Daniel's Saturday 26 February

[mcelrah]

I'm seeing STFI at 7 in the afternoon. PGers generally use this site and I may be throwing a H2 or two off... Whaddaya think? - Hugh

[jyoder111]

I haven't flown Daniels before. Are you able and willing to do a site orientation? If so, I'm in! ETA?

[mcelrah]

Yup, pile on! Chris H. is in (first high flight). Ann Dunlap is in pending back-up babysitter. Daniel's road is difficult for regular front-wheel-drive cars but can be negotiated part way WHEN IT IS DRY, which may not be the case. Ann's Subaru may make it all the way - at least it did when the road was dry. Ellis truck can make it no problem, but we will have to jury-rig a hang-glider rack. Worst case, we have to hump the gliders up the hill (hell they're only Falcons). Do you know how to get there? Can you access the site guide? Chris and I are gaggling up at my house 9-ish (5708 39th Avenue, Hyattsville MD 20781) if you want to carpool/follow someone (turns can sneak up on you the first couple times you go to Daniel's).
- Hugh
301 864-3431 (home)
301 980-6381 (cell)

[pink_albatross]

hey, maybe we'll just take turn watching the kids while Ann flies.
Gotta enable those H2s, you know!
-- ellis
p.s. there have got to be other folks in the same position. Not all of your kids are in college yet! Can't we form a chgpa babysitting club?
p.p.s. or a combined babysitting/dogsitting club

[uplandann]

Thanks, Ellis. I found a couple of people to take 'shifts', so I can be there by Noon, or whenever. I thought about bringing a pruning tool to hack away at the sticker bushes in the LZ, if that's okay.

Ann

[jyoder111]

I hope to be at the LZ around 11:00am.

[carweill]

At what time will most people be there?

Carlos

[markc]

I'm hoping to fly somewhere tomorrow, as Sat looks like the better day of the weekend. But I'm not yet quite ready to give up on an early Pulpit or High Rock day (eg, if the swing to SW/S doesn't happen as quickly as forecast). Will be looking at conditions early tomorrow, and Daniel's will definitely be on the list of sites to consider (even though the forecast is pretty darn light for HGers).

We shall see!

MarkC

[markc]

Well, looks like Daniel's it shall be today.... Wish that the forecast called for more sun, but what can ya do?
Aiming to arrive noon-ish.

Hey Carlos, if you are heading that way, do you want to suvpool??

MarkC

[g.sessa]

I'm planning to join the crew today! Aiming to be in the LZ around 11ish..

[pch]

Stanardsville,VA tabular data - 0903 Clear 34F SSW 6 -9mph - maybe should have gone, oh well, enjoy

Peter H

[pink_albatross]

Where are you? If you get there at 1:00 that should be plenty of time for a nice flight. actually probably ideal for PG
Leaving now
-- ellis

[carweill]

suvpooling with Mark

Heading soon

Carlos

[jyoder111]

First time at Daniels for me. Quite a turn out. Great to see so many pilots and wings (PG & HG). Special thanks to Randy Weber for the ride up to launch, and John Middleton for observation duties.
I didn't have high expectations for today- figured it'd be a sled run most likely, but conditions were better than forecasted and I had a rowdy soaring flight for 30 minutes till I got airsick and went out to land- I spent too much time staring down at the house thermals. LZ was slightly more technical than I'm used to, plus a wind gradient-- but I landed alright. It was fun!

Seeing the enthusiasm of everyone in responding to the downed-pilot emergency was inspiring. Good to see we look out for each other. Glad it turned out alright and no one was hurt.

First mountain day of the year!

[uplandann]

Had a great flight at Daniels. Did my first soaring passes (two) in front of launch! Plenty of lift. Winds at launch were between 7-11 S-SSW, temps upper 40"s at launch, probably low 50's at the LZ. I waited at first to get a sense of the wind and watch other pilots before launching, so my hands were just starting to get a little cold (will need to get bar mitts now ) so I did not stay up as long as I could have. I felt I had accomplished my goal and went out to set up my landing. I would have liked to have a little more altitude over LZ, but had a perfect landing in the flat part of the gully. I think my flight was about 10minutes.
So I soared for the first time on my 10th mountain flight (career total), 4th Mountain flight since moving to VA after a several year layoff. I'm ready to try agian, and hopefully stay up a little longer next time.
I'll see if I can remember every body: Randy W,. Jessie, Ellis, Dan T. Carlos, Mitco, Lazlo (?), Hugh, John M., Chris S., Paul, Greg S., Mark C, Matt Ingram, and I think a couple other HG's and PG's that I may have missed. I really enyoyed seeing so many pilots both PG and HG. Ellis brought her sweet dog. Chris got his first mountain flight! Jessie got to fly a new site. I think everyone but Chris and I had nice long soaring flights. The clouds gave way to a wonderful sunny afternoon.

Thank you Randy W. for the ride up, it was nice to finally meet you. Thank you Hugh for observing me on my third (and first soaring) flight at Daniels! Whoohoo! Thank you Mitco (hope I got that right) for helping me load my glider. Thank you wire crew; (Carlos, Paul? and Hugh). Thank you Dan T for your encouragement.

I will let other pilots chime in with their reports of the day's events.

Ann

[markc]

Unexpectedly good day at Daniels today! I've been there quite a few times with S@10-15 forecasts, only to find the wind barely trickling in. Some sleds, some soaring flights. So with today's 5-10 forecast and predicted 70% cloud cover, I pretty much expected a sled.

But not so! The winds at 3k were supposed to pick up later in the day, and for once that actually translated into some decent winds down at our level. Plus, the sky cleared out big-time by around 3:00. With that, the temps, some wind, and early spring conditions.... It all came together and those flying later in the day pretty much got to fly as long as they wanted to. Woo-hoo!

At least 7 PGers and 8 HGers by my count: Ellis, Dan T, Lazslo, John, & Hugh + some pilots I haven't met; and Ann, Jesse, Greg, Carlos, Chris, myself, and then Rich L. and Nelson L. later in the day.

It took a bit of organizing to get everyone off the mtn, but things went pretty smoothly. Great launches by new/new-ish pilots Ann, Chris, and Jesse. In fact, everyone did very well. I helped Hugh off the hill, and then launched last at around 4:00 or so. We positioned my glider at the side of the slot in advance, and that worked out really well: no problem getting to launch or keeping things cool while waiting for a cycle.

In the air, the highlight of my flight was being able to play tag with a pair of bald eagles. Well, they actually did the tagging : I was a bit below when they cruised over to us, and was desperately trying to get higher so I could get a closer look. But they just kept circling just above me, while I craned my neck and futilely tried to snap a couple of pics. Got a good look at their feet & talons: They are truly yellow, and really stand out against their feathers! Carlos and Hugh were in the vicinity and a bit higher, so they probably got a much better view.

After that, I repeatedly tried to clear the west-facing ridge that's a few miles from launch, but couldn't *quite* manage it. Darn, the view of the Shenandoahs has got to be really nice from that vantage..... Some day!

I topped out at 2000' above launch, and flew in a couple of thermals that were registering about 350fpm on the averager. There was stronger stuff blowing by, but it was really hard to latch onto. Landed after an hour and :20 or so, and was very happy with my approach into the 'gully field', on the left side of the road.

A bunch of us stopped for pizza on Rt 29 (darn good pizza!). We also had hopes for dessert at an ice cream place close to Warrenton but alas, it was closed.

Spring is nearly here!!!!

MarkC

[markc]

I am remiss.... CONGRATS to Amy and to Chris for their landmark flights!!!

[uplandann]

Who's Amy?

Ann

[markc]

Argh! Noticed that Amy was logged in just as I was dashing off that congrats post, and typo'd .... Sorry Ann!

You had a really good launch!

--mark

[uplandann]

That's okay. Were you one of my wire crew? If so, I called you 'Paul', so I guess we are even. Thanks for the feedback!!

Ann

[A0213]

Sounds like you all had a great day! Congrats to you Chris for your first Mntn flight

Hope to be out there with you all soon!

[silverwings]

PG incident that turned out OK but could have been worse! When I got to Daniels launch around 1:00 pm the wind was varying in velocity from fine to a bit strong (more than I like to fly my PG in) so I waited for while. After a number of hg and pg launches and watching those that were flying it seemed like it was getting a bit lighter so I decided to fly. There had been a little talk that it might get stronger and so it was advisable to stay out front. The cloud cover had moved off and we were getting more sun but no blasts at launch. I launched and initially stay out front in fairly good lift cruising around with no penetration issues though I had my speed bar ready. I was mostly 200 - 600 above. After maybe 40 minutes I thought maybe I should head for the LZ with my position to the right of launch even with launch and next thing I notice after only a couple of minutes I am back behind the ridge! Using the speed bar and trying to fly faster with no progress just sinking I decided and hoped I could put it into one of the small openings in the valley behind the ridge. I was worried about the rotor and possible collapses but only experienced several partial 1/4 collapses. I found directional control difficult and just about made it into one field when at the last second the glider spiraled a little and part of the wing caught a tree on the edge of the field as I hit the ground with a little jarring. I was OK and after a while was able to pull my glider out of the tree. I was starting to remove twigs and such from the lines when Paul drove up to assist and then Jesse and Ellis arrived. Thank you all for your assistance which saved me probably an hour walk around the mountain to the LZ.

What I learned from this experience was first that I was very very lucky that I didn't get hurt. Also, even though I was not having penetration problems initially I should have stayed more forward incase the conditions changed (which they did). I have flown Daniels many times in my PG but usually in lighter winds and the fact that I felt it was border line too windy, I should have flown my HG instead.

[RichH]

Im glad your ok John!!

[sailin]

John, very happy to hear you are alright!

Congrats to everyone on what sounds like a really nice flying day. Special congrats to Chris on your first MTN flight!!! Way to go man!!

Hope to fly with you all soon!

Jon

[uplandann]

Boy, I wished I had posted to go out to Daniels today (Sunday)... current (1:15p) weather here in Harrisonburg: Sunny, blue skys, high cirrus clouds, gentle south winds around 5-6 mph, temps in the 60's... anyone game for a late afternoon flight?

Ann