Thursday (10/15/2015) @ Woodstock

[wmelo]

It is a little too early to call, but it looks promising: Sunny, Dry, Moderate WNW winds.
Thoughts?

[Ward Odenwald]

I agree Walt. Conditions are looking good and if they don't change - I'm in.

Ward

[Ward Odenwald]

Latest predictions suggest a more westerly direction which would bring the Pulpit into play especially with wind speed predictions also changing. Bottom line, weather forecasting more than 48 hrs out is suspect but an autumn flight along our ridges is worth the speculation.

Ward

[mingram]

Hang 2 William (neela) has flown the Pulpit once and wants to fly this week. He needs an observer may have one more H3 who would like to fly there. If anyone is available please contact him.

William R. Hnyla (neela)
sorasamurai1@gmail.com
610 739-3587

[markc]

Hey Matt! Do you know if William's instruction was with someone from the MD/VA/PA area? Or how many flights he has had?

I only ask because most Observers aren't going to be comfortable sponsoring a pilot without having some sort of idea of his/her experience level. And AFAIK, I don't think that William has joined the CHGPA forums, eg, to inquire about Observer availability (just checked those who haven't yet replied for 2015, and I don't see a likely match based on name or email address).

Observers generally want to help new pilots out, but there needs to be some level of contact in advance, to assess skills, slot/ramp/cliff experience, etc.

MarkC

[andybalkphysics]

will learned from the same instructor i had, Randy Grove. not sure how many flights he's had but id imagine hes a advanced H2. i know hes flown hyner a bunch.

[Ward Odenwald]

I agree 100% with Mark on observing. It's not a quick decision and certainly not based on secondhand impressions of the pilot's abilities. Now, lets get back on topic - do we fly on Thursday? should we go to Woodstock or the Pulpit? or, should we consider Friday or wait until Saturday? Right now, Thursday looks like it may be west and light at Woodstock and borderline blown out at the Pulpit but both site forecasts have their strengths. However, Friday may be better.

I'm waiting until tomorrow evening before deciding and would like others to offer their 2 cents.

Ward

[XCanytime]

Thursday at the Pulpit looks great. Just get there early. It may be moderate to strong on launch midday but not blown out (for me at least). Early should be fine. And straight in on launch all day too. No worries. Bacil

[wmelo]

I will go with the flow. Pulpit is always a little bit more complicate to me: distance and winds. Normally, I would prefer Woodstock. However, if the conditions are "waltable" I would love to go to where the good winds bring me.

Walt

[Dave Gills]

Will there be an observer there willing to launch me?
I'm normally observed by Bacil.
And what time are you folks thinking?

[Ward Odenwald]

Dave, I can observe. We flew together at the Pulpit last June. Ideally, if you're ready to fly by 10:30 that would help the rest of us. Text me your contact info.

Ward
410-977-0988

[Ward Odenwald]

Latest predictions are suggesting that the Pulpit is soarable tomorrow. My ETA is 10.

Ward

[wmelo]

I can only be there by 1:00pm.
I will call to sync

[wmelo]

Great day at Pulpit.
I arrived after lunch: the winds were baciable (25MPH), but not waltable. Ward and David were already there. Later on, Randy and Chris arrived from PA.

Fortunately, the winds calmed down and Ward took off. Quickly, he moved up and went to his XC. I am looking forward to hearing his blog.
David launched afterwards: he had a great launch!

Encouraged by David's success, I tried my changes assisted by Randy and Chris. According to them, I had very good launch. I zigzagged in front of the ramp a little bit until I was able to find good thermals. I climbed to 5.5K msl, but since I was pushed behind the ridge, I decided to compromise my altitude and stayed in front of the ridge.

After 1h I decided to go to main LZ. I had safe spot landing. Then, I watched Randy and Chris landed successfully.

Finally, David and I went rescue Award who landed miles and miles away from the main LZ  Great job man!


Concluding, it was a great day, all pilots had a good time. My special thanks for Randy and Chris for assisting me on the wire. I am looking forward to flying with this great group of pilots again.