Daniels Sunday Dec 4th

[sailin]

Anybody else heading to Daniels tomorrow ? Looks like it could be nice.....

Jon

[markc]

That's where I'm leaning at the moment Jon, at least based on this evening's forecasts. Surface is supposed to be SSW@8-9 between 11am and 2pm. ADDS has CHO on the border between 15-20 and 20-30 at altitude (3k). Daniel's is often lighter than forecast, so I'm starting to think it might be worth the drive...

Will be looking to leave early-ish tomorrow, by 8:30am, if things still look promising in the morning.

MarkC

[mercury]

Would very much like to fly thinking of going early to walk lz and setup early in hopes of a wandering observer showing up willing to. I'm in manassas so its about as close a site as there is. If no observers are willing il have to drink my bribe! Hoping for a positive response and toasting good flights ! Matt Young h2 703 862 3327 call for special orders or be prepared for the king of beers cheers

[mercury]

Daisuke Morii a h2 from NC with 40+ flights has great intrest in flying he's applied for forum membership but hasn't received it yet so I'm posting for him. Matt Young 703 862 3327

[chgpa]

I've just activated Daisuke's forum account. Sorry about the delay, haven't checked-in for new registrations since Wednesday....

[sailin]

Sounds good MarkC. I am hoping to arrive around 1130ish.

Hey Matt,
I am not sure of any observers that are coming right now....doesn't mean they aren't but I am skeptical as I haven't seen any posts saying they were. From a not too long ago H2 myself,,,,go on the contact list on the forum here and just start cold calling observers.......seriously. I know it seems kind of weird, but if you are polite and friendly,, and don't call too late, they won't mind a bit I am sure.
Even if no observers can make it, hopefully you and the fellow from NC can make it out there and check the site out. Should be a nice day. Hope you get an observer lined up so you can fly. Looking forward to meeting and flying with you soon.

Jon

[carweill]

I'll check with Jon and Mark and probably head out that way.

Carlos

[markc]

Well.... Hmmmm....I guess I'm still going to give it a try. There's a big blob of clouds in the middle of VA on the satellite, certainly not good. Hoping they might burn off a bit as the day goes on. Winds aloft are still forecast fairly strong out of the SW, and I'm hoping that might translate into some decent velocities at launch. We'll see!

MarkC

[sailin]

Heading out.... ETA 1130ish

[carweill]

Heading out. ETA noon

Carlos

[markc]

I really had some hopes that with sun all afternoon and a strong winds-aloft forecast we'd have a good shot at some soaring today.

Sadly, no!

Jon (with Amy), Carlos, Eric, and myself flying HG. John A, Dan T, Lazslo, and Randy W flying PG. Lazslo had the FOTD, with 30-40 minutes at around 2pm or so. Dan had a nice extendo. John had a short soaring flight later in the day. But for the hangies it was sled-a-palooza.

I managed 4 passes along the mtn, getting lower and scooting further out on each one. Probably should have just flown straight out into the valley in the hopes of hooking something.... My approach was abbreviated because I was in search mode even over the LZ (hey, ya gotta try!), but no issues, zoomed into the gully field and pulled off a punch-it no stepper.

And that's pretty much what everyone else did. I have video of Eric, Jon, and Carlos landing, and all were great. Also got Lazslo on one of his landings. We reviewed them in breakdown area at the end of the day.

Pete, I'm going to check my own video, in the hopes of being able to document 5.000000001 minutes of airtime. So there!

MarkC

[markc]

Exactly *SIX* minutes of airtime, start of launch run to punching the flare.

Hah! I'll see yer 5 minutes and raise ya 60 seconds Pete!

[Dan T]

I had two flights. The first was an interesting long extendo that probably included at least 15 360s as I managed to find choppy thermal activity all over the house triggers out front. I'm convinced that a bit more aggressiveness in the thermals could have resulted in a significant soaring flight. An old slow wing and an aversion to landing in the bailout field has me flying that site pretty conservatively.

A 60 degree day at Daniels in December beats a 60 degree day watching a bunch of guys you don't know playing football on TV anytime. The predicted high winds never arrived. Even the clouds were moving at moderate speeds.

Dan T

[John Anderson]

Had not flown Daniel's since loitering around the US back in 2005-6, had forgotten how sweet the site and how bummed the road. Did not unfurl the HG, but had two PG flights: the first a short extendo; for the second I guess I cheated Laszlo of the best launch cycle and played the ridge and got to be "top of the pack" for 20+ minutes, with about 100-150 ft over for a short while. Actually, it was buoyant a fair way out to the valley, though it shut down again soon enough. A day with some bumps, but never got blown out, which had been the concern. Also got some site mentoring from Dan and Mark C on best approaches for when I do get my hang-glider out of the slot.

-- John

[jyoder111]

Glad you all got some flying in. I was tempted, but I'm fighting a cold and didn't want to push it. Here's to more 60 degree days in December!

Jesse

[sailin]

Nice day at Daniels , although a little tough for the hang gliders to stay up in the light and small lift. None the less, like the others mentioned, 60 degrees in December, I was happy to give it a go. Nice to meet some other pilots as well.....Matt and Daiskue (H2s) and Eric Swanson from Charlottesville.
Big Shout out to Carlos on a pretty landing.........it was SWEET!

Jon