Pulpit 9/2 - Blew off work and met up w/ Sparky and Bruce Engen a little before 11A.? Bruce had his Falcon 225 already set up.? It was cross from the south (seen this pattern before).? We waited for it to straighten out.? Meanwhile, some black areas were filling in the sky.? Spit a few drops on us and cleared out.? By 1:30P it had straightened out and the sky had cleared up some.? Bruce took off and climbed slowly to the south of launch.? He got a grand over, then I set up, since Sparky agreed to help me off in the moderate conditions on launch.? We recruited a birder for the right wing.? I took off around 2:15P into moderate winds.? Got up easy and had two slow climbs to 2K' over.? After the second climb quit I looked for Bruce, and he was at least 1K' above me behind the ridge.? Bruce had to leave soon, so he headed out into the valley to burn off altitude and land.? After losing a grand, I finally found a ride to cloudbase.? Noticed that the climb accelerated big time between 2K' over and where I topped out at 3.2K' over where I pulled out of the climb to escape the cloud above me.? Also got pretty turbulent as well.? Went out into the valley to burn off the altitude just like Bruce did.? Bruce had landed in the back of the LZ in turbulent conditions.? I came in and got caught in a strong xwind from the north.? I was heading straight down the field, and was getting pushed sideways while I was bleeding off airspeed.? Decided to wheel it in and not risk boomeranging, flaring and the right wing getting lifted at the same time.
Pulpit 9/3 - Leisurely drove to the Pulpit, in no hurry.? Clouds were dotting the horizon as I entered the valley between Catoctin Mt. and South Mt. on I-70.? It was looking good!? Got to launch and Dave Proctor and Mark Cavanaugh were already set up.? The conditions at launch were the dreaded north cross again!? I hate the Pulpit in a north cross, been there done that!? Anyway, other arrivals were Dan Tomlinson, Cragin Shelton, Gary Smith, Joe Brauch, and Ralph Sickenger.? By 1P it had straightened out some, and was blowing in good.? So I launched, got up to 1700' over quickly, prompting Mark C. to launch.? I lost the 1700 and got flushed in the north cross down by 16.? Mark C. survived the flush.? Instead of landing in the main LZ in the back, landed in the big field just across from the main LZ.? Nice big field, w/ corn next to the road and at the upwind end.? Took Dave P's truck back up to launch, which turned out to be a good thing, since he had taken off and gone downwind with his first thermal climbout.? Dave made it to near Greencastle for around 14 miles.? Got my truck, got my stuff, and headed back up to try again.? Mark C. was still soaring at 500' over, doing speed runs over launch.? Dan launched and got up.? It was straightening out for longer periods now.? I got up to launch, and it was straight in at about 15, and moderately gusty.? Got up easily, but there were still frustrating north cross sessions to be had on the ridge.? Almost got flushed again down by 16!? Headed back to launch, gained a few hundred, and a big black-bottomed cloud came drifting across the valley.? Flew out under it, and found the elevator I was looking for.? Drifted with it OTB, topping out at 3K' over.? Saw Mark C. at least 1K' above me a few miles downwind.? Caught up with him, and he suggested heading south since we were drifting right for Hagerstown Airspace.? I replied I was going to try to climb up to near his level, since I was in light lift at the time just E of Mercersburg.? Heard Dan on the radio squawk that he was heading OTB to join up w/ us.? That was the last I saw of Mark.? I continued to the end of the cloudstreet, just around one mile from the airspace border.? Hit sink, and headed back upwind to land at the Church of the Brethren at Upton, around 11 miles from launch.? Chose a cut corn field that had a dark green crop on the downwind border.? Saw the wind lines on the crop field, indicating very breezy conditions on the ground.? Had a nice landing thanks to the crop field indicators, was carrying the glider to the edge of Lemar Road, and lo and behold Joe Brauch pulls up and offers retrieve.? Thanks Joe!? Back at launch found out Mark C. landed near the town of Dry Run, MD for around 14.5 miles or so, and Dan landed near the town of Rockdale, MD for around 16 miles.? Mark C., Ralph, and I enjoyed watching the sunset on the old ramp.? My first OTB flight from the Pulpit in over 4 years!? It's about time.
???????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Bacil
Pulpit 9/2 - 9/3
Moderator: CHGPA BOD
woodstock was nice as well
http://members.cox.net/ximenaandtom/Woo ... index.html
some pics to enjoy also the sunset
one HG showed up
local XC to Shenandoah Valley and back
cheers
tom
some pics to enjoy also the sunset
one HG showed up
local XC to Shenandoah Valley and back
cheers
tom
-
Paul Tjaden
- Posts: 398
- Joined: Tue Feb 08, 2005 10:28 pm
Pulpit 9/2 - 9/3
In a message dated 9/4/2005 11:15:03 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, tomceunen@hotmail.com writes:
Thanks, Tom.?Great photos. I haven't flown Woodstock in one and a half years and had almost forgotten how beautiful it is.
?
Paul Tjaden
Thanks, Tom.?Great photos. I haven't flown Woodstock in one and a half years and had almost forgotten how beautiful it is.
?
Paul Tjaden
Yeah, Saturday at the Pulpit was quite a day! The north cross was
very challenging, and I was below launch in scratch mode a few
times. I missed the early elevator that Dave took downwind. Found
another one about 40 minutes later, but it was completely kicking
my ass! After a few nasty wire slaps and getting spit out a bunch
of times, I bailed at 1700' over. Then it was
forever until I hooked up with that street Bacil mentioned...
At that point I would have settled just for getting high and diving
OTB; I was tired!
Topped out at 4100' over launch, above Mercersburg. Just drifted along at
the leading edge of the street. Was really fun sightseeing the town
from above, picking out the academy, cathedral, and McKinstry's.
The drift was SSE, headed right for Hagerstown airspace, so I had to
detour into a blue hole south of Mercersburg. Caught a light thermal
to 2k over, but the drift was again toward the airport. Headed south
again... but this time there was nothing. I decided to spiral down to a
good LZ and a prominent intersection, to make the retrieve a bit
easier. Many thanks to Ralph for picking up me and Dave!
I'm *still* sore, two days later!
--mark
very challenging, and I was below launch in scratch mode a few
times. I missed the early elevator that Dave took downwind. Found
another one about 40 minutes later, but it was completely kicking
my ass! After a few nasty wire slaps and getting spit out a bunch
of times, I bailed at 1700' over. Then it was
forever until I hooked up with that street Bacil mentioned...
At that point I would have settled just for getting high and diving
OTB; I was tired!
Topped out at 4100' over launch, above Mercersburg. Just drifted along at
the leading edge of the street. Was really fun sightseeing the town
from above, picking out the academy, cathedral, and McKinstry's.
The drift was SSE, headed right for Hagerstown airspace, so I had to
detour into a blue hole south of Mercersburg. Caught a light thermal
to 2k over, but the drift was again toward the airport. Headed south
again... but this time there was nothing. I decided to spiral down to a
good LZ and a prominent intersection, to make the retrieve a bit
easier. Many thanks to Ralph for picking up me and Dave!
I'm *still* sore, two days later!
--mark
Pulpit 9/2 - 9/3
Nice shots! So did you go over the back and then come back upwind?
Cool! - Hugh
On 4 Sep 2005, at 11:14, tomceunen wrote:
>
> http://members.cox.net/ximenaandtom/Woo ... index.html
>
> some pics to enjoy also the sunset
>
> one HG showed up
>
> local XC to Shenandoah Valley and back
>
> cheers
> tom
>
Cool! - Hugh
On 4 Sep 2005, at 11:14, tomceunen wrote:
>
> http://members.cox.net/ximenaandtom/Woo ... index.html
>
> some pics to enjoy also the sunset
>
> one HG showed up
>
> local XC to Shenandoah Valley and back
>
> cheers
> tom
>