Dickey's 18 April

[mcelrah]

Ellis, Tom C. Ben Brooks, Charlie G., Tamas and his wife Em (driver) made the lemming march to Woodstock and all started setting up. Tom took a flight and got hammered on the way to the bridge field - radioed back that we should NOT launch because it was 90 degrees west cross. We reluctantly complied and reset to Dickey's where we were joined by Noah, Stephane and David from Charlottesville. [The slot has been beautifully cleared by the work party organized by Joe Schad and at looks like some of the trees out front have been felled by the park service.] As soon as David raised his wing, it turned right into a significant NW cross (opposite to the experience at Woodstock, which might have been fine by then...), but he controlled it beautifully and proceeded to have the LOCAL flight of the day for an estimated hour, struggling at first but getting a "low" save out front and climbing to 7700. Tamas skied out and went XC, for 23 miles to 66 at Gainesville at similar altitude, noting a commuter airliner below and within a mile of him. Noah struggled with the cross, which kept putting his wing in a small tree to the left of the slot. This did not fill us with confidence since he is an excellent pilot, but I was able to get away cleanly (substitute luck for skill) and climbed 900 feet over the VOR, but lost courage for following the thermal over the back (in my defense, this was only my second flight ever at Dickey's), so kept coming back out front, but it must have been the last thermal of the day (5 PM). Ellis got up in it, but she also was kicking herself for not staying with the thermal. She at least was liberated from "LZ suck" and landed down Browntown Road at Poorhouse Road. Ben also chose a landing field north of the LZ. Tom made it to 66 at the Linden/Front Royal exit and boosted an interesting ride back to his vehicle in Manassas from someone who is having a barbecue on 2 May in Browntown and invited anyone who can arrive by air... Ellis, Stephane, and I celebrated/commiserated with an excellent meal at Element in Front Royal. - Hugh

[mcelrah]

Correction: Tamas flew to before Marshall VA - Gainesville would have been a violation of the ADIZ, of which he was well aware. Nevertheless, Tom C. has provided us with a list of waypoints for defining the airspace on one's GPS so you can see where you are in relation to the ADIZ. - Hugh

[mcelrah]

Correction of the correction, based on inspection of the Terminal Area Chart (skyvector.com): Gainesville would have been a violation had he been above 1899 feet MSL, but he didn't fly that far anyway. - Hugh