Flying on Sunday

[silverwings]

I did not see Felix's crash only heard it while I was setting up. Sure am glad he didn't get seriously hurt. When I launched just after 2:30 it had gotten quite light and I had a nice launch in about 4 mph and mostly flew 400 - 600 above launch only getting to 1100 above once or twice. Only found mild lift and the wind was getting more sw cross to it. Landed after a 52 minute flight playing it safe and headed out when I got down to about 200 above. Other pilots that flew were Greg, Dan, Rich, Andy and later Randy flew his pg. Definitely was a flyable day with fairly nice temps but not the best lift and it went more cross than I expected but sure was nice being out in the sun and getting a little air time!

[rlweber]

I arrived at 3:30pm and the wind was cross from the west, with periods of straight in through the slot. I knew it was cross, but the periods of straight in cycles encouraged me. On my way up I talked with a pilot who said it was cross and bumpy with higher wind gusts. I was a bit dismayed by the sound of the wind in the tree tops, evidently because of the cross, the wind was stronger over the mountain than what the wind in the slot indicated. I almost packed up and went home, I just wasn't in to handling the turbulence of a SW cross. However as I shouldered my pack I realized the wind in the tree tops had died down and there were nice cycles in the slot, so why not launch. The 4:30 launch was uneventful. There was lift close to the ridge, however the cross made me nervous so I did not hug the trees. Away from the tree tops there was no lift so I went out to land. There was indeed a strong SW component to the wind. It was a relatively uneventful 11 minute flight. I was definitely be pushed north as I went out to land in the pg field. Hit much sink on the way out.
The real interesting part of the day was as I walked up the road to launch. A sheriff stopped and said that they had received a call about somebody wanting a ride up the mountain. I was flying my need a ride sign. He questioned me about where my glider was, asked for ID and ran a check. Then he offered me a ride to my truck. It was a bit weird being locked in back of a police car. I occurred to me how much we trust our police. In some places in the world it would not be safe to accept a ride from the police. We had a nice chat about VT football.
It was good to be out on the mountain. It was definitely a hg day but I did not have the time.

Randy

[Lucky_Chevy]

Randy,

Karma is a wheel. Thanks for the ride to my truck. Glad you got to fly and found your ride back to the top.

[Lostgriz]

Felix,

Very sorry to hear about your blown launch, but it sounds like you came out of it about as good as you could hope. Are flying with a tail on your Discus or did you get a new glider? What made you decide to start flying with a tail?

Matt

[darbbb]

Felix

Sorry to hear about the blown launch and the damage to your wing. I'm glad it wasn't worse.

Brad

[FlyingFelix]

Felix,

Very sorry to hear about your blown launch, but it sounds like you came out of it about as good as you could hope. Are flying with a tail on your Discus or did you get a new glider? What made you decide to start flying with a tail?

Matt

When I say tail I mean the Keel extension (actual keel is not damaged, just the "tail" part of it). No real tail for me.
Yes, it could of been worse, going down on your belly on the Woodstock launch isn't pretty...

[Matthew]

Hi All,

This does not relate to what happened to Felix. I just want to remind everyone that if you pick up the glider at Woodstock and it feels unnaturally heavy, DON'T LAUNCH! Sometimes it may appear from the streamers that the wind is coming into the slot when it is actually WAY CROSS and dumping over the treeline and bouncing back and forth in the slot. The air will push down on the glider and you won't get airborne.

Matthew

[Dan T]

I just wanted to second Matthew's point. Several years ago the conditions Matthew described put me into the rocks in the slot. If the wind feel like it should be lifting the wing and it isn't it's not a good time to launch.

Dan

[FlyingFelix]

This actually happened earlier in the day while I wire crew'd for Greg - I felt his wing coming down on my head (and I think it came down on the other side as well) as he asked me if I felt the wing being pressured down. It was definitely rotors pushing down on the wing. He waited and then launched in a good cycle.
On my launch I remember having the wing lifting off my shoulders before yelling clear... if only I didn't run like a school girl I would of flow that day. Oh well.