Saturday's Outlook

[Matthew]

Edith's or Ridgely???

Any thoughts?

Matthew

...if only Fisher Road was open....

[XCanytime]

Looks like the Luray area has a chance of rain. I am going to Jacks. Bacil

[Matthew]

Hmmmm. Jack's. It's been years since I've been to Jack's. Used to go there all the time. But every time I went there with a SE 5-10 forecast it was sleds. Current forecast is--

SATURDAY
PARTLY SUNNY. HIGHS IN THE LOWER 80S. SOUTHEAST WINDS
AROUND 5 MPH.

If the 'cast changes to 10-15, I'll join you there.

Matthew

[FlyingFelix]

I vote: Highland.
Come on out and fly the Charley comp task! Should be fun.

[XCanytime]

Matthew,
I am seriously thinking of trying Edith's tomorrow. The rain chance has disappeared and the winds at Luray are fcsted SE @ 9 MPH. Bacil

[Dan T]

A 9mph SE wind will help a lot. So will a wind sock or set of streamers in the LZ. If I was flying it in a HG I'd get as low as I safely can near the top of the field coming in between the trees, (the line will be obvious from the air) then bury the bar or waggle a little to get below the tree line on the left on the partially upwind base leg. I'd be prepared to make a 90 degree turn if necessary then be prepared to turn up hill if necessary.

I've flown this site a few times on a PG and talked with other PG pilots. On a light or no wind day it will be a little tricky to get a double surface glider into the field without making a right turn ala Brian Vant Hull's path and being prepared to turn again uphill if necessary. On a SE at 9mph day it should be cake provided that the wind sock is showing true SE, to SSW. It can be very switchy there.

I've seen Bacil land at tougher LZs more than once. Just stay alert and always have a plan B and C in place. If it's good go OTB XC. The landing options are much better there.

I'd love to see the HGs figuring out how to fly this site. I landed near the river off to the right in a Mark IV when I flew it 15 years ago. It was a light day then too. Scared the hell out of me though. I was kissing the trees the whole way. I wouldn't' want to do it again in that wing in those conditions.

Dan T

[kcarra]

I'm leaning towards Edith's. But the boss says we're going to Ridgely. So we're going to Ridgely.

Matthew

[mingram]

Almost at Edith's. It's just under the edge of the band of clouds and is in shade. Kennedy peak is in sun. Cumulus over the ridge running north. Satelite looks like it is clearing so fingers crossed.

[mingram]

Full sun and a consistent nice breeze on launch. Locals soaring. Gonna have a go.

[mingram]

40 min flight. Max 3200 ft. 1-2m/s up.

[XCanytime]

Got to Edith's launch just before 3P. One PG pilot was soaring. The rest were watching from the ground. Jon Brantley showed up a few minutes later. Just about all that were watching launched and soared. Late arrivals Tom Cuenen and Alex launched into lighter conditions after 5:30P and were still soaring when Jon and I left around 7P. Jon and I didn't like the fact that the conditions on launch got lighter and lighter as the day went on. Bacil

[Matthew]

Saturday turned out to be a good day at Highland. Charlie's Comp was in full force with lots of participants. Several made goal and all had good flights. Maybe one of them will fill us in as to the results for the weekend.

Sammi and Bertram were also there. Bertram started the day with a 2 hour flight. I had three flights: half hour, an hour and 10 minutes, and 22 minutes. Topped out at 4400'. Lots of sink coming back to the field from the west each time-- hit 1800 down once!!! Karen got a 25 minute flight after messing with her harness forever. And a few other non-comp pilots flew.

Matthew

[mcgowantk]

Per Mathews request, we had a nice day on Saturday at Highland. Charlie called a dog leg task that was about 35 miles (I am not sure about the distance). Dave Proctor and I started out early on the task but I immediately got low and Dave eventually gave up waiting for me and kept going. There were enough clouds to the north and enough lift to stay up and keep flying the task. I topped out around 5,000 mdl but only had 2 or 3 strong climbs. Most were broken or relatively slow climbs to 4,000 or so. I had a nice 15k glide to goal and landed there with Charlie, John Simon and JB. Several other pilots landed just short of goal as the day was drying up. In all, a very fun day where we could climb and drift along with the wind. I think I had around 3 1/2 hours and just a great time. Charlie even arranged for a retrieve - thanks to Charlie and Cathy!

I had family events planned for Sunday but it looked like a nice day.

Tom McGowan

[FlyingFelix]

So, this past weekend (not only Saturday) was spectacular - to say the least!
I went out Sat. morning with hopes of test flying the new Combat (I was just crazy curious, not looking for a new wing). I took 3 flights on it through the morning and early afternoon - it was so sweet that Adam and Sunny agreed to let me fly it in the Charley comp, Open class Except for a poor decision at the end that decked me short I did well and with the right decision I could of made goal and get there first nonetheless My opinion: What a wing! Easy to fly/land/etc...performance through the roof! I'm not saying I'm the greatest pilot, but this wing IS the greatest wing out there
Few hours slept at night and next morning I took the decision the Combat has to be mine, that happened with help from Adam and Sunny - you guys are unbelievable! I got to fly it on Sunday in the morning again and then on the second task.
I wasn't shopping for a new wing, I was just curious about it. I spent a good while in Americus talking to Oleg Bondarchuk about it (he won the comp on this wing) and what he was saying sounded too good to be true; that the wing carries more weight that anything before it, that it's easy to fly and land - especially since the Combat has a history of awesome performance but being hard to fly/land, I was weary. Well, he wasn't lying! The new design changed everything, as Paris Williams said: the Oval leading edges are probably to be offered by other manufacturers in the future as well, moveable CG in flight as well; they would be crazy not to. Wing loading parameters are changing again with design improvements, flying a small wing makes it all easier, this little Combat is 136.7 sq. feet and it carries my hook-in weight of around 210 lbs like it's nothing. I'm working less to fly it than I work on the Discus and that's saying a lot.
This weekend changed my life a a HG pilot! I got to see what the big boys deal with in the skies, loved it, looking forward to more.
I'll keep my Discus (tuned down) for an "easy", beater wing and have the Combat for the "real deal" flying from now on.
Here's a couple shots of this amazing new wing:







I'm off to Romania for the month but hope to see all of you in the skies when I return in August.

[boudreaufly]

Congratulations Felix! That's one step up in the standings for future ECCs for all sport class pilots,<;-)> and one step down in the rankings for all open class pilots. I knew you couldn't leave that wing alone for very long.
Have a fun trip to Romania.
Brian

[lbunner]

Congrats Felix! Can't wait to fly with you again.