Sun (10/18) @ Pulpit/ High Rock

[Lostgriz]

WOW, I am sorry I missed a great day at the Pulpit.... I haven't flown there this year.

Thanks for the write-ups and congratulations to everyone on a beautiful fall day of flying.

Matt

[XCanytime]

Awesome day at the Pulpit. I got there first around 10:45A. Decided to give it a go from the pad around 12:15P. Had a good straight in cycle and got up pretty easily. Tom joined me shortly thereafter. Tom stayed north and I went south to intercept a nice looking cloud halfway between launch and the gas line clear cut. Climbed up to around 4500' MSL and thought about OTB. Loitered and climbed past 5K' MSL. There was a nice cloud street downwind so it was a done deal. Flew over the fish ponds and saw that the surface winds were SW. Theorized there would be some good lift spawned by the twin mountains of Kittatinny and Broad so I beelined it over there. Found a climb to cloudbase at 6.1K' MSL. 31 degrees up there. Brrr. Had a choice of going downwind to a cloud or crosswind to nicer looking clouds. The crosswind path would lead me towards Chambersburg Airport which I've always wanted to land at. I chose the downwind cloud. Bad choice. Lost down to 2K' MSL and ended up over a football field where a game was in progress. Found some weak lift that enabled me to make it across 81 where I landed in a HUGE field right next to the interstate. About 16 miles from launch. The dependable Charley Fager retrieved me once again. Thanks a bunch Charley! I owe you big time. It was good to see so many pilots at the Pulpit. Bacil

[dbodner]

I had to go to Gettysburg that day. On the way back I stopped off at High Rock. It looked soarable, though I didn't stick around long enough to really get the feel.