Highland, July 2nd

[Ward Odenwald]

Today’s morning forecasts are suggesting that tomorrow will be good. If the predictions don’t change by this evening, I’ll be there.

Ward

[krryerson]

Hi Ward, looks like I might be able to come tomorrow too. Will know more later today; though, might not be able to leave before 10:00. Knut

[krryerson]

Will be going tomorrow to Highland. Seems okay, special later in the day and the only time I can go flying this 4th of July weekend. ETA 11AM. Knut

[Ward Odenwald]

Also going with an ETA of 10:30. Forecasts have changed but like Knut I'm hoping for better afternoon conditions.

Ward

[Ward Odenwald]

Yesterday’s evening forecasts offered up a glimmer of hope for this afternoon. However, the morning casts are all suggesting otherwise so I’m waiting for another day. Knut, sorry for pulling out but with predictions of mostly cloudy, 50% chance of rain and a mid-day cloud base prediction of 2 to 3K over Ridgely I can’t justify taking a leave day.

Ward

[krryerson]

Ward, YES, I do see the same and will try to get a hold on Adam. Seems like I will be home today too. Knut

[Ward Odenwald]

I'm going for practice tomorrow regardless of the f*casts.

Ward

[Ward Odenwald]

I'm going for practice tomorrow irregardless of the f*casts.

Ward

[jimrooney]

Irregardlessly?

[jimrooney]

A useful forecast site:
http://www.windguru.cz/int/index.php?sc ... sty=m_menu

It's not as pretty as US Airnet, but it tends to provide that little bit of extra info (like gust speeds and different cloud levels/coverages)

US Airnet for those lacking it:
http://www.usairnet.com/cgi-bin/launch/ ... N&state=MD

Here's my mainstay of weather links:
http://www.jimmyfly.com/weather/maryland

NOAA recently updated their Prog Charts which now forecast out a bit further.
I tend to not trust anything more than 3 days out, but who knows?
An other rule of thumb I use is if there's a Low involved, there's high uncertainty... I think of them as the swirls in the river... exceptionally hard to predict. Highs on the other hand are a piece of cake... they're big blobs.

[Ward Odenwald]

Jim, thanks for taking the time to highlight/explain the weather forecasting sites and the details behind their logic before flying this morning. For most of us that attempt to make sense of forecasts 1 to 3 days out, these links will definitely help (all can be found at Rooney’s jimmyfly.com page).

Today was another unexpectedly good flying day. All solo pilots found thermals that triggered rather large smiles. I’m terrible at remembering names (especially last/surnames) so I’m resorting to “identifiers”. First in the air was Bob (flies an Exxtacy, aka “bunkhouse Bob”), I followed and then Richard (flies a “Texan flagged” chariot with a proper Brit accent). The Highland crew was also busy with tandem flights.

I used a drogue chute during my landing approach for the first time today and was happy with the results.

I’ll post some photos tomorrow.

Ward

[Ward Odenwald]

July 3rd