Thursday Flying???

[Matthew]

I have off on Veteren's Day and Karen can get a half day off. Thinking of heading to Highland because it will be warm.

Anyone else????

Matthew

[mcelrah]

I think I spoke too soon last night: I *can* get Thursday off and Ridgely would enable me to fly and wrap it up early so I can get home to host Mom.

Around the table at Strasburg Inn, there was some sentiment for flying the mountains Thursday if possible...

[kcarra]

Ridgely is closing for the season on Nov 14th, so it will be one of the last times this year to support them. They have had a lot of blown out days this year. Unfortunately at this point it's looking possible that it might be strong Thursday as well, but hopefully the forecast will lighten up.

[silverwings]

I am hoping to go flying on Thursday since I have taught both weekend days except 1 for the last 4 weeks!

[sailin]

I am in for flying on Thursday. I'll keep an eye on this thread and see where the masses are heading.......

Jon

[chuckok]

Subscribig to this thread ... Let's see where the wind blows ...

[rasmussenv]

I do want to get out to Ridgely before they close. In my falcon, when the thermal outlook is good, I prefer flying Ridgely on very low wind days. That way I don't get pulled too far afield. Right now Saturday or Sunday are looking better to me - if thermal conditions shape up. As I don't have to have an observer there, it'll work for me to go on a different day, so no worries.

If I'm reading it correctly, none of the days look particularly promising for Woodstock or Pulpit in terms of wind direction.

[mcelrah]

I need to fly tomorrow in such a way that I get home on time - my 90-year-old mother is coming - so I plan on going to Ridgely.

Valerie, please contact me off-line for a possible alternative flying venue for you.

- Hugh

[mcelrah]

OK, Ellis is advertising Bill's Hill on the PG list (they keep their communications separate so the Hizbollah wing of the HG group can't frag them) and is willing to unobserve the H2s. Matthew says it will be too north and besides the slot is overgrown for HG. Undeterred, Jon Brantley is willing to do some clearing in hopes of flying. Valerie, you may want to jump in. I have loppers, a saw, etc. if you guys want to borrow them. Doesn't the club own some sort of solid-blade weed whacker?
- Hugh

[Matthew]

Either David "The Bod" Bodner or Matt Ingram has the club weed wacker.

Matthew

[silverwings]

From what I can see on the forecasts, it looks like Bills Hill will be very light 2 - 4 mph and Ridgely will be moderate breezy so I am tentatively planning on Ridgely. Will see how it looks in the morning.

[mingram]

I've got the club weed-wacker, and yes there's a solid blade attachment. I can't make it tomorrow, but I live in Arlington and can arrange a drop-off somewhere tonight if needed.

Posting from the future...

Matt

[g.sessa]

I am interested in flying tomorrow. I'll check the weather and postings in the morning. Tentatively planning on Ridgely.....

[sailin]

I'm going to check in with the weather and Ellis in the AM and see if the PG'ers are heading out to Bill's Hill. Still keeping my eye on what's happening at Ridgely too.
More than likely if the PG'ers are heading to Bill's Hill I will head out there as well, with the hope of clearing out the launch area......and maybe get a sled ride or two in if conditions permit.
Hi Matt Ingram. I won't be able to pick up the weedwhacker tonight (I'm way out of position) but maybe we can figure something out for the morning. Is there somewhere safe you could leave it and I could pick it up on my way to Bill's Hill tomorrow morning?

thanks,
Jon

[stevek]

Anybody want to try Gary's Beach? Speed looks good (10 +) but direction is a little iffy. NNE is ok but not N. Needs some east. I may go check it out. 202 812 8305

[Matthew]

The bay is calling for NNE 10-15 with gust to 20 all day and night-- small craft advisory.

Looks too windy for Highland and we don't have enough time to get to Bill's.

Plan B -- Climbing at Carderock.

Anyone up for scaling some rock? eta 1:45pm.

Call me-- 301 two seven 0- one 8 six 2

Matthew

[sailin]

I am heading out the door to meet Ellis at Bill's Hill. Looks VERY light but at least we'll get some clearing work done for the next East day and MAYBE get lucky, catch a good cycle and get a flight in.
I woud love to fly Gary's Beach sometime...I have talked with him about it and it seems like a really cool site!...and its not far from home
Amy and I are considering Ridgely tomorrow if the wind settles down for us.

hope everyone has an awesome day where ever you end up.

Jon

[g.sessa]

Going to try Ridgely today.....

[mcelrah]

Sallie and I kited at Colmar Manor. She gained some confidence and made noticeable improvements. I got some practice too. Wind was just enough to keep the wing overhead if you kept moving upwind.
Gorgeous day! - Hugh

[silverwings]

Winds on the surface were light to 6 mph and not strong up at altitude but lift was very minimal so Greg, myself, and Ridgely student Paul just got sleds. I only did one but both Greg and Paul did 4 - 6 flights each. Atleast we got to fly.

[kcarra]

Wow! Glad you guys got to fly. I have a friend who was working on the roof of his Dad's house n Grasonville-- near the outlet mall in Queenstown. He said it was so windy today that he almost got blown off the roof.

Matthew

[sailin]

I just got back from a beautiful day at Bills Hill. Sunny, blue skies and a t-shirt!!. When I arrived, Ellis and PG'er David had just gotten there as well. After checking out launch and deciding it wasn't really in that bad of shape at all......, and there was a light breeze blowing fairly straight in.......and a couple locals trying to soar out front.........we decided that weed whacking could wait a bit and we all set up. David was off first with his PG and did mostly a sled run with some tiny bumps along the way. As I was getting suited up Carlos showed up. Minutes later I launched into a nice light, straight in breeze, headed left a little bit but started to sink ever so slowly...........there were some small bumps of lift but nothing I could seem to stay in. Needless to say, I headed out to finish my fun sled ride and met David in the LZ. Next up was Ellis on her PG with mostly similar results. After I had launched, Ben and L.E. (a very nice couple that most of you all probably know well but I just met) showed up and launched their PG's as well...with again similar results. All sleds for the most part, but everyone was enjoying the ride and the nice warm mountain air. We all piled in Davids car and headed back up to launch. By the time we arrived, we saw Carlos had just landed after his sled ride down. Once back on top the PG'ers took and additional sled ride while Carlos and I went to work with the weed whacker cleaning up the launch a bit. It really wasn't in that bad of shape to start with, but it's in even better shape now and definitely launchable by PG's and HG's alike.
Everyone met back on top and decided to finish off the day with dinner at Denny's in Breezewood. After a little bit of confusion amongst the vehicles on the way there, I made a navigational blunder and found myself on Rt 30 trapped in the left turn only lane for 70E with two large trucks on my side Thats what I get for checking the weather for tomorrow on the IPHONE and trying to figure out where to fly instead of paying attention to where I was going. I ended up having to get on 70E towards home and just decided to call back to Ellis and tell them I was going to keep going. Sorry guys, I really did want to finish up the fun day at Denny's with you
Looking forward for another East day to head back out there.........maybe Saturday????

Jon

[carweill]

Had my first PG flight at Bill's this year.

Thanks to Jon for the work on the slot, it looks a lot better.


Carlos

[chuckok]

Took a ride out to Blue Sky ... One sled ... But, I did pick up some bar mits and a wind guage

[g.sessa]

I arrived at Ridgley around 11:30 am finding surprisingly light conditions. Paul, a Highland student, was already gearing up to take off as I set up. I was hoping for good thermal conditions, but was let down as I noticed the first flight of the day by Paul turned out to be a sled. None the less, I finished setting up and got ready to fly. My first flight also turned out to be an uneventful sled. Paul and I then decided to wait around for awhile hoping things would pick up. We watched a few tandems take off with Adam, and then decided to have another go at it. John M. showed up and joined in for a flight. Up and down, up and down, as the day went on and conditions lightened. Overall, I ended up with a total of 5 flights for the day. It was good take off and landing practice, with some good time in the sky (cumulatively…). But, more so it was good to get some nice flight time in amongst a crazy work week…