"Linda, we can land and get picked up easy, or we can smash any record that Marty has got in the boooks?" We were both in agreement so I started a vigorious series of isometrics to get the hands back and refocus our goals.

Course line was pretty much straight downwind. With such nice clouds I couldn't bare to follow major crosswind roads. Lift had been incredible consistant in the blue and this held true for the clouds as well. Lift was so good that instead of calling out the cores I found on the radio I just put my head next to the vario and keyed the PTT so she could hear the wail!

Due to difficulty to sychronize our climbs and my general wimpyness I regularly bailed out at least 1k short of CB. I could never stop shivering but at least my cheeks were warm with the ear to ear grin!

Our lines were usually good. Only once did we have to stop for a rough one in the blue before reconnecting with the good clouds. Once we got into PA the terrain demanded a little more attention but the sky was still on fire. Somewhere along the way Linda lost a contact and I was a little concerned about the handicap this might cause. Stong winds all day and "high relief terrain" below makes for scary landings. Once past a hundred miles I grab the most beautiful field I could find after a tricky glide. I wanted long, I wanted well oriented into the wind, I wanted a soft surface, and no upwind upstructions, and DEFINITELY no powerlines. I found a great long field in a north south valley with freshly plowed dirt. If either of use got too cranked by the always possible turbulence at least the plowed field would be soft.

Landings were rock and roll white knuckle but Linda made it look easy. The land owner thought I was joking when I asked where we were. "No no, not what town, what state!" He helped us onto his grass plot where we waited for our fearless driver Mark. He is a champ...took a hit from a state trooper while bravely racing to our rescue!

Cloudbase probably got as high as 10k and I topped a few over 9. It was C O L D! but epic. Good lift was 5-6 with every third or so good for 800. Winds were never less then 15 out of the NNE.

Kev C

Paul writes:
Congrats to you and Linda but didn't your Mommy tell you to wear your mittens when you go out to play in the cold?

So were your flights site records?

Kevin responds:
I thought we were boating around on a blue day...not cranking to over 9 grand under big fatties!

Oh well, when opportunity flops in your lap, you take it. I didn't even know I was going to be taking students up that early.

For all of you sport classers, that flight was on a KP for me and Linda's longest by 20 or 30 miles.

-Heavie Kevie

Just me, Brian Hardwick and Steve K. at the Rock yesterday until late when Danny came by after flying his sail plane for 3 hours. First round was extendos for about 15-20 minutes each with just a few hundred over. Launched the second time at 3:30 and turned left and flew into nice thermal. About 5 minutes later was at 2500' over. Flew for about 1.5 hr until it started sprinkling and the winds picked up. Steve and Brian also had nice soaring flights on their 2nd go round. Danny launched for an evening flight at a little after 6:30 and was still soaring after we dropped his truck in the LZ about 7:00.

Kelvin

Kelvin, Brian Hardwick and I. Sun and clouds. Light nw winds building to soarable cycles which suckered us off for short soaring flights. 300 over, 15 minutes sort of stuff. Very unstable air. A patch of sunshine and it would rip. Back at launch about 3:00 and it had imroved a bit. Gave it another go. Much better. 2000 over (Kelvin got 2500). Easy to stay up this time. One frustrating aspect of the day: Every thermal, no matter where you caught it drifted to the towers (which I understand we are supposed to "stay away" from. Whatever that means). What's more, it would start screaming as the towers approached. Grounch

Brotto showed up late and got off about 6:30 or so. But it really started building and he landed after about half an hour.

Great work party on Sat! Everyone worked their buts off. But got lots done. Of course the wind picked up from a steady 10 - 15 to gusting up to 25 soon after we stoped working. Pat, Lenko ,Shawn , Joe G Jim Carrol , Basil & Christian all showed up.Soon after Christian left the wind mellowed out & Basil had already left on a cross country in strong conditions. But Joe started it off followed by Karen then Shawn & Jim. Pat & I waited for it to slow down a little. Lenko help launch us & didn't fly due to a back problem. May hours had by all & Pat had a personal best of 4k over with myself just below him. OK realy it was blown out & only Basil flew . We all just went down to Jack's Spot & had ice cream . Joe started it out with a vanilla followed by Basil & myself Then Shawn went for the Choc & vanilla with Pat right behind with a Strawberry. We all missed them that couldn't make it.

Gary

You know the answer, Jim! The Sport class is a "go" -- thanks to Davis, David, and my long lost friends at Highland. I guess Danny Brotto, Daniel B, Hugh, perhaps Alek and Brian, as well as JD who is currently flying out of Quest, oh, and Joe Smucker (who I beat at FL Ridge) will fly in it. I think this is so tremendous for our sport. I mean, when you decide to compete, you quickly realize that simply completing a task that is made for topless, well tuned gliders can be nearly impossible for a king posted glider. And the idea of coming in well is not feasible.

On strictly downwind tasks this is not true. The last day of FL Ridge, though the task was considered very easy, since it was downwind, I actually beat some of the flex pilots to goal, and one of the rigids only beat me by 12 minutes. But still, you quickly get the clue, talent helps, but if you don't have the machine, you can forget it.

So here you are, a new comp pilot. You need to buy a new glider and harness. Even if you have the money, you still need to learn how to fly and land these beasts, if you want to live to see dinner. This is a huge jump. But the Sport class changes all this.

I have just planned to enter the regular part of the comp instead, though. I have been too embarrassed to mention this in public, in view of my inexperience and skills, but... the women's worlds are being held next year at Quest. It has been suggested to me that I could perhaps compete there. But I need points, which can only be garnered at Highland or Big Springs in the US this year.

Ah, I would really like to fly with all my friends at Highland, but how often does someone my age get tempted by the possibility of attaining something of merit? So I will scrape together the points I can at these two meets. The sport class has no points. Therefore, I will compete with the big guys. Hopefully I can complete a task or two.

I flew the last couple of days. I was scared to go XC today because the winds were so variable but I decided to try anyhow. I out climbed some topless gliders but then I bombed out after my first turn point and had to land in field a few miles away from Quest. I managed to land OK so it was a good experience even though I need to do better.

Kudos to Kevin and Linda. Do you know Linda is ranked third for the US women? She is the real deal. She will be on the team for sure.

Lauren

Weather here has taken a turn for the spectacular. Partly cloudy skies, temps in the mid 80's, light winds and great soaring conditions are expected to last for the next several days so, of course, I have come down with a nasty cold.

I did have a nice flight yesterday, though. Davis came up with a 101 kilometer triangle and was going to try for a world speed record so I tagged along. A few miles into our task, and getting below 2,500', I stopped to work some light (250-300) lift but Davis went on in search of better and found a boomer with 800 plus about a half mile further. I joined him but he got a big jump on me and headed south from 5,000' while I was still much lower. I decided to climb to CB at 5,500' before going on glide after him. I soon got a radio report that he was just a couple miles ahead and getting low. My extra altitude payed off big as I found good lift about a half mile west of where Davis was landing and, after radioing Davis' position to Belinda, continued on to my first waypoint which was about 4 miles SE of Wallaby Ranch.

I used the flying thermal markers around Wallaby to help me along to that waypoint then dashed off down wind about 20 miles to waypoint number two. Pretty much made that distance with one good thermal just west of Wallaby and one more to top out in just before making the turnpoint and heading for home more into the wind. CB had risen to nearly 6,500 by then with lift still in the 500 to 600 range with occasional boomers of 800 plus so getting home was pretty easy.

I did bend the line home a bit to the east to keep from getting too far out over the huge Green Swamp which lies to the west and south of Quest. Peering down from above and seeing all the water beneath the forest always gives me the chills. I can't imagine what it would be like to land out there with all the gators and snakes so I take no chances around it.

I didn't put the world speed record at risk. My total flight time was 3:15 from launch to landing with 2:36 from my starting waypoint to finish for an average speed of just under 39 KPH. Probably need to take a few more chances, like Davis did, in order to go faster. I also finished way too high at around 3,000'. Someday I'll learn to trust my instruments for final glide and come in lower and sooner. Another problem with speed was the VERY textured post frontal air. High speed glides got pretty interesting at times and I was exhausted from keeping a death grip on my base tube as it tried to jump from my hands. This, as you might imagine, had me slowing down to manuvering speed on a regular basis.

Hope everyone had a great day at the mountains!

Paul

I did it, I did it, I DID IT! Whaahoo! I SOARED! So my glider and I are capable of soaring - no more worries on that account! What a mother's day present from my girls! All of 40 minutes, to 800 feet over. What a beautiful sight, the Shenandoah mountains and the north fork laid out below, birds circling just below me (okay, so they were carrion birds and they thought I was their next meal.... I could see over the back, and beyond, several ridges beyond. I flew over launch and whooped to my kids who whooped back. I was flying with their good graces today. What a sound, to hear that vario singing the high notes over and over and over! The only reason I came down was because I didn't want the girls to have to sit in the dark waiting for me.

The sunset was beautiful; Dan T.was wonderful and gave the girls a lift down from launch; my launch (I believe) and landing were good and solid; the cows were sentient (the Fisher's have the best trained hang gliding cows in the field, though they do like to munch a windsock now and then); and Hugh and Joe S. toted us all up the mountains to retrieve our cars. Daniel B. (who has his own thunder to share on today's events, if he will) and John M and Brian V-H were all in the air with me. What fun to fly with compatriots, to soar with the birds, to feel the lift, to float parked in the air, to run crosswind back along the ridge, and to get to the LZ with 500 over and simply wind down over the valley.

John was afraid I was going to head up the ridge ( he was further north than I - and he must suspect me of radical-ness) and Brian thought I was headed to Strausburg, but I only coveted the lift at the larger bowl one finger to the north and was well rewarded....I'd been aptly warned by Brian to not stray too far, to not go over the back, to not drift without realizing it, to not go too high (penetration problems), you name it . Mega thank you's to Brian for all his good advice that finally allowed me to stick with the lift, and for waiting so patiently to launch me at the very end of the day, and for his kindness in observing. Hugh retrieved with grace and much goodwill, and Joe Schad treated me to dinner for Mother's Day! What a super day! Any one of those by itself is enough to make a great day, but all combined, well, I should be high for quite a while.

Last mother's day I was scooter towing at Blue Sky, and had had a particularly successful tow, was delighted at actually getting to release and glide to a flared landing. It would be hard to imagine me making this much progress without the support of so many people in this HG community, pilots who are willing to share their knowledge and skills and time to get a beginner on a well grounded path. To all, a humongous THANK YOU! See you in the skies - Linda B.

Jim Hodges wrote:
Lots of weather changes.

Now THAT'S an understatement!

Conditions were pretty light when we arrived, and we watched a couple people sled down. The wind picked up a bit by the time I launched, and was actually fantastic - it seemed like there was lift everywhere. It was my first soaring flight, and what a fantastic feeling that is! I cruised around along the ridge for 15 minutes or so, getting higher and higher with the vario making that lovely, high-pitch twirping sound. I think I've heard the term "brain-dead soarable" and that seems to be a pretty good description, because I really didn't have to DO anything in particular to find lift. Stay in next to the ridge - go up. Go away from the ridge - go up. North - up. South - up. Awesome! Very Happy

I definitely could have stayed up a lot longer, but we heard coming in that the forecast was for some severe weather, so I put it down after about 20 mintes. A couple gliders had launched after me and they were having a grand old time - getting WAY up there. So - break down and try it again!

By the time we got back up top, a few more folks had arrived and set up, but the weather was looking worse. We had a few showers come through, and there looked to be some really nasty rain headed this way. A lot of folks started breaking down, but a few of us stuck around to see what happened. That's when the "lots of weather changes" really came into play.

The big and nasty looking rain cloud came by and hit us, but it really turned out to be a fairly mild shower. Then BLAM. Sunshine. Like - NOT A SINGLE CLOUD IN THE SKY - kinda sunshine. Like something out of a Cecil B. DeMille film...completely bizarre! The only problem was that the wind was gone (as in COMPLETELY gone...barely a trickle at launch).

So my second flight of the day was a lot shorter. Found a few spots of really weak lift - enough to make a few passes, but that's about it. (Come on vario, make the sound...MAKE THE SOUND!). Alas, it was not to be, so off to the LZ I went.

All in all, a great day. (Any day not spent at ground level is worth it to me!)

--Chris

Hugh and I showed up in the LZ around noon and had the place to ourselves except for the cows and a couple 4 year old boys who would follow us around babbling incomprehensible streams of Dali-esque nonsense. The cows at least seemed to have clear motivations in life. We set up some streamers while the kid following me prattled on about the trees bending over to feed on gliders, or some other hair raising spectacle. Why do I get this while Hugh gets to push his kid on a swing? I had heard enough. We left quickly.

No-one at the top initially, except for a mysterious harness bag and helmet. Hank showed up but didn't claim the gear; when Dan Tomlinson appeared we learned he had left if from saturday. I don't inquire, I merely report. The wind was, uh, textured. Freight trains rolled through at the regularity of metro center at rush hour. I went down to drop a vehicle with Cragin in the LZ as Dan Broxterman, Joe Schad, Adam and Hubbel arrived. Hubbel planned to fly down and land in some girl's yard - now THAT'S the way to plan your life.

Around 4 there was a lull, and everyone except John, Dan B. and me launched. Shortly thereafter the wind picked up again and we were feeling gusts of 25 or 30 mph. Kinda concerned about Hubbel in his eagle - hope things came out okay. Linda arrived with her two adorable girls who really brightened up the place. But the wind kept blowing and we waited. Around 7 pm it calmed down enough for John and Dan to launch, both in U-2's (congratulations Dan for your first H3 flight!). John reported punchy air and the girls ran around saying "punchy" - beating the air with their fists and giggling. But soon we got a report that the air in the LZ had died to trickle while simultaneously launch calmed down. Aha! Linda had an excellent launch, excellent landing, and soared in beautiful evening conditions. The girls helped me drag my glider into position and I followed. Dan and Cragin showed up and Dan took the girls down (Despite being a complete stranger in a strange state I guess the glider rack on his vehicle helped them decide they could trust him).

Nothing that had food was open in strasburg by the time we were ready for dinner, so had to settle for micky-D. Oh well, every day can't be perfect.

Brian Vant-Hull

Linda wrote: Daniel B. (who has his own thunder to share on today's events
Matthew signed off on my H3 on Sunday! Gotta give thanks for my instructors (John and Adam) and observers (Bacil, Brian, Cragin, Hank, Kelvin, Matthew, Sparky and Steve) for their time, support and guidance.

For my first flight as a 3, I waited until late evening for the gust differential (7 mph lulls - 30 mph gusts) to diminish. Stats: 1:20 and 1900, over.

A few moments:
*Sun is low on the horizon, cranking high bank turns seeing my shadow race across my wing.
*Flying above Linda on her first soaring flight. Pulling three-quarters VG to keep up because winds aloft are much stronger than at launch altitude.
*Having a VG.
*Realizing how much I had been flying my Mark IV on bar pressure. There is none on the U2.

Huge congrats to Linda for her first soaring flight! Linda, I hope one of Charlotte or Olivia's teachers assigns the "What did you do on Mother's Day" essay.

Chris wrote: They REALLY wanted to eat that windsock too.
Has anyone had a cow much on their WING in that field?

Huge congrats to Chris for his first soaring flight on Saturday! In addition to weird weather, Saturday was a Hang 2 day. John M threw off Chris, Mike, Jim, Linda and me. Thanks, John. He gets a day off from teaching and what does he do, mentor five new pilots!

A different kind of ridge run
Chatted Saturday evening (sledder after rain storm #3) with volunteers who were manning an aid station for the Massanutten Mountain Trails 100 Mile Run (http://www.vhtrc.org/mmt/) in the parking area at Woodstock. Saw the eventual winner come by, he had a lot of spring in his step considering it was mile 84! He finished in 18:12. ...and people say free-flight pilots are crazy...

Daniel

Big congratulations to Daniel and Linda. I was first off for the day. Didn't get off until my second attempt. It had back off to where I was comfortable so I got a wire crew and began to move to launch only to have it start roaring again. Waited another 20 min or so and got off. It was a little punchy coming out of the slot. Went to the north finger and found consistent lift. Once I was about 500 over I would follow the finger out into the valley and try to catch a thermal I could ride while drifting back the ridge. Got in a boomer that too me to 2800 above launch. Flew out to rt.11 with full VG making about 20 mph ground speed or so. Turned back and decked it after 50 min because I had to get to work (oh how I hate it when work spoils all the fun!)

Hank

Someone told me that the weather in Florida was good in May.

7,000ft cloudbases with widespread 600fpm (average) cores... If no one's in line, I chop the power and thermal the tug. Good? It's so good it hurts. Forecasts are for it to continue all week.

Someday soon I'll leave this wonderous thermal land and head back north. I'll see what I can do about bringing some with me. I look forward to flying with you guys again.

Jim

Pretty stinkin' awesome day at Ridgley today. Saw Steve K and Danny B. and few others and even Sunny and Adam flew it was so darn tootin' up there. I think we had a bit of seabreeze convergence going as there was lift all over the place around Ridgely. I didn't go more than 5-6 miles from the field but everywhere I went it was going up. Had the best sustained thermal of my H2-dom... a 850 or so on the averager for quite a while. Got me up to 5500 and I could have gone higher but a bit cold and wanted to complete a little Box pattern "cross country" north of the field. It was a bit choppy in some of the thermals, especially down low but later and higher it really was nice and you could lock right in and take the ride. Soared with a turkey vulture 30 feet behind me in a thermal like my shadow for a while, great views of the Chesapeake and all the way to the Delaware Bay as well. Got low (1900'!! ) only two or three times and then beamed right back up to 4500-5000 on numerous occasions. It was really one of the best days I've seen out there. Mostly blue lift with some tiny puffies and lots of haze domes. Lot's of birds as well to help out.

I flew alone on my "task" well to the north, into the wind and often out of glide range which is a first for me. On the way back I got into the big convergence lift band and was gliding for long periods over 30-35 mph and climbing at 100-300 fpm. It was silly just to the north east of the field, lift everywhere. I had to do wingovers for 10 minutes to get down and then a tight pattern into the sock field for a calm air runner. I was exhausted. 2 hours 25 minutes and it could have been longer with ease. Gorgeous visibility and tons of lift... great time out there today and a couple firsts for me (an 17.3 mile box pattern "XC task" and made it back to the field!).

Heather was there pretty soon after and got setup to do a few afternoon solos and work on her pattern but the wind went from light N or NW to calm (when I landed) to light to mod out of the east... the seabreeze blew in and blew Heather and the tandems out. It served me well but didn't help out the late afternoon folks at all. Bummer. Still a beautiful day out there and much fun. Can't wait until next week...

John Simon

Cool! Can't wait to see that infernal machine you've got. I haven't been out to Ridgely for over a month - every time I think there's a chance, conditions in the mountains are too attractive - or else Sunny says he wouldn't fly HIS ultralite in these conditions. I was grumpy all Saturday 'cause I had to deal with an outboard problem on the boat, then Sallie had planned a Derby party, so I couldn't fly. Paul Gerhardt and I had had tentative plans to fly to the Massey fly-in (one with the Phantom, the other on a motorcycle, then swap), but headwinds looked a bit strong. Sallie actually found Brian's bourbon of choice for juleps (I.W. Harper) - the liquor store found one bottle way in the back, but it had the tax stamp indicating it had already been sold at some point and they couldn't sell it again - so they gave it to her. We had a nice last hurrah with juleps in the hot-tub (I presume you got Brian's voicemail telling you to bet on the Derby). Brian and I loaded up for a noon arrival at Woodstock. First time I've ever been first to arrive. People having mother's day picnics in the slot. Nice to have time to set up without rushing. Hank, John M, Joe S., Cragin, Dan T., Adam, Hubble, Daniel, Linda. There had been launchable cycles while I was setting up, so I suited and helmeted up and hooked in, then noticed an interesting noise and asked John what it was like. "Strong!" Decided to run another shuttle to the LZ... Finally launched after Hank at 4:50, flew for 2:15 up to 2900 over launch in winds that were fast, but it wasn't as bouncy as the week before. (Took four days for the soreness to go away last week.) Joe and I both found that we would get high in blue thermals just upwind (north) of a finger but when we tried to crab north along the ridge toward Strasburg, we got stopped by a rush of faster wind and sink two fingers north of the LZ. The "sink" was mostly just pulling in to keep from getting blown backwards. Even penetrating at constant altitude straight out to the LZ with 80% VG in a U2 yielded low single digits of knots groundspeed. It was a spectacular day with nary a cloud and decent visibility (a layer of haze from the power plants further west whose sulfur/ particulate emissions continue to be grandfathered by the administration - harumph!). Cragin testified he had gotten beat up a little on approach a bit after 6 PM, so we waited and landed in nicer conditions around 7. Very light wind from the north (cross-field) in the LZ. John and Daniel (in his new U2!) were airborne and counseled caution, so Brian waited until 7:30 to launch Linda for her first soaring flight (Happy Mother's Day!) while Dan T. returned from having Cragin retrieve him from Edinburg and brought Linda's two adorable daughters down to the LZ for the celebration. A caravan of four vehicles drove around Strasburg late Sunday looking for an open eating establishment, finally had to settle for McDonald's (at least they have salads now). Home at midnight. Happy Mother's Day, Mom - I kept calling all day, but it was either busy or no answer - are you travelling? - Hugh

In a message dated 5/10/05 6:31:05 AM, Hugh writes:

< Hank, did you land in the LZ? I thought I saw you way up toward Strasburg, low and even behind the first ridge... - Hugh >

I flew up to about a mile south of the last pond before the Strasburg end of the gap. The one with the pumphouse in it. Fighting against the strong headwind in my Ultrasport was an exercise in frustration and near futility. It seemed like I was progressing at 2 mph or less most of the time. It's enough to make you think about buying a topless!

Anyway after getting tired of fighting it, I turned south and played around a little while flying to near the other end of the ridge. I never got uncomfortably low, although it may have looked like it from a distance. I left the ridge near the south end at about 1200 above launch and reached Hwy 11 without having to make any turns in the moderate sized thermals that dotted the valley.

I landed in a big ole field right next to 11 and right across the street from a Budget Host Hotel or something like that. It has a family restaraunt but unfortunately no alchohol. It's an easy retrieve and an easy flight for about 11 or 12 miles depending on how far north your starting point is.

Dan T.

Saturday was the overcast with showers day. I arrived with Tom, Dave, Bruce, and Randy. Promising skies turned overcast with winds 2-3mph. Not the forecast. Tom launched first for a sled. I waited another about forty five minutes later thinking I would also sled but it picked up just enough to get me up. Maxed out at 2500 over with about an hour and a half. After flying into a brief shower over the LZ I decided to head to Strasburg where there was some sun. Managed to there and landed because there were more showers approaching. Got rather wet trying to pack up the glider, then walked home. Took a shower, got the beer and chips out waithing for others to follow but no one showed. Called Gary who said everyone was going back up to try again as the weather had cleared out. I took Gary his car and helped a few people off before heading home.

Sunday was much stronger. I launched about 5:30 in what turned out to be a short lull in the winds. I found the air rough but not so strong that there was any penetration problem. Landed after an hour twenty in normal woodstock lz conditions.

Probably won't get out this week because of work and other committments.

Joe

501 was a tad strong early on. Christian launched about 1700 into somewhat textured air. We others waited till 1800. All flew about an hour, gains to 1100+. Me, Shawn, Doug and the above mentioned wind dummy.

After missing a couple of stellar flying days I thought I had sufficiently recovered from my cold to fly yesterday. (I was wrong. Woke up this AM feeling like crap.) Shortly after arriving at Quest, Davis walks up and asks if I'm ready to go. "Sure, where are we going?"

"We're going to break the 150 km. speed record."

"No problem. Let's go."

Didn't realize what I was getting myself into. Davis was first to launch and managed to get high over Quest while I struggled in weaker lift to the east. I told him to go on and I'd try to catch up but it never happened. By the time I got high and touched the start point, Davis had a four mile lead. Conditions were good but not great and it soon became apparent that just completing the task at any speed might be difficult. Both of us got low and managed to get back up several times as we struggled past the first turn point and on towards the second.

CB started in the 5,000 foot range and slowly got higher but climbs got slow towards the top and glances at the clock had us leaving early only wishing later we had added a couple hundred more feet to the altitude bank.

About 7 miles out from the second turn point at Zephyr Hills, I was getting a bit low and looking at a sea of trees. Davis knew the area better and had gone on to the way point low knowing there was landable terrain there if he couldn't get up. It was pretty hazy and I couldn't see beyond the trees so I decided I'd better try to find lift and get high before heading into the unknown. My caution paid off as Davis was unable to find workable lift at the turn point and had to land. I saw a small cloud forming about a half mile to my north, found solid lift to 600 and topped out at over 6K before catching the last turn point and heading for home.

The direct line home was over the dreaded Green Swamp (wish Davis would quit choosing routes over that) but I was fairly high and there were clouds about halfway over the swamp. If they were working, I could get up and make the direct route. If not, I should be able to dive to the right and make landable terrain in that direction. Unfortunately, the clouds were cycling down as I reached them and I had to detour well south of my course line to friendlier fields which I reached with just over a thousand feet of altitude. Once more I managed to get a save and after climbing high, I headed north down Rt. 33 towards home. Knowing I just needed one more small climb to get home.

By this time, after nearly 5 hours and 95 miles of flight, I was pretty exhausted and REALY wanted to make it back so I wouldn't have to break down in some cow pasture but I could tell the day was ending by the smooth air I was gliding through. There was a lonely cloud just east of the Seminole Glider Port that looked like it was dying but it was all I had so I flew towards it thinking I was going to find nothing and end up landing just a couple miles short after such a long task. But Damn!!! my vario started singing it's song and I started a slow climb in the dying thermal climbing a couple thousand feet and getting the altitude I needed to make it home. Final glide was pretty buoyant too so I was able to stuff the bar and come in fast with altitude to spare.

A new speed record? Not even close. My time on course was 4:14 averaging just over 35 kph. But it was a personal best for me and lots of fun. One thing I'm beginning to realize about my new glider is that the added performance is a mixed blessing. Huge tasks are much more doable but to challenge myself I have to be willing to spend a lot of time in the air. (I can hear all the boo hoo's now) I know this sounds stupid but there really can be too much of a good thing. I think I may try to re-direct my flying for a while towards just going up and enjoying the sky with my friends and maybe trying to fly along with Lauren on some of her XC adventures. That is, at least until the East Coast Championships!!!!

See ya,

Paul

We had some textured air at Redwing also on Tues. The injured Norm showed up just to tow everyone. Rodney , Bob S & Wayne & myself all got some air. I got off tow at 1500 for the fist time on my 1st tow & had lots of fun getting up to 1800 & got 20 min of air. My 2nd flight I got off at 2k & got up to 2600 & another 20 min of air time . Thanke to Bob S for fixin the tug & Norm for the free thermaling lesson. Well worth the half day Vacation.

Gary

Skipped work today to head down to Blue Sky---I really wanted to fly my new Eagle some more, and it looked like a promising day.

Alas, lift was just lots of small, strong bullets, so no epic flights. (Just enough to find zero sink in lots of places.) But there was a nice group of 4 of us (me, Tim Eggers, Chuck Sinon, and Jay Eppard) and Steve---everyone was laid-back, had a good time yakking between flights. It was hot! One of those days where you fly, then run for the shade and guzzle water (then repeat).

Got 6 extendos, 6 good approaches and landings. Feeling much more comfortable on the Eagle now---flew without the fin for the first time, and hardly noticed any difference---it seemed to handle fine.

Tex has created a "grass masterpiece" around the spot. I didn't even notice it 'til I was on my first landing approach---he's turned the "spot" into a compass rose, complete with arrows and the cardinal directions---very cool! (Looks great from the air.) He actually did it *not* by using weed killer...but by fertilizing only the grass that's part of the design, so it grows thicker, higher, and darker than the rest.

It was really good to get back in the air!

Scott

Conditions were incredible, cloubase eventually rose up to 12,000 ft and climb rates were an honest 1200 fpm and lasted well past 7:00 pm. Flying under the cloud streets required no circling--just pull in for speed and go as far as you wanted!

WEll, now that you've enjoyed reading a paragraph from my new fantasy book called "Creaming in the Sky," I'll tell you about me an Steve's flight from yesterday. Conditions were kinda epic at the Rock--pretty much straight south and quite strong--not the light west forecasted. The day became an excercise in hiring and training wire crews. We then both enjoyed quick flights to the lz puncuated by the occassional swoopy mini-wingovers and pitch-up pop-overs.

After returning to launch we hemmed and hawed as conditions became less cross, but nobody around to wire. We finally convinced ourselves to give it another go after a spontaneous drinking party arrived. We then enjoyed a wierd wave--lift line kinda day, attempts at climbing cores with turns were not effective. Rather it seemed the best thing was simply fly straight and push out. Took me a long time to figure that out. Both got over an hour but no epic 100 miles, I'm sorry to say.

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This page last updated May 12, 2005