Spring Weekend in February

[CraginS]

John Middleton is on his way to Taylor with a couple of students on Saturday, 2/22. He said he may also go back to Taylor on Sunday. Looks like a good day to head there.

[CraginS]

Directions to Taylor Farm From DC area

I-95 South toward Richmond
- about 5 miles BEFORE Fredericksburg
Exit at US-17 Business east toward Falmouth
- About 300 yards BEFORE the US 1 traffic light
Right on Washington St at the Belmont sign
Right at the T-intersection onto W. Cambridge St
- Stay on River Road (with river and park on the right) to
Left on Kings Highway (at T intersection)
- Continue on Kings Hwy, which becomes VA 3, toward King George
- Go past VA 605 and 607, both to the right (you are getting close)
Right on VA 637, Ridgeway Drive
At the end of the road, cross the cattle gate onto the dirt farm road into Taylor Farm.
Continue (under 15 MPH!) to the farmhouse, and follow the farm road to the left.
Once past the house fence, turn right (tracks in the grass are obvious), and follow the fence line around the house to the far side.
Drive into the fenced area and park to the left. Leave the gate in the open or closed state you found it.
If you have not flown at Taylor before, complete a waiver (in the mailbox by the fence) and leave it in the mailbox.

If John M is there, he can advise you any other details.

[markc]

Hey Ryan!

There's a waiver for Taylor : You should print it out and take it with you :

http://www.chgpa.org/Waivers/taylor.waiver.pdf

Coords of the site are:

38.260954,-77.217709

Directions below.

When do you plan to arrive?

MarkC


95 South to Falmouth Exit (133A ???)

Take Rt 17 south and/or east

A bit before Rt 1, Right onto Rt 1001 / Washington St
Look for the signs for the Belmont estate

After the estate the road ends. Turn right.

You are now on King Street / River Road.

Follow this until it ends, at King's Highway, Rt 3 .

Left on Rt 3.

Follow Rt 3 a long way.

Right on Rt 637

At the end of 637, proceed over the cattle gate onto
the Taylor Farm property.

Follow the long drivway toward the house.

Detour around the house and around to its left side.
You'll find parking at the end of the fence.

[mingram]

It looks cross from the west at Daniels which is not ideal - and can be downright bad if it's strong because it causes turbulence coming over the shenandoahs.

That said it looks like we're gonna give it a try. Eta 1pm

[ryanlds]

Mark,

I will be there at noonish.

Ryan

[mingram]

Daniels was eventually flyable. We showed up at 1pm to strong gusty wind due W parallel to the ridge. We kited in the LZ and at times were blown backwards which means 20-25 mph gusts. And then the wind would die and would start again a little SW but turn strong W again. Thomas was on launch and conditions seemed perfect up there, but we advised him to wait. By 5pm the gusts were pretty much gone and Laszlo hiked up. Chris, Karl, and I drove halfway up and hiked the rest.

On launch around 5:30 the wind was dead, but then gently turned back on and Thomas and Laszlo had extendos. Then chris launched 5-10 mins later just as it had turned bouyant. Not really magic. It was still strong 18+ mph from the W but pretty smooth. Wind was slightly into the ridge more than 45 degrees cross, but with a few light thermals of 0.2 to 0.5 m/s I was able to eke out 30 mins - max altitude 2100 feet msl! Chris flew for 25 mins. Flying away from the ridge i found it bouyant until I got over the secondary LZ. Easy landings. Left the LZ at 6:30. Thomas thought we could have launched at 5pm. HGs obviously would have been earlier, but it was definitely very cross all day.

Matthew,we didn't see your radio/bag.

[markc]

Conditions at Taylor were hard cross W and gusty for much of the day. But flying was had!

JohnM had two first-time students. And newcomer to the area, via S Korea, Ryan had the first flight(PG) from the top of the hill. HGers were Craig, David C, et moi.

Strong cross W most of the day. Sprinkled with lighter cycles, which kept Ryan in the game. Couldn't believe how wrong the forecast was....

The students did fairly well given that it was a challenging day. Ryan had 4 or 5 flights. Craig about the same, I think six for David, and I stuck it out for seven. I had a crappy first launch, but thought the rest were pretty OK. Was surprised by major gradient on one of my landings, missed the flare and slid in. How embarrassing! Taylor can be tricky.... Was literally thinking "OK, time to get a hand up on one of the down tubes..." And *poof*, on the ground! Good reminder about gradient, even when you don't think it should be there.

One fully mature bald eagle soared the hill, and then a second appeared later in the day. Lots of sun, warm temps, couldn't be better!

MarkC

[ryanlds]

Thank you so much for the directions and kindness. I was grateful to be part of the group!

Ryan

[CraginS]

Great to get back out. Pretty pics and a bit of video on my blog at
http://craginsflightblog.blogspot.com/2 ... 22014.html

Great to meet Ryan and Amy, and thanks to their kids for a bit of glider assist on the hill.

Mark and I enjoyed the aftermath and video reviews at the bar in Capitol Ale in Fredericksburg.
The guy who sat next to me at the bar became my lifelong buddy (both retired Air Force) after not letting his wife sit next to me. He'll probably hear about it later tonight, that he talked more with Mark and me than with her.
That was fun, but ensured that the accident on I-95 north was in full lane blockage by the time we headed home. We both made it home after bailing to US 1.

Here's mark and John in the sky: