Ridgley Sunday

[stevek]

Pretty good day. Ratty thermals but stayupable. Got to 4k a couple of times. Hour and a half.

[Ward Odenwald]

Another good day at Highland! Adam, Sunny, Jim Rooney and Bob were busy with introductory flights and all or most solo pilots found abundant lift including Greg Sessa, Steve, B (from NY) and others whose names I can’t remember. As Steve described, the consensus is that the mid-day thermals were intense/tight cores that were flanked by equally intense bursts of gravity (“ratty”). Jim towed me up just before 2 PM and as we approached the north end of the runway, I could see that we were headed for two hawks or eagles circling out in front of us. That’s just about when the rollercoaster ride started with me trying unsuccessfully to climb up to the tug and then desperately trying to dive down to its level. After three of these “whoop-de-dos”, Jim was on his way back to his next tow and I was left with a snapped weak link and about 1,000 ft of air between the Racetrack Rd and me. A 180-degree turn put me back into the thermal that triggered the break and within minutes, I was above 3K msl. The climb was almost as rowdy as the tow complete with zero G surprises, bouts of sink alarm alerts followed by 1000 ft/min up and lift that appeared to sneak up from behind (where you feel the change in up acceleration first in you legs or waist instead of your chest or shoulders). Here are some images of the flight starting with the tow (just before the break), the climb in the first thermal and a couple of other images showing the countryside and clouds. Most of the rust-colored fields are feed corn that is almost ready for harvesting or, as some of the pics show, being harvested. On the way home, I stopped off at a roadside produce stand that John Middleton recommended earlier in the summer and met the farmer. She said that most of the local farms were delaying their corn harvest until its water/moisture level content drops (the dryer it is, the more money it brings at auction). She also indicated that most of it should be cut down by early October creating unlimited XC LZs. The soybean harvest will start at the end of October. Ward

[Ward Odenwald]

last set of five.

[Lostgriz]

Great write-up and pictures Ward!

Matt

[Eric]

So that's what happened after I left.

It was beautifully smooth for sledders early in the morning too. I got a taste of the kiddy coaster around 11-ish on my last couple of tows. Yee haw!

Now if I can just get my turns and spots down on the training hill, maybe John M. will throw me off the mountain, and maybe, just maybe I'll be an honest to goodness hg pilot one day...