7th trip to High Rock and I finally get into the air. Did launch director
duties for a couple hours then got in the air around 1:45. Lots of gliders
up already, we counted at least 15. Some last rights (advice) from Matthew
and a twice over from Judy, Eddie and others and I'm off. Launch felt
pretty good and the flight felt very good. GORGEOUS day! Just awesome.
Blowing in at 12-15 all day long, nice ridge and some thermal lift and great
views as the haze slowly lifted.
Could fly as long as you like, but I head out to land after an hour and
fifteen and get a decent approach and landing in. Good party on Sat night
and incredible flying on Sunday... not bad. Big Thanks to the multitudes of
people who helped me finally get airborne at HR, they are too numerous to
list but it's most of the CHGPA and then some.
John
Finally an HR Flight
Moderator: CHGPA BOD
Bike, Bag and Fly Weekend
Karen, Hugh and I did the abandoned turnpike ride Sat afternoon. Great ride. Ya'll gott do it. Then we went to Fisher Road where it was blowin' straight in at 5-8mph. I flew the bag for 30 minutes. It was probably soarable most of the day there. We then headed back to HR for the party and arrived just in time for Sparky's slide show and lots of other great videos. Sunday was boo-wah all day long at the Rock. Gazillions flew and soared... soarable pretty much from 10:00am till sunset. Close to 95 people registered for the event. I got 2:45 and 3100 over launch. Karen got 2:20 and 1500 over launch. Sparky did four tandems over the weekend and Tex did two on Sunday. Lots of other flying stories. But they're best told by the flyers.
Matthew
Matthew
HR Fly In - flight report
This will be a bit longer than my normal posts, feel free to delete.
Athough Saturday had mostly S and SW winds, pilots were able to launch in thermal cycles. A few managed to work some lift. Landings were mostly towards the South.
I made an early solo flight to check conditions, then a tandem in the afternoon with a guy who weighed more than I do. I estimate that we were within about 50 lbs of maximum wing loading. I was a bit hesitant, as it was my first tandem in the new glider and my first tandem launch at High Rock. We launched in almost no wind, took an extra step off the steel platform, and dove a little. The glider flew well. After a traditional sled ride to the LZ, I made a conservative approach towards the South, rolled in on 16" wheels, and stopped within a few feet of the spot.
On Saturday morning I flew with a woman from Chambersburg. She was much lighter. The launch was easier. Landed to the S and nailed the spot again.
I had planned to do the 2nd tandem before 11am, but we didn't launch until conditions became soarable. We were able to get about 400 above in ridge lift, and hooked a series of thermals to 2k over. I knew the LZ would be active, so I spiraled down under cloud shadow and landed (with plenty of airspeed) before the sun heated the LZ again. We got about an hour. After we landed, I learned of an incident in the LZ due to strong thermal activity, and decided I should wait until later to resume flying.
At about 5pm I made my third and last tandem of the day with the brother of a friend. We were able to stay about 300 to 500 over, and I landed after 35 minutes because I was tired.
As I was told by Marc and others, the Falcon II Tandem is a really sweet glider. It turns easily and climbs well when loaded up, even with 450 lbs. I feel much better prepared for more frequent Tandem flights from High Rock.
Athough Saturday had mostly S and SW winds, pilots were able to launch in thermal cycles. A few managed to work some lift. Landings were mostly towards the South.
I made an early solo flight to check conditions, then a tandem in the afternoon with a guy who weighed more than I do. I estimate that we were within about 50 lbs of maximum wing loading. I was a bit hesitant, as it was my first tandem in the new glider and my first tandem launch at High Rock. We launched in almost no wind, took an extra step off the steel platform, and dove a little. The glider flew well. After a traditional sled ride to the LZ, I made a conservative approach towards the South, rolled in on 16" wheels, and stopped within a few feet of the spot.
On Saturday morning I flew with a woman from Chambersburg. She was much lighter. The launch was easier. Landed to the S and nailed the spot again.
I had planned to do the 2nd tandem before 11am, but we didn't launch until conditions became soarable. We were able to get about 400 above in ridge lift, and hooked a series of thermals to 2k over. I knew the LZ would be active, so I spiraled down under cloud shadow and landed (with plenty of airspeed) before the sun heated the LZ again. We got about an hour. After we landed, I learned of an incident in the LZ due to strong thermal activity, and decided I should wait until later to resume flying.
At about 5pm I made my third and last tandem of the day with the brother of a friend. We were able to stay about 300 to 500 over, and I landed after 35 minutes because I was tired.
As I was told by Marc and others, the Falcon II Tandem is a really sweet glider. It turns easily and climbs well when loaded up, even with 450 lbs. I feel much better prepared for more frequent Tandem flights from High Rock.
'Spark
Re: HR Fly In - flight report
Correction, my last three flights were on Sunday in WNW winds.
Spark wrote:On Saturday morning I flew with a woman from Chambersburg. ....
'Spark
-
bustedwing2
- Posts: 249
- Joined: Thu Jan 06, 2005 10:58 pm
- Location: McConnellsburg,Pa
Sun HR
Arrived Sun afternoon,dropped my glider up top,took the truck to the lz,took a little walk,caught a ride back up with Spark after a while, setup and launched after Karen,best and longest flight I've had by far. Nice smooth air with lots of lift,could have stayed up longer but my arms were tired,real tired and I heeded Sparks advice about beating the rush to the lz,flared a little early and weak flare(tired arms),ran 3 or 4 steps and did a belly flop.This excellent day was topped off by the gift of the Glide Ratio 2004 DVD from the artist who made it.Good flight,good company, great DVD,it doesn't get any better than that.
An outstanding day at the Rock on Sunday. NW 10-15, just like you want it. Plenty of thermal lift to near 4k, and apparently reliable ridge lift to 600-700 over as well. Looked like you coulda gone upwind to the Pulpit if youda had the right harness/wing combination. I had Janet's Falcon 195 (trimmed way too slow for the day) and my old Tracer 'drag inducer' harness, so my upwind forays were severly limited in scope - I basically just pointed into the lift lines as they cruised on by. Intitially, while still low, there were some disconcerting moments when the sink would reduce my apparant glide below that seemingly required to make the LZ. Curiously enough, the winds seemed lesser at altitude and stronger down lower. Once I wrapped my brain around this bit of strangeness, I was able to enjoy the flight by staying high and/or upwind of the ridge. Landed after 2+15 or so due to age-related decrepitude, aggrivated by a glider exhibiting this annoying characteristic called 'bar pressure' whenever you wanted to go faster than stall. May have to re-evaluate my brilliant "I'll just fly the Falcon whenever I wanna go to the mountains" plan. Landing was an absolute piece of cake, though, as was setup and breakdown; I could live with those parts.
Joe G.
-
hang_pilot
- Posts: 662
- Joined: Thu Jan 06, 2005 11:13 pm
- Location: Tallahassee, FL
-
drice21037
- Posts: 69
- Joined: Thu Jan 06, 2005 11:00 pm
- Location: Annapolis, MD
Finally an HR Flight
I think that reporter and photographer were from Maxim.
Dave
Quoting kcarra <karencarra@hotmail.com>:
>
> I did see a reporter and a photographer up at launch. I saw them interview
> Linda Baskerville. Linda, do you have more info?Karen Carra
>
Dave
Quoting kcarra <karencarra@hotmail.com>:
>
> I did see a reporter and a photographer up at launch. I saw them interview
> Linda Baskerville. Linda, do you have more info?Karen Carra
>
Finally an HR Flight
On Aug 22, 2005, at 10:27 AM, air_medal wrote:
I had a great flight Sunday afternoon.? 2:40 and 2,749 over launch.? Both personal bests. Also, I gained a total of 14,852 feet, and if someone can explain the point of that statistic I'd be grateful.??Linda Baskerville did annoyingly well, given the 1 digit difference after our Hs and the fact that she was flying a ragged out Falcon in her knee-hanger, and I was flying a relatively young Falcon 2 in a pod.? Usually I was looking at the top of her glider, but all too often I was looking at the bottom.? The only thing that made up for that was looking at the top of Matthew's glider (occasionally).? Linda landed after I did and starting laughing excitedly.? Nice to see her finally showing some enthusiasm.
I do need to remember to re-route my Camelback hose outside my harness before I launch.? Attempting to do so during flight only results in my losing the mouthpiece and a liter of water draining down my shirt.? Somewhat refreshing, but not nearly so as if taken internally.
David Bodner
d.bodner@verizon.net (d.bodner@verizon.net)
(703) 516-7101
(703) 946-0123 cell
KI4AFI
If I'm feeling?significant bar pressure on my Falcon I just figure I'm going down faster than I'm flying forward, so why bother?? And the ridge rat that I am, I'm not looking to get anywhere that fast anyhow.Landed after 2+15 or so due to age-related decrepitude, aggrivated by a glider exhibiting this annoying characteristic called 'bar
?pressure' whenever you wanted to go faster than stall.? May have to re-evaluate my brilliant "I'll just fly the Falcon whenever I wanna go to the mountains" plan.?
I had a great flight Sunday afternoon.? 2:40 and 2,749 over launch.? Both personal bests. Also, I gained a total of 14,852 feet, and if someone can explain the point of that statistic I'd be grateful.??Linda Baskerville did annoyingly well, given the 1 digit difference after our Hs and the fact that she was flying a ragged out Falcon in her knee-hanger, and I was flying a relatively young Falcon 2 in a pod.? Usually I was looking at the top of her glider, but all too often I was looking at the bottom.? The only thing that made up for that was looking at the top of Matthew's glider (occasionally).? Linda landed after I did and starting laughing excitedly.? Nice to see her finally showing some enthusiasm.
I do need to remember to re-route my Camelback hose outside my harness before I launch.? Attempting to do so during flight only results in my losing the mouthpiece and a liter of water draining down my shirt.? Somewhat refreshing, but not nearly so as if taken internally.
David Bodner
d.bodner@verizon.net (d.bodner@verizon.net)
(703) 516-7101
(703) 946-0123 cell
KI4AFI
Finally an HR Flight
Yeah, I like bar pressure because you don't have to remember where trim
is, you just feel it. Joe, I think your hangpoint is too far back; I've
never gotten tired from holding in the bar.
Brian Vant-Hull
301-646-1149
>
> On Aug 22, 2005, at 10:27 AM, air_medal wrote:
>
> Landed after 2+15 or so due to age-related decrepitude, aggrivated by a g=
lider exhibiting this annoying characteristic called 'bar
> =A0pressure' whenever you wanted to go faster than stall.=A0 May have to =
re-evaluate my brilliant "I'll just fly the Falcon whenever I wanna go to t=
he mountains" plan.=A0
> (end of quote)
>
>
> If I'm feeling=A0significant bar pressure on my Falcon I just figure I'm =
going down faster than I'm flying forward, so why bother?=A0 And the ridge =
rat that I am, I'm not looking to get anywhere that fast anyhow.
>
is, you just feel it. Joe, I think your hangpoint is too far back; I've
never gotten tired from holding in the bar.
Brian Vant-Hull
301-646-1149
>
> On Aug 22, 2005, at 10:27 AM, air_medal wrote:
>
> Landed after 2+15 or so due to age-related decrepitude, aggrivated by a g=
lider exhibiting this annoying characteristic called 'bar
> =A0pressure' whenever you wanted to go faster than stall.=A0 May have to =
re-evaluate my brilliant "I'll just fly the Falcon whenever I wanna go to t=
he mountains" plan.=A0
> (end of quote)
>
>
> If I'm feeling=A0significant bar pressure on my Falcon I just figure I'm =
going down faster than I'm flying forward, so why bother?=A0 And the ridge =
rat that I am, I'm not looking to get anywhere that fast anyhow.
>
I'll chime in on the great-day theme! I launched a bit before
11:00, waiting out a wide swath of cloud shadow that appeared
to have flushed Joe Brauch . 3h 45m flight, topping out at about 2900'
over launch. It was a crazy-lift anywhere you go kind of day,
woo-hoo! You could fly south down the ridge, out into the valley,
it was just great. And given the crowd of spectators, I had to
strafe launch a bunch of times, so there was fun down low too.
Excellent party; got to see faces and wings of friends who've moved
out of the area; visited with Harry and Emma Jane a few times
(they were clearly excited by all the fun and commotion). What
a perfect weekend!
I know 'Spark, Steve and Mara, Brian, and Bob all put in major time
and effort to make the 30th memorable. Many thanks to them and to
all the others who were behind the scenes!
--mark
11:00, waiting out a wide swath of cloud shadow that appeared
to have flushed Joe Brauch . 3h 45m flight, topping out at about 2900'
over launch. It was a crazy-lift anywhere you go kind of day,
woo-hoo! You could fly south down the ridge, out into the valley,
it was just great. And given the crowd of spectators, I had to
strafe launch a bunch of times, so there was fun down low too.
Excellent party; got to see faces and wings of friends who've moved
out of the area; visited with Harry and Emma Jane a few times
(they were clearly excited by all the fun and commotion). What
a perfect weekend!
I know 'Spark, Steve and Mara, Brian, and Bob all put in major time
and effort to make the 30th memorable. Many thanks to them and to
all the others who were behind the scenes!
--mark
Finally an HR Flight
"laughing excitedly" Dave? You must have still had your helmet on because I thought I was shrieking with excitement.....
I can usurp the heading on this one for my write up: Finally a High Rock flight. Having been thrown off of HR New Years Day for my first mountain flight, I've spent about 8 months trying to fly there and do more than a sled!
2:15 in the air ( a personal best), decent launches, decent landings - Joe Schad pinpointed a shortcoming on my launch that I should have been further into the airstream when I punched out and off the rock. I stayed away from the glider eating trees for my landing so I count that as very successful.
Noticed the phenomena of "straight" lift "lines" having only dealt with the "round" thermals previously. Must say I enjoyed them. I like getting higher than those towers on top.
I wonder, is there such a thing as mirages at altitude? I thought I saw a hang glider way way up and far away, at cloud base in the distance - as if someone was flying over from the pulpit. I thought I saw it 2 different times, but no one else seemed to see it. I of course was looking around a whole lot more than Dave or Matthew because I had to pimp off them alot...
If you haven't seen my enthusiasm before this, means I've probably been grumbling too much (mea culpa, mea culpa). Comes from dealing with the kids (and I don't mean my children <evil grin>)
BOOOOOOOOWAAAAAAAAAH! I tried to wake up all the sleepy heads (when I flew in at 8:30 in the morning to test the lift conditions - Thanks Sparky!) who had missed my 7 AM "It's blowin' straight in!" launch condition wake up call!
I did mention to Hugh when I pulled him out of the bushes that he didn't have to land in such a hurry as I would have waited to give him his body ride back up to launch for his Launch Nazi stint. He must have wanted to get out of that job pretty badly. But I'm not sure he remembers me telling him that. I'm so glad you were able to walk away from that one Hugh.
Bacil, forgive me? I'm afraid I abused you pretty badly at the launch by accident! Pat from wind riders club too, and Chris Francis both were recipients of the Launch Nazi ankle biting "show me your USHGA card, are you CURRENT?" <growl, snarl, snap...> Hey, the name ain't Baskerville for nothin'.
And a gazillion thank you's to SHEILA for observing me off the rock in the afternoon, when my primary observer went off ahead of my decision to launch. -Linda
-----Original Message-----
From: David Bodner [mailto:d.bodner@verizon.net]
Sent: Monday, August 22, 2005 4:58 PM
To: hg_forum@chgpa.org
Subject: Re: Finally an HR Flight
On Aug 22, 2005, at 10:27 AM, air_medal wrote:
Quote:
Landed after 2+15 or so due to age-related decrepitude, aggrivated by a glider exhibiting this annoying characteristic called 'bar
?pressure' whenever you wanted to go faster than stall.? May have to re-evaluate my brilliant "I'll just fly the Falcon whenever I wanna go to the mountains" plan.?
(end of quote)
If I'm feeling?significant bar pressure on my Falcon I just figure I'm going down faster than I'm flying forward, so why bother?? And the ridge rat that I am, I'm not looking to get anywhere that fast anyhow.
I had a great flight Sunday afternoon.? 2:40 and 2,749 over launch.? Both personal bests. Also, I gained a total of 14,852 feet, and if someone can explain the point of that statistic I'd be grateful.??Linda Baskerville did annoyingly well, given the 1 digit difference after our Hs and the fact that she was flying a ragged out Falcon in her knee-hanger, and I was flying a relatively young Falcon 2 in a pod.? Usually I was looking at the top of her glider, but all too often I was looking at the bottom.? The only thing that made up for that was looking at the top of Matthew's glider (occasionally).? Linda landed after I did and starting laughing excitedly.? Nice to see her finally showing some enthusiasm.
I do need to remember to re-route my Camelback hose outside my harness before I launch.? Attempting to do so during flight only results in my losing the mouthpiece and a liter of water draining down my shirt.? Somewhat refreshing, but not nearly so as if taken internally.
David Bodner
d.bodner@verizon.net (d.bodner@verizon.net)
(703) 516-7101
(703) 946-0123 cell
KI4AFI
I can usurp the heading on this one for my write up: Finally a High Rock flight. Having been thrown off of HR New Years Day for my first mountain flight, I've spent about 8 months trying to fly there and do more than a sled!
2:15 in the air ( a personal best), decent launches, decent landings - Joe Schad pinpointed a shortcoming on my launch that I should have been further into the airstream when I punched out and off the rock. I stayed away from the glider eating trees for my landing so I count that as very successful.
Noticed the phenomena of "straight" lift "lines" having only dealt with the "round" thermals previously. Must say I enjoyed them. I like getting higher than those towers on top.
I wonder, is there such a thing as mirages at altitude? I thought I saw a hang glider way way up and far away, at cloud base in the distance - as if someone was flying over from the pulpit. I thought I saw it 2 different times, but no one else seemed to see it. I of course was looking around a whole lot more than Dave or Matthew because I had to pimp off them alot...
If you haven't seen my enthusiasm before this, means I've probably been grumbling too much (mea culpa, mea culpa). Comes from dealing with the kids (and I don't mean my children <evil grin>)
BOOOOOOOOWAAAAAAAAAH! I tried to wake up all the sleepy heads (when I flew in at 8:30 in the morning to test the lift conditions - Thanks Sparky!) who had missed my 7 AM "It's blowin' straight in!" launch condition wake up call!
I did mention to Hugh when I pulled him out of the bushes that he didn't have to land in such a hurry as I would have waited to give him his body ride back up to launch for his Launch Nazi stint. He must have wanted to get out of that job pretty badly. But I'm not sure he remembers me telling him that. I'm so glad you were able to walk away from that one Hugh.
Bacil, forgive me? I'm afraid I abused you pretty badly at the launch by accident! Pat from wind riders club too, and Chris Francis both were recipients of the Launch Nazi ankle biting "show me your USHGA card, are you CURRENT?" <growl, snarl, snap...> Hey, the name ain't Baskerville for nothin'.
And a gazillion thank you's to SHEILA for observing me off the rock in the afternoon, when my primary observer went off ahead of my decision to launch. -Linda
-----Original Message-----
From: David Bodner [mailto:d.bodner@verizon.net]
Sent: Monday, August 22, 2005 4:58 PM
To: hg_forum@chgpa.org
Subject: Re: Finally an HR Flight
On Aug 22, 2005, at 10:27 AM, air_medal wrote:
Quote:
Landed after 2+15 or so due to age-related decrepitude, aggrivated by a glider exhibiting this annoying characteristic called 'bar
?pressure' whenever you wanted to go faster than stall.? May have to re-evaluate my brilliant "I'll just fly the Falcon whenever I wanna go to the mountains" plan.?
(end of quote)
If I'm feeling?significant bar pressure on my Falcon I just figure I'm going down faster than I'm flying forward, so why bother?? And the ridge rat that I am, I'm not looking to get anywhere that fast anyhow.
I had a great flight Sunday afternoon.? 2:40 and 2,749 over launch.? Both personal bests. Also, I gained a total of 14,852 feet, and if someone can explain the point of that statistic I'd be grateful.??Linda Baskerville did annoyingly well, given the 1 digit difference after our Hs and the fact that she was flying a ragged out Falcon in her knee-hanger, and I was flying a relatively young Falcon 2 in a pod.? Usually I was looking at the top of her glider, but all too often I was looking at the bottom.? The only thing that made up for that was looking at the top of Matthew's glider (occasionally).? Linda landed after I did and starting laughing excitedly.? Nice to see her finally showing some enthusiasm.
I do need to remember to re-route my Camelback hose outside my harness before I launch.? Attempting to do so during flight only results in my losing the mouthpiece and a liter of water draining down my shirt.? Somewhat refreshing, but not nearly so as if taken internally.
David Bodner
d.bodner@verizon.net (d.bodner@verizon.net)
(703) 516-7101
(703) 946-0123 cell
KI4AFI
Finally an HR Flight
???? It was a perfect day for my first High Rock flight ...... in 7 years and 7 months.? Arrived at 9A to Ric Holtz, Sparky, Hugh, Joe Brauch., and Pat F. setting up.? A nice 6 to 12 MPH breeze was blowing in, and porous cumies were forming aloft and drifting straight in.? Ric gave it a go around 10A and had an extendo.? Joe B. gave it a go, got up in light lift down by the rockpile marked by a local TV.? The lift didn't last too long and Joe landed.? Mark C. launched shortly after Joe B. landed and got up pretty easy.? It was time.? Hugh and Joe Schad launched and got up.? I launched and got up down by the rockpile.? Nice, light lift was abundant, and sometimes not very wide.? After struggling for a while, and surviving a flush cycle, caught a ride to cloudbase at 2K' over.? Another flush hit and I found myself doing synchronized flying with Mike Balk at around 100' over launch.? He was out in front; I was flying right above launch.? Found lift again just past the rockpile in the gap, and got to 2K' over again, sharing a thermal with John Dullahan.? Saw a Barney colored glider out in the valley under a huge, gray-bottomed cloud.? Decided to join him.? Turned out to be Mark Gardner.? Lost a few hundred on the way out, but reliable lift under the cloud got me back to 2K' over again.? By this time I had been in the air for 2 hours, so I gently descended for a landing.? Got popped bleeding off speed, and a late flare ensued.? The wheels came in handy.? Joe B. gave me a body ride back up, and what a traffic jam it was at the top!? Ran into my Smithsburg buddy Eddie Miller.? He was looking for a later flight.? After retrieving the glider, got a bite to eat to charge back up.? The sun was brutal in the LZ.? Went back up to launch around 7P, and Eddie was the only glider around launch.? Eddie put on quite a show for the wuffos, periodically strafing the launch in the butter-smooth, glass-off conditions with his Sensor 610F.? Hit the road.? Thanks to all who made the fly-in a success.
?????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Bacil
?????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Bacil