High Point Monday: Record Day (longish)

[lplehmann]

Jim Rowan on his Sport 2 "Utility Glider", Will Jenkins on a Talon, and I on my Falcon showed up to take a shot at a good forecast that had me chomping at the bit. It was blue in Pittsburgh, but Jim told me on the phone that the clouds were already popping in the mountains at 10:30.

By the time we got to launch after one o'clock the clouds were fabulous looking, with a light wind blowing in, regularly augmented by strong thermals. With the knowledge from Will that Cumberland airport's automated weather was reporting the clouds to be at 8,500agl, I was going nuts to get off the hill. I launched first and within minutes I was climbing off the ridge at 600fpm. Jim followed shortly after me and Will was last off about half an hour behind him.

My first climb petered pretty quickly at about four grand which was literally over a mile below cloudbase. I slowly worked a series of weakish thermals up to about six grand where things again improved and got me to 9957msl, a personal record flying in the east. What frosted me was that I still wasn't at cloudbase and I really wanted to see 10,000 on the altimeter. Oh well, masking my immense disappointment, I started on course towards Massanutten Mountain, my goal for the day. I wanted to get to the Woodstock lz from High Point.

In the meantime Jim was finally getting high off the ridge at 800fpm after getting stuck for a bit. He didn't get quite as high as I had before heading on course, but we were in business. Will, the last launcher, got seriously stuck on the ridge, in fact he briefly wound up below the northwest rock cliffs which were already 300ft below launch. However, he made it up the delay by beaming out and immediately getting to 10,000msl, the first time I have heard a fellow pilot call that altitude in an eastern thermal (it's been done elsewhere, and, of course, Nelson Lewis has gotten to 12,200msl in a Wooodstock wave).

The wind aloft was only 8-10mph, but it was not downwind to our desired waypoint of Strasburg, the north end of the Woodstock ridge, so Jim and I continually worked our way south by jumping streets. Despite the incredible altitudes we were seeing, that wasn't easy for me on the Falcon. When cloudbase is that high the thermal spacing is also much wider. In addition, the clouds were not terribly long-lived which made getting to them before they died was tough flying at the Falcon's glacial best glide speeds.

Past Springfield, about fifteen miles out, Jim caught up to me and found what turned into the mother of all thermals. After an ordinary beginning the thermal eventually went to a steady, smooth 900-1,000fpm. It didn't last very long, perhaps 1,500ft, but it was a fabulous thermal and in the end it got JR to base at 10,019 msl. Friggin' amazing!

Perhaps that excellent climb and the extraordinary altitudes made me too damn cocky, and I now made a grievous decision error, chasing a cloud into bad terrain where I was going to be in trouble if I didn't find any lift. And the cloud dissolved as I committed into the trees up against a wide mountain. I was too low to cross the mountain, and too low to venture away from my one safe lz, a little golf course in the foothills of the mountain. So, that's where I landed, picking a crosswind fairway to avoid the long sharply downhill ones into the wind. Thirty six miles for me, but I was kicking myself for being such an idiot.

In the meantime Jim had climbed back to 8,500msl and was off into the Shenandoah Valley, headed for the north end of Woodstock's Massanutten Mountain.

Will, who'd not been working his way south as Jim and I had, was on a track some ten miles north of ours. However, with his Talon he was making good time, and when he needed to he began a sharp southeasterly jog to head for Strasburg as well.

Jim got onto the ridge first and began working his way southward towards the Woodstock lz. Unfortunately, he found the lift sporadic and the ridge itself wasn't soarable so that in the end he had to land one spine short of the proper lz for 52.2 miles. But the best part of his chosen lz is that moments after landing a four-wheeler came racing up with Hubbel French, the local pilot with whom Jim had recently been to Costa Rica. Jim's lz was in fact Hubble's family farm.

Finally, Will showed up to land with Jim at Hubbel Airport. Our driver Darrell had picked me up just as I finished breaking down, and we were at the lz minutes after Will landed. After a quick break-down, and a stop enroute for the requisite debriefing refreshments we headed back to Cumberland.

What a helluva day...and today Martinsburg's TAF forecast predicts 9,000agl clouds.

Lordy, but I had this sport. But my Momma makes me do it.

Pete Lehmann

[brianvh]

Does Hubbel ever fly woodstock? Can't believe I've never heard of the guy
and he's on the woodstock ridge.

Brian Vant-Hull
301-646-1149

On Tue, 19 Apr 2005, lplehmann wrote:

>
> Jim got onto the ridge first and began working his way southward towards the Woodstock lz. Unfortunately, he found the lift sporadic and the ridge itself wasn't soarable so that in the end he had to land one spine short of the proper lz for 52.2 miles. But the best part of his chosen lz is that moments after landing a four-wheeler came racing up with Hubbel French, the local pilot with whom Jim had recently been to Costa Rica. Jim's lz was in fact Hubble's family farm.
>
> Finally, Will showed up to land with Jim at Hubbel Airport. Our driver Darrell had picked me up just as I finished breaking down, and we were at the lz minutes after Will landed. After a quick break-down, and a stop enroute for the requisite debriefing refreshments we headed back to Cumberland.
>

[Scott]

I think Hubbel is a relatively new pilot (H2?), trained down at Kitty Hawk, possibly elsewhere?

Scott

[Matthew]

Hubble-- haven't met him. He's been working with Homer and Adam and flying WS. Steve K. has Observed him.

Matthew

[hankh2rbc]

Hubble French is a Steve Wendt student.
?
Hank
?
-----Original Message-----
From: Matthew [mailto:adventuretales@yahoo.com]
Sent: Tuesday, April 19, 2005 1:19 PM
To: hg_forum@chgpa.org
Subject: High Point Monday: Record Day (longish)
?
Hubble-- haven't met him. He's been working with Homer and Adam and flying WS. Steve K. has Observed him.

Matthew

<![if !supportLineBreakNewLine]> <![endif]>

[Flying Lobster]

I thought Hubble French was a telescope circling earth, pointing down in the hopes of discovering new beautiful women in a state of undress.

marc

[mcelrah]

He's a young H2 who's family owns several properties in the area. He
cuts hay for just about all the landowners and knows them all well.
His dad is interested in buying a tug and towing from one of their
farms. We should elect French "director for Shenandoah landowner
relations". - Hugh

On 19 Apr 2005, at 10:53, Vant-Hull - Brian wrote:

>
>
> Does Hubbel ever fly woodstock? Can't believe I've never heard of the
> guy
> and he's on the woodstock ridge.
>
> Brian Vant-Hull
> 301-646-1149
>
> On Tue, 19 Apr 2005, lplehmann wrote:
>
>>
>> Jim got onto the ridge first and began working his way southward
>> towards the Woodstock lz. Unfortunately, he found the lift sporadic
>> and the ridge itself wasn't soarable so that in the end he had to
>> land one spine short of the proper lz for 52.2 miles. But the best
>> part of his chosen lz is that moments after landing a four-wheeler
>> came racing up with Hubbel French, the local pilot with whom Jim had
>> recently been to Costa Rica. Jim's lz was in fact Hubble's family
>> farm.
>>
>> Finally, Will showed up to land with Jim at Hubbel Airport. Our
>> driver Darrell had picked me up just as I finished breaking down, and
>> we were at the lz minutes after Will landed. After a quick
>> break-down, and a stop enroute for the requisite debriefing
>> refreshments we headed back to Cumberland.
>>
>
>

[mcelrah]

Naw, it's patrolling for signs of MacDonalds being constructed in any
part of Provence/Bordeaux/Burgundy/Alsace so the SWAT team can respond
with deadly force. - Hugh

On 19 Apr 2005, at 18:32, Flying Lobster wrote:

> I thought Hubble French was a telescope circling earth, pointing down
> in the hopes of discovering new beautiful women in a state of undress.
>
> marc
>
>
>
> got art?
> http://www.marcfink.com/
> wanna fly?
> http://www.downeastairsports.com/
>
>
>

[pink_albatross]

Gawd, Pete!
how freakin amazing!
Thoroughly enjoyed reading about you guys's flights!
Did you go again the next day?

-- ellis