Bill's Sunday

[Matthew]

Fun day at Bill's. Got 2.5 hours and 3K over-- flew up and down the ridge and way out in the valley-- mostly flying with Larry Ball. Flew the HG. Matt, (Lostgriz), Richard Hays, Greg Sessa. Tim B., Bacil and Karen all soared. Tim, Bacil and Greg flew twice. Charlie had what he called Sinko de Mayo. Dan Tomlinson was the only one to fly PG. He got 350 over but headed out to land because it was on the edge for penetration -- he flew speed bar all the way out to the LZ. Karen got about an hour-- 1k over. I went back up to launch after landing the HG in hopes of flying my new PG. Alas, it as still too strong. Maybe next week at the Pulpit Fly-In.


Matthew

[XCanytime]

I had an interesting day at Bills yesterday. My first flight I launched just after noon and headed south. It took some work to get up. Once again I found lift lines oriented to the SE and pretty sharp edges. About 15 minutes into my flight and around 1K over I heard a pop and my harness pitch drastically changed. I was now pitched upward and it felt "funny". I flew around for a few minutes before deciding to land and check the problem. A nice landing in the field across from the main LZ (uphill) ensued and what I suspected happened did happen. The lanyard to the backplate had been severed. The point where the lanyard exited a knot was rubbing against the zipper and the zipper abraded the lanyard over time enough to cut it in two. Retied the lanyard and took a 2nd flight around 4:30P. Once again it wasn't a gimme. Headed down south to the turnpike and hung out there for a good hour. Sharp edges on the lift still around. Saw plenty of redtails frolicking and even flew formation with one of them for half a minute. He gazed at me and I gazed at him the whole time. It was cool. After 5:30P the air went magic and it was easy to stay up at 1K' over. Boated around a while with Greg and Karen before heading in to land in the main LZ. Thanks to Charley for the wind direction signals. At the north tree line I got hit by major turbulence even at 6P. Another nice landing to cap the day. Matthew brought out the hand cranked margarita machine in celebration of Cinco de Mayo . He graciously provided all the pilots with a small snort of margarita. Thanks Matthew. 4 straight soarable days at Bills. Won't see this pattern again for years! Bacil

[Lostgriz]

I made my first trip to Bill's today. There were 8 or 10 gliders there and it was soarable when I got there at 10:45. I had Taylor with me and was really more focused on spending a day with him than flying. I launched around 2:30 I guess, I made a few passes and got above launch, but after around 10 minutes got caught in a flush cycle that sent me, Rich and Tim to the LZ. Not an epic day of flying for me, but a great day out with my son. By the time I made it back to launch, it was till soarable, but I had work to do in prep for my week and headed home around 5:00. As it turns out, I didn't do any of my work at home and should have stayed for another flight!...Oh, well. I enjoyed meeting a bunch of pilots and seeing a few others for the first time this year. Thanks to Bacil and others for the launch assistance and thank you to Bacil and Jon for the encouragement to come check out this cool site. I will bring the big pruners next time I come to Bill's.

Matt

[bowen.tim]

A great day was had by most at Bill’s on Sunday. This was my first time at Bill’s and my second mountain flight since coming back to the sport. Both Mathew Graham and Rich Hays were out Sunday to observe…..THANKS for your support. I got to meet a bunch of great pilots that I see posting on here….Matt Christianson, Greg Sessa, Charlie Fager, Karen Carra, Dan Thomlinson, and one or two more that escape me.

I took off on my first flight about 2PM. The wind was straight in with maybe a hint of a right cross. I flew out of the slot and went south. There was plenty of ridge lift and thermal activity. It was quite bumpy. Needless to say, I was flying “naked” and had no instruments to beep at me. Just by watching my video, I would estimate that I topped out around 800 – 1K over launch. Being a newbie, I didn’t venture too far up or down the ridge. I eventually got flushed from the ridge and I headed out to the LZ along with Matt and Rich. I got 1 hour on that flight.

Rich Hays was able to join me 15 minutes after I launched. I am glad I goaded him into coming out Sunday. He’s always the instructor and never the pilot. Thanks Rich.

That was the end of my day until Matt, Bacil, Charlie, and Dan persuaded me to take another one. I was happy with one good one, but they convinced me that I would not see another Bill’s Hill day like this for awhile. I setup quickly (it’s a Falcon), pre-flighted and took off 10 minutes after Karen.

I had another great flight. Mathew said I jumped into my takeoff and didn’t run it out (mental note). I proceeded south out of the slot again. The air was a lot smoother and lift everywhere. I still didn't venture to far from launch, but I was happy to be up. I could have flown for a long while. I saw the shadows growing in the LZ and I was the last one up. Everyone was breaking down so I thought I better head out to get a ride. Unbeknownst to, I was told Matt was yelling up to me to come down. I couldn’t hear him but maybe he came across telepathically.

I got about 50 minutes on that flight and a Margarita when I landed. Well, it was Cinco de Mayo…thanks Matt and Karen, you think about the important things!! Again, thanks for everyone’s help and support on my return to sport.

[jyoder111]

Congrats on the flights, Tim. Sounds like a great day at bills to get reacquainted with free flight!

Jesse

[g.sessa]

It was great to see so many pilots and gliders out at Bills on Sunday. I managed to take 2 flights. My first was a short 7 minute flight. After launching, I made a poor decision to search for lift out in front of launch and ultimately succumbed to gravity. After watching a few other pilots from the LZ, I noted the better decision would have been to turn south and head down the ridge in search of lift. After catching a much appreciated ride back to launch with Charlie and Bacil, I decided to set up for a second flight. The flight did not start out very well. My launch and cycle choice was certainly less than ideal. I was waiting until what I thought was steady wind, with relatively stable conditions in the slot, but based on feedback, I should have waited a bit longer. After a few steps into the run my left wing tip lowered slightly. I made a quick correction, but I did not feel the glider wanting to fly. I realized I needed to build speed in order to clear the bottom of the slot so I pulled in on the bar. This put me very low on the hillside and the brush in the slot. But as I neared the bottom of the clearing, I had good speed and was able to push out and fly away, but not before making contact with a couple taller and flimsy (thankfully) braches sticking straight up at the bottom of the slot. Despite making contact with a few branches, I was able to fly away without incident or damage to the glider. I then enjoyed a nice flight cruising along the ridge mostly around launch. I topped out slightly over 1,000 ft above launch and then had a nice landing in the main LZ after a 90 minute flight. Thanks to Matthew and Karen for planning ahead and providing margaritas for all in the LZ in celebration of the holiday! And a special thanks to Charlie who again provided Bacil and I with a lift back to launch!

[Dan T]

I just wanted to add that Matthew and I witnessed the prettiest launch either of us have ever seen. Larry Ball launched his T2C throughout the run and transition to flight without any change in pitch or roll whatsoever!. We couldn't see his wing move one-inch in any direction throughout the entire launch cycle and well into the air.

Congratulations Larry, it was a piece of art!

Dan

[mcgowantk]

I am glad everyone had a good day at Bills. As a point of reference, I decided to head to Jacks, after stopping at the Pulpit on the way north, checking the wind there and looking at the latest forecast (which said SE 10-15). I was the only pilot at Jacks on Sunday and perhaps can see why. It was cross from the north the whole day and the air didn't feel as smooth as I would have liked. I landed in the main LZ after about 2 hours. I maxed out at 2k over and found that thermal only because a bald eagle was marking it for me. It seems that Bills would have been a much better call.

Tom McGowan

[lplehmann]

After having flown Bills on Saturday I must say that the launch needs serious clearing work. It was ok to launch with the considerable breeze we experienced, but it would be downright dangerous in lighter conditions
Pete

[Matthew]

Under the rules of he who smelled it dealt it-- thank you Pete for volunteering to lead the next Bill's Hill Slot Clean-Up!!!

Plese let us know the date and time.

Matthew

[markc]

I took out 10 saplings of 4 to 6 inch diameter on Sat, in clusters on the left and right which seemed the most threatening. A couple of hours would probably address the immediate problem, but the tough part is getting to the darn trees : Bill's is a bramble nightmare! We've definitely got to tackle it, even if East days are rare.

MarkC