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weather maps 12Z and 00Z

Hangola
Saturday April 18, 1998

Highrock, Sat April 18, 1998

Kelly and Kevin went to HIGHrock. Doug was the only pilot at launch. Christy had just sledded. Minutes later, Fred, Raean, and their two Canadian friends arrived followed by Steve, then Kelvin.

Conditions were light and just beginning to heat up. A few soaring birds were seen.

Fred was first to launch just before 1pm in light conditions for his first flight from Highrock in a while(year?). Rockpile wasn't cooking, just the opposite in fact. Hmmm. Kelly was next and managed to find lift to the right of launch. Steve launched next and maintained right in front of launch for a few minutes. As soon as Steve climbed away, I was off at 1:10pm. A tough few hundred feet was rewarded by smoother lift above the ridge. Nobody launched for a while, but somebody hung at launch for quite a while. Rumors of a potato festival were debated later in the LZ.

Eventually all the pilots launched, but only one other pilot got up, a Canadian - he got 1500 over and 25 minutes. Kelly got 500 over and 23 minutes, no vario. Steve went fishing for a live one about a mile past the LZ but came back. I followed him half way there but went back to the ridge in a thermal I found just north of the LZ. Steve got ~1700 over and guessing an hour +-. Kevin got 1700 over, 1:10, 507 fpm 20 second average, and 2399 fpm peak instantaneous lift (?!).

Anxiously awaiting Pulpit stories,
-Kevin Madden

I took a sled for the boy scouts who had picked up trash around launch and were waiting for the rest of the scout leaders to get back after leaving their vehicles at the end of the trail (they apparently were going to spend the weekend on the trail, heading south).

Doug came and picked me up and I set up again. I launched, after waiting a long time for the wind to straighten out (it was a strong west cross). Not much was happening and I got another sled.

I talked Kelly (didn't take much!) into going back up and saw her off again (good launch, Kelly). Eddie Miller and I waited for some pilots to come back up, but finally gave up after 45 minutes and trained some wuffos to do the job. I launched first and got right up. My vario had frozen when I launched so I was without that. I managed to get about 600 or so over the rock pile and lasted 18 minutes. In the meantime Eddie launched and sank out. That is the first and probably the last time I'll stay up while Eddie sinks out.

Doug and I went out to dinner at a nice place in Charles Town when we got back to celebrate our first wedding anniversary. We made it!!!

Christy

I think it was an amazingly good day considering the forecast.

Factoring in experience levels and lack of vario I think Kelly gets skygoddess of the day award. The first few hundred feet were not easy.

If you walked back up from the HR LZ check yo sef for ticks. found a bunch.

From:
Kevin Madden
It's tick season.

I will contribute part of the Pulpit stories, but others will have to fill in (Marc, Mark, Mathew, and Judy!)

Tom M. and Mike B. were the first off. Tom was working a thermal, and dragged Mike off the ramp. 6 minutes later I was on the ground, and maybe another 5 minutes later (15 total for Tom) Tom was on the deck. Then miracle of miracles, the sun came out. I believe that Judy, then Cragin, then Sheila, then Mike Buckley (sp?) had sleds, while Marc Fink soared. Mark Gardner also soared. Mike C. managed to stay up for a while also.

We ran back up, and Marc and Mark were still in the air, so we set up. Cragin and Mike Buckley had sleds, and Tom struggled for a few minutes. I managed to catch something and actually got up! Since Mark G. had weinied out of going XC, I decided that when I got to 2k over, I would go back. Well I got to about 2.6k over, committed to going XC, then of course, immediately lost the thermal. Dove over the back for 35 minutes and 5.75 miles!!!!! At some point in time Marc and Mark landed, then we all went to Fischer's Road. Matthew and Karen went to Bill's.

Others will have to fill in the rest of the details.

-Mike Balk

Today's flight's for me at the Pulpit were a mix of highs and lows. The weather was much nicer than I expected, and it was wonderful to shed some of those layers of clothing acquired over the winter. On my first flight, I couldn't find any lift until over the lz, about 350' over, I hit a bump... so I turned and found that I wasn't sinking. Yeah! I did a few more and before too long, I'd gained 500 feet before the thermal petered out. It was a fantastic flight for me! Even though it was only 18 minutes long, it was wonderful to get some practice working on my themalling. So, after landing, I was anxious to take another flight. Unfortunately, that's when I experienced the flip side of the "fun coin." Soon after launching, I felt my head sinking down towards the basetube. By the time I left the ridge, my neck was literally on the basetube and I could barely hold myself up. I was terrified, but knew that I had to fly the glider. So, I tried going upright. I flew with one hand up an one hand down for the last 10 minutes of my flight, struggling to get the glider down safely. I had a less than graceful landing, but I and the glider were fine. Even then, I still didn't know what was wrong, so I asked Mike C. to look at my harness. He discovered that my shoulder line on my knee hanger harness had come untied! I got some great advice on how to prevent this from happening in the future; tape the cord after tying the knots to prevent it from loosening! I think I was shaking for about 45 minutes after that flight. When, we all got back up top, the wind was tailing, so we all decided to bug out and chase the wind. Mike C., Sheila, Judy, Tom, Mike B (the OTHER one), Mark and Marc, and I headed for Fisher's in search of magic conditions, and Brian V-H., Matthew and Karen took off for Bill's. (They'll have to tell their own stories.) Conditions at Fisher's were L & V and only Judy, Mike C, Shelia, and I set up. I was first off, anxious to clear the bad taste out of my mouth from my previous flight. I had a lovely first flight at Fisher's in smooth air. No magic, but still sweet for me! Sheila, Mike and Judy all enjoyed the same. The gang headed to Pizza Hut ahead of me and I got lost on those back-country roads for an hour! I hope you guys enjoyed your pizza! Oh well, I guess driving long hours for short flights is another part of the mistique of hang glider pilots!
Mike B - as in Buckley, the novice pilot, NOT the X/C king for today!
3 flights
26 minutes
500' gain over lz
100' max alt over launch

After my very mediocre flight at the Pulpit--.mediocre launch, mediocre landing and some mediocre soaring (22 minutes). Karen, Brian VH and I headed over to Bill's. It was coming straight in lightly in the LZ (which was in very good shape, not overgrown with hay as we suspected). Launch was also in great shape and the winds were 6-7 and smooth. Brian launched first and just boated out to the LZ. Karen then launched and actually gained a little. The air was so bouyant and smooth that she flew at trim and hardly lost any altitude all the way out to the LZ. We timed her and she got a 7 minute sled, at Bill's!

With the air that Bouyant and the prevailing NE winds all day, I bet it was soarable earlier at Bill's. DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! We radioed numerous times and checked the Pizza Hut parking lot; but we were unable to find the rest of the crew. So we ended up doing the salad bar at the Bonanza.

Matthew (never going to the Pulpit again on a NE day, of Karen and Matthew)

I spent three hours banging my head against the low inversion, too bad, since I think things could have been very sweet had it not been so low. Guess I shouldn't complain.

Marc

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This page last updated April 19, 1998