Do my snow blinded eyes deceive me?

[rlweber]

NWS suggest that Sunday, 3/15, may be a classic Woodstock day. You can tell I have not flown for over a month when I am posting about Sunday on Thursday.

Randy

[Matthew]

Anyone called Shenandoah County Police to see if the road is, or will be, open.

Directions to the tower on google maps says that the road is closed in winter.

Isn't that a little vague for the all-knowing google?

Maybe WAZE will know if it is open.

Matthew

[wmelo]

I have just called the sheriff...they said "they are not 100% sure yet"."
I will call again Fri and Sat and I will share here what I found.
Hopefully, it will be open The weather forecast looks promising!

Walt

[XCanytime]

Already got a thread going about flying Sunday. It's called Sunday March 15th . Talked to Gary Smith on the phone. He will give status on the road in the future. I am going to Big Walker. Bacil

[rlweber]

Bacil
Sorry about starting another thread. It was only after I posted it that I saw your thread. Have a great time at Big Walker!

Randy

[XCanytime]

No worries Randy. You had them snow blinded eyes remember? Bacil

[garys]

I just called the Edinburg VDOT and they said the road is closed as of this morning (Fri morning) but that the Tom's brook department will evaluate conditiona this afternoon and it might be opened then. I will call again this afternoon and post. Gary

[garys]

I called this morning and the Woodstock tower road is open. Looking forward to seeing everyone after a winter of hibernation. Come on out for some spring flying. Gary

[wmelo]

I am planning to be there after lunch

[krryerson]

GREAT! Still looks good for Woodstock for Sunday, March 15nd. Seems like Walt, Gary, Randy and Lloyd are most likely going to come tomorrow. Right? Hope to be at the Bridge field not later than 11:30AM. Also, what frequency will you guys be on?
If needed, call me tomorrow morning @ cell, 703- nine- six-seven-8277.
Knut

[silverwings]

I may be going to Woodstock on Sunday but my concerns are strong lift and very strong winds aloft. It does look slightly better late in the day. With the Woodstock effect it could be launchable but penetration could be a factor as you get higher! I may choose to wait and go on Monday afternoon. I will look in the morning and post my intentions.

[Matthew]

Karen and I are in.

Matthew

[mcelrah]

I will join, perhaps a bit later than 1130. Sailplane is an option. - Hugh

[dbodner]

I'm not going, so this may be sour grapes, but the winds aloft look strong to me.

[XCanytime]

I bunked down at the Comfort Inn last night after an aborted mission to Big Walker. It's already strong on the surface here. Looks like a nice late day flight is possible though. Should back down nicely after 5:30P. Bacil

[Matthew]

Ugh!!

Todays forecast for Woodstock--

Today Sunny, with a high near 53. Breezy, with a northwest wind 13 to 21 mph, with gusts as high as 34 mph.
Tonight Mostly clear, with a low around 37. Northwest wind 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph

Hope that Bacil is correct about it being better later in the day.

Matthew

[Danny Brotto]

At Fairfield and blowing like stink. Steady 20 on the ground with measured gusts to 40 plus (and its supposed to pick up. ) Sanding rotor right over the airport, lennie off to the NW. Crazy stuff. Think I'll keep the toys in the barn today.

Good luck at WS and be careful out there.

Danny Brotto

[krryerson]

Bacil, Great to know that you are there now. Do see Danny's report too. Anyway, will be leaving around 9:30 AM and slowly get to Woodstock. Hopefully things will calm down and we can fly later in the day. Though, it does not look good for now. No biggie if not, will still get a great trip to the mountain and perhaps a hike during the mid day.
Knut

[Danny Brotto]

Gee back from breakfast and viola, somebody threw the "knock 15 knots off the morning conditions" switch. Looks like a different day. I'm going to watch it for a bit and maybe pull a toy out of the barn.

NOAA's forecast for HGR:
Today
Mostly sunny, with a high near 48. Breezy, with a northwest wind around 23 mph, with gusts as high as 50 mph.

Haven't flown a glider anything (well did have the Falcon out a few times at Smithsburg) since mid-December and going for it after a 3 month layoff in what's likely to be challenging conditions is something to think about. We call this "silly season" where pilots sometimes do silly things after the winter layoff and typically challenging spring conditions. Sometimes currency trumps experience.

Stay safe out there.

Danny Brotto

[mcelrah]

Abort! Bwa-bwa-bwa! Ah-OOOga! Went rowing instead. Still thinking about tomorrow. - Hugh

[krryerson]

As most predicted, not a flying day; though great for me to finally get out to the mountains for a hike.
Good luck tomorrow! Knut

[Danny Brotto]

Well, started to pull toys out of the barn but it began to ramp up again so ended up putting them away.

Recorded a 59 MPH gust on the weather station at FFLD (apx 50 ft AGL) in the late morning. At least the temperatures were moderate.

Danny Brotto

[XCanytime]

As Knut said, we had a nice hike along the trail heading ~ 3 miles towards the Edinburg Gap. We turned around after the trail crossed over the spine to the backside of the mountain. It was howling the whole time! Then I read in the Washington Post yesterday about the hiker hiking along the Appalachian Trail getting killed by a falling dead tree that was blown over by the high winds. Yikes! Something to consider the next time one hikes when the wind speed is off the charts! Bacil

[Danny Brotto]

Terrible story about that hiker being killed . I'll second what Bacil said about stuff falling down in the woods. I'll add that stuff falls from the canopy too especially at this time of year. There are a lot of winter-dead branches and not a lot of foliage to break the fall of broken branches.

A number of years ago, we were flying HR about this time of year on a breezy but not blown-out day. Lester Billings who I believe was flying a double surface glider (Pro Air I think) found himself a bit far behind the ridge and unable to penetrate all of the way back to the front of the ridge. He landed about 200 ft behind launch in a tree. We worked to get him down safely and without a scratch. He took his helmet off, and we sighed relief on how lucky he was. That's when he looked up the tree to where he had landed.. and ironically a tree branch broke and clocked him square in the head! It staggered him and put a gash in his forehead.

Be careful out there!

Danny Brotto