Pulpit Monday 9/14
Moderator: CHGPA BOD
Pulpit Monday 9/14
John Dullahan and I are staying overnight in Greencastle and flying at the Pulpit tomorrow. Conditions look marvelous. Anybody interested? Bacil
Re: Pulpit Monday 9/14
Too sporty - and early - for me. anyone think late day at High Rock would work? - Hugh
Re: Pulpit Monday 9/14
Hugh we will be there all day. If we don't launch in the morning we will launch by 4P. I believe that is not too early for you 
???
???Re: Pulpit Monday 9/14
I could be there by 5...
Re: Pulpit Monday 9/14
John and I arrived at the Pulpit at 8:30A and sure enough, it was already soarable 
. John started setting up and I opted to fly later in the day and not set up. By 10A Rich Bloomfield answered the call and drove up to help launch John. By the time John launched from the pad a few minutes past 10 it was very strong. He had a good launch and rose quickly. 15 minutes later it got totally out of hand on the pad. I pulled weeds from the pad as John cruised back and forth in a strong headwind. An hour had elapsed before he finally got a patch of clouds to climb under to 1500' over and drift very fast OTB. He made it 10 miles to Upton, next to The Church of the Brethren, by Warm Springs and Lemar Roads, landing in a vast cut cornfield. I had to assist him in breaking down the glider for there was no wind shadow for miles around, and it was breezy on the ground. We grabbed some lunch for the 2nd day in a row at the bar next to launch. After some sightseeing in the valley we got back to launch around 3:20P and it had mellowed out a good bit. I quickly set up and waited for Rich to show up again by 4P to help me launch for the 2nd day in a row. In the meantime William Hynla from the Hyner Club had driven down from Allentown to check out the Pulpit and hopefully fly it for the first time. John took him down to check out the LZs and returned quickly to help me launch. It ramped up again and was very swirly when I got into position on the pad. That dreaded north cross on launch returned, and although I grabbed a straight in period in the socks, as soon as I got airborne the nose yawed to the right, struck evidently by a quick change. Pulled in and straightened it out, but that's the 2nd time in a month that has happened to me at the Pulpit. Thought about trying for the ridge run to the north, but with the north cross gave up on that. Spent 45 minutes groveling from 200 to 500' over before finding some broken, ratty, turbulent lift over the launch slot. Clung onto that tightly, and got to 4600' MSL and drifted OTB heading on a SSE track. Found another thermal over Rt. 75 south of the elementary school and climbed back up from 2800' to 4400' MSL. A piece of cornstalk flew by me while I was climbing. Should have followed it. Probably outclimbed me. Drifted along and found some weak stuff near John's LZ but it fizzled so I went on glide towards Greencastle. Ran out of air over a huge field behind a brand new housing development on Rt. 16, around 13 miles from launch. Had borrowed John's GPS and texted him the coordinates. He showed up just as I finished breaking down. We went back to launch to find Rich and William and a nice sunset. William had a strong launch and sledded to the primary after it settled down after 5P. The heroes of the two day John and Bacil Pulpit extravaganza are Charley Fager, Walt Melo, and Rich Bloomfield. Charley drove down just to help me launch yesterday. Walt drove first to the Pulpit yesterday to help launch and return windsocks, then drove to Woodstock and had a nice flight. Rich saw on the forum that we were planning to go to the Pulpit yesterday and decided to see if anybody really would show up, and ended up helping us fly 2 days in a row. Big thanks to all 3 guys. Driving home the John Deere cornfield cutters were hard at work in the dark all along Lemar Road, increasing the numbers of LZs for OTB flights at the Pulpit. Bacil
. John started setting up and I opted to fly later in the day and not set up. By 10A Rich Bloomfield answered the call and drove up to help launch John. By the time John launched from the pad a few minutes past 10 it was very strong. He had a good launch and rose quickly. 15 minutes later it got totally out of hand on the pad. I pulled weeds from the pad as John cruised back and forth in a strong headwind. An hour had elapsed before he finally got a patch of clouds to climb under to 1500' over and drift very fast OTB. He made it 10 miles to Upton, next to The Church of the Brethren, by Warm Springs and Lemar Roads, landing in a vast cut cornfield. I had to assist him in breaking down the glider for there was no wind shadow for miles around, and it was breezy on the ground. We grabbed some lunch for the 2nd day in a row at the bar next to launch. After some sightseeing in the valley we got back to launch around 3:20P and it had mellowed out a good bit. I quickly set up and waited for Rich to show up again by 4P to help me launch for the 2nd day in a row. In the meantime William Hynla from the Hyner Club had driven down from Allentown to check out the Pulpit and hopefully fly it for the first time. John took him down to check out the LZs and returned quickly to help me launch. It ramped up again and was very swirly when I got into position on the pad. That dreaded north cross on launch returned, and although I grabbed a straight in period in the socks, as soon as I got airborne the nose yawed to the right, struck evidently by a quick change. Pulled in and straightened it out, but that's the 2nd time in a month that has happened to me at the Pulpit. Thought about trying for the ridge run to the north, but with the north cross gave up on that. Spent 45 minutes groveling from 200 to 500' over before finding some broken, ratty, turbulent lift over the launch slot. Clung onto that tightly, and got to 4600' MSL and drifted OTB heading on a SSE track. Found another thermal over Rt. 75 south of the elementary school and climbed back up from 2800' to 4400' MSL. A piece of cornstalk flew by me while I was climbing. Should have followed it. Probably outclimbed me. Drifted along and found some weak stuff near John's LZ but it fizzled so I went on glide towards Greencastle. Ran out of air over a huge field behind a brand new housing development on Rt. 16, around 13 miles from launch. Had borrowed John's GPS and texted him the coordinates. He showed up just as I finished breaking down. We went back to launch to find Rich and William and a nice sunset. William had a strong launch and sledded to the primary after it settled down after 5P. The heroes of the two day John and Bacil Pulpit extravaganza are Charley Fager, Walt Melo, and Rich Bloomfield. Charley drove down just to help me launch yesterday. Walt drove first to the Pulpit yesterday to help launch and return windsocks, then drove to Woodstock and had a nice flight. Rich saw on the forum that we were planning to go to the Pulpit yesterday and decided to see if anybody really would show up, and ended up helping us fly 2 days in a row. Big thanks to all 3 guys. Driving home the John Deere cornfield cutters were hard at work in the dark all along Lemar Road, increasing the numbers of LZs for OTB flights at the Pulpit. Bacil
Last edited by XCanytime on Tue Sep 15, 2015 1:40 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Re: Pulpit Monday 9/14
Great write-up! Rich came and helped me launch by PG on Friday also - thanks! Now time for you to get back to flying yourself, Rich!
I landed at the Church some years ago, too - there is huge guyed radio tower next to it - which I didn't notice until after I landed...
- Hugh
I landed at the Church some years ago, too - there is huge guyed radio tower next to it - which I didn't notice until after I landed...
- Hugh
Re: Pulpit Monday 9/14
Yeah Hugh that radio tower. The top of the 356' high tower is 946' MSL. I've known it's presence from sectional map study way back in my early days of flying XC (1997 ). Flying XC is eXCiting . Bacil
). Flying XC is eXCiting . Bacil