Flying 9/5 & 9/6

[silverwings]

Some forecasts look NNW and some NNE for Saturday. Anyone have thoughts about where or even if for Saturday? Sunday looks really good for Ridgely with good thermal activity. (202) 409-2574 c

[lbunner]

I'm headed to Ridgely this morning. Direction looks north at 10 mph with cloud base at 5000+. Good day to try to go to Campbell Airfield.

[carweill]

Heading to Ridgely as well


Carlos

[mcelrah]

Go, humans, go! Sailing and a party today. Mountaineers Seneca Rocks encampment Sunday-Monday. Hoping to fly Spruce Knob. - Hugh

[tdilisio]

Contemplating heading to Highland Sunday for an AM towing refresher then an afternoon tow or 2 if conditions are okay.... Anyone else plan on heading there?

[silverwings]

A number of pilots flew there on Saturday though I don't know how good it was for them. The thermal index looks fairly good today (Sunday), so I am going to give it a try. Come join me.

[silverwings]

A bit on the breezy side and the lift wasn't as good as expected though the clouds looked good with base around 2600. Carlos, Christian, Bob, me, and some tandems flew until about 3:00 when they shut down operations. Bob got the best flight of the day with about an hour, I got 20 min after release. A few others there including Dan Tomlinson, Tony, and David that didn't fly. Looks like Bills was the place to go.

[mcelrah]

Homer and family, Mark & Sheila Gardner (And Bridget and Charlotte), paraglider pilot Ron Hott, Sallie and I made up the Mountaineers complement at Seneca Rocks. The others arrived too late on Saturday to fly, so Sallie's and my Sunday arrival wasn't too bad. We caught up with everybody at the Spruce Knob launch. I took one look at the wind and threw in with the hang-gliders, leaving Ron to await moderating wind. Problem was the same as a year and half ago: no one present knew how to get to the PG LZ right out front (HG LZ is a long glide to the other side of a smaller mountain in the Germany Valley out front). Homer launched first (first time his girls had ever seen him fly), then Mark. Sallie and Ron helped me launch - and it was already backing down. None of us found any strong lift although the air was smooth and buoyant. It was a very nice extended (2000 foot) sled from the highest point in West Virginia (4750 msl). I made a *perfect* no-step landing in the huge LZ, if I do say so myself. Sallie, Ron and I went looking for the road to the PG LZ via Circleville (LE had e-mailed me directions a few months ago, but they got lost in the plethora of e-mails). Here are the directions, as we discovered them:

From 33 south, cross a small bridge into Circleville, take the second right on Upper Timber Ridge Road. After about a mile and a half at the split between Sponagle Rd. and Vivian Bennett Rd, take the right for Vivian Bennett. There is a gate a bit further on, but it wasn't locked. When you get to the "if you can read this you are within range" sign, you have arrived. There is a huge flat grassy field on the top of a saddle to the south. There is also a bowl. BEWARE of the power lines bisecting the bowl. Maybe LE can add any further landowner protocol when she gets back from Bulgaria...

We would have gone back up and launched PGs but it had started raining. Had a fine pot luck dinner back at camp amid spatters of rain (nothing serious though). There was a rather good live band playing at the "Higher Ground" coffee shop across from Yokum's and Harper's stores. That shut down at 11, but the campsite next door (the band's) lit off at 2 AM (grrr!).

Sunday, we had a fine breakfast at Higher Ground, then Sallie took an obligatory dip in the swimming hole at Seneca Rocks. We packed up and went up to launch only to find 23 mph wind. Still, there is progress: we now know how to find the PG LZ from the landward side and have walked it. Gonna keep trying - hopefully get a nice sunny soaring day there...

- Hugh