Bill's Friday 15 April?

[mcelrah]

Not to compete with Gary's Beach, but the PGers *were* talking about Bill's - now there is some rumbling that it might be blown out - for them! If HGers agree to take over, this would be a good opportunity to get in some site maintenance before bee season. Bring implements! Who has the club weed-whacker? - Hugh

[mingram]

This thread contains the location: Where is the club weed whacker?

Maybe we should mark the thread sticky.

[cthornberger]

I was just think about posting this .
I am definitely in. I will get in to work early to take off 'round 1:30 .. so ETA 3:30, if it's still good for tomorrow.

[Dave Proctor]

Tough Call. It is supposed to be East 10-15 at Highland and sunny. East and lighter at BFH, but more overcast later in the day. I will look at it in the morning.

DaveP

[mcelrah]

Tom Ceunen is soft on Bill's due to "low XC potential" - but then he already filled up his XC tank yesterday. Since I personally have never even soared at Bill's, I'm still willing to give it a try. Tom's advice is to arrive early to take advantage of sun heating the east face of the ridge - 11 AM to have time to set up a HG? Who's in? - Hugh

[mcelrah]

OK, I took a cold shower - actually a hot one - and am rethinking: need a bigger hammer - sailplane. Front Royal instead of Bill's. Sorry, Chris. - Hugh

[Dave Proctor]

Just called Highland, Sunny says hangars are rattling, no flying there. I think prospects at BFH aren't that enticing and Steve and I can't find anyone else to join us at Gary's beach....So I am doing the unthinkable....going to...gulp...work. If anyone goes out, good luck.

Dave

[XCanytime]

Not too enticing at Bills? ESE winds at Hagerstown and Altoona peaking at 16 MPH around 5PM. The ridge faces ESE everywhere except the little east nook in the mountain where we launch. Couldn't be a more perfect forecast to run the ridge 25 miles to the south to the I-68 cut at the PA/MD border or to the north close to where the mountain ends. Bacil

[cthornberger]

If anyone else in interested in going and observing me up there, give me a holler/ message. My ETA would still be around ~3:30/4:00.
Hugh, no problem .. that's the air calling you, I understand the feeling. Have fun!!
-Chris

[theflyingdude]

Tom Ceunen is soft on Bill's due to "low XC potential" - but then he already filled up his XC tank yesterday. Since I personally have never even soared at Bill's, I'm still willing to give it a try. Tom's advice is to arrive early to take advantage of sun heating the east face of the ridge - 11 AM to have time to set up a HG? Who's in? - Hugh

I'm sure Ric Niehaus wouldn't agree with Tom's assessment of the XC potential of Bill's "Effin" Hill since Rick did a 127 mile OTB flight from there some years ago. With I-68 to the south, I70/76 and I-99 to the west, and I-80 to the north, there should be plenty of places to land.

JR

[mingram]

Tom was remarking on the weather conditions at Bill's Hill today with the increasing cloudiness (i assume). I see cumulus popping up all over the place here in Reston, VA. Wish I was out flying somewhere!

Where can I find XC distance records? It would be cool to have stats from each site. I'm sure there are state records listed somewhere, right?

[cthornberger]

I second that. I guess I'm gonna take the glider off the ye olde hang-vehicle..at least until Sunday. Better luck then, hopefully.

[lplehmann]

To give Ric Niehaus his proper due, I must correct JR's post: Ric's site record flight was a staggering 167 miles which took him across western PA and into Ohio. Similarly, to give BFH its due, while Ric's flight doubled the previous site record, there have been a fair number of flights in the 40-80 mile range made from the site.

Regarding site records, a California pilot named John Scott was at one time compiling a list of US site records but a cursory internet search doesn't produce any results. I have emailed to the last (old) email address I have, and if I hear anything I will provide a link to that source.

Pete

[mingram]

Damn! Ohio! I found the PG state records, but can't find the HG.

Hugh, how'd the day work out on the sailplane?

[John Simon]

http://www.oocities.org/extopaflyer/US_SiteRecords.html

This is an old site and not up to date since about 08 or 09.

John

[deveil]

JR, your buddy at the time, tony - what was his distance from out there to the coast?
gary

[mcelrah]

Arrived at 1130, glider was sitting there already preflighted. Airborne at 1140 (took a friend who is bigger, so he sat in the front while I flew from the back). Wind east at 11 kts on surface. East face of Massanutten ridge - ratty thermal collector. Finally found a good one associated with a haze dome, took it to 5000 over the Fort Valley. Ground radioed that I had 15 minutes left on my allotted hour in a club glider if someone is waiting. Bored upwind to the airport, but found lift to climb in until 3 minutes before the hour was up, spiral dove at 80 knots to get down, landed and handed the glider back. Helped my friend assemble club single-seat fiberglass cross-country machine (Cirrus, 40:1) - he was gone for two more hours. Wind increased and shifted to south (across the runway) as the day progressed. Great views on a gorgeous day - everything is so green! - Hugh

[mcelrah]

Matt,

I do give glider rides...

Also, as part of the USHPA promotion around the animated movie "Rio", I'm giving away two pairs of hang-glider tandem "instructional flights" on TBD-TV, News Channel 8 (what is?).

- Hugh

[theflyingdude]

First, my apologizes to Mr Niehaus for short-changing him on the distance of his 167-mile flight by 40 miles. That's what happens when an old brain tries to recall details after being insufficiently lubricated. Tony Smolder's 4/7/89 flight from Zirks was 157 miles and he pretty much maxed out that route by landing at Lexington Park, MD. It was either land there or try to fly the 12 miles across Chesapeake Bay to the Eastern Shore as the day was shutting down (a bold move even if it had been the prime part of the day). Pittsburgh pilot, Mike Neumann, and I both landed at Gore, VA that day for 30 - 35 miles and a long wait for retrieval as Tony's wife, Susan, was driving for us that day and he was her first priority in those pre-cellphone days when we were still using CB radios. Mike ended up hitch-hiking back to Romney, WV and getting a motel. I landed at 3 PM that day. Tony and Susan picked me up at 2 AM the next morning on their way back.

JR

[mingram]

damn JR! How'd you kill the time? I'm thankful for cellphones. In Valadares, Brazil the predominant wind direction allows you to follow the main road and locals almost fight over who gets to take you back to town. Or there's a bus every hour. Here we're all just thankful to get a chance to go XC. The ride is an afterthought.

Hugh,I definitely want a sailplane ride sometime. The weekend weather hasn't been cooperating for hang lessons lately.

Matt

[theflyingdude]

It was almost a "Farmer's daughter" story. After I landed at a apple orchard, the owner drove by and gave me a beer on his way to run errands. When he returned at 7 PM and found me still waiting to be picked up, he took me to his house and I used his telephone to retrieve the messages from my answering machine (that was always our back up plan when we couldn't make radio contact). Tony had left a message indicating where he'd landed and that he thought he'd just set the East Coast X-C record. He said Susan was on her way to get him and they'd be heading back after getting a bite to eat. I knew at that point I was in for a long wait. The landowner suggested we (he, I, and his lovely daughter) should ride into Winchester, VA for a bite to eat and to hit the local hot spot (a Holiday Inn). At first, I was reluctant as I was sweaty and was hardly dressed for a night on the town, but he offered to let me take shower and even gave me a clean shirt to wear. We went out and ate, drank, and danced until they closed the joint at 2 AM and got back to Gore just as Tony and Susan arrived to pick me. While I never quite consummated the ending of a farmer's daughter story, it was still a fine way to spend a Saturday night waiting to be picked up.

JR