Due to the current insurance situation w/ the SAC, Allan Bawell, Will Hynla, and I opted to fly Ravens Haven yesterday. I arrived at 10A and put in streamers in the slot, set up the glider, and waited for Will and Allan to show up. It was already soarable, w/ lotsa clouds in the sky. Will was first to show up around 11:30A, w/ son Hiro in tow. Allan showed around noon+. I promptly launched at 12:30P into a nice cycle. I'll be honest; I was sweating bullets. 20 years since I had launched there, and hadn't flown but once since just before Thanksgiving. However, I had a nice strong launch, and flew fast out of the slot.
Clearing the slot, I pooshed out and rose up nicely. Turned left into an anticipated cross, and found plentiful lift to figure 8 in. Gained enough after a short while to get above the radio towers behind launch to be able to do a 360 towards the mountain. On the GPS, a strong xwind of 20 MPH was displayed, and varied from NW to WNW. So w/ this info I decided not to head east of launch and fight a headwind coming back. So I just enjoyed the views of the surrounding terrain that I hadn't seen in 20 years. Lift was plentiful, w/ some texture to it. Just intercepted the clouds rolling into the mountain and either flew upwind in lift lines or found an occasional thermal to circle in. Saw a pair of bald eagles frolicking in the air, trading power dives on each other 1000' above the mountain. It is mating season. Headed west a short distance to just past the new rock quarry that is being carved out of a finger of the mountain. Topped out at ~ 3400' MSL a few times. Allan launched about a half hour into my flight. He and I flew side by side for a few minutes, then he headed east to run the ridge up to Thompsontown.
After seeing an hour tick off on the timer, I decided to fly out and land. Gained a bunch of altitude on my way out to the LZ. Peaked at 3688' MSL on the way out. Hit major turbulence over the fields; the sun had just started shining on them just prior to me heading out. Had an accurate approach and burned it in all the way to the ground. And I had a great landing to boot. That hasn't happened in a long time. No mud on the knees! Was a struggle to carry the glider in the gusty winds on the ground, but was on top of it, remembering the debacle at Front Royal Airport in October 2023. Not but a few minutes after parking the glider in the winds Hiro shows up at the LZ, and he assists me in breaking down the glider in the strong surface winds. Mucho thanks to him.
After a while Will had a nice landing into the fresh wind, as did Allan a little later. Allan ran the whole ridge to the east. And he fought a strong crosswind on the way back, seeing a groundspeed of 8 MPH at times. They all had big grins on their faces; they were instrumental in reopening Ravens Haven to flying 3 years ago. Looking forward to the next opportunity to fly Ravens Haven and do some XC pieces of The Mission, connecting the Pulpit to the SAC. Bacil
Return to Ravens Haven after a 20 year hiatus
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