Bruce Engen, Joe Schad, and Holly & I were all at Blue Sky early (since Friday night, actually). Things weren't looking great by 11am...already getting hot as blazes, and the end of the field (1 mile away) was looking hazy. Sonic Bob, Bill Priday, and a comp pilot from Wisconsin named Steve (didn't catch his last name?) arrived a bit later.
None of us had high hopes, but Tex did an air-check flight in the tug, reported low visibility (2, maybe 3 miles max), but also reported feeling plenty of lift.
I decided to be first aerotow of the day at noon. I knew right away it could be a good flight 'cause it was the wildest tow I've had in my short aerotow experience---Tex was all over the place in the tug, and I was huckin' and jivin' and stuffin' and pushin' to stay with him.
I released at around 1200' and found lift everywhere---I mean everywhere---after circling a bit, I flew straight down the field for almost a mile and went up at 250fpm the entire way. It was a hoot---I had an hour-long thermaling flight topping out around 2300', and that was a voluntary ceiling as I was in 450fpm and didn't want to go any higher for fear of whiting out in the haze---so I stuffed the bar and bailed upwind.
Great practice---several times I climbed over 2k, then left lift and descended to 1k, then found more and worked it back up to 2k again. Steve the comp pilot joined me in his Laminar topless. I was proud of staying above him for a good 15 minutes, but he eventually blew up past me (as I knew he would). Steve stayed up well over an hour.
Bruce and Joe did truck tows---Joe had a nice 45-minute thermaling flight off the truck. There were piles of birds all over the place---the most I've ever seen at Blue Sky, possibly because lift was so abundant. Most were black vultures, though there were also a few TVs, an eagle, and a couple hawks.
Inbetween flights we all cowered in the shade of the pavilion gulping down fluids. After resting a while I did some truck tows to work on my landings, which had regressed a bit from not flying much in the past 4-6 weeks.
Side note: the pavilion now has lights! Tex was given a nice set of PV solar panels which he mounted on the kiosk and connected to the lights---very nice addition, and solar-powered to boot!
By 4pm I was feeling sick and dizzy...I thought at first I might have been dehydrated, but then realized in all the excitement of the day's flying I'd forgotten to eat anything. (Not smart.) So Holly and I drove to Moe's Southwest Grill in Mechanicsville and chowed down.
In spite of the grueling heat, it was a great day---and surpassed all our expectations. Man I hate the heat though...and am praying for a break in this weather pattern!
Scott
Good Blue Sky day Saturday
Moderator: CHGPA BOD
-
hang_pilot
- Posts: 662
- Joined: Thu Jan 06, 2005 11:13 pm
- Location: Tallahassee, FL
Good Blue Sky day Saturday
Dr. Jack's looked fantastic for Blue Sky today and yesterday. I would
have gone there today except that I had something to pick up at
Highland. Glad to hear everyone was rewarded for braving the heat.
How's Holly?
~Daniel
-----Original Message-----
From: Scott [mailto:sw@shadepine.com]
Sent: Saturday, August 13, 2005 11:44 PM
To: hg_forum@chgpa.org
Subject: Good Blue Sky day Saturday
Bruce Engen, Joe Schad, and Holly & I were all at Blue Sky early (since
Friday night, actually). Things weren't looking great by 11am...already
getting hot as blazes, and the end of the field (1 mile away) was
looking hazy. Sonic Bob, Bill Priday, and a comp pilot from Wisconsin
named Steve (didn't catch his last name?) arrived a bit later.
None of us had high hopes, but Tex did an air-check flight in the tug,
reported low visibility (2, maybe 3 miles max), but also reported
feeling plenty of lift.
I decided to be first aerotow of the day at noon. I knew right away it
could be a good flight 'cause it was the wildest tow I've had in my
short aerotow experience---Tex was all over the place in the tug, and I
was huckin' and jivin' and stuffin' and pushin' to stay with him.
I released at around 1200' and found lift everywhere---I mean
everywhere---after circling a bit, I flew straight down the field for
almost a mile and went up at 250fpm the entire way. It was a hoot---I
had an hour-long thermaling flight topping out around 2300', and that
was a voluntary ceiling as I was in 450fpm and didn't want to go any
higher for fear of whiting out in the haze---so I stuffed the bar and
bailed upwind.
Great practice---several times I climbed over 2k, then left lift and
descended to 1k, then found more and worked it back up to 2k again.
Steve the comp pilot joined me in his Laminar topless. I was proud of
staying above him for a good 15 minutes, but he eventually blew up past
me (as I knew he would). Steve stayed up well over an hour.
Bruce and Joe did truck tows---Joe had a nice 45-minute thermaling
flight off the truck. There were piles of birds all over the place---the
most I've ever seen at Blue Sky, possibly because lift was so abundant.
Most were black vultures, though there were also a few TVs, an eagle,
and a couple hawks.
Inbetween flights we all cowered in the shade of the pavilion gulping
down fluids. After resting a while I did some truck tows to work on my
landings, which had regressed a bit from not flying much in the past 4-6
weeks.
Side note: the pavilion now has lights! Tex was given a nice set of PV
solar panels which he mounted on the kiosk and connected to the
lights---very nice addition, and solar-powered to boot!
By 4pm I was feeling sick and dizzy...I thought at first I might have
been dehydrated, but then realized in all the excitement of the day's
flying I'd forgotten to eat anything. (Not smart.) So Holly and I drove
to Moe's Southwest Grill in Mechanicsville and chowed down.
In spite of the grueling heat, it was a great day---and surpassed all
our expectations. Man I hate the heat though...and am praying for a
break in this weather pattern!
Scott
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[ST:XCL]
have gone there today except that I had something to pick up at
Highland. Glad to hear everyone was rewarded for braving the heat.
How's Holly?
~Daniel
-----Original Message-----
From: Scott [mailto:sw@shadepine.com]
Sent: Saturday, August 13, 2005 11:44 PM
To: hg_forum@chgpa.org
Subject: Good Blue Sky day Saturday
Bruce Engen, Joe Schad, and Holly & I were all at Blue Sky early (since
Friday night, actually). Things weren't looking great by 11am...already
getting hot as blazes, and the end of the field (1 mile away) was
looking hazy. Sonic Bob, Bill Priday, and a comp pilot from Wisconsin
named Steve (didn't catch his last name?) arrived a bit later.
None of us had high hopes, but Tex did an air-check flight in the tug,
reported low visibility (2, maybe 3 miles max), but also reported
feeling plenty of lift.
I decided to be first aerotow of the day at noon. I knew right away it
could be a good flight 'cause it was the wildest tow I've had in my
short aerotow experience---Tex was all over the place in the tug, and I
was huckin' and jivin' and stuffin' and pushin' to stay with him.
I released at around 1200' and found lift everywhere---I mean
everywhere---after circling a bit, I flew straight down the field for
almost a mile and went up at 250fpm the entire way. It was a hoot---I
had an hour-long thermaling flight topping out around 2300', and that
was a voluntary ceiling as I was in 450fpm and didn't want to go any
higher for fear of whiting out in the haze---so I stuffed the bar and
bailed upwind.
Great practice---several times I climbed over 2k, then left lift and
descended to 1k, then found more and worked it back up to 2k again.
Steve the comp pilot joined me in his Laminar topless. I was proud of
staying above him for a good 15 minutes, but he eventually blew up past
me (as I knew he would). Steve stayed up well over an hour.
Bruce and Joe did truck tows---Joe had a nice 45-minute thermaling
flight off the truck. There were piles of birds all over the place---the
most I've ever seen at Blue Sky, possibly because lift was so abundant.
Most were black vultures, though there were also a few TVs, an eagle,
and a couple hawks.
Inbetween flights we all cowered in the shade of the pavilion gulping
down fluids. After resting a while I did some truck tows to work on my
landings, which had regressed a bit from not flying much in the past 4-6
weeks.
Side note: the pavilion now has lights! Tex was given a nice set of PV
solar panels which he mounted on the kiosk and connected to the
lights---very nice addition, and solar-powered to boot!
By 4pm I was feeling sick and dizzy...I thought at first I might have
been dehydrated, but then realized in all the excitement of the day's
flying I'd forgotten to eat anything. (Not smart.) So Holly and I drove
to Moe's Southwest Grill in Mechanicsville and chowed down.
In spite of the grueling heat, it was a great day---and surpassed all
our expectations. Man I hate the heat though...and am praying for a
break in this weather pattern!
Scott
LEGAL DISCLAIMER
The information transmitted is intended solely for the individual or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged material. Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of or taking action in reliance upon this information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited. If you have received this email in error please contact the sender and delete the material from any computer.
Seeing Beyond Money is a service mark of SunTrust Banks, Inc.
[ST:XCL]
-
Flying Lobster
- Posts: 1042
- Joined: Fri Feb 25, 2005 4:17 pm
wisconsin pilot
Perhaps Steve "Rewo" Rewolinski? Makes the best tandem wheels around, too.
marc
marc
Great Googly-moo!
That's cool that Dr. Jack showed good conditions---I normally check it prior to flying, but didn't bother---guess they were right!
don't know if this Steve was that Steve Marc? This guy was probably 38-32 years old, short hair, glasses, with a wife and 18-month-old daughter (they were doing a little flying tour through the east---had previously been at Lookout I think...)
Holly's doing fine---she's still planning to fly again on Labor Day weekend!
Scott
don't know if this Steve was that Steve Marc? This guy was probably 38-32 years old, short hair, glasses, with a wife and 18-month-old daughter (they were doing a little flying tour through the east---had previously been at Lookout I think...)
Holly's doing fine---she's still planning to fly again on Labor Day weekend!
Scott