5/15/98 Spruce Knob, NNE 3 - 8; Claire Pagen and Ron Dively convince Larryboy,
JR, & Will to fly w/ them on a Friday afternoon. They were heading for Blacksburg, VA to attend
HG pilot, Richard Cobb's wedding and Spruce was pretty much on the way. Sled rides were had by
all, but it was a pretty day to take a 2600' sled ride.
5/16/98 High Pt, L~V (light SE?); JR,
Larryboy, Will ~ Marvin get sleds or extended sleds launching in essentially no wind lulls between
light down cycles.
5/17/98 - High Pt, NNW 5 - 10; the day started w/ very weak conditions. JR, Will,
Larryboy, & Marvin performed an aerial ballet trying to stay out of each others way while scratching
to stay up around launch. Things started getting better and they were soon joined by Dave Proctor
and Homer. As everyone started getting higher, flush cycles would come through and drop everyone
back to ridgetop level (or lower). JR succumbed to the last severe sink cycle and was scraped off the
NW Cliffs to land in the LZ. Things then busted loose and everyone was able to get over the back.
Will was the topgun w/ 59 mi to Milam, WV. Will's flight was unique in that he essentially did a ridge
run, hopping over the back as the opportunities arose. He landed in Pendleton Co just short of
Franklin, WV. Homer made Millison's Mill for13 mi, Larryboy got to Ft Ashby for 8 mi, Dave fell
on Short Gap for 6 mi, and Marvin pounded in short of Dave for 5 mi.
5/22/98 North Fork Mtn,
NW 10 - 15; Larryboy and George get an early start on Memorial Day weekend and it turns out this
Friday was the best day of the weekend, condition-wise. Larry made it to Judy Gap and then back
to Seneca Rocks over the course of a couple/few hours, George also had a good soaring flight but
chose not to venture quite as far from the LZ. He did make it down the main ridge almost as far as
the Rocks. He wasn't high enough there to get comfortably out to the Rocks, so he headed back
towards launch and then on out to the main LZ. Unfortunately, he misjudged his approach and
flew his glider into the steep hillside across the sinkhole from the barn. Nothing on George was
broken, but his complaints of stomach pain were of some concern, so we took him to the ER in
Elkins, WV and from there, he was lifeflighted to the WVU trauma center in Morgantown for
internal injuries. George has since been released from the hospital and should make a full
recovery. Homer took an extended sled as the sun was going down to end an eventful day.
5/23/98
- North Fork Mtn, L&V; an all too typical fly-in day in the Germany valley for the official start of the
Memorial Day weekend. We chased the wind from North Mtn, across the valley to Spruce and then
back to North Mtn (how can it be blowing down everywhere?). Gardinator proved to be the MAN
getting about 45 min above launch. Everyone else had varying degrees of success (sleds to short
soaring flights). The hay in the LZ was waist-high making an already difficult LZ even (it was more
fun watching the landings than making them). The pilots included: JR, Homer, Larryboy, Doug &
Christy, Mike B, Kelvin, Panties and Also present, but choosing not to fly were Wayne B, Marvin,
Ed Phillips, and Rick Holtz. This pretty much ended the flying portion of the weekend. We had
a nice pot luck dinner Saturday night w/ the usual musical interludes, but Sunday dawned w/ rain
pouring down and a forecast for more of the same. Most folks beat feet for home and spent the rest
of the weekend drying out their camping gear.
5/30/98 - High Pt, Lt WNW; this was a Mountaineer
Work Day w/ our best turnout ever. At one point, we had five lawnmowers and four weedeaters
going at the same time along w/ an assortment of hand tools. Some of the late avrivals showed up
in time to reap the karmic reward of our efforts as it turned on for awhile after we finished cutting.
It was scratchy bu soarable. Again, Gardinator was the MAN, getting approx 4850' MSL and about
an hour. Everyone else has varying degrees of success or non-success. JR got 25 min hanging on a
couple hundred feet below the NW Cliffs and was reminded of a valuable lesson about leaving lift
(even if it only equates to zero sink) as he bombed to the LZ as soon as he went in search of
something better. Also in attendance were Larryboy, Christy, Dave P, Marvin, Ben ~ LE, Stretch,
Danny, and Sheila. Doug and John Meyers were also there but didn't fly. Homer and Will inexplicably
left High Pt to try and fly the SE-facing Pinnacle site where they found it blowing down (DOEH!).
They beat feet back to the windward side of the mountain and flew from Fairgrds launch where Will
scratched around for about a half hour before sinking out. Homer ended up w/ a sled ride. JR had the
consolation of taking the spot money.
6/1/98 - High Pt, NW 10 - 20; Will and Larryboy take a
Monday off to go flying w/ Homer being the late arrival. They were climbing out at1500 fpm as
Homer was setting up. Will made 59 miles to the base of the Blue Ridge along Rt 7 choosing to
avoid the restricted airspace on the far side of the mountain. Larryboy made Slanesville, WV for 21
miles and Homedaddy ended up in the LZ (on his knees) after failing to find his ticket to ride.
6/6/98
- Zirks, NNW 5 - 15; Homer launched first and almost immediately was headed over the back on
what started out as a great-looking day. Overdevelopment quickly started to shut things down and
kept everyone else low over the ridge. Homer made it to Points, WV for 14 miles. Will was able to
get away from the ridge and landed at Hayfield, VA for 36 mi. Larryboy was the last one to get away
and he made it to Spring Gap Mtn for 18.5 mi. JR played Mother Goose and escorted his goslings
(Marvin &Stretch) out to the Rt 220 LZ to the delight of the spectators who had stopped along the
highway to watch the fun.
6/4/98 High Pt, WNW 5 - 15; Larryboy & JR boat low over the ridge
for most of the day, although conditions did improve as the day progressed. The buzzards were less
skittish than usual and didn't seem to mind scratching around with the boys. JR took the spot money
after Larry whacked and bent his keel (not that he whacked that hard).
6/18/98 - Woodstock, NW
10 - 20 (?); Homer and Kevin Madden get 2.5 and 3.5 hours 
respectively on this Thursday. No other
details were available at press time.
6/20/98 - High Pt, NW 5 - 15; a good turnout indicative of the
promising forecast. Everyone soared and some folks made it XC. Larry H made it 54.4 mi to
Berryville, VA, Larryboy made Millison's Mill for 13 mi, Christy got to Levels, WV for 15 mi, JR
tried replicating Will's ridge run flight but came up a little short when he got drilled after making
it to Zirks and ended up landing in Charlie's field, Doug, Greg, and Stretch all landed in the main
LZ.
6/21/98 - Fisher's Rd, S 0 - 8; the day started out looking great, but looks can be deceiving.
Larry H, Will, & JR get sleds or extended sleds. Then Paul Donahue gets a brief soaring flight,
followed hy Marvin who has the day's best flight getting about 50' above launch for 25 minutes.
Homer takes his sled and then plants a cherry tree as a memorial for the LZ owner's son-in-law who
recently passed away. Will and JR take a second sled followed Kevin Madden and Kelly Billings. JR
was inspired to take his second sled after a good-looking female instructor from Kitty Hawk showed
up asking for some assistance and in true Sir Walter Raleigh-tradition, he was only too happy to
oblige. The communal de-briefing was held at the Breezewood Pizza Hut.