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Hangola October 7-12, 1998

The theory was: Mostly cloudy but no rain and blowing respectably at 10 -15 mph or so out of the SE would get Bob Radcliffe and me a good day at Edith's Gap. You remember Edith's. That's the one with the 15 to one to the LZ and the teeny tiney bailout at about 8:1. And after looking at it you ended up at the Luray Bowlarama and haven't been back since. Well it has changed! There is an LZ, a big one, a scant 4:1 from the launch.
Land has been cleared for a house and probably pasture and Bob says the owner doesn't mind if we land there. It looks good from launch. Unfortunately, I didn't get to check it out because it was blowing 90 + cross out of the SW and was not launchable. This was not meteorologically possible but there it was. I guess I could have driven down to the LZ and eyeballed it but, you know, we just had to get over to Daniel Mtn to watch it rain. Rain, while possible, was unlikely. 300 miles on the odometer. One of those days when I regret having retired. I could have been getting paid for wasting time But lets do Edith's!!!

I was in Frederick anyway, and wanted to show my parents High Rock. When we got there, it was blowing straight in! I had a dilemma - I wasn't sure if my mom would be able to handle being on my wing. But I figured that since I reached cloud base about 10 minutes before getting to launch, that I would just head back to town for my cousin's wedding.

PS. My parents said they would have liked the view if they had been able to see anything.

PPS. Oh, and Sunday they saw me fly for the first time at Woodstock!!!!

PPPS. There is a Plymouth (I think) key (with remote entry) taped to the gate in the Woodstock LZ.

-Michael Balk

I had a pretty exciting time at Woodstock yesterday (10/10)-- too exciting in some ways. I launched at around 3:30 and found the air between the two fingers North and South of launch to be rather smooth. After boating around for a little while I climbed up to 2500 over and decided to try to make it to Strasburg and back since a lot of other pilots weren't having any trouble making the run. I decided to play it safe and use the Fink method of staying high and going slow-- all the while checking out landable fields on the way. When I got almost halfway there, I started to sink out and at 1000 over I turned around and headed home. Being less than 1000 over and going into unfamiliar territory seemed unsafe. When I got back near launch the thermals started working again and I saw Mike Buckley above me out in the valley. Well, I couldn't let that happen! So I found some big thermals and soon joined him near cloud base.

Since conditions had seemed to improve, I decided to try to make it up to Strasburg again. I was staying between 2000- 2500 over as I passed the second finger to the North. I saw a glider way below me (which turned out to be Joe) making the run and I figured that if he wasn't having any trouble then I wouldn't. I used the go slow technique again and climbed up whenever I found a good thermal. Just as I had the radio tower in site I found that if I just pushed out a little I could maintain a straight course under a cloud while still climbing. The lift was not very strong under the cloud so I wasn't worried about cloud suck. As I approached cloud base I flew upwind of the cloud to avoid getting into to it. To my surprise, I found that I was still going up in front of the cloud. It was very enjoyable being above cloud base and looking down on the clouds-- for about 10 seconds. I pulled in to lose some altitude and the vario just kept beeping. I pulled in more-- nothing. I stuffed the bar and locked my arms-- still going up. I tried diving slipping turns-- nope. Uh oh, I'm in WAVE! I would have taken advantage of it except that I had a row of clouds upwind of me which I couldn't see any gaps in. And I had a row of clouds downwind of me and puffies to the North and South. I was basically boxed in at 600' over the clouds. It was pretty scary-- but it was more aggravating. Because no matter where I went or what I did, I couldn't get down. I finally unzipped my harness and used the Shelton method of pushing my shin against the base tube while locking my arms. (Yes, I was careful not to create a pressure point in the center of the base tube which could have caused it to bend.) I finally started to go down by doing this and doing diving 360s. It seemed to take forever to get back below cloud base.

Back under the clouds, the air was smooth so I finished the trip to Strasburg. I was about to turn back and return to the LZ. But Joe had landed out North and East of the point, so I decided to join him and keep him company. I stayed in lift until I spotted him in this huge field North of a river. He had mentioned something about it being gnarly when he landed. But it looked like a great field. I went to the far end of it to start a figure 8 approach. But when I turned upwind, the glider was going backwards. CRAP! So once again I'm diving-- this time to go forward. I only got in two 180's before turning onto final. I'm still stuffing the bar at this point and expecting the wind gradient to kick in. It kicked in at about 5 feet off the ground where I just dropped, only having time to push out at the last second and roll in on the wheels. I never got off of the base tube. As soon as the glider stopped it started bucking and trying to flip. So I had to leap up and pull down the nose wires and then wait for a lull so I could rotate the tail into the wind. The field Joe had chosen was in some sort of venturi effect. Yikes.

Then, of course, it was PIA getting out of the field and getting retrieved. I'm not so sure going XC is worth it. Big thanks to Steve K. for finally finding us and then bringing me back to Karen.

Five million others flew as well yesterday. Karen got a little over a half an hour at the end of the day. Craig had his maiden flight as a H3. Dan flew Jackie's SuperSport at the end of the day. Judy-Judy, Ed, Steve Padgett, Steve Hull, John Middleton, Marc, Christy, Mark Cavanaugh, Tom, Ray Mitchell, Pete Schuman, Brian VH, Mike C., Steve Kinsley and others all had a great day. I ended up with something over 2 hours and at least 3600 over while in the wave. But that part of the flight was definitely no fun. I blame it all on Steve Kinsley. I borrowed his old pod harness-- and though I thank him for lending it to me, I think that it had some residual Glider Up on it.

Matthew (washing the Glider Up off of Steve's harness, of Karen and Matthew)

What a beautiful weekend!

Saturday my first flight as a Hang 3 was at Woodstock... 61 minutes 1700' over launch, a fun day. Then on Sunday, an extended sled in moderate north cross at High Rock.

Saturday had more pilots than I could count at Woodstock. Most had longer, higher flights than I, and in more turbulence, too: Marc F, Mark C, Christy, Judy, Steve Kinsley, Steve Hull, Steve Padgett, Tom McG, John Middleton, John McAllister, Matthew, Karen, Joe G, Ed Reno, Dan, and from CVHGA: Billy (an Observer) and John (H2 first Woodstock launch). There may have been others.. I apologize if I missed you.

Sunday's north cross drew fewer pilots to HR, but it was a beautiful day. Steve K, Brian Hardwick, Carlos Weill, Marvin P, Dan T, Marc F all flew. Brian V-H was setting up as we were leaving. Kelvin P was tempted to test his newly configured back, but decided to wait for a cleaner day. Keith Ford stopped by to visit about 5, and Jimmy considered flying, but had a gig to play tonight, so left before it could turn magic.

Craig

The Fusion flew Woodstock for the second time (first time with the winglets on). Goofed along near launch for a while, then decided to go up and down the ridge to the North. A few good cores but mostly disorganized widespread thermal lift with reliable ridge lift underneath it all. Got up to cloudbase over the towers at the North point and decided the heck with trying to land in the main LZ, given the wind conditions. Squirted off to the North toward a decent looking cloud that immediately stuck its middle finger up at me and vaporized on contact. Decided to continue crosswind in a direction that would simplify the retrieve. Ended up putting it into what looked to be a big gorgeous flat LZ that yielded the second gnarliest approach I've ever flown in a HG. It was all I could do to keep the glider pointed in the right general direction. Turned out that the field was on a river floodplain and the upwind end was shadowed by a 50-100 foot tall tree covered ridge. Being the shit-hot pilot that I am, I had decided to land near the upwind end so I wouldn't have to carry so far to the road. By the time I realized what the topography was, I was committed. After getting down into the wind shadow and stabilizing I decided that I had enough energy and control to go upright and pop a flare rather than wheeling it in like Matthew so wisely did later. The price for my hubris? My second WW downtube in as many months. The one with the string in it, of course.

Lessons learned:

1) That's what you get for not using the entire field like you tell others to do all the time, ya idiot.

2) Short of landing in the median strip of I-66 next to the Eastbound lane, there is no such thing as a quick and easy retrieve.

-- Joe

I ended up at the Towfarm yesterday. Geoff and Steve Turner launched first and both went xc, Geoff for 17.5 miles and Steve probably 7-9 miles. My tow was rowdy down low and became disappointingly smooth as we progressed upward. John took me on a search for thermal lift before he let me off, but it was fruitless. All the crops were down and there were good landing situations everywhere, so I decided to go for the next cloud. Well, that produced nothing. And now I was quite a glide from the lz. I headed home but didn't make it. The entire flight was 400'-500' down. I had a great landing in the field nw of the lz. Unfortunately, I had no idea how difficult it would be to carry out. My feet sunk in to the plowed dirt so far that my wingtips didn't clear the ground. The wind didn't help either! To Damen Williamson I owe a debt of gratitude for bringing the cart out and helping me back. Craig W also sledded.

Geoff heard pilots on the radio in the air but they couldn't hear him. He thought it was pilots at High Rock but said he heard Christy's voice.

I'm curious about how conditions were at High Rock and Woodstock. When we flew (2-3pm) it was probably 10-15 fluctuating between north and northwest/nnw, stronger aloft. It was blue 'til about 1-2pm when small short-lived cummies popped up. As the afternoon went on, there were more cummies but they were all pretty flat, then by 5 or 6 we were covered over with a layer of flat clouds. Crossing the Bay Bridge the clouds were all to the east; it was clear the rest of the drive home.

What was the wind direction and velocity at the other sites? What were the clouds like? Did pilots soar?

Judy

Conditions were similar at High Rock. Winds were strong and cross early. Several pilots were set up and waiting for better conditions when Craig and I arrived. Sometime about 1:00 the first gaggle got off, M. Fink, Steve Kinsley (happy birthday), John McAllister, Bob Gillisse, others I think. They averaged about an hour each and 700-900 over. I got off around two oclock in Jackie George's Super Sport. I got an hour, mostly between launch high and 500' over. (This was a very satisfying technical flight in choppy conditions. It felt real good to manage to stay up that long. I had a good landing too.) After me, Craig, Carlos and Marvin had extended sleds in diminishing lift. Conditions mellowed some but with the cross were never trivial.

Dan T.

>>Geoff heard pilots on the radio in the air but they couldn't hear
>>him. He thought it was pilots at High Rock but said he heard
>>Christy's voice.
Finally, the secret recorder on the old K-5 is operational.

Doug got back from the team challenge Sunday and we met at Woodstock. Both took sleds, then went home....

Other pilots got more airtime. Mark Cavanaugh was the first off and got 1900 over, 40 minutes before the Big Sink Cycle hit. Pete Schumann and John Dullahan were soaring at the same time and also landed. As Doug and I were leaving, Tom McGowan was still working lift, for the most part small, but he was doing well.

As for the weather. The NW 10-15 never happened. It was blowing hard as I drove down, but as soon as I got to the ridge, it died down. There was a definite north cross. I didn't launch until 2:45, after waiting 30 minutes through the dead cycle that the first pilots off lost it in. There were little tiny cumies from time to time, but they didn't last long.

Sure glad I airpigged out on Saturday.
Christy

Sunday was a tater-fest as we sharpened our low flight skills with extended scrapes.
Still drunk with the previous days successes, many of us showed up as early as 11 am, salivating for more air time.
The air was showing potential with small puffies here and there and wafting thermals every 5-10 minutes. Sometimes straight in sometimes a total north cross.
Let's wait, we said, as soon as the sun comes around it should be soarable.
12 o'clock went by, then 1 o'clock, then two o'clock. Occasionally, hungry birds would bubble up to launch or below and end up back on the branches. A couple of self sacrificing pilots (Mark Cav. was one, John Dullahan another, I've forgotten who else) gave themselves up as experiments and did surprisingly well. Causing a rush for harnesses and helmets. But by the time we were ready, they were in the LZ. Precipitating another intense session of condition scrutiny.
Gentlemanly conduct was in abundance: "If anybody wants to push, I'll be glad to back off." "Mike, if you want to go, I'll get out of your way." "Ed, if you want to go now, that would be fine." Spectators were heard to murmur approvals: "What a nice group!" they yawned.
Finally around 4 o'clock we decided to nod to our fate and take our sleds. Some had extended sleds and others like Mike Balk and Tom McG managed to sustain above the ridge. Still others like myself, Sheila and Mark G had lengthy scrapes and managed 15-20 minutes by grudgingly giving up altitude in 10 ft per pass increments between the bald spots the bowl and the power line boulders. That mixed in with blowers that teased us back to launch and then dropped us back to just before bail out altitude. A lot of fun really.
As we meekly broke down in the LZ trying to convince ourselves what a great day we had, we looked up and what greeted our eyes? A sole paraglider wafting in the evening magic!
Dave Procter gave me a ride to launch to get my car and we took a quick peek from the slot. I left Tom McGowan and Dave contemplating another set-up.
Back in the LZ with the glider packed I could just see their still airborne gliders through squinting eyes, and grinding teeth.
Lesson learned: Take the sled early and leave time for the evening magic.

ED

Since Joe is 'fessing up with lessons learned, I guess it's my turn.
I managed to launch at Woodstock with my Knee hanger routed through my leg strap. I did a complete hangcheck with 3 experienced pilots, and none of us caught it.

Lesson: Watch out for this on knee-hanger types. I still can't believe I never caught it.

So off I go, no control problems. Apparently the tension in the cord was enough to hold the leg straight. But a few minutes into the flight I began to fret about this tightness back there. It took a few minutes of feeling around to figure it out. It was becoming steadily more annoying. So I had a choice: either (A) fly it down immediately before the leg goes numb and miss a great day, or (B) do something about it in the air so I could get on with what was looking like a great flight.

Dingbat that I was, I chose option B. I spent a few minutes gaining altitude until I was about 800 over, then went upright and reached down to undo the hanger with the intention of pulling it through the leg strap and reattaching it. Of course, as soon as I released the hanger, all my weight fell on that strap and it tightened right up. So there I was steering with one hand, tugging like crazy with the other hand, while the glider did little half circles and dips.

I gave up, went back to half prone and gained a few hundred feet in preparation for the next attempt. This time I tried kneeling on the base tube, wind whistling in my ears 'cause my weight was too far forward, doing circles 'cause I wasn't centered, tugging like crazy on that damned knee hanger. The sucker wouldn't pull through.
I crossed my legs and flew it in. I have GOT to get a pod.

-B.

On Sun, 11 Oct 1998, Cragin Shelton wrote:

> Sunday's north cross drew fewer pilots to HR, but it was a beautiful day.
> Steve K, Brian Hardwick, Carlos Weill, Marvin P, Dan T, Marc F all flew.
> Brian V-H was setting up as we were leaving...

It being so cross and late in the day I almost didn't set up. Then about 10 minutes after Cragin left I watched a whole flock of birds just lift off from the rock pile and float over launch. 15 minutes later my glider was set up.
By this time no other pilots were around. I ran up to the rock and checked the wind: the stuff was now blowing straight in at a steady 5 mph. Self launchable. I trained a wire crew to help me through my hang check and get me up on the pad. There were about 30 spectators, and they hadn't had any entertainment for about 2 hours.
I yelled "clear", checked both sides to make sure they had released, and ran it off. The rock erupted in cheers. I felt like a celebrity. Most of what the birds used had dissipated by this time, but I managed to eke out and extra 5 minutes before a soft landing. One of my wire crew eventually found his way down to the LZ with my car. He seemed very interested, and I gave him the web site address. He's from Rockville, and may be dropping in on a CHGA meeting soon...if his wife permits it.
Brian VH.

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This page last updated October 13, 1998