Ridgely Sat Aug 15

[Dan T]

Anyone else planning on going?

Dan T

[silverwings]

I am going to give it a try today. Who else?

[mcelrah]

I think I got there first and started setting up, followed by Bunkhouse Bob, Carlos, Erica (she crews a lot but actually flew this time!), John Middleton, Joe Gregor, couple more... Ellis' friends Judith and Gabi showed up and Gabi took a tandem with Rooney. Janni and Leoni were there to pack his Moyes for shipping to Germany. I was test-flying the U-2 after a typically expert repair by Steve Wendt. Zack dropped me under a big cloud west of the junkyard. I fumbled around and finally found the upwind side (east, duh) climbing from 2000 to 3400, then took a tour of clouds east of the airport for a 70 minute flight. Of course, I wore only short sleeves and no gloves. Feeling tired, hot, hungry, and bit peaked (earache), I broke down and went home. All the solo gliders had disappeared when I left. I expect some good flight reports... - Hugh

[stevek]

So am I the only one that encountered the mother of all traffic jams on the way to the bridge? Backed up all the way to 97. What was that? I diverted to High Rock where it is generally flyable in any kind of light air. It was ok. Ran it off in maybe 3 mph. Maintained over the tracks for awhile. Extendo certification pending. Sorry I missed the fun.

[DanTuck]

Yup, at least a 10 mile backup before the bridge. But fortunately halfway across the bridge traffic sped up and it was fine from then on. I didn't schedule anything but went out to hopefully sneak in a couple more tandems with Jim and if things went well and condidtions were okay, do my first solo. Well that's what happened! I had done 2 tandems a couple weeks ago and today I did two more and then soloed. Woohoo! I'm going back tomorrow morning to start working into more active conditions. Fun stuff! Thanks, Jim.

[mcelrah]

Congratulations, Dan. If you are like me, you will need to ask for the strap-on fin when you first tow your new U-2. - Hugh

[Matthew]

Hugh,

You and your strap-on. Stop telling the new guys they need a strap-on just because you did.

The U2 flies like a drem on tow-- no strap-on required. Doesn't need a fin either.

Matthew

[jimrooney]

Doesn't need a fin either.

Remember the P in PIO is Pilot.
It's not the glider that needs a fin.
Encouraging people to skip that step is just a bad idea.

Jim

[Dan T]

I got frustrated by the gridlock before the Wilson bridge and turned around. From the sounds of the reports on the radio and posted here, that would have been just the first of three major traffic jams. I am glad that those of you who went through all that had good flights.

Dan

PS My U2 skates a little on tow in active conditions. A little extra VG (around half) suppresses most of it. A fin would virtually eliminate it.

[mcelrah]

Matthew: read ALL of the sentence before hitting reply: "if you are like me..." - Hugh

[Matthew]

Encouraging people to skip that step is just a bad idea.

Jim


*******

But encouraging bad behavior is my new job---

Wear flip-flops and shorts when you fly

Full face helmets are for wimps

Fly alone!

Don't repack your parachute

Stop worrying about LZs on XC flights-- the lift will be there when you need it!!!!

Matthew

[Matthew]

Ooops.... missed one--

HURRAY FOR WUFFFOS!!!!

Matthew

[silverwings]

On my way to the bay bridge leaving Bethesda around 10:30 I hit some slow traffic on the beltway due to an accident on the outer loop but then fine until the last mile before the bridge which was very slow. Then traffic again a mile toward the split but since I go up 301 no problems. Probably overall added 20-30 minutes. I heard there was bad traffic going to the bridge later. Once Hugh showed that there was some doable lift, I got in line after Carlos and Zach dropped me (2:11 pm) off in some mild lift toward Ridgely. I found that lift was generally fairly light 100-200 fpm but now an then 400+. It turned out to be one of the funest fligths I have had for a long time. Would get in lift, get to the clouds (base ranging from 3500 - 3800) and once getting in speed up and fly out losing some, turn around and go back to the lift and repeat. I flew quite a bit over Ridgely during the day but as it got later the lift harder to find and lighter. Had a nice 2:25 flight! Yea.

[mcelrah]

Why bother with flip-flops?