Saturday (6/8/13)

[dbodner]

Anyone thinking High Rock for a low-key afternoon flight?

[Matthew]

Thinking of dragging the new PGs to the Pulpit. If too strong, back-tracking to High Rock with the HGs to avoid landing in the tall grass.

Matthew

[markc]

I'd be up for either, but the showers on the radar right now are damping (dampening?) my enthusiasm a bit.... Hopefully they will move on out? Winds at Hagerstown seem encouraging...

MarkC

[Matthew]

Heading to Pulpit with both sets of wings- -- eta 11:15.

Matthew

[Dunegoon]

Interested.


Charley

[markc]

I think I will give the Pulpit a try, but I think I'll wait a couple hours before hitting the road. A last gasp of showers is due to roll through the area... But seems like things might be OK behind it.

MarkC

[markc]

Hitting the road now. Still lots of clouds W of the Pulpit, but I'm hoping that there will be some sun up there by the end of the day.

MarkC

[markc]

M&K called to tell me that the secondary is planted (fully) and that the primary has very tall grass. They are headed to Kirchner's for some PG flights, then back to see if winds will back down.

ChalieF is there now, winds 12-17, a bit N cross. He is heading to the primary to see if it might be possiblele to land at the edge of the planted rows without crop damage.

Considering High Rock, but concerned about the WSW in the cast later this afternoon.... Tough call today, sigh.

MarkC

[kcarra]

Well-- we never got WSW or West for that matter. North all damn day and into the night. After checking out the LZs-- baby corn and shoulder high grass-- Karen and I went to Kirchner's. John M. was there teaching and the grass was nicely mowed-- thanks John. Karen and I each took a flight on our new PGs-- joined by Stan who also took a PG flight. Returned to Pulpit and helped Mark Launch. He got up -- so I started to set up my glider. And then he was down. I hemmed and hawed-- a bunch of PGers were there also hemming and hawing. Winds were 15-gusting to 20 and, of course, North cross. Some of the PGer's left and a few went to the bar. Charlie F. went to pick up Mark in the LZ. I finished setting up my glider just in time for Mark and Charlie to return and launched off the old ramp. I flew down past the primary a couple of miles -- getting 400 over a couple of times. However, I just couldn't stay high and kept coming back down to launch level. I got bored of rotor surfing and after climbing back up a few hundred over one last time, I headed out to land in a recently plowed field way out in the valley. Got 48 minutes.

Karen came and picked me up. Mark was re-setting up his HG an Charlie was breaking down. All of the PGers, except Stan, had left. Things started to look straighter and lighter. So I drug out the new PG. As soon as I got to launch it started blowing harder and way cross. I pulled the glider up one time only to have it spin ninety degrees once overhead. I dropped the wing and waited-- and waited-- at least 20 minutes before I had a decent cycle. The new wing comes up like a rocket and I launched into a slight North cross. I got 100 over and headed to the primary-- bobbing just above the ridge. It was all rotor again. I considered flying down to the end of the ridge but didn't feel like scratching that much in the new glider. I turned out to the primary and found a nice buoyant lift line-- really not losing any altitude on the way out. I landed in the tall grass and managed to keep the glider overhead-- then kited it down to the breakdown area-- 12 minutes. Then Stan, after several attempts, launched and flew out to the secondary. Mark flew again and made a beeline to a field across the road from the primary.

I ended up with an hour of airtime and finally got to fly my new PG-- so not a waste of day.

Karen, Mark, Charlie and I went back up and had beers while watching the sun set from the new ramp. The winds had picked back up and were even more North cross instead of South as predicted. Ugh!

Matthew