Pulpit Redux Sat. 11/15

[XCanytime]

About 10 degrees colder than last Sunday but good direction and speed. Any polar bears interested? Bacil

[wmelo]

ghost...I am from Brazil....Brazilian are not used to fly (or even walk) when it is too cold
However, I am interested.

Walt

[Dunegoon]

Sounds like fun. If Walt can tolerate it, then I guess I can also.

CF

[Matthew]

It's gonna be a hard sell to my better half.

Temps at launch will be right at freezing!

But I'll try.

Matthew

[XCanytime]

Top temp at HGR on Sat. is fcst to be 43 degrees. At launch the top temp will be degrees. What is ? Don't think it will be 32, but sure ain't gonna be 43 . Bacil

[djscheele]

What a day the nineth was. My tandem flight was about thirty minuites and got about five hundred above. My partner did quite well we worked three thermals so we did a few turns, my nfo did quite well she had fun. Of course my landing was very good. Hope to see everybody next sat.the 15th. Keep cool.

[darbbb]

Still planning a trip to the Pulpit this Saturday? I've flown there once, but it's been awhile. Might be a good time to dig out my longjohns and return!

Brad

[Ward Odenwald]

ETA 10. Will help out with takeoffs and retrievals.

Ward

[mcgowantk]

I am planning on coming out too but will arrive 11:00 - 11:30. Tom McGowan

Anyone want to try to fly to High Rock?

[XCanytime]

Hitting the road at 8A. Be there 10A. Jon Brantley and Charley are coming for sure. Bacil

[Matthew]

Bailing on today at the Pulpit.

Thinking of a training hill day at Taylor on Sunday.

Matthew

[Danny Brotto]

Yeah, I'd give HR a try... don't feel like driving over to McConnelsburg (and back.)

Post here intentions?

Danny Brotto

Apologize to anyone who feels this is a thread hijack.

[djscheele]

Headed to HR. Hope to see you there.
Denis

[XCanytime]

Short version: Pete Lehmann XC 34.5 miles to Fairfield gliderport (MASA), Tom McGowan XC 27 miles to High Rock LZ, Pat Halfhill 18.5 miles XC to near Jugtown, PA. The rest short soaring flights and extendoes. I'm too pooped to write much more. Long version tomorrow. Bacil

[XCanytime]

I thought I'd never see the day in November of all times that the Pulpit would have light winds. Darn if it didn't happen yesterday. When I arrived at 10:15A the sky looked magnificent but nary a wind blowing on launch. Jon was already setting up and Ward was there to help out. The other pilots to arrive were Charley, Walt, Tom, Johan, and Pete Lehmann and Pat Halfhill from Pittsburgh. Jon was first up on the newer ramp, had a nice launch in light air, and extendoed to the secondary. Tom was next up on the newer ramp, had to wait forever for the north cross to switch to a straight in cycle, and flew a racetrack pattern around launch in light lift and slowly ascended. Pete was up next and quickly launched as the conditions stayed straight in. Pete flew south towards 16 and got pretty low searching for lift down there. Pat launched and found lift just to the left of launch. He followed Tom to cloudbase as Pete put on an impressive show of how you dig yourself out of a hole. He was standing his glider on a wingtip in narrow lift down by 16 that enabled him to get a few hundred over the ridgetop. Tom had an impressive cloud street that he couldn't pass up and headed SE under a street that made the first 10 miles OTB easy. Pat was hanging out at cloudbase while Pete slowly worked his way north just behind the spine of the ridge. Pete finally hooked into the same lift area as Pat did and he got to cloudbase and they both headed SE. Pete's XC goal was the MASA gliderport. I gave it a go from the newer ramp and tried to imitate Pete in some tight areas of lift in front of the secondary but couldn't get up above the ridge. Succumbed to the pull of gravity and had a nice landing in the secondary. Ward was picking Jon up so I copped a body ride after watching Johan get up. After retrieving my glider I got a call from Pat who had landed SE of Chambersburg. Commandeered Pete's vehicle for the retrieve of the 3 XCers. Picked Pat up first at a Mennonite house across from his LZ. On to retrieve Tom from the High Rock LZ, then to MASA to get Pete from the gliderport. All 3 got warm accommodations from their cold out landings - Pat from the Mennonite family, Tom in Emma Jane's warm house, and Pete in Danny Brotto's trailer onsite at the gliderport. Today was a textbook lesson what is possible in light lift from great pilots. Bacil

[wmelo]

It was a beautiful day, sunny, and not too cold: I am glad I overcome my Brazilian fears of cold wind and showed up. Bacil and John assured me that it was not only a "faconable" day, but also a "waltable" day So I set up my glider and waited for a green signal from my beloved observers.

I launched a little bit after 2:00pm after contemplating the success and the challenges of my predecessors. I was luck and and took off in a good cycle. According to Jon B., who observed me, I had a good launch. Played a little bit in front of the ramps trying to move up, but after a few turns I was not able to move up high enough, moved south, and ended up landing in the primary LZ: it was a very decent landing

Many thanks to Jon for observing me, Ward for his valuable comments, Johan for the body ride, and Bacil for his contagious excitement about the Pulpit!

Specially thanks to Charles for not only helping on the ramp, but also for letting me fly before him: b/c of me he ended up not flying yesterday

Walt

[Dan T]

Walt, you might not know it but you also got the chance to fly with two of the best XC pilots in our region. Both of these pilots will gladly share their wealth of experience with you during the quiet times when they aren't actively preparing to fly or breaking down.

We are very fortunate to participate in a sport where it's top tier participants will assist and advise the rest of us. A few minutes spent listening to them will pay significant dividends.

Dan T

[XCanytime]

Here is Pete's writeup on yesterday's flight(s). Bacil

Hi All,



Very briefly, we showed up to find the expected light winds, but they were north crossed; not the expected west cross. And the expected blue skies were filled with streeted cumies that were higher than the forecast top of lift. We all got to base that varied from 5,600-5,800msl, and lift was all over the map from 150 to perhaps 400 fpm. Tom launched first after waiting quite a while for a straight cycle, and climbed slowly, but immediately and right in front of launch. After starting slowly he soon beamed out to base averaging 350 fpm in the day's best thermal before departing over the back under a well defined street. I launched soon behind Tom, but didn't get up at launch and had to struggle a bit to do so while Pat had launched behind me in his tent-like Falcon 225 and climbed out almost immediately accompanied by two eagles. I soon climbed to join Pat and we left together under already less well defined cumies, wandering a fair bit chasing lift. Pat did a good job of staying with me for over ten miles before we became separated and he finally landed on a friendly Mennonite farm southeast of Chambersburg for 18 miles and 1:26 in the air.




Tom continued on ahead of us in a rather more direct line, flying straight towards his goal of the High Rock lz which he made (27 miles, 1:42) after only once getting down to 1800 agl. After Pat and I separated south of Chambersburg I began a weird, arcing southern detour chasing the ever more short lived clouds. Only when I got near Waynesboro did I finally find a climb that started weakly but eventually got me to base under a street heading towards my chosen destination, the Fairfield glider port on the far side of South Mountain. In the end, and after a ten mile glide, I just made it to the airport where Danny Brotto ran out to greet me. He later fed me beers in his warm trailer as I waited for Bacil Dickert to come and get me after first picking up Pat and Tom. Thanks, greatly Bacil, we owe you.




It was a ludicrously fun day, made all the more so by the utterly unexpected nature of the conditions,

Pete

[wmelo]

Dan,
Charles "educated" me about them
It was clear given the way they fly, they are outstanding pilots! It was inspirational to see how humble and how good they are!

Walt