Woodstock weekend

[XCanytime]

Looking cool and a bit west and breezy for the weekend. Looking forward to some possible flying at Woodstock. Time to bundle up. Anybody up for an early start on Friday afternoon after the rain clears out? Bacil

[XCanytime]

Gary Smith, Dan Tuckwiller, and I are going to Woodstock tomorrow. Bacil

[jyoder111]

I have to work, unfortunately. Good luck!

[hang_pilot]

I'll be there. ~Daniel 301.275.6584

[Joe Schad]

Woodstock Looks too strong to me for Saturday. Gust factor is high and 3000 foot winds 25 kts+.

Joe

[hang_pilot]

I'm bailing too, sorry for the flip flop. For what it's worth, I'd give good odds for a late afternoon flight. Bailing more to get some things done.

Best,
Daniel

[silverwings]

I am going to give it a try hoping that it might be doable around 3:00 (202)409-2574 c

[silverwings]

Dan and I arrived at launch around 2:45 and things had just quieted down with Bacil launching while we were walking in. We started to set up and Gary launched going up easily. I launched around 3:50 in 5-7 mph winds at launch and easily got up followed later by Dan. Quile smooth air with lots of lift and moderate wind velocity. Never saw Bacil in the air and the rest of us landed in the LZ before sunset. You should have come.

[XCanytime]

Got to launch at 11:15A. On the drive out the typical stiff winds on I-66. Yet at launch, it was light, really it was, with an occasional moderate thermal making noise in the trees on both sides of launch. Leisurely set up and waited for Gary to arrive. Gary got there after 12:30P and started setting up. At 12:45P somebody flicked a switch and it honked for almost 2 hours straight. As we waited for it to back down, I met a former F-14 Tomcat RIO (Goose !) and his family visiting from Norfolk. I mentioned to him I had just seen a program on the Military Channel about the last female F-14 driver and her training and subsequent deployment to OIF. "Goose" got trained on the F-18 E/F Super Hornet after they retired the Tomcat in 2006, and now he's now at a desk working on system integration on the Ford aircraft carrier now being built in Newport News. Just after they departed it started settling down at 2:30P, so I got ready to go and launched at 2:45P. Turned left and headed to the Gap against a 25 knot headwind at 3000' MSL. The air was butter smooth, and I enjoyed the view as I crawled SW. Made 2 attempts to jump onto Short Mountain and bailed when I ran into some sink. As I got back on the main ridge above the rockpiles, 3 mature bald eagles overflew me from above, a mere 50' above my kingpost. I quickly turned on the camera and tried to aim the glider towards them to get some shots. I got 2 pictures that I will post tomorrow. Not as good and close as Mark's, but not too bad either. The trio flew out into the valley and jumped onto Short Mt., frolicking with each other, dive bombing each other with talons extended. Noticing that they didn't lose any altitude, I tried the same path. Got to 3600' MSL about 2/3 of the way. I committed and ran into some sink. When I got onto the corner of Short, I was at 2600' MSL, which is still below the high point of the ridge at 2800' MSL just SW of the corner. It was WSW on Short and strong. I was not making much headway and not gaining a lot either. Still below the high point, I bailed and headed back to the corner of Short. There was lift (which was greatly appreciated) and I loitered and gained enough to make the glide out to my LZ along Edinburg Gap Road not too stressful. Had a nice landing in a cut cornfield right by the river. Couldn't raise any pilots, so I stashed the equipment in the middle of the cornfield away from potential prying eyes from the road, and started walking to Woodstock. 6.5 miles and 2 hours later, I made Mill Road and contacted St. Schad (Joe, and Steve, you are right, he is a saint) who gave me a ride up to my truck at launch. Much thanks Joe. Went down the back side of the mountain to Fort Valley Road and ran it SW to the Edinburg Gap Road, and on to the LZ. The flashlight came in handy. Got a bite at Fox's Pizza in Strasburg. Bacil

[XCanytime]

Sunbeams illuminating the valley in front of Short Mountain.

Bald eagle at 2 o'clock.

Another eagle climbing like a homesick angel.

Wave type cloud.

XMAS lights on a walkway down to the river and the reflection.

[Roger]

XCanytime...........Do you EVER land in the designated LZ? Great flight and nice pictures. I'm jealous. (X-C ANY TIME appropriate )

[mcelrah]

Bacil's Excellent Adventure! - Hugh

[DanTuck]

I had a really nice flight. I launched last in about 5-10 mph. The ridge was on and surprisingly smooth after blowing hard most of the day. The lift band was huge extending way out into the valley. I climbed to 2,100' over launch and was too cold to keep going, though I could have. The sky was incredible with the sunrays coming thru the clouds and lighting up the air. Not long into the flight a baldy came cruising by so I tried follow it. But even with full VG and the bar at my waist, I couldn't keep up, it was flying so fast. After that, I headed out into the valley and burned up my altitude so I could get broken down before dark. My flight was only 35 minutes but it was really enjoyable.