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Hangola May 25 - June 3, 2005

Flight Reports

Today was booming BIG time at Woodstock. It was truly a 100 mile plus day--except of course I came with my dogs so I had to stay a homebody and land at the main. Winds were a tad strong and gusty from the NNW.

So many thermals everywhere they were hard to avoid--never experienced anything quite like it. Flew the bitty Sport 2 135 and I thought it was great fun--especially got a kick out of thermaling with full VG on--felt about the same as my Talon with full VG off. Peak lift was 766 fpm, and max gain was 4,830 over to 6,700 ft--and I was still a long way off from cloudbase. Originally came to do PG tandems--but it was still crankin good at 6:30 when I bailed. Still, had fun flying up to the resevoir near the point and back--then spent most of the rest of the flight flying out into the headwind near 11 and getting back up again. Steve, Dan B, Bruce and Linda also flew--but I will let them salivate over their own flights.

Life is good--I be happy Laughing

marc

Hooked up with Steve K, and Marc F. for observation at Woodstock. Mr. F bailed due to time constraints, Steve sent me on my way merrily.

By the time I launched (6:45) the wind at launch had calmed down to about 10 mph with some strong thermals still moving strongly thru on a regular basis. Picked a nice cycle and launched just after Mark Gardner in his Aeros stealth. There were paraglider pilots there that Steve knew, and one assisted with my wing crew.

Mark G. did a surprising dip at launch ( into sink from the void behind a thermal?) and just cleared the trees on launch. Then disappeared down the ridge for an hour. I lhad a nice clean launch, soared for an hour, and I am under the impresison I actually thermalled!

With at least 1,000 above launch, and plenty of lift even over the valley ( I edged my way just past the LZ) I felt I had the leeway to practice locking into some of those thermals that were bumping me occaisionally. I basically waited in the lift band for the thermals to come to me, and would make a couple 360's until I was back at the ridge line. I had the time to check for waving treelines, and head for soaring birds nearby. A couple redtailed hawks were diving and playing beneath me. I won't say that I completely understood the thermals I attempted to lock into, but at least I was able to practice turning into the lifted wing, and mostly I went up.

I entered the LZ with plenty of speed in case the thermals that had forced Bruce up and out, and punched Mark F. and Steve K. on their landings, were still lurking about. I landed with a good clean DBF and flare.

Mark G. zoomed into the LZ just behind me, and exclaimed that he had been full VG the entire time of his one hour ridge run. He'd apparently been ripping thru the skies the entire time. I believe he was passing through Woodstock on his annual pilgrimage to Seneca Rocks for a Memorial Day gathering, if I recall his tale correctly.

What a day! What an excellent day!

Launched in the light cycle that I had waited a LONG time for and headed straight to the first finger north. Climbed quickly to 3000 over launch and set out on my first run to Signal Knob... woohoo!!! Felt like it took FOREVER to get there... probably flying too conservatively considering how much lift was present. Waiting for some approaching clouds to get closer, I played around in the rock slide thermals on the Knob and then headed back south. This is when it got really fun! On the way back, set a personal-best altitude gain of 5495. I flew out in front of the ridge and met a cloud, then drifted back with it until I got to the 2nd ridge. At that altitude, maybe 6800 msl, was still a ways short of cloudbase.

I'm trying to learn to find the best lift, to climb efficiently, but I'm not sure I have developed any strategies I could articulate. I think I'm getting a better feel for when and which way to turn but the more I learn the more I realize how little I know.

When I got back to launch, I circled down to see if the wind had diminished enough for a PG flight (I was Marc's designated tandem passenger); it hadn't. So I went back to work and made 5k over again. INCREDIBLE BIG AIR DAY!

Watched a sailplane on tow fly beneath me. Later, Steve and I wondered how a sailplane could have bombed out in those conditions.

When I thought it might be PG'able, I circled down again and then made a bozo move. I was between the ridges, fine with the altitude I had, but I got lower than I had planned while playing around with my vario. Was concentrating on the wrong thing at the wrong time. Had the sudden butt-puckering realization that I might not make it back in front from where I was and decided to dash for the gap behind launch. Rodeo ride through the rotor and I yelled out yeehaw followed by some other words I won't post. Landed in the huge field behind the 2nd ridge. As soon as I sat my glider down by the fence, a nice neighbor said it wasn't a problem to land there and offered a body ride up the mountain. Not the way I would have preferred to wrap up such a nice 2:30 flight, but valuable lessons learned and it all ended fine anyway.

Wind never got light enough to fly PG.

Steve, Bruce and I watched Linda from the tower and then along with Joe devoured a Mexican meal at Christina's Restaurant. I told Joe we had all sledded but he knew better. Congrats to Linda on her awesome soaring flight! We were all excited for her.

Thanks to Hank and Kharma for stopping by and helping launch.

I'm planning on flying Sunday. Hope everyone has a great holiday weekend, whatever you do!

~Daniel

Good choice. Wasn't a very good day at Ridgely -- wind and clouds adn a gust front with the frontal passage

Lauren and I flew our last Florida flights for a while today. We both got just over an hour in gnarly, choppy lift. We'd hoped for a cross country day but it wasn't to be.

We'll spend tomorrow packing then head for Ridgely on Tuesday. We have rented a small house in Greensboro, MD for the summer and are looking forward to seeing all our old friends.

We may be off line for a few days during our move.

Paul

p.s. Wishing Holly a quick recovery and glad it wasn't worse.

Arrived at 10A to very light conditions. Clouds were popping over the WV border and heading our way. Marc Fink and Kelvin showed up, and we watched the sky fill in quickly, but still very little wind. Dan Tomlinson, Gary Smith, John Dullahan, Dave Bodner and wife Jody, Chris Donahue, and Mark Cavanaugh show up between 11A and 12 noon. Around 12 noon the switch was thrown and the winds picked up some. In 15 minutes it was time to take off. Hung out in front waiting for John to launch, getting from 1 to 2K' over. John finally launched, and we headed to Signal Knob. He blistered up the ridge way ahead, while I flew a little slower at 2K' over. By the time I almost caught up with him at the Strasburg reservoir I was a couple hundred over the ridge, and he was pretty high. Turned around into a west cross. Slow going for me, but even slower for John at a higher altitude. I made it back to launch, stopped, and climbed in a nice thermal to 3.2K' over,, while John and Dan flew down to the Edinburg Gap. I saw another glider out in the valley near my altitude; believe it was Mark C. I headed to the gap, getting low, while Dan was way high over the gap. Couldn't see John; he must have already jumped. Saw Dan fly out into the valley, where it looked like he had the jump made. I concentrated on getting up as high as I could before attempting the jump. Found some life out in front of Waonaze Peak, got to 2K' over, and tried to jump the gap. As I'm flying out into the valley, I see John on Short Mountain a mile or two from the gap on the deck. That sight didn't make me want to fly over the sea of trees with no altitude. And I wasn't finding any lift on the way over, so I put down at Rt. 675 in a cornfield around 2:45P. Luckily I had prearranged with Dave Bodner for a retrieve for John and I, so I called his wife Jody, and she was able to retrieve me quickly from a map I hand drew for simplicity of retrieve. While waiting for Jody saw a glider jump the gap high and head down to the end of Short Mt. Don't know who that was. On the way back I asked Jody if John had called, and she said no. I figured he was still heading SW. He was! We got back to launch around 4:45P, and no sooner had we unloaded the stuff Jody's cellphone rings. It's John, and he's just south of Port Republic!!! 56+ miles. I retrieve John, which takes an hour from launch. I'll let him post his details. Back at launch it's still soarable, with a gentle breeze wafting in at 10 to 15 MPH. A couple of paragliders and hang gliders were enjoying the glass-off conditions.

Bacil

I managed a first yesterday. My first jump onto Short Mountain. A couple of weeks ago I'd spoken to Tom McGowan about how best to do it. I followed his advice as best I could, approaching the mountain from the west. The venturi was very noticable and I consumed nearly all of the elevation I carried in to the crossing attempt. By the time I cleared the venturi I was well below the top of the ridge. Clearing the venturi was almost like flying through an invisible curtain. I could immediately tell that I was out of it and I started a slow climb up the contour of the ridge. Once I managed to get above the ridge line the flight to the South end was relatively routine. A couple of thermals sprinkled along the way combined with enough ridge lift to keep me on top.

When I reached the south end I learned to my surprise that there were no easily reachable fields even there. Worse, the sea of trees in front of the next ridge was every bit as daunting as those along Short Mountain. I decided I had enough adventure for the day and chose to fly to a field rather than attempt the jump back to the next ridge. A long glide in rotor gave me a little more adventure than I planned on or wanted. None-the-less I managed a landing that left me and the glider in one piece and a 17.3 mile XC in the book. It was my longest in a couple of years.

I saw John for much of the flight. He was very low and very persistent. Great flight John.

Get well soon Holly and don't give up!

Dan T.

Congrats on a great flight, Dan. And thanks for looking for me afterwards. My grandeois plan never materialized, thinking I could easily get high and stay high, going over the back in NW street. I flew for two hours before finally getting to 4K plus, but by that time I was pretty beat, late, knarly west winds, the usual excuses. So I just flew up and down the ridge for 3 hours watching the antics below from my high seat. Saw lots of gliders get REALLY low, but by later in the day the thermals seemed pretty bullit-proof. I don't know who it was, but I saw one topless up near the north point get low between the ridges and barely squeak back through rotor to the front. A few whacky launches too. Please balance those gliders before launching!

marc

Arrived after Bacil launched.
Missed Johns launch
Saw Mark Cav launch.
Launched after Mark Fink.
Stuck around launch so my brother could take a few photos....pretty nasty behind that finger so I did not stay long. Headed to the north. Signal Knob was goal. Got a grand then headed farther North.... pretty much stayed 1500-2500 over till just about to the resivoir. Nobody around to play with and dropped back to 1000 over....thought about it and headed back so made it to within 2 1/2 miles of the knob ...I could see it! Dang. There will be a next time. Lost even more coming back so I hung at a southerly facing finger till I hooked a good one. Got to 3100 over, took some pictures. Headed back south to launch and the rest of the gaggles. Was headed south to South mnt to check it out and grabbed one from 500 over to 3100 again..Great fun. Headed out to land. It horrible to have to loose that kind of altitude. Dropped into Daves hole and ran into a belly landing.
Took out a cowpie on the way through. That will teach me to land better.

9.5 out of 10 on the fun meter(.5 off for cowpie)
2 hours 5.8 miles upridge 5085 MSL Max

joe

The Hyner 2005 Memorial day weekend was excellent (as usual) with some decent flying conditions, in spite of a few rain showers. I flew four days in a row: Friday through Sunday (7 flights on Saturday!), flew tandem with Bob Gillisse's friend Brandon, soared the Falcon 225 solo and my PG a few times, and took a bunch of photos.

The Hyner club will celebrate their 30th anniversary on the 4th of July weekend. It will be a memorable occasion and well worth the drive. The Tshirt (by Tex) is awesome. http://www.hynerclub.com/

Photos at: http://community.webshots.com/album/356546693NsDjsN

'Spark

I am indebted to Marc F., Kelvin, and Gary Smith for assistance in preflight checks and wire-crew feedback. The west cross and thermal activity resulted in streamers pointing all over the place. Although I waited until there appeared to be a generally-favorable streamer majority, a wing dropped and touched the ground during my run, and the air did not provide the usual lift, making for a lower then usual tree clearance leaving the slot.

Once clear of the slot, there was ample lift, and the quartering tailwind from the west cross allowed a rapid flight towards the north point. Bacil, who was about 2,000 over when I launched, also headed north. Pushing out in lift and speeding up during sink provided a 2500 gain at the north point, but when I turned around, the strong left cross made it look like I wasn't moving. Only the GPS provided some encouragement, with a 12 - 15 MPH indicated ground speed. However, that was with about 2/3 VG and fairly substantial pull-in. While flying at about 3,000 over launch, I noticed Bacil, flying at about 500 over in his lower-performing Eagle, actually pull ahead; indicating the winds aloft were much stronger. Dan T. had launched by this time, and made impressive altitude gains.

It was a slow flight back to launch, and on to the Edinburg Gap, where I arrived with about 1,000 over launch. I headed towards the large field to the nw of the gap (the bailout if I didn't gain altitude) and although I was continuing to make slow headway, I did not encounter major sink and arrived at Short Mountain at about 100 over that ridge. Lift was not abundant at that point, so when I found some, I did the first figure eights of the flight and gained about 500 over SM; enough to continue towards the sw point, climbing as I went.

With 3,500 MSL, I made the jump back to Kerns Mountain, and maintained between 2,800 to 4,000 MSL to Newmarket Gap, where the jump was slow but uneventful, though my ground speed had increased to 22 - 25 MPH. I did lose some altitude just before Laird's Knob, the last gap before Massanutten Peak, and as I lost more while crossing, I started looking for bailout fields. However, just before I was going to bail out, I climbed again, all the way up to 3,000 MSL at the Peak. I saw a small town the to the sw in the distance, and some promising clouds on the way, so I headed that way. My ground speed increased to 27- 30 MPH; still much slower than going downwind, but the clouds were working, I made the first 360's of the flight, and eventually I arrived over the small town with about 3,500 MSL (the GPS said it was Grottoes). I had been flying fast against a quartering headwind for about 3 hrs 30 minutes, and was starting to get a little tired, so I landed in a large field just to the north of town for 56 miles (from the North Point), and a flight of 3 hours 42 minutes.

I am indebted to Jody Bodner, who graciously passed my location to Bacil, and also to Bacil, for finding my spare keys and making the long retrieve.

John Dullahan

Hyner ( as always ) was a blast. As befitted a mixed message forcast She dished up a mixed menu of flying that had something for every palate. She was flown everyday from Thursday thru Sunday ( and probably today ) and soared everyday, save Thursday. Shawn did lots of Tandems ( and reportedly got Brians thong undies off in mid flight ). There were picnic landings at John's, why the f**k did I ever launch in this shit flights, mellow glass smooth soaring, and everything in between. Times from an estimated 2+30 and 2900' above to mellow glass offs with a sledder. There was a neat road trip and a somewhat haunting and unexpected journey into history. Did it rain? Of course it did. Was it soarable? Hey, It's Hyner. If you knew how to look was there a brand new and unexpected experiance? Yup, always is. Did everyone leave with a smile? If they didn't, they didn't belong there in the first place. Hyner!........ Life is good, Hyner is better...............Bob.

I think I've recovered enough after reading and responding to Holly's incident to continue with the Hyner report.

Every time I go there I fall more in love with the place. I stopped at a friend's in State College to brew some nice dark porter beer that will be available for the 4th, then arrived saturday afternoon to find folks had been flying the last couple of days. So I hustled up top and did an extendo, but an extendo at Hyner is worth a 20 minute soaring flight anywhere else. Gorgeous. Spent the night Jamming around the campfire with Dennis Pagen, Sparky, and someone else I can't recall wailing away on the guitars.

Sunday morning I helped shawn out doing a couple tandems, getting him certified to offer tandems flights to non-pilots on the fourth. The sky started to look great, and the top was filled with gliders. Bunkhouse Bob launched near the beginning and got the flight of the weekend, popping in and out of cloudbase as is his custom. A few others did pretty well: I had another extendo with my vario going on the fritz. While rushing back up Shawn pointed out that the landowner was having an outdoor dinner party, and he loved it when we landed beside his house - we were likely to get asked to join the party. I replaced the batteries in my vario and was the last off, this time getting the longest extendo of the party goers. I burned it in and pulled off a perfect no wind, no stepper right in front of the party, with applause. Made my whole weekend. Got fed, too.

That night I used the trick I learned from Danny Brotto: to truly enjoy Hyner one should wander from fire to fire. Each has it's own set of stalwarts with a different atmosphere. Spent a full 10 minutes at Bob Beck's fire making tandem jokes. Made the full circuit, and by the time I was starting on the second go 'round people had wondered off to bed. Sigh - this crowd used to be legendary.

Monday morning I was all set to do the last set of tandems when I discovered Shawn had ditched me for Jesse. With a sick feeling in my stomach I pulled shawn aside and told him I thought we could still work things out, but he told me it wasn't me, it was my lack of weight, and he was looking to move up. What an unkind cut. When I saw them land and Jesse popped out all grins wearing that little tandem harness, it was like driving a knife through my heart.

Went back up only to have shawn give me whiplash by first asking me if I wanted to tandem again, then dumping me for..for Karen Gorrie. I just knew one of these days Shawn would discover women, and it would be all over between us. Fine. Now he's rated and anyone who wants him the 4th of July can jolly well have him.

Went back up (A day at Hyner is a regular roller coaster ride - almost nobody flies just once) and this time the sky was looking fantastic. While wire crewing Tom Gartlin (sp?) whispered to me that I should turn right off of launch...where everyone else had got popped up. Right?! That would send me right into this little cul de sac. But he assured me it was so, and damn if I didn't rocket right up. Took in the breathtaking scenery for awhile, then tried heading downriver and got drilled. Came in for a wild thermally ride (hyner is famous for this in the afternoon) and a far less then perfect roll-in landing. I was quickly followed by all the double surface gliders who had spotted rain and wanted to get in before the mylar went squirly on them. They nearly all wacked in their haste. Ahem.

Wonderful time as always. Gotta do it again next month.

Brian Vant-Hull

On Saturday I managed to squeeze in an evening flight at Woodstock after the winds shifted. I launched at 6:30 pm. Everthing shut down around 7:00pm. I had family obligations for the next two days so I was grateful for the flight. However, upon landing I found that one of my apparently useless, but cool looking, winglets had disappeared. I searched the lz and did not find it. Remembering Gary Smith's amazing story (finding his winglet a year later, after seeing it on a video shot from the air) if anybody finds a stray winglet in the Woodstock area let me know.

Thanks,

Randy Weber

Something happened to me at Ridgley on Monday that has never happened before. I launched at the right time. But I'm getting a little ahead of myself.

My plan was to arrive early and get a sled in the docile morning conditions in order to shake off the rust and convince myself that I still know how to fly. Early turned into about 9:30 at which time I had to find my equipment which had been left there a few weeks ago for a repack and an annual inspection. By the time I got my act together and was ready to launch it was about 11:00 and the students doing pattern tows were just wrapping up.

The tow was not nearly as uneventful as I expected. There was more texture to the air than I thought there would be. It wasn't bad, it's just that I wasn't expecting any. At 2,500' Windsor waved me off into one of the thermals I didn't think would be there. I took that to about 3,000' when it dissipated (it's possible that I flew out of it but let's go with dissipated anyway). I figured that was probably it for me as my Falcon search range is limited and my ability to guess where the next thermal might be has not been impressive in the past. Never the less, I flew toward the light and found, to my great surprise, another thermal. Which I took back to 3,000' from the 2,500' I had sunk to on the way. Then when that was over, I picked another sunny spot and it happened again! Cool, this was starting to be really fun.

By this time there were a few other gliders in the air working some other areas that were, at least for a time, below me. It was fun watching other people under me in search mode. I also noticed how much faster every other glider is. They can search a lot more places than I can and many of them are further away than I'm willing to go. Something to think about...

At one point after taking a thermal to the point of dissipation (see above) I was looking for a place to try next and saw a bird fly under me. He flew to a point about 300 yards or so in front of me and started to circle. I couldn't believe my luck. I headed straight for him and watched him beam up and disappear without ever flapping. By the time I got there, if in fact I was able to find the right spot, nothing was happening. Maybe it was just a bubble, or maybe I just missed the spot. Either way, I think he stuck his tongue out at me when he went by.

After a while some high clouds moved in and there was a general flush cycle which claimed me and a few of the others I had been flying with. The end result was about an hour spent between 2,000' and 3,500' in very gentle lift. Not bad for my first flight in almost a year.

I took two more but they were little more than extendos. I found some lift during each one but I never got much above release altitude. My first two approaches were good but my last was a little embarrassing. Safe, but not pretty. I think that's where my lack of currency shows the most and is my most convincing reason to stay on the Falcon until I can fly more regularly.

It was great to get out and see everyone. There were lots of people there on Monday, it almost looked like a fly-in. Hopefully, I'll have lots more stories like this one as the season goes on.

Dave

P.S. Perhaps the most unexpected part of the whole day was the complete absence of traffic on the way home to Annapolis. I must have been in the twilight zone.

Hey Dave;

Was that you below me? < sh*t eating grin>

Congratulations on your superb thermalling event!

I finally managed to do a couple real thermals myself (finally, FINALLY! FINALLY! ) My very first real ones which I was free to explore to the boundaries of my miniscule cone of overcautious safety margin... I guess I stayed up for about 10 - 20 minutes longer than the basic sled, at which I excel . Out of 4 tows to altitude, I found a thermal or small string of thermals, in 3 of them, with the last being the most impressive continuous one.

P.K. told me I had been pimping off of him on one of my flights (thank you for the thermal marking P.K.!) There were some crow looking birds in the last thermal, though I was by myself as far as pilots were concerned. Steve K. very kindly inquired about where I found such a good thermal. Last one climbed from about 2200 to 2900 where I was able to stay for a good while (hey, it's all relative folks) (for maybe 20-25 minutes?)

During patterns my approaches and landings were awful, but when I went to fly to altitude and try to find thermals, then my approaches and landings improved significantly. So, by extrapolation, if I go for aerobatics, will my thermalling suddenly improve? (JUST KIDDING!)

So even staying current with footlaunching in the mountains over the winter does not necessarily translate into muscle memory of coming in to land with big, wide open approaches, or into lovely gentle glides to the MANICURED windsock field at Highland. (Cart launch needed a little tweaking too - you know that Fred Flintstone thing....) Rolling Eyes

All-in-all, a good day of flying. - Linda B.

I had a slight inkling this might be a half way good idea. Boy was I wrong! It was freakin' AWESOME! First.. My apologies to those who cannot get a day off this week. But for those who can, wow is this a good deal. Relatively inexpensive training by a 4 time National Champion... Very one on one.

A little John Simon XC history. I was at Ridgely Sunday and Monday. Did my spot landings (lots of them) and Sunday I joined a few guys who were going XC for my second attempt and my first one intending to land out. Turns out I'm not good at this sort of thing... I decided to "go".. Ha! Saw a glider circling at 2500' down wind and on course and flew over there kissing the LZ goodbye. Damn the torpedoes I'm going XC... Got there with 1000' or so and promptly found zilch. At 700' and figuring I'm going down I decide to get closer to Ridgely and maybe a quick retrieve and relaunch. Got 2.1 miles and a nice landing.

FAST FWD to Tuesday. XC clinic with Paris. He's very laid back and obviously very knowledgeable. He has been an HG instructor for many, many years (8-14 or so???). An hour plus or so of ground school and we decided a down wind run would be our goal... Distance. Launched in a perfect sky. Blue with beautiful puffies and streets heading southeast. Pinned off at 1400' and climbed right up to 5800' like I knew what I was doing. Off we went with an almost certain chance of beating my imposing 2.1 mile record from Monday.

The lift was strong and abundant. Saw nearly 800 on the averager and many and 6-700's all day. Dolphin flying, airspace skirting, team thermalling and learning all the way. Got 10 out from OC. From there Paris asked what I wanted to do... Continue or "go to the beach". I like beaches... But the clouds in that direction were nearly nil. We went for it and scratched our way to about 2.5 miles from the beach and landed near Hwy 50 in Berlin. Wow!

Long story short... Flew all day with Paris Williams giving me tips over the radio (loaner, thanks Jim Rooney as always). Got 4 new firsts... 3 of them good. Highest altitude: 6500+ feet, Longest flight time 3:20, Longest flight 58.2 mi, and first downtube slightly bent up like a pretzel.

Ended up coming into the LZ behind Paris and it turns out we got it wrong... We both had interesting landings in a 5-10 mi crossing tailwind. I got pounded a few times on my approach and was working it all the way in when I flared quite hard and landed in a run... Dropped the glider and was very surprised to see the downtube fold up... And then as I stopped and scratched my head... My glider "auto whacked" softly and in slo-motion into the field. I could not stop it or bring it back. The tailwind was fairly strong and had blown it over onto it's nose. It was north at 300' and SE on the ground (seabreeze effect). The southeast wind spilled over the tree line and mixed with the north flow above and made my downwind base and final very sporty. Still just an amazing flight. Thanks to Jim Rooney again for the long drive pickup. Wow again... 58 miles for me today! (well Paris but I was there).

This is an amazing opportunity... I went from 2.1 miles to 58!!! Sure I cheated but you can too! Come on out and fly with us.. I'm going again tomorrow. Paris will be here until Fri or Sat... Incredible training opportunity. It's too good to pass up, really.

Take care,
John

Weaned myself off the strap-on tailfin with the U2. Flights of 30, 20 and 10 minutes. All landings satisfactory. - Hugh

John and I were the students today (Wednesday) with Paris and Sunny flying top cover. Lift was chopped up by a strong wind shear. Paris had launched first and had to come back for a relight. John, too. (Everybody had rowdy tows.) I found some ratty zero sink at 16-1700 and Sunny joined me above. We were drifting down wind (to the west) but never got ahold of anything. Sunny made it back home, barely. John went back on his second tow after he saw Paris and me on the ground 2.3 miles west of the field (found out where Sparks Road goes after it turns to dirt). Didn't feel too bad since Paris pronounced the day unsoarable. Learned how to set up my GPS and the secret of how to remove the tip wands without getting them stuck behind the cam hinge. Thanks to Jim and Drew for the retrieve. May try again Friday... - Hugh

Hi Christy and Paul,

Looks like this was a somewhat familiar gotcha to those who fly to the coast regularly. Ric Neihaus told me it happens often. I had thought about it while we approached but didn't know it could switch so low. We really did have North at 300' and SE on the ground and somewhat strong. Circles over the LZ aren't too good in this instance, but I did learn a good lesson. I must search much harder for better wind indicators especially near the coast.

Today at Ridgely we didn't fair nearly as well. The sky looked a bit tattered and the wind was much stronger than the forecast I had seen. Some OK looking puffies off to the East maybe 5-10 miles but overhead was basically nothing. Paris launched and then me... Followed by Hugh and Sunny. Ratty tows. By the time I got off at 2000' in light broken lift Paris was scratching really low... I took this as a bad sign. My Radio and GPS failed at this point and I got off tow and tried to hang and fiddle with my stuff. Hugh came up and stuck above me and I think we both slowly settled. I finally figured I couldn't stick anyway and why not head back for an equipment fix and a quick relight. Meanwhile Sunny launched. The relight was not so quick but I got everything working and went up. By the time I was off tow everyone was on the ground. Headed back to the Ridgely for a gusty little approach and landing and we called it a day.

One interesting observation... While I worked some small ratty unworkable slowly losing battle lift pockets and stayed very near one area... Paris zoomed all over the sky and sunk out. He covered a ton of area... He's not content to just cling onto the same stuff I am (and others I often see are) and slowly die... He goes to mega search mode and would rather sink out that way than do an extendo by clinging onto ratty crap. He's not often satisfied with the lift he's in. Very cool to watch him fly, much to learn.

It's good to know Paris can't just flap his wings and fly anytime he wants... I was beginning to think that because he just looks up and says "OK so we'll launch and climb up and head out on course... Yada yada" and I'm thinking I'll be lucky to get any climb at all while looking at the sky. Very positive attitude. Short day out there today, but still had good ground school and learned something in the air as well. Good to see Sunny fly too... Even if briefly. Friday if we can get any weather there will be a decent group out there. Might be quite fun but Wx iffy now.

John

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This page last updated June 4, 2005