Silent Airshow 04/20/13 at North Mountain Vineyards

[XCanytime]

From Brad Foster, co-owner of North Mountain Vineyards:

North Mountain Vineyard & Winery will be hosting a Silent Airshow on the 20th of April,2013. We would like to have on display Balloons, Hang Gliders, Paragliders, powered Paragliders, and perhaps a sailplane arriving via trailer.

It is our hope the Capital Hang Gliding and Paragliding Club could assist by referring pilots in our area to the event, and attract new comers and students to your club. In addition, we have a 50' to 75' foot hill facing the prevailing wind. May be appropriate for a demonstration flight or two. The balloons may launch toward the end of the day, wind permitting. Any of the organizations involved would be welcome to pass out information and solicit new members.

We will have music in our events room and possibly food and craft vendors.

Brad Foster
Co-Owner
North Mountain Vineyard and Winery

I spent this afternoon talking with Brad and let him know that I and Jon Brantley will be there and doing static displays of our hang gliders. Any other hang glider pilots interested in doing a static display let me know. The hill Brad is referring to is a shallow hill that faces NW and a ground skimming flight and safe landing uphill before the grapevines is possible. Maybe John Middleton can have a student do a demonstration flight on a Falcon. John let me know ASAP if you are interested. Any paraglider pilots interested in kiting on the shallow hill and possibly doing a demonstration flight let me know as well. Hugh have you had any replies from the sailplane club yet? I look forward to hearing from some of you soon. It should be a fun day. Thanks, Bacil

[XCanytime]

Weather looks good for Woodstock Saturday. XC out landing at the winery looks doable. Bacil

[Lostgriz]

I would be up for a little XC if conditions permit.

Matt

[Lostgriz]

How long will this event last and what time is it scheduled to start?

Matt

[XCanytime]

11A to 1P for Jon and I. John Dullahan will have his glider staged for the whole time the winery is open, which is 11A to 5P. Jon and I are planning to tear down at 1P to get over to the launch by 2P+, have a safe launch, and head NE opposite Maurertown to stage for the 5 mile trek upwind to the winery grounds. Bacil

[Lostgriz]

Sounds fun!

[jyoder111]

Looking good at Woodstock tomorrow. Not sure if I'll stop by the Vineyard before or after heading to launch..

Jesse

[andybalkphysics]

I'll be there too, if the weather stays good.

[thermalup]

My wife and I plan to check out the vineyard event before heading up the hill. Probably aiming for a later launch depending on conditions.
Looks like the sun will be shining!
..::Jim

[markc]

Yeah, can't wait for what looks like a good WS day, with the vineyard airshow to cap it off. Count me in for sure!

MarkC

[POLISH EAGLE]

I will be heading to WS tomorrow. ETA 12:00 noon.

[DanTuck]

See yall there.

[krryerson]

I am planning to fly this Sat at WS and might be there around 11A

[g.sessa]

Count me in today.....

[krryerson]

Looks like little bit more stronger now. Weather.com (10:45A): "Sunny with gusty winds... . Winds WNW at 15 to 25 mph."
Conclusion: Will be coming little bit later.
Knut

[jyoder111]

Lots of pilots getting high at Woodstock today, and not the 4/20 kind of high, if you know what I mean.

Conditions on launch were strong and switchy till around 4pm when the strong cycles began to be eclipsed by the lengthening lulls. Strong west cross the whole day. It was pretty brain-dead soarable, probably till sundown. I launched just before 5pm and flew around the fishbowl for about an hour and then landed in the bridge field due to cows in the primary. Only got to 4.5k MSL, though others got a lot higher. On landing, I found lots of lift over the bridge field and spent the last 10 minutes of my flight boxing and circling over the field at 500-800 AGL till I could get down. Flew the glider to the ground in bubbly, switchy conditions and skidded in lightly on the wheels. Not 5 minutes later, it calmed down and 3-4 pilots landed without incident.

I heard Bacil and Dan made it XC to the vineyard. Looking forward to the report.

Jesse

[mikecosner]

Dammit Jesse, I was going to make a 4/20 joke...anyways....launched around 4:20 in relatively lighter cycles than earlier. Easily got several hundred over launch in ridge lift. The bowls were collecting thermals well in the west cross and I ventured out into the valley without anything working really well. Did this a few times while watching birds and worked up to 3800'Agl and finally caught a boomer to 6700' in smooth 900 up. Very very smooth and effortless over 5500'. Vario said 28deg and I had on two long sleeves and thin gloves on and had to bail out with numb hands but was still climbing. Lift was working well in lines even without clouds. While thawing out, I saw Jesse going for the bridge field which I had never landed in but figured it would make bumming a body ride easier. Very buoyant over the field (and whole valley) and landed shortly before Matt c and Canook (my Norwegian spelling is rusty). With better prep and navigation could have made the winery. 1.5 hrs. Great start to 2013 season. Thanks Matt for ride back up and everyone wire crewing. Happy 4/20.

Mike Cosner

[Lostgriz]

Lots of fun today! Just climbing into bed, so it will be a quick flight report. Flew for 90 mins, topped out at 5100 agl. Found some cranking lift and got spit good a couple times. Played around on the ridge for a while and got high and way behind the ridge at one point. I found it to be pretty sporty below 3500'. Flew out to the water tower across 81 and back to a very bouyant LZ. I had my son sitting on launch, so I worked to get down and logged my first landing in the bridge field. Lots of fun today! Thanks to Jesse, Jon and anyone else that assisted on launch. The views from launch of the valley were spectacular today.

Congrats to Bacil, Dan and Mark C. on their XC to the vineyard. As always, it was great to see everyone and meet some more pilots.

Taking a buddy to Highland for his first tandem in the morning.

Matt

[krryerson]

Great day for me, despite personal worries about the wind forecast. Started around 4pm and flew for almost 2hrs. Topped out around 4k over the LZ. Had lifts up to +10fpm and downs of -11fpm; but, did never feel uncomfortable. Probably because I stayed high-up most of the time... .
Played safe in the end, and landed around 6pm. I was the last HG to land in the bridge field; but, Laszlo started and landed later with his PG, when things got more smooth and nice.
Knut

[andybalkphysics]

Good day at Woodstock for me too...Jon, Chris, and Jesse launched me into burble air which took me up to a thousand over launch... I worked my way north along the ridge until I got a thermal about where I figured was a good place to try for the winery. I made my way sllllloooowly upwind, getting a few thousand foot climbs along the way until I got hammered with strong sink on the other side of 81. Made my first outlanding in a nice, uphill backyard and was greeted my the homeowners who gave me cookies and conversation and a ride to the winery. Thanks to John and his family for the ride up to launch afterwArds. Annoyed I didn't make it quite there..but still happy I landed safely. Nice seeing everyone again!

[DanTuck]

A damn fine way to spend a holiday! I couldn't get more than 1,000 over for the first half hour or so. Thermals were decent around 500 up but I couldn't get high. They were leaning way over but even after I figured that out I still couldn't get more than 1,500 over. At that point I knew for sure I didn't have a chance at making it to the winery. I had ventured down to the South a little but didn't find anything so back around launch I finally hooked one that really turned on. Like 7-800 fpm but around 5,500 msl (3,700 over) it fizzled or I lost it or whatever and I was soon in 800+ fpm down trying desperately to escape it to no avail until I was back at 3K msl. And just then, I was back in another monster screaming up at 900+. This one I managed to stay with and I climbed to 5,900 msl but I was way back on the East side of the Fort valley. I punched back out front and didn't lose a whole lot, maybe down to 5,200' and then ran into another big one. 600, 700, 800, 900+ back up to 6K msl. This time I had only drifted back to just barely behind the front ridge and I was off to the right of launch in good position to give the winery a shot. As good a position as I could ask for on a day when the winds aloft were anywhere from 12-25 mph. As I headed out into the valley I figured I would need to look for lift lines and minimize the circling because the drift was so bad. I found a few broken lines on the way out and ran through a few thermals staying high enough that I never felt the urge to circle. I basically pulled full VG and dolphin flew the whole way there from the ridge staying as pointy as I could. As I crushed I-81 with a couple thousand feet I knew I was golden but about a half mile out I hit this wall of air. I remembered Bacil said something similar when he flew here a few years ago. Serious sink all the way there leaving me only about 500' to set up an approach. Not a big deal though, it was plenty and I dove it into the long skinny field east of the house getting rocked around pretty good since the wind was still rather strong in the valley. I landed behind a hill crest so no one saw but it was a good flare, no step jobber. The entire North Mountain Vineyards family was incredibly welcoming and happy to have us there. What an awesome place! What an awesome day! Thanks Amy and Mark for the rides and Mike and Kris for the launch help.

[thermalup]

It was great to meet some of you at the winery and then later at Woodstock. In case anyone was wondering, the sleek sailplane on display was not foot-launchable .. it weighed in at over 500 lbs empty. Each wing is 140 lbs!

I launched close to 5PM into lifty, fun air. Winds aloft were averaging 16 mph at 294 degrees in the beginning but switched to 8 mph at 318 degrees toward the end of the flight. Thermals were pushing past 5000' msl with minimal turbulence. The cows moved out of the primary LZ and allowed for a pleasant landing in calm conditions just before sunset. Big Thx to Jon, Amy and Marzena for hanging out late and giving great launch assistance.

Here are a few photos from the winery and two from Woodstock (hopefully the link works)
https://plus.google.com/photos/10685384 ... 2147723457

..::Jim

[POLISH EAGLE]

I had a nice XC flight over the back all the way to the food hills of Skyline Dr. Lift was good. I topped the first thermal at 5950 msl. Landed in a nice field around at 6:15PM. along Smith Run in the town called Browntown. The farmer was not to happy to see me there, but after hearing my flight store he become very friendly and took me with the glider to the towns Community Center where I have left my glider and hitchhiked to the town of Bentonsville on Rt. 340. Called Mark C. and he got Greg Sessa to come and get me. Thanks a lot Greg. Greg took me back to the Woodstock lunch. It was getting late. I did not have the time to retrieve my glider because I had to pick up my wife from the airport at 10:45PM. I got there late and she wasn't very happy. I retrieved the glider and harness this morning. Overall a perfect day.

[John Dullahan]

Lured by Bacil's implied promise of a good time and extended wine-tasting at North Mountain Vineyards, arrived with JoAnn and daughter Laura, to find Bacil, supervised by wife Judy, setting up his glider for a static display. Jon B, guided by Amy, also set up his Pulse. NMV owner Brad, wife Kristi (sp?), and son John were very friendly and interested in having someone make it to NMV from Woodstock launch (Bacil had done so about four years ago and had been exhorting other pilots to join him in a replay). Marc C, Jim, Greg S. and other pilots arrived to check out the vineyards, and some obtained grid coords. to set as a goal from launch. A hot air balloon was set set up (just the basket - it was honking all day), as was a sailplane. Peter and an unidentified female from Korea did some kiting. Peter did some nice ground skimming in the rowdy air, and the Korean girl tried same but was subjected to a little undignified backwards dragging. The number of visitors swelled during the afternoon, and only some of them witnessed Dan Tuck's arrival and landing, whose feat was admirable considering the strong headwind and massive sink he encountered after leaving the ridge with nearly 6,000 msl. Marc C's glider appeared in the distance, and it looked like he had good odds of making it to NMV, but when he worked thermals he got blown back and landed just east of 81. Bacil was last to be spotted in the distance, and the large crowd cheered him as battled his way upwind, albeit with respectable altitude gains. He arrived at NMV with about 2,500 over and had to core sink to get down. The large assemblage, on its feet, greeted Bacil's touchdown with enthusiastic applause. While we, with Jon, Amy, Matt and son cooled our heels at the Strasburg Hotel, back at NMV Brad and Kristi generously feted Bacil and Judy with copious amounts of free wine and champagne. Eventually the latter pair arrived in Strasburg, just in time to join the fawning great unwashed for a beer. Unfortunately, I misplaced Bacil's Vertex radio in the vicinity of the static display gliders. If it doesn't turn up I will replace it. Congrats to the other pilots who had nice flights, including Andy Balk who had his first XC, landing near 81, and Polish Eagle, who went over the back to land at Browntown. (We need a more detailed report on that great flight!!) Here's a few photos: View Album - or perhaps this link will work:
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir? ... feat=email

[jyoder111]