Towfarm Sunday 12/6. Geoff, Marc, Mike C, Sheila, Joe, Craig W, Jackie W, Chuck Pyle, Dale R

Sleds all around, uneventful except that Mike C and I sledded downwind for xc miles. The idea got started early in the day while the winds were stronger, coming from the w or sw at 10-15. The winds slackened considerably through the afternoon, so that when we flew the tailwind effect was not as significant as it might have been earlier. Mike glided 6 or 7 miles to Hackett Corner from a 3,000' tow. I was blessed with an extra-altitude tow to 4100' (wow!!) at 3:00pm and immediately headed east, thinking that was were Mike was. I changed course direction when I found out Mike was further north and I ended up in Unicorn for 8.57 miles. It was my first xc from the towfarm and my second furthest xc to date, further than both my Pulpit over-the-backs, and my 11th xc flight to date.

It was an interesting flight in a few respects. On most xc flights, the goal is to find lift, stay up, and go further. On this flight, there was no lift, so the only way to extend the flight was to maximize the glide. The sink rate during the entire flight was around 250 fpm (feet per minute). As I flew I tried to estimate how far ahead I would be able to glide and eventually I started to do this estimation with a view to finding the best fields by the best roads with the easiest access to Route 301. (301 is a major road and was the only four lane divided hwy in view; it's easy to pick out from the air and easy to reference from the ground. Unfortunately there were lots of trees around it, so I picked a different road to land near.) Miraculously, I had a great landing in calm conditions and touched down exactly where I had intended, into the wind at the edge of the fenceline in a huge field right by the road (Rt 313). Even though I arrived at this field with 1200 feet of altitude I decided to stay because ahead there were trees and a town and the biggest fields were further away from the road. Besides, things were starting to move pretty fast and it was nice to be able to have the extra time to check things out and fine tune my approach plan.

Another interesting thing about the experience is that I was a little bit scared about going (xc), even with conditions being so benign and 90% of the Delmarva peninsula being a landing field at this time of year. I knew in my head that the flight was well within my acceptable risk level but that wasn't enough to make it easy for me.

Non-AT rated Chuck Pyle who had joined us for the day generously came to get us. The radios worked flawlessly and retrieves were uncomplicated. What a surprise of a day it turned out to be--my second longest xc was a sled! On a balmy December day, no less!

Judy