MHGA Airtimes - Western Edition

5/26/99 - High Pt; Homer, Will, and Marvin flew and soared, but no further information was available.

5/29/99 - High Pt; Winds were light WSW with almost no drift aloft. Marvin went off early due to other commitments and had an extended sled. It was a very cyclic day and if you got off at the right time and could hang on, it was a good day with gains to 9000' MSL. Pete Lehmann got away first on his Attack Falcon, but lawn-darted it to PCR for 4.6 mi. JR got away next but ended up with only 12 mi. to the Hwy Dome field; Homer and Will got away last and had the best flights. Homer got 23.1 mi. just e/o Slanesville, WV and Will won the day with 31.3 mi. to Hayfield, VA. Larryboy, Panties, and John Fenner had the misfortune of being flushed to the LZ. John Myers got an hour and a 1700' gain.

5/30/99 - High Pt; A strong WSW day found JR, Homer, Larryboy, Will, and Panties bumping heads at times. Homer and JR succumbed to a flush cycle. Panties only barely hung on before getting back up. He and Larryboy end up getting 12 mi. to the Hwy Dome field and Will gets to Rt. 522 for 30.3 mi. JR takes Homer on the spot contest for a slight victory in what was otherwise an unspectacular performance.

6/5/99 - Spruce Knob; A typical Spruce day with light S winds. Marvin, JR, Homer (with Dawn), Danny and Stretch make the Bataan Death March up the hill. Everyone but Stretch got extended sleds or brief soaring flights before getting flushed. Stretch hung in there for a few minutes above the ridge to delight the spectators.

6/6/99 - North Mtn; Someone once wrote something about the person who fails to learn from history and is destined to repeat it. Will, Homer (with Dawn), and JR arrive on top of Spruce early to find the wind blowing down. Against the advice of the smartest person in the group, they decide to make the long trek across the valley. They spend most of the afternoon watching it blow down at the North Mtn ramp. There were some very occasional lulls which allowed them to take their downwind dives into the LZ. Downwind dives off that ramp can be very exciting!

6/13/99 - Pinnacle; JR, Will, and Mike C get sleds or extended sleds on this light ENE day. Gardinator shows them how it's done by getting to the LZ high enough to work one up to 1000' over launch and _ hr.

6/19/99 - Spruce Knob; A very strong day for Spruce with E winds 10 - 25 mph. Will and Larryboy had the day's best flights getting to Yocum.s Campground for about 14 mi. Danny, Stretch, JR, and Homer (with Dawn) end up in the LZ after boating. It was a pretty good day for Spruce with gains to 6000' MSL (about 1500' over launch).