Woodstock tomorrow (Tues, 8/25)

[Ward Odenwald]

Could be good, any interest?

Ward

[RichH]

I'm in...

[XCanytime]

Uh line of big thunderstorms just NNW of Winchester heading SE @ 25/30 MPH. Hope you guys are on the ground. Bacil

[Ward Odenwald]

Tuesday’s forecasts indicated that the Pulpit would be blown-out so Rich and I decided to try our luck at Woodstock. Conditions at launch were less than ideal during the morning with a significant west cross but by 2:30 pm the tower weather station was indicating a consistent 290+ degree direction and soon after there were acceptable launch windows, albeit short lived. Given the variable air flow up the slot, Rich decided to wait for another day. I took off at 2:56 with help from Rich and Joe Shad (who came out to help, Thanks!) and landed at 4:30. During the first 40 min, I basically bounced between 200 and 500 ft above the ridge line while trying to stay in small pockets of lift that I’d lose after a 180 or 360 turn. After that, I was able to stay in the lift and managed to climb above 3,000 ft MSL several times. My climb rates were between 150 and 300 fpm. The first fairly decent climb took me to just over 3,800 ft. What was notable about this thermal was that there where 5 or 6 Ravens also climbing above me. Soon after reaching 3,000 ft, two of them dropped below me and started to circle. The guy in front inverted and then the second also followed. I guess they rolled over to get a better look at me or just to show off or both, whatever, I enjoyed seeing them. Unfortunately, none of the Ravens were in any of my photos. I left each of these climbs while in weak lift as I was concerned about penetrating back to the ridge. The first 4 images are from the initial climb above 3 K and the last 5 photos show (in 30 second intervals) my approach into John McAllister’s field.

https://ayvri.com/scene/pmkem7gr5x/ckeb ... 52uiyuflqu


Ward

PS: The storm gust front that Bacil mentioned blasted across 81 just as I reached Strasburg on the drive home.

[Ward Odenwald]

Last set of five images

[krryerson]

Ward and other’s,
Thanks for sharing pictures and more.
I am off Wed-Thu-Fri for now and if future week days are flyable, keep me posted.
Knut