Flying this Fri (10/30/2015)

[wmelo]

Pulpit

FRIDAY
PARTLY SUNNY. HIGHS IN THE LOWER 50S. NORTHWEST WINDS
10 TO 15 MPH.

or

Woodstock

FRIDAY
SUNNY. HIGHS IN THE MID 50S. NORTHWEST WINDS 5 TO
10 MPH.

Thoughts?

[Ward Odenwald]

Looks like Woodstock may be the best location but betting on a site more than 24 hrs out is sketchy. Willing to observe and retrieve so we'll figure out where and when tomorrow.

Ward

[XCanytime]

Same forecast literally as 10/15/15. Wonder what happened on that day . Saw this coming for 20 years . But seriously, been predicting pretty accurately 5 days+ out for 19 years. Just ask Matthew . I will be at the Pulpit by 9A and ready to go at 10A. Rich Bloomfield has volunteered to come out and help us (Walt, Dave Gills, me, John Dullahan, and whomever else shows up early enough) launch early before the throttleup. Bacil

[andybalkphysics]

I may have been tempted into taking a day off work by the siren song of the Bacil.

[Matthew]

Can't take the day off-- but if I could I would go to Woodstock.

Matthew

[Ward Odenwald]

Based on the mid-day casts and my "armchair BS" interpretation of their predictions, both sites look good albeit cloudy during mid to late afternoon for both. I'm willing to help launch, observe and retrieve so let me know when and where.

Ward

[XCanytime]

Dave Gills, Walt, and I will be at the Pulpit tomorrow morning by 9A. Andy may camp out tonight. We plan to launch by 10A. Rich Bloomfield has volunteered to help us launch. Bacil

[andybalkphysics]

Might be too tired to drive up tonight. Pulpit beats Woodstock for me logistically and, since nobody has committed to Woodstock, socially as well.

[markc]

Wow, High Rock is also looking pretty good tomorrow!

Sure wish I could get away... But that isn't going to happen, will have to vicariously enjoy the flights of those who can. Looking forward to write-ups and/or photos!

MarkC

[Ward Odenwald]

Blown out (20 to 25 on the ramp with faster moving clouds ~2K above launch). RichB, Bacil and I waited for conditions to improve until 11 but decided that they were not even close for an enjoyable flight so we let Dave and Walt know that we were bailing (tried calling Andy with not success). Before leaving, I walked the primary LZ and the corn has been harvested. However, most of the corn was cut ~6 inches above its roots so what's left is rows of blunt stakes.

Ward

[Matthew]

Hmmm... that's a surprise. NOT!

Matthew

[Dan T]

Six of us PG pilots flew Woodstock yesterday. Winds were straight in and appeared to be pretty strong for a PG all afternoon. When we finally all launched sometime in the late afternoon the sound and look of the dry leaves remaining in the trees indicated that it was still pretty strong. However once in the air we were all pleasantly surprised to find baby butt smooth lift pretty much anywhere we chose to go. None-the-less my FlySkyHy smart phone app told me that the winds were pretty firm and I occasionally used the speed bar to assure that I stayed out in front.

We all flew until our fingers froze. The clear cold air and shadows on the trees from the only partly sunny skies made for a very scenic fight. I'm certain that Woodstock was HGable all afternoon yesterday.

Dan T

[XCanytime]

I arrived at the Pulpit launch at 8:30A, one hour after sunrise. It was already strong and gusty, but there were launchable "lulls" of 12 to 18 MPH on the pad where I launch from that existed long enough for a safe launch. Had I been set up and ready to go I would have launched but the clouds above indicated at least 30 knot winds at 3500' MSL. That was the deterrent. Wave clouds were all over the sky, and I'm sure a few sailplane drivers were already in the air exploring the wave early. Rich Bloomfield and Ward showed up by 9:30A but I just wasn't in the mood to fight a strong headwind. We talked flying for an hour before I threw in the towel and headed to work in Rockville. May try again next Saturday. Bacil

[andybalkphysics]

I decided to head up to the Pulpit around 1:00 PM yesterday, since it was beautiful in Gaithersburg. As I got closer and closer I saw more cloud cover but decided to go anyway. There was nobody there when I got there but it looked pretty nice, wind wise...blowing in steadily around 10-15 mph with birds soaring high above. I was gonna just drive back home because I didn't want to fly alone but Bacil suggested calling Rich, who graciously agreed to come out and toss me off. By the time I was set up, though, it was blown out again. So, I broke the glider down. It was windy enough that even breaking the glider down was difficult. Had a long conversation with Larry who owns the house behind launch, and drove home. Larry gave me a jar of deer meat and preparation instructions for same so it wasn't a totally wasted day after all.