Daniels Saturday 2/9

[XCanytime]

The timing, velocity, and direction look good for most of the day. Getting there early. Janni I believe is coming. Any other takers?

Bacil

[RedBaron]

That's right.

[Dan T]

Last I looked the forecast was pretty strong there. Couple that with the rotor that comes from even a little right cross at that site and you could have a wild ride coming out of that slot. I've been bucked much harder there than I ever have at Woodstock or the Pulpit.

Be careful and be ready, there is a good chance you will get spanked as soon as you clear the slot.

Dan T

[rlweber]

Dan is right a westerly cross can result in a nasty rotor. Bacil's plan to be there early fits in forecast, from what I see. Bacil, what is your eta. I think I will go for an early flight also, or at least check it out.

Randy Weber

[Flying Lobster]

Heya Randy--

Nice to hear from ya--wish I could be there to fly with you but I'm down in FL right now. Conditions have been pretty good here--unusually hot even for FL.

Have great flights!

marc

[mcelrah]

I am inspired by this thread and loading the car. It's looking lighter than it did yesterday. Is everyone still in? - Hugh

[markc]

I'm thinking about it, since tomorrow looks non-flyable.
Willing to carpool too...

MarkC
301-807-5414

[markc]

Janni's already at launch (5-10, crossing slightly from the left/SE).
Hugh's on the road, and I will be in 10 minutes or so. I hear that
a bunch of PG pilots are heading out too... So come on down and
join the party!

MarkC

[XCanytime]

Hit the road early to gray skies and spitting rain. By the time I got to near Madison at 9:30A it had cleared up and the sun was out. Got to launch at 10:15A to find Janni already setting up in the road. The road up the mountain was in its usual crappy state. Leisurely set up to light conditions but plenty of sun since the sky was completely clear. Randy Weber arrived after 11A with Dave Bodner, Jody, and Laszlo in tow. Jim Kaplan and Ellis arrived to round out the PGers, with Hugh and a pilot from Charlottesville adding more HGers to the mix. Laszlo took off and had a nice 20 minute or so extendo, never getting above launch. We noticed that cumies started popping to the SW of us and coming our way. It was looking good. Ellis had a nice extendo flight. Jim Kaplan had a soaring flight with plenty of clouds popping in the sky, but he wasn't getting but about 200' above the ridge. We also noticed the birds were only getting a few hundred over in the light thermals, then bailing out and heading elsewhere. The conditions on launch were still light, even with the sky showing so much activity. So the HGers waited for "better" conditions. The local sky then got decked over and the winds died to nil. So we waited while Ellis and Laszlo took a few more extendos. A few more HG arrivals occurred: Mark C., Dan, Glen Hardy, Greg, and a pilot from Charlottesville. Finally around 3P the local sky cleared somewhat and wind started coming up the slot, albeit still light, but it was something to launch in. Ellis took a cycle and extendoed to the west LZ. Janni had a nice launch in a stronger cycle and nabbed a thermal to the east and got up above launch. I got into position and yelled clear. The nose yawed a little left as I started my walk-jog, so I tried twisting the nose to the right. I wasn't able to yaw the nose much back so I kept the nose angle low and powered down the slot. The nose yawed back straight and I got airborne with good speed and turned right as I exited the slot. Was met with a pretty good sinkhole, so I had to turn away from the mountain and head back towards launch. Another sinkhole greeted me and now I'm not far above the tree canopy. The sinkhole also banked me to the left towards the crown of the lone tree that rose above the rest of the canopy. Vigorously banked to the right to raise the left wing and get the hell out of there and get some much needed clearance from the trees. Headed to the east to where Janni was above the ridge. Punchy lift that I couldn't core, so I headed out to the west field and put down nicely with assistance from the streamers atop the spine in the field. Hustled off the field since Janni was coming out to land. Parked the glider, unhooked, and Ellis and I watched Janni deploy his drogue chute on his downwind leg. His downwind leg was long and put him behind the "border" of the field, where the old fence used to be. On base he hit massive sink and decided to land in a field further downwind. Ellis and I watched as he headed towards the road, barely in our view. We then saw the trees that he was flying towards, and saw him flare vigorously into the trees, probably about 20' up from the ground. The glider then tailslid and the nose rotated to the left, and we were unable to see Janni. Ellis hightailed it over there while I grabbed my radio and beelined it as well. We found Janni already unhooked and out of his harness walking around and OK except for a small scratch/cut under his right eye. Back at launch Randy, Dave, Hugh, and the pilot from Charlottesville launched and soared. It had turned on. The soaring pilots all landed on purpose between 3:45P and 4P due to commitments. But no other pilots had launched after the fantastic four . Janni and I walked back up the mountain to get some exercise to retrieve our vehicles. Apparently the other pilots didn't launch because the wind had shut down abruptly after the last of the fantastic four launched. My trip down in the truck sucked since I hadn't turned my truck around and had to back down the road to the switchback, with two bottom outs on rocks on the way down, and two more before arriving at the "good" part of the road. Glad I don't fly Daniels frequently, with the abuse the undercarriage gets.

Bacil

[RedBaron]

I would like to thank Glen, Gregory, Mark, Dan, Dave, Ellis and Jodie for sticking by me and helping extract and break down the glider. I would also like to thank you for your kind words, especially Dan's, that really helped a lot. I'm very sorry for the trouble I have put you all to. I promise I'll do better the next time I fly Daniels

[brianvh]

Hey, more experienced guys than you have ended up in the hospital trying to land at Daniel's. As it was, you weren't really hurt and provided Bacil with the basis for a good cliffhanger of a story. Save your apologies for blowing it at an easy more familiar site.

[brianvh]

Hey, more experienced guys than you have ended up in the hospital trying to land at Daniel's. As it was, you weren't really hurt and provided Bacil with the basis for a good cliffhanger of a story. Save your apologies for blowing it at an easy more familiar site.

[Matthew]

Janni,

Glad you are okay. How's the new glider? Just curious-- How many flights on it? Do you have you restricted landing approach sign-off? Will you be filing an accident report and/or coming to the meeting to discuss the incident?

Matthew

[mcelrah]

I found out later that at least four pilots ended up breaking down on top: Mark C., Dan T., Glenn and Greg. Apparently it went dead about 3:30. I feel sorry for that because these guys helped me and others with rides to the top, glider repair, tree extraction, etc. It's the people who really make this sport.

Hey Janni, don't kick yourself too much. Sure it hurts to put the first scratch on a new car/truck/glider, but just get back on the horse that threw you, smarter, and become the master of that bladewing!

- Hugh