SAC on the 1st day of spring

[XCanytime]

Heading up to the SAC tomorrow afternoon to celebrate the 1st day of spring. Should be good. Planning on getting there around 3:30P after a half day of work. C'mon up.

Bacil

[hepcat1989]

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[mcgowantk]

I plan to be there with a driver around 11:00.

Tom

[POLISH EAGLE]

If you guys change your plans and head to Pulpit or HR tomorrow than give me call. I could be there around 2:00PM.
cell# 301 370-1442
Krystof

[XCanytime]

Just got word that the Pittsburgh pilots were getting to 9K' MSL today at Templeton. Bodes quite well for the SAC tomorrow. May have to try to get there a little earlier, like 2:30P. Bacil

[tdilisio]

OK... Talked me into it. Heading out now. Could not reach URL in Site guide. Can someone call me and give me the phone number of the site contact for first timers? 540-664-5467 See ya up there... an a few hours.

[mcgowantk]

I had a nice day at the Sac. Arrived around 11:00. Winds looked great but snow showers were building and it od'd for the next couple of hours. I finally launched around 1:00 as things were improving but the sky didn't open up for an hour or so. After an hour of flying around the ridge to the east trying to get up in the now improving conditions, I took a good thermal to about 5700 over launch and went over the back. Flying the first 15 miles over the mountain ridges was pretty easy. Lots of sun, some nice clouds to thermal under, and the always great views. The only downside was the cold. I stayed high for a while and my hands paid the price. Once out in the flats, things were still somewhat od'd and soft. I made somewhere around 30 miles, landing at the Middle Creek wildlife management area, if I remember correctly. Overall, a fun day even if I didn't go big miles.

Tom McGowan

[tdilisio]

Well... I drove, and drove, and drove some more. The further north I got... the crappier the weather became. Went from clear sky in Winchester to overcast and snow showers, north of Harrisburg . First day of spring my ass!! It was cold!! A arrived about 1130ish, and Tom Mcgowan was there setting up. Being my first Sacramento flight, he graciously took me down to both LZ's and went over the approach patterns... Thanks Tom. Joe arrived and I took care of the legalities for flying that site. Joe and Karen wired and I was off at about 3PM ish. I got to about 1000-1200 over launch. I was hovering around launch for about a half an hour and hit a big sink cycle. Couldn't find any lift.... probably was too far out in front to benefit from the ridge lift... and too low. So I headed out to the primary. Turned from base to final a little high, (fortunately there were no crops).. and landed about 15 yards into the corn. (Thanks for the car delivery Karen) There were 3 pilots that got about 4K+ over launch. I was in awe. How do they do that?? A great bunch of people up there. So... apparently... overcast and snow showers means things are happening in the air. Had Tom not told me that I would have called it a day. I was thinking driving up there that it was going to be a bad day... but quite the opposite... it was a great day.

[mcgowantk]

Tony

I am glad you had a good flight. I was about a mile down the ridge to the right of you. I was trying to intercept clouds as they drifted over the ridge. Don't be too hard on your landing. The main LZ at the Sac is pretty complex with hills, roads, and crops. You did a good job, especially considering you didn't get a chance to see someone else land there first. See you out soon.

Tom