Highland March20?

[Ashley Groves]

I am thinking about Highland on Sunday. Will keep an eye on the weather.

[John Simon]

Hey Ashley,
Highland opens Saturday. It's looking a little bit strong, but might be decent. Sunday definitely looks good, with light NE winds. Looks like Heather and I will be there. Hope some more folks come out to kick of the season. Last year day one was really good.


John

[Ashley Groves]

I expect to arrive noonish. looks like 2500 ft or so should be top of lift.

[carweill]

Ready to end hibernation

Heading to Ridgely. Adam says heck yeah we are flying!

Carlos

[rasmussenv]

Yay! I got in the air today! Between noon and 2pm I got two nice, relatively short flights - a little soaring in each. After breaking my foot last fall, I'm glad to get back in the harness. And - to be honest - I was cleared to start gently running in the middle of January, and did some snowboarding and skiing over the winter. The fact is that on some of these cold days I wouldn't have been flying even if I hadn't been babying my foot a bit in recovery mode.

There were several folks out at Ridgely while I was there, and others showing up as I was packing up. And some if them got lengthy flights - there were definitely some thermals working. Those I talked to included Christian, Carlos, and Ward. I spoke to Heather, who was not flying at the time, but she was with John who was getting some air time. And there were others I've missed.

I look forward to seeing more folks here and out at the mountains!

Valerie

[stevek]

Woo Hoo! What a great day! Got to 42 couple of times. 550 sustained climbs. Would have been happier with more clothes. Froze my butt. ( Actually, hands were the main problem)

[John Simon]

Another great opening day at Highland. Much flying and much soaring to be had by most if not all who ventured forth. Colder than I planned on but as the day went on a bit more sun peaked through. Strong thermals reported early and as I was late as usual to get there... I missed them. Flew 2 flights, one short 20 minute job and later in the day I got more than an hour and a half. I had to stay low most of the time in order to keep my hands from freezing, but that just made it a bit more fun. I made the mistake of going high once and topped 4700' and saw numerous 5 and 600 fpm climbs and one briefly hit 700 on the averager. Mostly it was 300 and 400 fpm though, smooth and widespread.

I flew in very close proximity with 2 eagles and a red tail today. First time I've been this close in a couple years. One eagle was 15' off my left wing for 4 turns or so.. Immature and gorgeous. He then dove 500' down on to Ashley and made a few passes at him and then just followed him around for a few turns. Then it was Carlos' turn and he again dove and mock attacked his glider. Fun to watch as the talons were out and the wings folded in.

The lift got better as the day went and Bob had a hard time coming down at nearly 6pm or so. Great visibility, lots of gliders, airplanes... hot air balloon and many many birds. Rich had a hard landing and bloodied his nose earlier but I am told he is fine. Too many names to mention accurately at this hour. Great time.


Regards,

John

[Ward Odenwald]

To echo what others have already posted - Highland had another great season opener on Sunday! Early morning forecasts indicated light easterly winds during the day coupled with a decent lapse rate/thermal index and by noon the soaring forecasters had nailed it. I flew twice. My first tow took me to ~20 ft above the deck before my weak-link snapped resulting in a 50 yard high-adrenalin flight (in the future, I’ll start the new season with new links). The second flight lasted 1.5 hrs with most of that time spent above 2,500 ft MSL and climbs up to the inversion layer ceiling which was at ~4,300 (judging from my altimeter and photos). As John posted, some of the thermals were well organized, giving us climb rates during consecutive 360s of over 500 ft/min. It's a great feeling when you're circling in solid lift and you can enjoy the view. Here are some photos from that flight.

[Ward Odenwald]

Second set of three

[Ward Odenwald]

Last set of five.

[lbunner]

Ward, tell us more about your new glider. How do you like it? Give us a comparison over what you were flying both last year and the glider you were flying when you stopped many years ago. I think it would be interesting to hear your thoughts.

[Danny Brotto]

Larry

I remember that when Ward temporarily exited the sport in the early/mid 80's he was flying a Sensor 510. Can't say about flying characteristics but By the looks of things his new glider has similar landing characteristics to that 80''s model.

Danny Brotto

jk

[sailin]

Cool pics Ward, thanks !!

[Ward Odenwald]

Hey Larry,

As of last Sunday, I have just over 4.5 hrs of airtime with it so I'm still in the early stages of getting acquainted and, as Danny so astutely pointed out, I’ll need several more landings with the RS4 before I can comment on its flare characteristics (old Sensor habits diehard). Before I left HG in the mid 80s (family, school and work) my passion was flying XC and I quickly realized after coming back 2 years ago that once your infected with the “OTB bug” its for life! The desire to get high and go far had not diminished. So my motivation/goal was to bring myself up to XC speed as fast and as safe as possible and ultimately fly a glider that would help get me there. Having said that, here are my first impressions of the Litespeed relative to my last glider, my “transition glider”, a WWU2 160.

Weight: with composite leading edges, crossbars, sprogs and battens the RS4 is about 4 lbs heavier than the U2 160.

Setup/breakdown: no tools required to engage the RS4 crossbars or tip-wands so it’s easier on the hands. Even with the extra battens, I believe that the setup time is faster than with the U2.

Ground handling: took some time to get adjusted. Most of my lifting/carrying of past gliders was accomplished without using my shoulders to directly support their weight. I would just wrap my arms around the down-tubes and grip hard and lift with my legs. With the RS4, holding onto the faired uprights is like grabbing onto a pair of dinner knives so a firm grip is not an option. However, the control frame configuration of the RS4 allows one to support the weight of the glider on your shoulders by wedging them between the uprights and once I figured that out, ground handling was no longer an issue. The rear flying wire arrangement is different from the U2 or any of my past gliders. With the Moyes Litespeed, one has to step around the rear wires and access the control frame from the side. This also requires a modified handling behavior.

Takeoff: no significant differences. The RS4 will want to take you flying sooner into the takeoff run but both gliders are very responsive to pitch changes and are predictable during the run, also no major differences on tow (so far).

In flight handling: compared to the U2, its roll, pitch and yaw characteristics are faster/more responsive with no VG. In smooth air and no VG, one can fly the glider with very light inputs - very responsive. This difference has not been an issue but rather a pleasure especially when thermalling, even during my first flight. My gut impression is that I can mimic the U2’s axis handling characteristics by applying ¼ VG on the RS4. If I want to focus on something other than flying (zipping up or sightseeing), ¼ VG will take some of the sports car out of it.

Glide range/penetration: MAJOR difference when measured against the U2. With ½ to ¾ VG, the RS4 glide is amazing! Climbing to the top of a thermal is predominantly the result of pilot skill. A good pilot flying a Falcon can out climb a so-so pilot on a topless (I watched this happen multiple times on Sunday) but once out of the thermal, glide range is everything. The enhanced range increases one’s chances of finding the next thermal. During lulls in the thermals last Sunday, the RS4’s range allowed me to buy time and find new lift while the Falcons were flushed. Albeit debatable, I believe that an enhanced range also enhances XC flying safety as a longer glide increases your LZ options.

Landing characteristics: relative to the U2, entering the LZ with the RS4 is not much different. Like the U2, flying really fast or slow is not a good thing. My first impressions indicate that one or two more turns during the approach - while doing figure 8s at the end of the field or a wider base before turning on final will be required.

Landing flare: to be determined.

In summary, I’m happy and look forward to really learning how to fly it far!!

Ward

[DanTuck]

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