Back to Main Page Back to Archive 1998

Index to weather maps

Hangola November 13, 14 & 15, 1998

Los Tres Falconyeros (except Chuck) did some moving up at Blue Sky this afternoon. With 3 tows Steve Padgett flight tested his new WW pod. Comments on the first set up for tow were: "Ok, here's the zip up. Wow that's really comforta... Ok now this side is zip d... Hey, you could get stuck in thi.. Now what's this string? Oh yeah."

On second tow he discovered what it is like to have the weak link break immeadiatly after release. He said he didn't realize what had happend for a couple of seconds because he was still going up. Then he suddenly became aware that he was in a landing mode. He then reacted well and landed safely. But because he was still unused to the pod he ended up bellying in and dirt baptized his brand new harness.

Your humble narrator had five tows and five chances to fine tune his spot landings. At the end of the day he recieved his tow rating check off. (cool)

Chuck Pyle (formally of Los Tres Falconyeros (except Chuck)) got his first chance to fly his BRAND NEW ULTRA-SPORT!!! It's a very sweet crisp new machine in keeping with the Falconyero color scheme: White with purple and deap blue trim. Bets were taken on how much he would overshoot the landing spot. As Pilot Pyle overflew the spectators on approach he was heard commenting on the newly found superior drag characteristics: "YIPE!!!" he said as he went running into the sunset.

It turned out none of the bets were long enough and had to be discounted.

ED

Woodstock, Sunday, 11/15-- cast of thousands showed up and soared. It has been reported that Mr. Fink made it to Harrisonburg-- a six pak of dudes made it to Mt. Jackson and a pair of lovely ladies went to Strasburg. I was rather boring and got the standard 2 hours, 2300 over-- went down and took a look at the no mans land just before the gap and turned back with my tail between my legs even though I was still 1500 over. Karen found that the left turn in her glider has resurfaced so she only stayed up for an hour. Here's the list of everyone else that I can remember seeing or talking to: Joe, Mike C., Mike Balk, Tom, Adam from Winchester, John Middleton, Sheila, Judy-Judy, Brian VH, Chuck, Steve Krichton, Ed, Gardinator, Geoff, Jim Strube, Dan, Dave Johnson, Tex, Randy Webber, Homer, Greg DeWolf, and Pete Schuman. But there were plenty of others there too. Mark Cavanaugh came out AGAIN and helped out and did some clearing of the slot. Scott Smith (recent H2) showed up but was unable to fly.

Matthew (Mr Boring, of Karen and Matthew)

What a great day at Woodstock yesterday! Many, many pilots enjoyed some very nice air. The day started a little on the strong side and mellowed continually throughout the day. A bunch of pilots did the trek up to the north and down to the gap. I understand six or so crossed the gap and landed in Mount Jackson. There is a rumor that one pilot made it even further, but he will have to confirm that himself. Can't wait to hear your story, Marc!!

My flight was very rewarding. 3950' over, my longest flight to date (2:45), my first time going over the foothills to the south approaching the Edinburg gap, and my first time landing off the north point. What a day! And for the first time I yawned while flying!

On Saturday a bunch of us went to the Towfarm and enjoyed aerotow sleds. Craig Williamson and I were lucky enough to find a place to crash overnight in DC so we could get a head start to Woodstock on Sunday. Craig flew Woodstock for the first time on Sunday and had a great flight!

Mnay others had notable flights and I'm hoping they will tell about them!

Judy

Also in attendance was Craig Williamson, tired of the land of a thousand flat LZ's he decided to hang out and fly where the world is wrinkled.

Launched behind the first gaggle and spent the day 30 mins behind trying to catch up with everybody. Got to Straussburg - everyones been there and gone. Thought it was too West to make an for an easy ridge run, but what the hey, down to Edinburg gap for a look-see. Soaring around over the sea-O-trees with two others and watching the gaggle soaring Short. Decided to hang out and eventually found a thermal to 2k over launch which had me crossing over the north end of Short from behind. Started down maybe 500' over in light ridge with occasional thermal bumps. My first time all the way down Short. LZ's looked to be a stretch but Pete Schuman was ahead of me and 200-300' lower so I though I must be OK. Turned out that he was sweating bullets during this time and looking at me going, "He's doing OK, so I must be fine." But the ridge was reliable and we got down to the south point fairly quickly. Just in time to see all of my lift indicators giving up on the jump back and heading out to land. Pete follows 'em. Enjoyed the view for 10-15 mins and headed out to join everyone in the Aux LZ. Amazing glide. Made it all the way to Rt 11. I definitely still underestimate the range in this new glider. That's OK - built in fudge factor.

2+55, 2500' over or so (at Straussburg, always works for me up there), 23.6 mi straight line distance with the remote start. Minor bonk on landing (inevitable with an audience of 5 or more) so we gotta reset the Fusion proper landing counter to zero.

Bunch of other firsts this day. Let's hear about them.

-- Joe

OK, twist my leg and force me tell all!

The day had a pretty dismal start for me since I figured the odds were pretty slim I would even get a chance to set up before the end of the day, let alone actually soar for a while.

I finally got set up by around 3:00 and was one of the last 4 gliders to launch. I went north a bit, but it seemed that gliders were higher to the south so I turned and headed back toward launch. I remember playing in the air with Shiela for a few minutes, even looking face to face for several seconds before I peeled off:). Right on cue, my vario went dead 10 minutes into the flight, so I figured I was pretty much toast since the thermals were light and dicey.

I decided to use the "brainless" approach (which for me seems to work remarkably well). I stayed out in front of the ridge and flew straight down the valley, I only took a few 360's for the entire flight. I flew straight across Edinburg with no loss of alt., and soon caught a large death gaggle at the end of Short mountain. By that time I had clued into the fact that there was a light but definitely sustainable wonder wind going on, and I simply flew straight off the end off Short past the gaggle, several gliders of which were higher than I was. All I did was "poosh out" all the way to Harrisonburg, I always maintained 500 to 1000 over without having to search for anything. I was rewarded at the end of the ridge by one of the most spectacular sunsets I have ever seen, and from the air.

Life is good, (even if my neck hurts like hell),
Marc

What a great weekend! Saturday I was flip flopping back and forth about going towing and finally decided to go for it. Since I haven’t towed for awhile it was the perfect day (no bumps) and I really enjoyed my two tows. It was looking like a Woodstock day Sunday so Judy McC and Craig Williamson stayed over so they wouldn’t have such a long drive. It was a nice evening with Mike Balk stopping over for awhile as well. Sunday we all piled into Mark’s hang-mobile and got to Woodstock early enough to get some prime (and soon to be scarce) set-up space.

My hopes for the day if conditions were good were to go to Strasburg. After boating around for awhile, playing with Steve Krichten (who was trying to convince me to go south) and Marc - I got on the radio to see if there was any interest in going north. Judy was interested and I think Karen would have been if her radio had been working (bummer!) It was my first time going more than a finger or two north and I enjoyed my flight immensely! Chuck Pyle (in his AWESOME new Ultrasport!), Matthew, John Middleton and Craig Williamson also either went all the way down or part of the way down but they all headed back. Losing altitude at times and gaining at others I made it down with no problem. Rather than try to fight my way back in the Pulse we decided to land by Strasburg. Judy was generous enough to offer to land first but unfortunately I was sinking faster and headed in. Even managed to see the invisible fence from a couple hundred over and had a great landing as did Judy - yeah!! MANY thanks to Mark G. for picking us up before we were even broken down! Awesome day wrapped up by a nice dinner at the Spring House.

Sheila
2 hours, approx. 1800’ over

Hi all,

read about all your awesome flying at Woodstock and decided to remind you all what it's like to be a Hang 1. :-P

Went down to Manquin on Saturday. In DC it was nice and blue with some clouds, but down by Richmond it was pretty overcast. Hung around for a while. It looked like it might even rain. Pondering if to set up or not. Then Greg took me for two tandem flights. Heh. That was pretty cool. He let me fly the glider once we were at altitude. That sure felt weird. I was high off the basetube and the control frame was huge. Practised some one handed turns. And then was treated to some diving turns coming in for the landings. woooooooo!!!! (Greg as the pilot.) In case anyone wants to know: first tow was to about 900 feet, then Steve decided he could up the pressure a bit, so the second tow was to about 1300 feet. We didn't stay up very long. Not a good day for thermaling.

I set up a little later and flew solo three times. 900 feet, 1200 feet and 1500 feet (yeah!) Last flight was fairly long (10+ minutes?). Got some lift right off the truck. Well, at least it didn't seem as if I lost any alitude (am flying without instruments). Then slowly headed back to the end of the field I planned to land in, played around a bit over the trees, riding a bit of lift there, and set up for landing. All three landings on my feet. yeah! finally! One was even a no-stepper! Still overshooting my spot though. At least my last final was lined up with the spot.

Other ppl flying: Billy from around Charlottesville. John Dullahan, who came out to practise landings with his new Stealth and after some hang loop adjustments nailed every one of them. Doug (Hang 2) grudgingly flying a rented Mark IV (he's waiting for his new Ultrasport to come in). And Johnny(?).

Ha! And you thought Hang 1s can't have fun flying! :-P I had a great time! Can't wait to go flying again to try out some ideas i have about thermaling and about getting a bit closer to the spot for landings.

Btw Greg, I practised some one-FINGERED turns on my three flights! Works great! :-) I think i leave the no-hands landings to you though. At least for a little while.

-- Ellis

Last Saturday we taught at Taylor Farm with 3 students (Deana, Burak, and Buster). In addition Mark Fink, Chuck Pyle and Ed Reno were in attendance. It started out cross from the left but improved. In fact it was quite a nice day with sunshine and wind velocities generally ranging 4 - 10 mph. The students all got a good number of flights. The previous weekend I taught at Longs Hill and we had pretty nice conditions that day also!

- john middleton/Silver Wings Inc.

I imagine everyone knows by now..but just in case. I talked with the landowners last Sunday. They said they had just forgotten to turn the sign but the hill is open to pilots.

It was a great day there Sunday. Very smoooth air wnw at about 20-25. Perfect soaring conditions. I was able to make several passes each run. Unfortunately Eddie Miller didnt have his glider with him to show me how to get up and out of there but he is the best rc pilot I have ever seen.

-Brian

	previous page	back to top	next page

This page last updated November 18, 1998