Thursday/Friday NW

[jyoder111]

Looks like a slight chance Thursday or Friday might work out for Woodstock or the Pulpit. Anyone interested and available? The weekend isn't looking so hot.

[sailin]

Hey Jessee,

I am keeping my eye on this. Thursday looks pretty strong right now. Friday seems pretty sweet, but I gotta work.
I'll check the weather and this post again...hopefully we can get some more weekday flying in!!

Jon

[markc]

Add me to the "watch list".... If this weekend is looking seriously sketchy on Thursday AM, then I might be willing to take a day of leave, given that the following weekend will be a no-fly for me.

MarkC

[XCanytime]

I will be there between 3 and 4P hoping for a late PM backdown. Bacil

[Ward Odenwald]

Put me on the list for Friday at Woodstock. As of now the thermal forecast is looking good.

Ward

[jyoder111]

Looks like Woodstock tomorrow. Hoping for a throttle-back in the afternoon.

[jyoder111]

hmm. forecast is jumping around. Will have to check in the morning. Right now the Pulpit looks more promising...

[sailin]

Heading to Woodstock tomorrow (Thurs). Eta around 2pm

Jon

[markc]

Can't do Thursday, but might be able to take time off for a 1/2-day on Friday....

MarkC

[jyoder111]

Woodstock, eta about 2pm

[mcelrah]

PGers are coming to Woodstock Friday. I will attend with bag and pipes, can observe if needed. Some talk about Saturday also (may be confusion of days tho...) Brrr, back to bundling up for flying - 'twas so nice flying in shorts in Florida (albeit inside zip-up harness, with jacket/gloves on top - ~62 degrees F. at 5k). - Hugh
P.S. Kite Festival Sunday, Matt Ingram and Peter Humes will kite PGs - anybody bringing a HG? Rain?

[Ward Odenwald]

Work issues tomorrow so I'm out but will go to Highland on Saturday. Whoever ventures into the air tomorrow is in for one heck of a ride. If the forecasters are correct, the thermal activity will be intense. Let us know how it goes.

Ward

[XCanytime]

Got to launch at 4P to find an unknown pilot (to me) pulling into the parking lot. Mike Fulk is from Lexington, VA. He taught at KHK from 2002 to 2006, then spent some time out at Point of the Mountain before settling in Lexington. He works on weekends, so he only flies during the week. He has an old 10 meter Pulse. Jon and Jesse arrived after dropping a car off in the LZ. It was very unstable. The cycles had sharp edges; it was gusty. Earlier Jon and Jesse reported much milder conditions on launch. Mike and Jesse set up quickly, while Jon and I just set up our gliders on the control frames. We waited around till 5:15P, but it was still strong and gusty. Mike stated he would wait another 15 minutes and make a call. At 5:30P we helped Mike into position, and he picked a bad cycle to launch in. I sincerely believe Jesse and I prevented him from boomeranging into the trees on the right. He picked up the glider and started forward just as my wing came up (left wing) and Jesse hollered strong up on his side. I went forward with him for a step or two and fought to keep the wing down. After release Mike rolled slightly right and corrected, then rolled slightly left and corrected. Two S-turns in the slot. Once aloft it looked like the air was smooth and he had no trouble penetrating, but the start of the flight was a little scary. We bagged it soon after. Mike flew for about 45 minutes before he headed out to a good landing in the main LZ. As we were leaving launch, the sky cleared to reveal plenty of wave clouds. It had backed down a bit on launch at this time (6:30P), but you could hear some pretty good noise in the trees near to the parking lot. Bacil

[jyoder111]

and it was cold!!!

I disagreed with Bacil's decision for us to break down on top and was disappointed that I didn't get to fly at the end of the day. I don't have the experience he has, and he hasn't observed me fly on stronger days. That's how it goes sometimes.

Jesse

[mcelrah]

'Tis better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air than to be in the air wishing you were on the ground. It is good practice for personal survival to break down on top occasionally. If Bacil didn't fly, I wouldn't fly, period. - Hugh

[mcelrah]

I had a scary launch at Woodstock a few years ago when Tom McGowan broke down on top and I went ahead. Elevatored straight up with a wingtip going between the trees. Hanging on one downtube for dear life. Never again. If another experienced pilot declines to launch, I hope I will take the hint and follow suit. - Hugh

[sailin]

Unstable air...... Very interesting sky yesterday and lots of noise in the trees late in the day. At one point there was blue sky behind us, grey sky infront and dark sky to either side...... Unstable air. Glad to be out there to take another data point.

Jon

[pch]

So, which is it today? Woodstock, Dickey's or Pulpit? I'm fed, packed, & ready.
Peter H.

[mcelrah]

AQlokkdsmf,mm tlssf lodrf

[rasmussenv]

This is too funny. I just spoke to Hugh who told me that he'd posted a note on the forum to let folks know that the access to Woodstock is blocked for VDOT work and that he and most paragliders were driving around to the backside to walk up 1/2 mile to the launch.

That is what the above note by him means, for those that don't speak his language. It is possible that VDOT will open the access at about 3:30 pm - they are doing work - evidently through the end of this month on M-F 8:30-3:30. It looks like a pretty day - but I'm just not built to carry 80 lbs (a 60lb glider and 20 lbs of harness and gear) 1/2 mile, so my first mountain launch of 2011 is going to have to be another day.

Valerie

[jyoder111]

Oh yeah, forgot to post about the road being closed during the day. Yesterday it was open by 3:00pm, but Jon and I weren't sure if they'd actually worked on it. There were new patches of gravel, but it could have been from prior week.

[pch]

Fun day at WS with Hugh & Jeff. Not very sunny (thermal) but decent, extended sled rides by all. And a nice hike too. A marginal day of flying is better than a good day at work.
Peter H.

[mcelrah]

Avast there! Dost not know The Klingon? Small brains!
I was driving as Peter and I went around to the back for a shorter walk up (Jeff wanted the exercise of walking up the front - we were interested in staying dry all bundled up as we were - no fun flying sweaty). I pulled up this forum topic on my smartphone and handed it to Peter to write the post about the road being closed. He didn't have his reading glasses...
After Peter left, Jeff and I drove back up, the gate now being open (the workers are installing several new culverts, replacing old metal pipe with new plastic), saw LE launch and...soar! We hurried to set up and had nice soaring flights to 1000 over launch. I had a long time sorting lines after Jeff launched, so only got about a half hour. Landed to snag a ride from Ben and LE to retrieve our cars. Randy showed up as we were leaving, but alas, had no one to launch with... Ben, Le and I had a nice meal at Element in Front Royal - she got a classic Argosy travel trailer for her birthday!
- Hugh