Woodstock -> Saturday, Jan 16

[Ward Odenwald]

Looks like Massanutten Ridge soaring is "in the cards". Who’s up for flying? Ward

PS: Forecasted valley surface temps (39F @ 1pm) are above the crazy level but bar mitts will help.

[krryerson]

Ward, talking to Bacil, looks like he is interested in flying too at WS, on Saturday. I'll planning to be there as long as it does not drop too low in Fahrenheit and as long as my car is out of the car repair shop. Will let you know by Friday evening.
Knut

[Lucky_Chevy]

I'm thinking of flying if the weather holds and it is not too cold.


Dan L

[Dave Gills]

I was looking at Pulpit also.

[Dave Gills]

Pulpit now looks blown out Sat.
Maybe Sunday?

[silverwings]

I am interested for Saturday at Woodstock.

[mcelrah]

I'm in. What time? - Hugh

[krryerson]

Looks good for me for WS on Sat. Like to be early. Car fixed and planning to be there latest 11:30AM.
Knut

[silverwings]

I am out. My knee started acting up today again so I cannot count on stability and if it was to give out on a launch it could be disastrous.

[Ward Odenwald]

ETA -> 10AM

Ward

[Rich E]

Dan L, Erika and I plan on being there, bridge field, around 1100ish

Cheers

Rich

[bowen.tim]

Ward,

I will try and meet you at the Bridge field at 10. I will call in the AM.

[Lucky_Chevy]

It looks pretty grim in Alexandria at the moment. We had quite a bit of rain last night and there is a heavy mist in the air at the moment.

Can anyone report on the conditions from Woodstock? Should we call the day off?

[rlweber]

ETA 11 ish. Trust the forecast, it looks solid.

Randy

[garys]

Already clearing out here in Shen valley. Will be a bit west cross today at WS but the wind velocity and temps look great so I will be there mid day. On a side note; And just a suggestion; Please do not put wind socks or streamers up in the bridge field like we own it and please move your glider off of the field and break down in the grassy area (across the road at the downwind end of the field) and not in the bridge crop field. No need to send up "red flags" if the field owner drives by or the neighbor who might know the owner tells the owner that he/she "saw a bunch of hand gliders in his field".

[Lucky_Chevy]

I'm out. With all the rain I think the landing field may be a bit muddy.

[krryerson]

Great day at WS.
Looking at my flight data, flew 1:38 hrs. West cross and used an hour to get to the Short mountain. Flew mostly fare above the ridge, around 3500 feet above landing. Did not cross over to Short mountain and was at one point 4281 feet aboove landing.
Bacil landed out by 55, next to Passage creek. Ward, flew with me to the Short mountain and he landet near Edinburgh.
Tim B, Gary, Randy and I landed at the bridge field and it was not muddy at the LZ.
Hugh flew his PG.
Glad I could make it to WS today and we all had great flights and it was a warm day too, consider this is January.
Knut

[Dan T]

Did it calm down later while there was still light enough to get a decent flight in? Right after Hugh flew it quickly got too strong for PG. Thanks to Bacil for talking me out of a second attempt after an aborted first one. Bagging it was clearly the right answer.

Dan T

[rlweber]

I think six Hg's flew today. I went to the south end of Short Mt. Decided that I did not want to commit to the transition to Kern due to low temperatures and slow progress ( definite west cross, which is favorable for flying to Harrisonburg but I did not want to tolerate the exposure to the cold). Turned around and headed back to launch very quickly. 8 ish mph ground speed on my way south, 30 mph on my way back. Max Above launch-2200, flight time 2:13 minutes. The sky was filled with what appeared to be wave clouds. I did very little thermalling, the ridge was very solid. Many thanks to Knut for retrieving my car.
Randy

[XCanytime]

I arrived at 9A at launch. No wind and lotsa clouds. On and off isolated showers over the WV border behind North Mountain. Set up and waited for more pilots to arrive. It was quite toasty on the mountain with the absence of the wind. Ward and Tim arrived first, followed by Hugh, Dan, Knut, Gary, and Randy. Hugh had a 6 minute extendo in his PG. Dan stepped up and wisely backed off, as it had picked up on launch. I got in the slot and had a less than stellar launch. Went to the walk, jog phase and the glider unloaded for a quick second, resulting in the glider "dropping" and a feeling that air was pressing down on the top of the sail. The glider loaded up again and I got airborne, but as soon as I was putting one hand on the basetube, the nose yawed left and the left wing dropped slightly. A bit unnerving but quick reactions and luck straightened the glider out and I exited the slot and turned left into the wicked WSW cross. Flew down to just before the Edinburg Gap, skimming the trees and getting below the ridge twice. Found a pop of lift to turn around in and got back above the ridge. All the way back to launch stayed above the ridge and found some lift out in the valley. Headed NE to try for the airport again. Along the way had the bar almost yanked out of my hands twice. Found some good lift near the reservoir but couldn't sustain the climb and the air aloft was drifting straight NE along the ridge. I turned around to test the penetration to the SW and saw it was going to be difficult. Decided to just go with the flow and squirted off the end of the mountain. Didn't find anything and landed next to Rt. 55 in an uphill field right next to Passage Creek. Hugh was there just as I finished breaking down. Thanks a bunch Hugh! On the way back we ran into Jon Brantley, who decided not to fly. Back at launch it was still strong at 3:15P, and the sky was replete with wave clouds. Gary and I shuttled Tim (hiking up the mountain) and Knut back to their cars. Randy put down in the bridge field as Knut and I linked up to go for some dinner. Tim retrieved Ward from his out landing south of Edinburg, and they, Knut, and I had food and drink at the Strasburg Hotel Bar. Bacil

[krryerson]

Forgot to tell you guys: Did find a par of HG wheels today, at the green grass, next to the bridge field. My guess is that they have been there since, Sat, Dec 18. Anybody missing a par of HG wheels? Bacil got them.
Knut

[XCanytime]

The wheels are Hall hard plastic wheels mounted on very short aluminum tubes. Looks like a setup for mounting "outside" the basetube. Bacil

[krryerson]

[andybalkphysics]

Knut, Bacil,

Thanks guys...those were mine. I guess in all the excitement of hiking up the other week, and the darkness when I got back I missed putting them in my car. Bacil, if you could bring them next time we go flying I'll just grab them from you.

-Andy

[bowen.tim]

WOW, In just the first 16 days of 2016, I have flown 2 sites I have never flown! Since it was my 1st time at WS, I played it quite conservative. I stayed near launch and the LZ. I did have 2 hours and maxed out to 5,500' msl - cloudbase. Thanks to Ward, Bacil, Knut, and Gary for their sage advice. The rocks at launch can be quite intimidating, but I had a strong run and great launch out the slot. I plan to be back soon, especially if it's a little warmer.