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Hangola August 9-15, 1999

Ridgely was good. There was a scuz layer at 3200 (later lifting to 3800) that made the XC prospects less inviting than I had hoped. So I didn't go anywhere. Oh well. Still a good time.

Yet another warning about putting instruments in the middle of your base tube when towing: Darryl Shires had his vario there and I mentioned to him that it might not be a good idea to do that. He then tilted it so that it pointed out and down and was well below the bridle. He figured that as soon as he got off tow he would tilt it back up so he could see it. Problem solved. Or so we all figured. Wrong!! He broke a weak link at about 400 feet and the bridle somehow got snagged around the vario. He couldn't round out. Luckily there was a good breeze so it was just a hard whack -- much less entertaining than Finks Richter Scale pound in.

I drove out to Manquin early this morning with dreams of making further headway in attaining my AT rating -- but, alas, the wind didn't cooperate. Even early in the morning the wind was a bit strong for Tex and Roland to feel comfortable doing tandem training behind their tug -- very disappointing for me but I had to appreciate their caution. Very late in the day, the wind did calm down sufficiently to get in one tandem tow -- terrific! Roland pulled Tex and I up to 2000' where we released and boated around a bit before Tex executed a perfect 3-wheel landing. Pretty cool not worrying about flaring or running out a landing -- or even getting upright! One of the front wheels has a handle on it so once we got on the ground, Tex just steered us to the setup up area where we came to rest about two feet away from the tie-down spot!

Early in the morning, I accepted Steve Wendt's invitation to try out the "scooter tow". As a teaching tool, this seems to be an excellent way to safely get a student a few feet into the air to get the feel of the glider, do a little control work and land -- without the drudgery of hauling the glider back up the training hill! It also gave me the opportunity to get the feel of the same type of release that I'll eventually use for aerotowing.

Thanks to the boys at Manquin for a fun, relaxing day -- now if they can just do something about the weather this weekend.......

Chuck

sleds and extended sleds. And more sleds. NE all day -- never came around. Large crowd of wuffos urging us on. Mathew G probably had the flight of the day. He was up when I went in to talk to Emma Jane and still up when I came out 10 mins later. Ellis Kim had her first two HR flights (Ellis, your second launch was perfect. Which is not, of course, in anyway intended as a criticism of your first launch). Mark C returned to the air for the first time in what? a year? Yea Mark. We tried. It was a tough day. I had a good time.

What a surprise we had on Sunday out at High Point. JR said to meet in the LZ at 1 pm - later than usual, indicating his pessimism of the day's conditions. I needed to pick up the new leading edge for my XC and was also planning to fly Kim Clouden's (formerly Rowan) Super Sport, with plans to buy it if I liked it (back up glider...). So even if I didn't soar, a sled would be appreciated.

Up on top is trying to blow a little north, which is easily handled by the site. Larry was off first and was 200' over in no time. I followed next and also got right up. JR sat on launch quite a bit (he's trying to take over my launch potato award), but finally found something he liked and was also off and up.

I liked the Super Sport just fine, despite the left turn (which means that it liked to really slip when going left - so I went right in thermals all day). I stayed up for 1 hour 25. JR landed shortly after me and I got his perfect landing 5' from the spot on film. Larry landed after 2 hours.

It stayed totally overcast the whole day. We couldn't decide if it was hot air going up or cloud suck that was causing the widespread lift. In any case, you could boat all over the valley and hardly lose a foot, and at one point of the day, you would be gaining the whole way out.

***************

Ya'd think! Got 650 over in one thermal and bailed as it tracked to the South and over the back. Found a couple of pockets of zero sink to circle in one the way to the LZ, maybe 15 minutes tops. But after going back up to launch and then watching Craig sink like a rock on his second flight, it started to pick up and Cavanaugh stopped breaking down and was soon in the air and 300 over. So I slapped my machine together and launched just in time for it to start shutting down and was never able to climb back up to launch. Got an extendo. Mark got 40 minutes. That damn Cavanaugh-- robbed me of the flight of the day!

Also flying were Karen, Marc and Sparky.

Matthew (welcome back Mark-- we missed you, of Karen and Matthew)

Start mixin' that concrete now Steve, I am back! :)

Wasn't expecting much yesterday, given the crossing conditions and the lack of air movement in front of the rock. In fact, after a sled at 3:30 or so, I was considering packing up. Wasn't sure it would be worth diving off again, especially with those trees down below getting so high.

But the re-appearance of the sun, and stronger conditions after Matthew's brief (650' over) flight, suckered me into setting up again. Only to watch as they lightened up, with Karen, Ellis, and Craig getting sleds. I broke the glider halfway down, all the while saying I shouldn't second-guess myself, this was a good call....

And then I looked over at the streamers. Hmmm. Walked up to launch one last time. Double-hmmm. Decided things were looking lots better, ran for the glider, slammed it back together, and got on launch within about 15 minutes. Doug and Marc F. wired me off (thanks guys!), I turned left off launch, and headed up immediately.

Enjoyed an absolutely mellow, boat-around at 300' over, poosh-out, hands-off, no-one-else-in-the-air type of flight. With a crowd of onlookers to swoop past, and a westering sun casting a golden glow on the hills below!

It was the type of flight I've been drreaming of for a very long time.

--mark c.

PS: Take it from someone who hasn't flown HR in nearly a year, the trees below launch are getting HIGH!

I finally did it! I got my aerotow rating!! Thanks much to the boys at Manquin!!

I started on Friday but the wind didn't cooperate until so late that I only got one tandem flight. Tex Forest was the instructor and Roland was the tug pilot. The tug was a Loadstar configured specifically for aerotowing. That first flight was a little disconcerting with the new sensory "input" -- dust and grass blowing up behind the tug on take-off, the noise of the tug and the proximity to another aircraft. The tow rope was fairly long (225') by A.T. standards but still I wasn't accustomed to having someone else that close without thinking about maneuvering away from them (Marc Fink notwithstanding!). The worst feeling was that of not being in control. Tex is a great instructor and did everything right but flying without my hands on the control bar was strange indeed.

Sunday morning, I got a call from Craig to join the gang at High Rock and was sorely tempted but instead, I headed out to Manquin to see if the weather would support my continuing education vis-a-vis aerotowing. It was perfect! Light winds and little turbulence.

I took another tandem in the PacAir Double Vision and did 90% of the control after which Tex and Steve Wendt, "signed me off" for my first solo. I hopped onto Steve's Falcon (equipped with a tail fin) and off I went. I was a little slow on the launch and let Roland climb out just ahead of me but quickly corrected. On one of the turns, I got a little to the inside but, again, easily corrected this too. The Falcon, I've heard is an excellent tow glider "off the shelf" but add a tail fin and it's as though it's on rails!!

I did a second tow on the Falcon while Roland pulled some 360's and "S-turns". Steve and Tex observed from below while Roland had a much closer view!! All declared me ready to advance to my UltraSport which was already equipped with a fin.

The first thing I noticed was that the bar pressure was much less on the UltraSport than the Falcon -- which caused me to overcontrol at first. I quickly got the hang of it (no pun intended) and got comfortable. (NOTE: it was really hard not to take off thermal hunting after release -- as several pilots had already successfully done -- but my goal was to get tow experience so I buzzed directly back to launch each time).

The second UltraSport tow was like the second Falcon tow -- Roland challenged me with a number of 360's (I swear there was at least one 720!!) and some more "S-turns" and altitude changes. The UltraSport handled beautifully.

When I got down this time, Steve came over to get my feedback on the tows and my mental state -- how comfortable and confident was I during the flight, etc. A few minutes later he came back with my AT rating approval certificate for USGHA!! I'm a tow pilot!!!!

I've got to say I found Steve, Tex and Roland to have handled the whole process in a very professional manner. At the same time, their approach was to put the new tow pilot at ease. They took their time and described what to expect and explained proper tow technique. Clearly, safety was the first priority.

One of the tug pilots from Kittyhawk was on hand to observe and fly Manquin's tug. He said the Loadstar compared very favorably with the Dragonfly and even exceeded the Dragonfly's tow characteristics in some ways. He reported that the only feature the Dragonfly had that he could find was somewhat superior to the Loadstar was pilot visibility by virtue of the more forward location of the pilot in the Dragonfly.

Having observed other tow park operations and my awesome experience with Manquin, I'd have to give the Manquin guys an "A" for the quality of equipment and training at a reasonable price. I was very comfortable with the entire operation and enthusiastically recommend them to others.

Chuck

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This page last updated August 16, 1999