Pulpit Wednesday August 12th

[XCanytime]

Looks like another good flying day at the Pulpit this coming Wednesday. Any hooky players/retirees interested? Bacil

[dbodner]

Yeah, I'm interested. But Jodie just signed me up for some family obligation. Can you help me out?

[John Dullahan]

Yes Bacil. It promises to be a stellar day. I am in. Any others?

[wmelo]

I am in!

[Dave Gills]

If I'm not flying Zirk's, I'll be there also.

[mcgowantk]

I am thinking about trying High Rock later in the day.

Tom McGowan

[darbbb]

Possibly. Meet at LZ or launch? Time?

Brad

[silverwings]

Possibly going to Woodstock on Wednesday unless Pulpit forecast get lighter.

[Matthew]

Can't get the day off.

However, looks like High Rock to me.

When in doubt- go where Tom goes.

Matthew

[Joe Schad]

I am planning on Woodstock Wednesday. Be there bout noon.

Joe

[XCanytime]

Here we go again . John D., see ya there early in the AM. Walt, see you around noontime. Matt C., hope to see you there before I depart at 12:30P to get to Rockville by 2P, so I can help you launch and start your huge XC potential flight. Bacil

[silverwings]

I have a first mountain flight h2 and I think Woodstock will be better for him. So that is where I will be going with LZ eta 12-12:30. I think the Pulpit has a pretty good chance of being flyable especially later and will be curious to hear what happens there.

[stevek]

Joe Schad says they are working on the road to the WS LZ so be prepared to wait

[wmelo]

I went to the Pulpit today with low expectations and I came back disappointed.

Only two gliders flew today. Both of them had risky take offs, short duration flights, and disappointed landings.
The first glider to take off was Fedix. John D and I held her wires so she would not take off vertically due to the challenging Pulpit winds. A fraction of seconds after taking off, she sniffed the north cross that blew stubborn all day long and yam to right towards the North Pole. Fortunately, her skilled master quickly correct her and saved her from her risky route. Tenaciously but unsuccessfully, Fedix flew back and forth in front of the ridge trying to climb on inconsistent thermals. She ended up moving to the main LZ a few minutes later. Due to her accomplished master, Fedix was able to slightly climb enough to reach the golf course where she had a disappointing landing: her capable master scratched his knee on the dry field of the golf course.

The second glider to take off was the Moyesix helped by Bacil and I. Moyesix riskily sunk just after taking off on challenging conditions. She treacherously moved towards the trees in front of the launch area. (BTW, our beloved President, Barack Obama, and/or his trusted deputy who leads the agency responsible for HG and PG affairs should do something about those trees: they grew up dangerously during the summer and must be cut shortly). Fortunately, her experienced master hold her nose down, increased her air speed, and safely flew over them. She climbed steadily on the south part of the ridge, but not enough to go XC as she wished for. Moyesix landed at the main LZ after flying for more than 30 minutes. Unfortunately, she hit a bump on the field and broke her upright tube: fortunately, her veteran master did not suffer any injury.

The third glider that tried to adventure on Pulpit skies was Diamondix. She rested for hours under the shadow of a tree waiting for light and straight winds that never came. Her unseasoned master finally moved her to the pad by 6:00pm, but he cowardly retreated her to the setting up area a few minutes later. Her amateur master could not balance her winds on north-cross and strong winds that sometimes reached 20MPH. Finally, John D. and I put Diamondix on her bag.

Hopefully, those who went to Woodstock had better tales to tell.

[mingram]

Sorry Walt. You'll get your retribution at the Pulpit soon.

I heard good reports from the paragliders at Woodstock. It got a little strong for them during the day, but then died off completely by the afternoon. At least two people flew over Fort Valley and landed in the Shenandoah Valley. Waiting to hear details.

[Blaine]

I had an awesome 1st mountain flight at Woodstock today. 2 hours in the air and a decent landing in th field. Thanks to John and the rest of the crew for thier help and patience getting me in the air.

[markc]

That' s awesome Blaine, woo-hoo, congratulations!

But.... More details man!! Lots of envious pilots who couldn't get away today, we need some vicarious fun!

[mcgowantk]

I had a wonderful flight at High Rock. Winds in straight in varying from 5-10 mph. I probably launched around 6:30 and flew for 30 minutes between 1k to 1.5k over. I wanted to land in time to visit with Emma Jane and get back up the mountain before dark. The LZ was in good shape as it had been cut for hay not too long ago.

Emma Jane was very happy with the check from the club. She would love to hear from some pilots as she is still struggling with losing Randy.

After flying and visiting, I went to the Pulpit where it was still very strong and watched the meteor showers.

Tom McGowan

[George]

I was one of the ones who flew across Fort Valley, tanked up on the far ridge and into the valley beyond (Shenandoah Valley?). Austin was the other. It's a hard retrieve from Woodstock with Google Maps showing an hour either going North on 340 (once you hike to 340) to Front Royal and around that way or South to Luray and 211. Austin made it in two hours with 4 rides. Miraculously I got a single ride after only about a 20 minute wait that took me all the way back to my truck at the bridge! The woman who stopped for me and took me back is "Jane" (I think) from the National Park Service who for nearly a decade signed our waiver forms for us. She said to say "hi" to everyone. If you have or had contact for her please send her a note of encouragement and thanks for her service to our sport. Also she's having a rough patch in life as her boyfriend just had open heart surgery. She was just heading home from the hospital and took me two hours out of her way to get me back to Woodstock. We should have a medal for these heroes.

George

[wmelo]

"2 hours in the air"...wow...it took me two years to stay that long in the air...CONGRATULATIONS!

[silverwings]

Woodstock Report - Arrived at the LZ about 12:00 and discussed landing approaches with Blaine after setting up a couple of wind socks. We left his car and drove up in mine. Got to launch and Joe S. was ready to fly. Austin and George had flown pg's earlier and Austin had gone OTB. Winds were more than expected mostly 5 - 15 and eventually Joe got a decent mild cycle and launched. Blaine and I got are gliders to setup area and David B arrived. While starting to set my glider up, it fell over but initial inspection didn't show any damage so I continued my setup. Steve K arrived. Winds were mostly 10+ with gusts to 20 at 1:30 pm and a big cloud shadow was approaching so I thought it might lighten so we moved Blaine to launch but it stayed gusty. After the shadow passed we finally were getting lighter cycles and Blaine had a good launch. I went to finish my setup and do a preflight and found a good dent in a down tube which must have hit a rock when the glider fell over. So I decided it was to risky to fly my hg. Launch conditions had improved so Steve and David launched and other pg's (George, Jim, Michael, Moe, later Austin) arrived. It got real calm around 3:30 but then some cycles were coming in. So George launch and reported no problem penetrating and others started to launch. There was a decent window for me to launch my pg but hadn't brought my glider in so when I went to get it conditions got less favorable. Conditions were getting lighter and cross, so even though I had my PG I decided not to fly and left around 5:00 pm.

[Blaine]

Mark. I'm not much of a storyteller to make all off this sound interesting. Overall I had a great day. Especially since my longest flight at Highland is 43 minutes. So I was ex tactic when I looked at the clock after landing. It didn't seem that long at all. I was confident in launch but still a little nervous. I was up and out of the slot pretty quickly. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out the right position to be in for ridge lift. And a lot of time watching that LZ. It was a little unnerving being over all those trees and not having numerous bailout options like I'm used to at Highland. I got a little far behind the ridge once and managed to get back by flying crosswind. I sacrificed a lot of altitude and was way low. But there was plenty of lift so I was back up in no time. My max height was around 3300 MSL. I spent most of my time around 2500 MSL. EventuLy I just fell out of the lift and got too low. Headed for the LZ and landed right where I wanted next to the windsock with a couple of steps on the landing. The day was an excellent experience.

[markc]

"Not much of a story teller" huh? Well you won't be able to use that one again

Glad you had such a great flight Blaine. Took me back to my own first high-flight, with John mentoring. But I think you bested my airtime by 30 minutes or so. Good for you! And welcome to mountain flying dude!

MarkC

PS: It gets even better

[XCanytime]

Well I'll tell my short tale, since my knee(s) are healing well. Got there at 9:15A to already soarable conditions. The sky was already lit up with cloudstreets. Launched at 10:15A into a straight cycle as indicated by the spinner windsocks but it turned NNW after I was well into the second step (I did not see the socks switch). The glider yawed and rolled a bit to the right and got my attention but luckily it straightened out quickly and I flew away with no problems. Air was very north cross and the lift was narrow and in lines. After a half hour I headed out to land. Made the golf course with ease and aimed for a NW landing on the driving range. At the last second the wind switched from NW to N so I hesitated a second to flare and then it was too late. The late flare had me bellying in on the sandpaper grass. Skinned my left knee and slightly twisted my right knee. Walt picked me up. Thanks Walt. We launched John around 12:30P into strong conditions and he had a strong launch and hit a pothole that had him barely above the brush at the bottom of the slot. A wall of air ensued and he climbed up quickly out of the pothole and flew away w/ no problems. I then hit the road for Rockville. As I was driving by Hagerstown Airport I tuned into the AWOS again and base was 7204' MSL at 1P! A day to do some miles for sure. Bacil