Sunday 10/2

[rasmussenv]

Soooo - haven't heard how it turned out for the folks who went to WS today, but I'm back in town and hoping to go tomorrow. I think it looks promising ... anyone else in?

[XCanytime]

The forecast is for occasional showers tomorrow at Woodstock. I'm planning to gamble and go there tomorrow. Don't believe any rain has fallen yet at Woodstock today. Bacil

[silverwings]

It looks like the further north you go the higher chance of rain with Winchester at 50%. Today in Bethesda it's been drizzle or rain all day but over in Arlington mostly dry. Will look in the morning any may go.

[jyoder111]

I'm willing to risk a little rain and try Woodstock tomorrow too.

[hang_pilot]

Well, the glider's wet, so I guess I HAVE to air it out tomorrow. I'll check w/x tomorrow morning, but am leaning toward heading out again.

Best,
Daniel

[markc]

+1

[rasmussenv]

I'm impressed by the great flights folks got yesterday, and It does look like early flights without rain are likely today, but nostepper is showing winds above 20 knots at 2500 feet during those same earlier hours - which is a bit much for me to go for in my falcon - and I haven't taken my Sport2 to the mountains yet. That, combined with the high likelihood of rain in the afternoon has me choosing to keep my fingers crossed for a prettier day soon. It does sound like there are five or so folks headed out, based on above posts, tho! I hope I won't end up kicking myself on this call.

[hang_pilot]

Giving it a try. ETA 12pm. ~Daniel (301-275-6584)

[markc]

Heading out now, hoping for some rain free hours and another flight. ETA about 11:15.
Feel free to call if you want to leave a vehicle in the LZ; I'll drive down and meet you.
The more we've got down there the better! 301-807-5414

Hey Valerie, it's very hard to know what the wind velocity will be, so if you don't *have* to get
stuff done today in order to take advantage of a prettier day soon.... Well, join us, and
maybe your gamble will pay off!

(I'm not encouraging flying in winds too strong for one's wing, merely pointing out that
sometimes the forecasts are wrong)

MarkC

[jyoder111]

I'm getting ready. Eta 12-12:30. Bacil is already on his way.

Jesse

[mingram]

On my way back to DC from Roanoke. Light drizzle at Woodstock. The flag on the water tower shows strong wind. Good luck to those who go.

Matt

[jyoder111]

Great day at Woodstock! Drove through bits of rain on the way out, but it was dry for a good 4+ hours while I was there. It was strong with some light cycles every now and then. I launched after watching Mark C boating around at trim, got up right away and spent a hour getting stomped on by the wind. But it was hella fun!! I think I'm getting the upper hand on my airsickness, as I was able to handle the turbulent air much better today than in the past. Had some great hawk sitings! After testing the waters in the fishbowl, I battled the west wind down the ridge to where the LZs disappear before the gap, then zipped back to launch in no time flat. I landed after an hour, tired and cold.

Most of the other pilots where up, but I saw one glider on launch. I drove up to see if someone needed wire-crew and met a pilot named Glen(?). Helped him launch and then headed for home with the zipper-side down- not that it helped much. Rain rain rain. Hopefully the glider will dry out in the garage overnight, and no mice will eat it.

[rasmussenv]

Good for you, Jesse! Sounds great - more of an adventure than I've attempted. I'd like to talk to you about it sometime. I'd like to venture a bit away from launch / LZ like that, but haven't yet.

[XCanytime]

Got to launch just after 10:30A. Soarable at launch with overcast skies and a few showers to the N/NE. Set up quickly and launched just before noon with help from Mark C. and my driver. Got up easily out in front and hung around waiting for the driver to climb the fire tower. Did a photo op fly by and then headed down to the Edinburg Gap. Got to 3200' MSL in front of Waonaze Peak and bailed out of the lift since the clouds were around 500' above and there was no blue to be found. The sun broke thru the clouds in the middle of the valley and made the trip back to launch and up to Signal Knob a bit sporty. Decided to land out at Strasburg and eyed up the field at Signal Knob Middle School. Headed out and hit some major sink. Aborted the primary and put down in a huge field next to Sandy Hook Road. A nice fellow named Dick Rybeck, an ex-USAF/United Airlines pilot, stopped by to chat and inform me that the landowner of the LZ was an irascible person who tried to have a sailplane driver arrested after the sailplane landed in the same field 2 years ago. The GPS came in handy as the driver punched in the middle school and I was a half mile down the same road. Dropped by North Mountain Vineyards for a bottle of Oktoberfest and on to Fox's Pizza for some well needed food after the wine. Sunday was perfect at Woodstock ! Bacil

[markc]

What a weird few days. I can't think of any other time when there's been a Low spinning in our area for days at a time (late Friday, this weekend, and tomorrow yet to come) bringing 'Stocker NW conditions, yet with low clouds and rain. How often do we have two soarable days on any given weekend? Now add cloudy, gray, cold, and rainy on top of that? Just doesn't happen.

And yet it was so! I arrived at about 11:25 at launch, to find winds a bit stronger (overall) than yesterday. Timed it well: Light sprinkles that I had hit on the drive dried out by the time I got up top, and then we had good conditions until about 4pm. I was encouraged by the skies to the NW, at the I-66/I-81 junction.... But I have to admit that I was concerned that the big blob of rain in western PA which I'd seen on the radar map would pinwheel down just in time to ruin the day. Luckily the showers appear to have been wrung out by the mtns, which made another day of soaring possible.

After Bacil's launch I headed down to the LZ to leave a vehicle, meeting up with Daniel B and Jesse, and then back up in Daniel's vehicle. John M joined us not long after, and I was off the mtn at about 1:20 with their help. No radio, so I told Jesse that I would park over launch to give him an idea of the conditions. It was smooth, and I was hands-off, no VG, zooming around the launch area. Jesse, I noticed that you stayed well out in front (very good idea), and it didn't seem like you were having serious penetration problems. What did you think of your flight? Any parking/backwards? Just curious, in case I'm asked for feedback on conditions to others who might be flying a Falcon on a similar day.

The day was variable: Some sunny breaks and patches of blue, some thermaling, and then the clouds seemed to thicken and the winds strengthened later in the flight. Furthest I went was across the 'fat finger' north of launch, probably because I was still a bit sore after yesterday. During the run back to the south (long slog; quartering headwind) I tried to stay out in the valley a ways, cutting across the loops of the river. Back near launch and low, I noticed John M way high, following a lift line to the west. I headed back to the ridge for some altitude and then played follow-the-leader, working my way up to 2200+ above launch in what turned out to be wave. Above the LZ, 'base seemed to bulge up a bit, and the clouds were lower to the north and south. Daniel was doing the same thing, and we flew formation for quite a while. I had some concerns about the lift, but I was monitoring the vario closely, and I could see that I was getting some sink in addition to the lift. But even so, it was the sort of situation you really want to stay on top of.... After enjoying the altitude I headed further up-wind (slowly) thinking I might make it out to Rt 11. But no way, conditions were strong, so I just decided to start looking for sink. It was a long search, but eventually I was below ridge height, and boxing the field.

I knew that it was going to be strong coming in, and I had an idea where/when I was going to get pounded, 'cause of the boxing. Came in hot, cranked onto a quick base, hit turbulence ("F-you, I'm going THAT way damnit!), wrestled onto final, and had a decent landing into the wind. But..... It wasn't exactly pretty, I basically plopped down onto one knee with the basetube on the ground. I was happy that I had anticipated the gradient, *almost* having enough energy to pull off a flare. This was a strong Woodstock day, of a type that we usually see in late fall or winter.

Daniel and John landed soon after, and we were packed up and headed to the top before it started sprinkling. The pilot that Jesse launched was actually Nelson, not Glen. His truck was still up there, so I gave him a call and found out that he was on Rt 11 near the Edinburg Gap (he'd seen the heavier rain moving in and decided to land). Quick trip down there to pick him up, then back up top, and ran into Randy and Lazslo, who were considering PG flights. They eventually bailed due to the drizzle and the look of the skies across the valley.

I was in the air for a couple of hours, and it was COLD! Daniel mentioned 37 degrees I think.... I got some video, and so I guess my next project is to put something together for two flying days. But don't expect DanTuck turnaround times, it'll probably take me a couple of weeks to have anything worth viewing.

MarkC

[jyoder111]

Mark,
It was very slow going in a headwind, but I could penetrate pretty well at angles. If the ridge wouldn't have been so bullet-proof, my increased sink rate due to pulling in to penetrate would have sent me to the LZ sooner. As it was, I only got excited once or twice when I found a sink hole. Days like today make me wish for more performance.

[XCanytime]

Jesse, Thanks for the video showing your flight. I noticed that your "base" leg looked a bit downwind of the tree line at the back of the field. You made it into the field fine, but on a windy day in a Falcon specifically, I would like to have seen a bit more safety margin in the approach. Staying directly above the tree line and burning it in has more margin just in case the wind picks up a couple hundred feet above the ground. Had the wind been stronger, you may have found penetration problems to get into the field and the only option then is to put down on the flood plains to the NE/SW of the LZ. Dan Tuckwiller flew his Falcon in such conditions a few years ago at Woodstock and felt the same way with the performance issue. Bacil

[jyoder111]

You're right, Bacil. I was thinking similar things as I drifted behind the trees down by the east corner. I intentionally went a little long to lose some altitude because I was confident I could clear them. A better decision would have been to do more figure eights over the trees, staying right by the LZ, in case the conditions changed suddenly like you're saying. Anyway, It was a good day to practice ground-tracking in stronger wind.

[silverwings]

Got to launch around 1:00 pm where Mark, Daniel, and Jesse were setting up. Little breezy at times but also lighter cycles. Started setting up and helped them at launch. Nelson showed up before Daniel launched and assisted with him and me at 2:30. Nice lift and I stayed forward climbing noticing the clouds lower out front and behind the ridge. Gradually as getting higher, wind was stronger and I didn't want to get to the clouds but as I got 2300 above launch I started heading out into the valley flying fast and slipping turns to lose a little. Got down to 1500 above which was more comfortable heading out to the field and even flying fast wasn't losing any altitude. Daniel and Mark also started heading out in the wave. Got to where I was losing which was pass the LZ and then headed back some getting some nasty air over the river. Decided I wasn't having much fun so went out and landed. Overall most of the flight was enjoyable but some was not. Landed after about an hour. Also, noticed while flying Nelson was parked sideways at the top of the slot for a long time before moving down to launch with Jesse's help. He was close to being ready to go when I launched so maybe it picked up for quite a while.

[hang_pilot]

The posts in this thread remind me of this song/movie scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ECUtkv2qV8.

For me (Mark, Bacil, Jesse), it was truly enjoyable flying...two days in a row...when it's difficult to lose altitude...after a layoff...on days that were forecast to be potentially non-flyable...with bald eagles...with friends (in wave?) under cool a cloud dome.

John was more realistic about Sunday.

On John’s side: It was at times a turbulent flight. Winds aloft were around 20. The thermals had rough edges and we might have experienced some wave rotor. I also don’t recall flying a more rock and roll approach at Woodstock. It wasn’t one of those days when I wish I had chosen not to launch, but we were probably closer to the fun/not fun boundary than the posts on this thread might lead you to believe.

My flights: Saturday, 1:52, 1590 over, out and back to the reservoir; Sunday, 1:28, 2273 over.

Got home in time for a delicious dinner at Zaytinya http://www.zaytinya.com with wife, Charlotte, and the communications team from the Solar Decathlon http://www.solardecathlon.gov which wrapped yesterday. One of the participants/college students I met though this fun event, David Lee from Appalachian State in Boone, is a former KHK instructor. When you can fly with friends and still get home for dinner with your spouse, now that IS a good day!

Hey, Jesse, congrats on breaking your LZ tether by flying to the gap and back!

~Daniel