Looks west on Saturday.
Matthew
Pulpit Saturday???
Moderator: CHGPA BOD
Re: Pulpit Saturday???
Can't get away on Fri, so I'm eyeing The Pulpit on Saturday for sure! Might be a good day.....
MarkC
MarkC
Re: Pulpit Saturday???
I'm a little worried about the 3k forecast, which looks pretty strong for the Pulpit.... But it *is* supposed to back down a bit by the afternoon, and conditions at WS seem a bit light for HG. So I'm leaning toward giving the Pulpit a go, but would like to hear other opinions! 
Re: Pulpit Saturday???
When I left the house on Friday morning, I declared my plan to fly the Pulpit, stay overnight, and repeat on Saturday. However, David and Jesse's report of very deep (waist to chest) grass in the main LZ changed that plan. As I get back into regular flying, I need a few more "normal" LZ landings before doing the tall grass thing. Thus, I will check conditions Saturday morning, and consider either Woodstock or a flight park.
BTW, viewed from the Rock, Emma Jane's field appears to be recently mowed. Kelvin can give a close-at-hand report.
BTW, viewed from the Rock, Emma Jane's field appears to be recently mowed. Kelvin can give a close-at-hand report.
Cragin
Douglas.Cragin(AT)iCloud(DOT)com
Weather - https://sites.google.com/site/hgweather/
Flying - http://craginsflightblog.blogspot.com/
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Douglas.Cragin(AT)iCloud(DOT)com
Weather - https://sites.google.com/site/hgweather/
Flying - http://craginsflightblog.blogspot.com/
Kay's Stuff- http://kayshappenings.blogspot.com/
GO to 50 https://sites.google.com/site/hgmemories/Home/50th
Re: Pulpit Saturday???
Looks like the 3k forecast has been backed off a bit, so I'm starting to feel a bit better about the prospects for The Pulpit. Will be up and looking at things fairly early, wishin'-and-hopin' ! Note that the golf course is a viable alternate LZ, plus some fields on the way there. Worth checking out.
MarkC
MarkC
Re: Pulpit Saturday???
Gust factor gone from the text forecast, hourly has lightened up, and the 3k winds are supposed to lighten as the day goes on. That spells Pulpit to me, on the road!
MarkC
PS: Jon B reports WSW @ 8-12 at launch as of 8am
MarkC
PS: Jon B reports WSW @ 8-12 at launch as of 8am
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Re: Pulpit Saturday???
Somebody was soaring in a hg when I went over the mountain around noon on the way to Kirshners. Kirshners worked fairly good for teaching. Stopped by the Pulpit on the way home around 5:30 and no one there but it looked like majic conditions smooth in 8 mph on the run-off. Wish I was well and could enjoy some flying.
john middleton (202)409-2574 c
Re: Pulpit Saturday???
We all bailed to High Rock-- it was 25 gusting to 30 when we left the Pulpit at 1:30.
High Rock was AWESOME! I got 2:20 and 4300 over launch (5100 msl). A sink cycle caught a couple of pilots mid-day. Otherwise it was soarable till sunset.
Karen got about an hour. Cavanaugh milked it for three hours-- 3200 over launch. Others included Steve K., Jon. B, Dennis Sheely and Brian Russell from New Zealand.... and Eddie Miller.
Matthew
High Rock was AWESOME! I got 2:20 and 4300 over launch (5100 msl). A sink cycle caught a couple of pilots mid-day. Otherwise it was soarable till sunset.
Karen got about an hour. Cavanaugh milked it for three hours-- 3200 over launch. Others included Steve K., Jon. B, Dennis Sheely and Brian Russell from New Zealand.... and Eddie Miller.
Matthew
Re: Pulpit Saturday???
It was an awesome day at The Rock!!!!
Arrived 10:30am at The Pulpit, and later helped launch Brian, who had maybe an hour-ish flight. He was low on the ridge, no Qs, a bit of high cirrus. Dennis was up next, but he decided not to fly given that it looked like a hang-around-in-ratty-lift flight, and what was the point of doing that for hours?
Headed down with Jon B to drop my vehicle, and to scope out an LZ (without chest-high grass) across and down the road a bit from the primary. It's eminently doable, though you would have to accept the fact the you might be landing cross-wind. As we were checking it out, Brian headed out from the ridge and landed right there. We were trying to figure out the best way to communicate that the field crests and then slopes downhill, and that he *REALLY* wanted to set up at the very far northwest corner.
He figured it out and had a decent landing, then Jon and I cruised by the golf course while he was breaking down. As we were heading up I got a call from Matthew, who said that SteveK had already bailed to High Rock, and they were thinking the same thing. Hmmmmm..... Ok, let's *not* leave my vehicle down here after all! Went back up, and the gusts were peaking at 30mph. With lennies upwind and downwind, and given that Steve had taken one look and bailed, I reluctantly decided to break down the glider and follow suit.
After a whirlwind tear-down and white-knuckle drive across the valley, I got to HR at about 2:45, threw it back together, and was second off after Steve. Conditions were cross from the west, but the winds gradually relaxed (lennies departed) and conditions got quite, quite good. I topped out at 3100' or 3200' over, playing top-o-the-stack with Matthew for a while. I should have been more prepared : An XC from the Rock is doable in those conditions, provided that you have P-40 and its radius programmed into your GPS. I had neither
But in spite of the fact that I didn't go anywhere, that 3 hours went by REALLY fast. It was pretty much a thermal-only day.... And when they were on, they were ON! Of course, the very best lift occurred just as I got into range of the radio towers behind launch, drat! Ya really shouldn't go past them, they mark the edge of P-40 airspace (when there's no TFR). Ah well.
Eventually I got bored (did I just type that?????), and started throwing the glider around the sky, strafing launch, doing some mild wingovers, and just having a fantastic time. My favorite is to hover right over launch when the wind's blowing, slow-slow-slow, then suck in the bar and dive at the rock. Plenty of opportunities for that today, wheeee!
The one blemish on the day occurred when I found that my zipper was jammed, about 400' over the LZ.
I've been trying to drill a pre-landing checklist into my head, but it just does NOT seem to be clicking, damnit! I *was* thinking, I *did* go through a list ( rock-up in the harness? check! release vg? check! determine the wind direction? check!). But where in the heck was the simple/easy/obvious zipper check??? Like, when I'm way over launch and prior to heading out into the valley? Just a little tug, to make sure that things are ok? Well, that didn't happen, found that it had jammed when I was low, tried everything I could think of but no dice. Cut a knuckle on something, bleeding on the basetube and the harness, turned the vario back on.... Then decided screw-it, and landed in the field next to the primary (clean as a whistle from a recent haying). Zoomed in, flared a bit when I got low, and wheeled in without incident.
Next time you see me flying, do me a favor and ask me "Hey Mark, what's the very FIRST thing that you're going to check before landing??????" Major sigh.
MarkC
Arrived 10:30am at The Pulpit, and later helped launch Brian, who had maybe an hour-ish flight. He was low on the ridge, no Qs, a bit of high cirrus. Dennis was up next, but he decided not to fly given that it looked like a hang-around-in-ratty-lift flight, and what was the point of doing that for hours?
Headed down with Jon B to drop my vehicle, and to scope out an LZ (without chest-high grass) across and down the road a bit from the primary. It's eminently doable, though you would have to accept the fact the you might be landing cross-wind. As we were checking it out, Brian headed out from the ridge and landed right there. We were trying to figure out the best way to communicate that the field crests and then slopes downhill, and that he *REALLY* wanted to set up at the very far northwest corner.
He figured it out and had a decent landing, then Jon and I cruised by the golf course while he was breaking down. As we were heading up I got a call from Matthew, who said that SteveK had already bailed to High Rock, and they were thinking the same thing. Hmmmmm..... Ok, let's *not* leave my vehicle down here after all! Went back up, and the gusts were peaking at 30mph. With lennies upwind and downwind, and given that Steve had taken one look and bailed, I reluctantly decided to break down the glider and follow suit.
After a whirlwind tear-down and white-knuckle drive across the valley, I got to HR at about 2:45, threw it back together, and was second off after Steve. Conditions were cross from the west, but the winds gradually relaxed (lennies departed) and conditions got quite, quite good. I topped out at 3100' or 3200' over, playing top-o-the-stack with Matthew for a while. I should have been more prepared : An XC from the Rock is doable in those conditions, provided that you have P-40 and its radius programmed into your GPS. I had neither
But in spite of the fact that I didn't go anywhere, that 3 hours went by REALLY fast. It was pretty much a thermal-only day.... And when they were on, they were ON! Of course, the very best lift occurred just as I got into range of the radio towers behind launch, drat! Ya really shouldn't go past them, they mark the edge of P-40 airspace (when there's no TFR). Ah well.
Eventually I got bored (did I just type that?????), and started throwing the glider around the sky, strafing launch, doing some mild wingovers, and just having a fantastic time. My favorite is to hover right over launch when the wind's blowing, slow-slow-slow, then suck in the bar and dive at the rock. Plenty of opportunities for that today, wheeee!
The one blemish on the day occurred when I found that my zipper was jammed, about 400' over the LZ.
I've been trying to drill a pre-landing checklist into my head, but it just does NOT seem to be clicking, damnit! I *was* thinking, I *did* go through a list ( rock-up in the harness? check! release vg? check! determine the wind direction? check!). But where in the heck was the simple/easy/obvious zipper check??? Like, when I'm way over launch and prior to heading out into the valley? Just a little tug, to make sure that things are ok? Well, that didn't happen, found that it had jammed when I was low, tried everything I could think of but no dice. Cut a knuckle on something, bleeding on the basetube and the harness, turned the vario back on.... Then decided screw-it, and landed in the field next to the primary (clean as a whistle from a recent haying). Zoomed in, flared a bit when I got low, and wheeled in without incident. Next time you see me flying, do me a favor and ask me "Hey Mark, what's the very FIRST thing that you're going to check before landing??????" Major sigh.
MarkC
Re: Pulpit Saturday???
Thanks for the onsite report John. It's good to hear what the conditions were as a weather data point for future reference. Bacilsilverwings wrote:Somebody was soaring in a hg when I went over the mountain around noon on the way to Kirshners. Kirshners worked fairly good for teaching. Stopped by the Pulpit on the way home around 5:30 and no one there but it looked like majic conditions smooth in 8 mph on the run-off. Wish I was well and could enjoy some flying.
Re: Pulpit Saturday???
Fun day at The Rock ! Nice thermals and good pilot turnout. Maxed out at 2400' over...should gone back to the tower with Mark and Matthew to get even higher.
Jon
Jon