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Hangola April 24 & 25, 1999

Well, those of us who didn't want to make the drive up to the Sac on Saturday, looked at the weather forecasts and with the obvious North cross, High Rock appeared to be the best call. So we went to the Pulpit instead since it was supposed to turn to the West later in the day and to prove that it could be done. Marc, AKA The Human Garbage Can, proved that it could be done and went 16+ miles. Gardinator and Joe proved that it almost could be done by getting above launch for about 20 minutes. And the rest of us (me, Ed, Craig, Brian, Allen, Sheila and Steve), well, we had challenging extendos. Karen elected not to fly when Gardinator started breaking down instead of taking a second flight.

Matthew (how'd it go on Sunday? of Karen and Matthew)

According to the collective wisdom of NWS, Ohio State, and Unisys/Purdue, the winds Sunday were going to be W, or SW, or NW, or E, or maybe even S. Meterology is SUCH an exact science. Figuring the odds, Dan T and I headed for Manquin, whre only 2 precise wind direcitons (90 degrees cross) can stop a launch.

Sure enough, the winds were all of the above directions, and more, both over time in the afternoon, and over the small space of the flight park. It was a mess. Most of the launches had a slight tailwind component, so it was a fortunate pilot who got higher than 900' at release. Dan and I each took our sled. My release was only at 700'. Dan got to 900'. Lyman Hart caught some good stuff in his foil and spent an hour in the air at 2,000' or so. Ray Mitchell had several sleds, trying out a Falcon. Terry Spencer did his extended sleds. H-1 student Fred Briggs, Sr. had three very good flights, videotaped by H-0 student Fred Briggs, Jr. Rick (??) a Kitty Hawk tandem 2 was working on his solo foot landings.

John Middleton got dragged into the air in his softwing, with an interesting floppy event early in the tow. He set new personal and park records on his flight.. John should tell the tale.

Cragin S

Bunch of people made it to the Sac. Since I can't remember half, I will only mention them incidentally. . .

Long drive from DC, hurry up and setup, then wait. Wait, wait. There were few launch-able cycles, with howls in-between. Bacil had already launched and landed by the time we arrived. While the rest of us were waiting, he came back and launched again. We new he was getting high when we couldn't hear him anymore!

Christian and Tom launched in good cycles, but then it cranked up again. And the rest of us waited.

Eventually I launched, and then the entire hill came after. I went to the first gap with hopes of going down the ridge, but glider after glider passed me while I was stuck at about 600 feet above the ridge. I gave up and went back to launch. There I easily climbed to 2200 over. I made it to the gap at about 1000 over and figured why not.

On the other side of the gap I did not find any lift. Thinking that there was a west cross and that I should have a head wind, I was surprised to note that my GPS told me I had a 10 mph tail wind. Cruising about 30 mph down the ridge I landed at Pillow. Tom McG, Dave P, Mike C all landed much further than I did. I believe Raean also made it close to the river.

Late start in the air for most people, but everyone enjoyed themselves.

-Mike Balk

Forecast was LnV around 10. Or West at 10. On the way up I saw East at 10. SE, NE, N, but very little West.

Keith, Marc, Brian (with Shelly and Sarah), Mike C, Judy, Dave P, Steve P, Dennis (?), and myself all set up and wondered at the switching winds. Keith, Brian, and Marc were the first off, and between scratching low and 1500 over they managed to stay up. Dennis, and Dave did not have such luck. Soon after Brian made an interesting approach and landing (all three in the secondary).

Mike C launched and struggled, but about 10 minutes later he and Keith succumbed to gravity. A few minutes later I thought I would give it a try. Marc was high and going over the back, and conditions looked better. I struggled low and soon had to go over to the secondary where I caught a thermal and made it a few hundred above launch. Lost it and went down the ridge so I could make the primary. Massive sink, but as I started to head out caught another and got about 1k over. Marc radioed that over the back the wind was coming out of the SE! Lost that thermal and was about 400 below launch above the primary. Guess what? I caught another thermal, and it was drifting to the NNW! Made it to about 1200 over in the middle of the valley. Decided to see where I would drift to. Made it over McConnelsburg, but was back at or below launch, and there weren't many more options to the north (with an easy retrieve in mind). Eventually sank out on the opposite side of the valley from launch. It isn't often that someone on launch can witness your entire cross-country flight! About 6 miles or so, but VERY interesting!

I'm sure others have gone in that direction before, does anyone remember their stories?

-Mike Balk

Well, as Matthew reported, I did indeed join the crew at the Pulpit on Saturday. I set two local daily records, with the shortest flight in duration, and the shortest in distance. Apparently I launched in one of the best sink cycles we had all day. Flew through one little bump at Rt 16, then tried to find a trigger over the old barns south of the secondary LZ. Got a bump, but lost enough air in my one 360 trying to find it that I committed to the secondary. I had a good fast approach, landing to the north. Used a tight 180 turn from downwind to final to lose altitude fast, and had a really nice set up. Put it down about 20 yards before the crest. I was pleased. This was my first landing in the Pulpit secondary, and the smallest field I have landed in.

While I was breaking down the owner Mike Hill drove by. I had a nice chat with him. He is glad we are still using the field. I asked him about the crop schedule. He said there will be crops in about mid-May, so keep an eye out. He also said he is rotating one of the upper sections from crops to grass next year! THAT is good news!

More flying next week!

Cragin S

I did 1 pg tow at Manquin on Sunday which far surpassed my previous PG altitude record. On tow behind the truck at 1/3 down the run way I encountered some turbulance in an area that other people had also experienced some trash but with a bag wing it collapsed my left tip. I immediately responded and it opened up fine. The rest of the tow was pretty smooth and when I released toward the end of the run way I found some light lift. I stayed with the lift which got better and kept climbing all the way up to 5100+ feet AGL! There was very little drift with the thermal but it was getting darn cold up there with only a light jacket so I left it looking for sink. I found ample sink and ended up on the ground for a 33 min flight. This flight was my longest from tow and definitely my highest PG flight ever. Wish I had dressed for it.

- john middleton

Arrived at the Sac on Saturday with brother Jim, to find Joe and Karen Gorrie, Jim Messina, Robert Sweeney, Raen P., and others, and from CHGA, Mike C., Tom Mc., Mike B., and later Geoff Mumford. It was blowing mostly straight-in at about 15-22 mph. Bacil returned at about 12:50 from his first flight west to the last of the gaps where he sunk out and landed out front for about 16 miles. He launched again soon after I did at about 1:45 into 200 FPM ridge lift. Initially the air was relatively laminar but as I got to ridge-level it became increasingly bumpy. I continued west, at one point getting to 1,250 over but generally stayed about 200 over the ridge, and had to spend some time at each gap to milk it up to 500 over or so in order to jump. When I got to the Susquehanna river I had intended to go over the back but had difficulty getting more than 200 over the ridge (there appeared to be little thermal activity). After several times working punchy air to 600 over and losing it again, I pointed downwind and crossed the ridge with about 550 ft. I flew through rotor for a while (mostly "bucking" air with BIG sink), having to hold the bar tightly and maintain moderate/good speed. Not advisable as a routine practice. I cleared it about 1,000 over the valley floor and got some lift which took me to just north of Rt. 209 and two miles east of Millersburg for 18 miles.

Bacil had gone about two miles east for a remote start-point before heading west to the river. Not getting high enough to go over the back he landed out front, about a half mile from Rt. 147 near Paxton Road, giving him 19.8 miles for his second flight.

I understand Tom Mc. and Mike Balk launched sometime after us and also landed out near the river.

After Jim picked us up we returned to launch and wired off most of the remaining pilots, the last one, Robert Sweeney taking off about 6:15.

Does anyone know where the other pilots landed?

John Dullahan

WARNING - LONG E-MAIL

Saturday after a grueling morning of "Okay, final decision - we’re going to Cumberland", "This is the final, final decision, we’re going to Woodstock" and "nope nope nope - We’re going to the Pulpit" - Joe Gregor, Steve Kinsley, Karen and Matthew, Marc Fink, Brian Vant-Hull, Craig Shelton, Ed Reno (after driving to Woodstock with no-one there), Mark G. and I ended up at the Pulpit. The air was ratty from the North (rotor-ey), but with decent velocity, 10-15. Mark Gardner gave it a valiant effort by making an extremely low save, getting 1000 over but then lost it just as he radioed that he was going over the back - he landed in the primary. Everyone else had sleds or extended sleds, but Marc had the flight of a relatively gnarly day by getting 16 miles and I’m not sure how high. Very impressive given the day! Afterwards we headed to Mercersburg for a great dinner where Marc met up with us after hitching a ride (he didn’t have a phone and we couldn’t raise him on the radio).

Sunday Mark G. and I headed to Cumberland and met up with Jim Rowan, Larry Ball, Homer and John (?) (who didn’t fly since he was on call but drove Larry’s vehicle back down - very nice!) Well, the L&V forecast was truly L&V but mostly cross from the NE. It was a real hit and miss day with most of us having to wait quite awhile for something to stop tailing and puff in. We waited around on launch for about three hours just enjoying the beautiful day, watching the sailplanes and shooting the breeze. We talked quite a bit about the "Dog Pit" directly below launch which would make an absolutely perfect lz except that the land leasees are less than thrilled about anybody being on their land. Supposedly it’s okay if it’s an emergency landing but there’s not much they consider an emergency. I asked why they called it the Dog Pit, thinking maybe he raised dogs or something, but was told that it was because rumor has it that he has dogs he doesn’t feed so they’ll attack any trespassers on their land - charming I’m sure.

Finally, around 3:00 Mark then Jim launched into no more than 5 mph and both put up a fight but ended up in the primary. I waited quite awhile for something to launch into and had my own adventure. After I landed Homer had to wait a loooonngg time for something to launch into and went when two hawks were circling directly in front of launch - how lucky can a guy get? Larry followed him almost immediately and the two thermalled to a max altitude of 2400’ (Homer) and 2600’ (Larry) over and 50 and 40 minutes respectively. They tried to take it out of there but it didn’t happen. Both landed in the primary with Homer taking the spot money. Congratulations!

I had to wait for awhile after Jim launched for something to puff in and launched into a straight in cycle maybe 2 or 3 mph. I was getting what Larry later described as "sucker lift" in front of launch and kept trying to work it with a few passes. I wasn’t making a net gain so I decided to head to the lz right about the same time Homer got on the radio and suggested it might be a good idea to head out. I debated between going straight for the lz or going along the ridge and decided to take my chances going straight since along the ridge was rotored when I was flying there. Well I headed for the lz with very steady sink and it was becoming increasingly apparent as I was looking at the river, powerlines and buildings between me and the primary - that I wasn’t going to make it. I radioed that I had to head for the Pit, set up my approach and had a good landing - needless to say, extremely embarrassed. I broke down the glider while Homer gave Mark my position. Mark got to the gate of the property with a welcoming sign declaring: "KEEP OUT! ABSOLUTELY NOBODY WELCOME!!" He talked to the land leaser (?) who he described as a ZZ Top-looking type guy with a real long beard and who asked him from about 150 feet away what he wanted. He asked if he could pick me up and I guess the guy waited about 30 seconds before answering that it was okay to go as far as the yellow house. So he picked me up and helped me hike my stuff out and we took off. (Didn’t see the ZZ Top guy again as we left.)

Later at dinner we were talking about it and Homer and Jim were saying that I should be nicknamed Alpo but Larry declared since I’m flying a Pulse that for now I’m Puppy Chow - if I do it again with a VG glider I’ll be Alpo. MANY THANKS to all the help and advice from Mark, Homer, Larry and Jim.

Still Embarrassed,
Puppy Chow
(aka Sheila)

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This page last updated April 27, 1999