Flying Sun10July?

[markc]

Flying wasn't in the cards for me today, so considering possible options for Sunday. Seems like Tom, Ward, John might be thinking the same.... Any thoughts on conditions?

MarkC

[mcgowantk]

Hey Mark

As of 1:45 pm, I am leaning towards the Pulpit. The intellicast and ADDS forecast winds look Pulpitable to me. Let's knock on wood for tomorrow's forecast.

Tom McGowan

[Eric]

I was looking at XC Skies, and top of usable lift, updraft velocity, cloud base, cloud cover, wind speed at top of usable lift all look acceptable to me. I hear when the forecast is for 8 NW for Woodstock, it's typically lighter than that at Woodstock, and the "true speed" at Pulpit can be much higher; however, I know nothing.

I've flown Woodstock only twice, and I'm comfortable their. But without a dedicated primary LZ and lighter winds, hmmm...

I've never flown Pulpit. It's been too long since I've flown either the training hill or the mountains, so I'll probably want to hit the training hill before attempting that. I read in the guide that a really aggressive run is good to have at Pulpit, and my run can always use more practice.

I may ride my motorcycle up to watch and help out on launch though...

[Ward Odenwald]

I'm in. Let's confirm the site later this evening or early AM. I agree with Tom, right now direction looks good at both the Pulpit and WS but it may be to light for HG ridge soaring at WS.

Ward

[bowen.tim]

If the Pulpit is the location, I will be there. My wife gave me another hall pass.

[silverwings]

I am definitely interested in flying on Sunday. As of tonight it looks moderately strong for the Pulpit and moderately light for Woodstock but fairly good lift for both. The good lift will add strength to both. It also seems more this year that the Woodstock effect is not taking place. Decisions, decisions. What do you others think?

[Danny Brotto]

Too light at WS? Too strong at McConnelsburg? Fly High Rock.

Danny Brotto

[John Simon]

I'm currently in negotiations with the boss of me. If things work out I'll check in Sunday AM. Is anyone thinking XC?

(Yes... It's the towhead)

John

[markc]

Looking, waffling....

[Ward Odenwald]

Yes, waffling is the appropriate feeling that I believe most of us are experiencing. Given the light afternoon winds predicted for WS, I vote for the pulpit but could be persuaded. I'm headed out now, so if the collective wisdom decides otherwise, please call (410-977-0988).

[Blaine]

I'm in. Headed to the Pulpit.

[markc]

WS is definitely a gamble. And I'd be happy with just a cruise-around type of flight....

Given that winds _should_ back-off by the end of the day at the Pulpit, I think that might be a better bet than WS.

If lucky: Fly earlier, for an XC type of day. If not, just a fun-fly day. I'd take that.

I think it WILL be strong up there. Satellite shows some wave clouds, and NWS hourly shows a G20 period. But the ADDS 3k also shows a back-off later in the day.

So..... Pulpit bound unless I hear some good args otherwise. Probably hitting the road by 9:30.

[markc]

Actually, maybe I'll wait for the 10-ish update to some of the forecasts before committing....

[mcgowantk]

I think I will head towards the Pulpit. I would love to try to get to High Rock again.

Tom McGowan

[POLISH EAGLE]

Pulpit for me. ETA 11:00 AM.

[silverwings]

As Mark posted it should be at least doable later in the day, so I will be going there also.

[markc]

Ward reports some 20G25 and some 10-15 at the Pulpit, as expected. I'm at I81, waiting for an update for WS before deciding. One thing I di not expect is the heavy cloud cover , that might swing me to WS.

I believe that John M and Anthony have diverted to WS.

*edit* John has rediverted to Pulpit

[bustedwing2]

Heavy cloud cover @ Pulpit is breaking up.Satellite (visible) shows a gap in cloud cover weather systems,report says mostly sunny today.

[bustedwing2]

Mark C,check your PM's.

[John Simon]

I bailed... Hope you guys have a great day. Going to be flying PA next weekend with Charlie, hope to see a bunch of you guys.

John

[XCanytime]

Got a hall pass from the wife like Tim did so I got to the Pulpit around 2:20P. John, Mark, and Tom Allen were set up. As I set up Josh Miller arrived and Tom Allen launched off of the new ramp. By 3:15P I was ready to go and had a better launch from the pad than yesterday, with John, Mark, and Tim's able assistance. Got up and immediately recognized a north cross on the ridge. Tried for 15 minutes to find something in the local area between the radio towers to the north to the gas line clear cut by Rt. 16. Nuthin' much working. Spying nice clouds down towards The Corner I headed that way with hopes of at least climbing more than 200' over the ridge. Found some good lift under the clouds and climbed up to 4500' MSL over the spine of the mountain halfway between Rt. 16 and The Corner. Good clouds were downwind to the SSE so I climbed to base at 5800' MSL over the Whitetail Golf Course. Flying out from under a huge gray deck above me there was a nice cloud to the east but it was in Hagerstown Airspace so that was a no go. Another cloud looked good over I-70 but I ran out of air before getting to it. Put down in a nice field next to Rt. 40 just east of Clear Spring. Slight downhill landing, which caused me to trip and flop, but came out OK. Carried out to Rt. 40 by a house and met Larry Kessler and his two tykes Hunter and Megan. Larry graciously allowed me to break down in his front yard right next to Rt. 40. Raised Ward on the phone and as he's talking about his flight he says he just saw a glider . I said "That's me" . Ward graciously turned around and gave me a ride back to launch. How's that for timing? Thanks a bunch Ward. Ward had a nice XC flight to just east of the Whitetail Golf Course. Tom McGowan had a nice XC flight to just west of Waynesboro. Back at launch Anthony, John, and I helped Josh launch from the old ramp for his first Pulpit flight. He had a good launch and was soaring when I left at 7P. Congratulations Josh. A very nice weekend at the Pulpit was had by all .

[markc]

Really good turnout today, I think we had 12 pilots, all of whom soared! Tom A, Tim B, Ward, Blaine, Tom McG, Anthony, Krystoff, Josh, John M, Bacil, et moi. Rich Bloomfield also came up to help with some launches, thank you Rich! Apologies if I've forgotten anyone.

And there were two firsts: Anthony's first flight from the (new) ramp and Josh's (recent H2) first flight at the Pulpit. Didn't see Josh's launch, but Anthony did well at mid-afternoon on the ramp, when the slot was boiling pretty darn good. Bit gnarly on the keel at times, and the lulls were very short, but he chose a good cycle and launched straight-and-level. Wish I could say the same.

I helped for most of the launches, and it was NW cross (though didn't *seem* as bad as last Sat) for most of them. After we got Anthony, Tom A, Bacil, and John off, I watched cycles for a bit while waiting for pilots to trickle back up top for wirecrew late in the afternoon.

There was some really great STFI on the new ramp, so when Ward and Blaine arrived I finally gave it a go from that one, with help from Josh on the nose and then the keel. And wow.... I sucked! Winds started crossing from the NW again (well, ok, from the left too, swirly), and I didn't manage my wing as aggressively as I should have. When I launched, I had a darn good pop from the right, and was immediately hugging that downtube to correct and get away.

It sure felt like there was a thermal lifting off : I turned right after leveling the glider and was S-turning in strong lift right in front of the ramp. But even if that was part of my problem (still need to debrief with Ward and Tim), it doesn't really make it any better.... If a thermal, then I missed it, should have been watching more closely, no excuse.

Sigh.

I struggled down low for a darn long time, working launch, half-way to the LZ, working the spines, 3/4 to the LZ, back to launch. Couldn't break 900' over no matter what I tried. Great clouds, vario would sing, dug a wingtip in, flung it around. And wah-wah-wahhhh..... For like 50 minutes, or more?

Finally connected with something across from the LZ, drifting *hard* out of the north. That took me to 2k over, then I punched out under a street and re-connected to break 3k over launch. Good clouds were still coming in so I punched out into the valley and tried to work them for a while. But it was mostly coring zero. Thought about heading OTB...

But on a Sunday, that late in the day, no arrangements? Nah.

Flew with Josh for a while until it was clear he was in range of the LZ and above, then landed in the E/W grass strip in the primary. Thanks for the windsocks John (and I have them btw), they were a big help, as it was cranking W when I landed.

John and Anthony shuttled Josh's vehicle down and then I body-rided up top with them. Back down to the LZ, and Josh was still having a blast with the ridge to himself. He landed not long after I finished packing up, hopefully he is completely stoked about his flight!

MarkC

(I'm still hoping for a bonafide-fun flight sometime, this one was pretty "meh".)

PS: A hang glider pilot who helped with 5 HG launches on Saturday at the Pulpit from the gravel pad mentioned that the first three of them were very SKETCHY. Like, just a few feet above the rocks sketchy.

The last two were good.

We also had one sketchy launch today from the slot/pad.

I'm obviously not one to point fingers at sketchy launches given my performance on the ramp today... But the pilot pulled me aside to mention this today, because he was concerned about the pattern. Bottom line : Ramp or slot/pad, technique is key.

[markc]

BTW: Any word about how the PG contingent fared at Woodstock today????

[bowen.tim]

Mark,

Just for the record, Bacil was 1st, but I do not recall his launch, and I was 2nd to go off on Saturday. I am not sure who was 3rd. I reviewed my video and did not see anything sketchy about my launch. I had a good run and flew pretty straight out from launch. I may have dipped slightly, but didn't see that I was THAT close to the rocks. I know Randy was on my right wire, Rich Bloomfield was on my nose and then keel and I think Eric was on my left wing. Dave Gills was standing behind me. If anyone has any input, please respond.

Thanks,

[XCanytime]

Knut was 3rd off on Saturday. Much discussion was had late yesterday about what happened during those 3 launches. All 3 of us hit "holes" in the cycles. It's a function of timing. If you launch near or at the "end" of the cycle you run the risk of flying into the "hole". The "hole" is just a dead or slower moving pocket of air that can occur in between cycles that causes your glider to dive a little to gain airspeed. You are losing a little bit of airspeed when the glider flies into the wind gradient created by the "hole", and a shallow dive can occur. Usually behind the "hole" is another wall of air moving much faster (the next cycle) and when you fly into it the glider gets lots of airspeed for free and you can push out and climb up rapidly (trade airspeed for altitude), as I did on Saturday. Yesterday I launched from the pad again but this time I timed my launch a little better and did not experience the shallow dive that I did on Saturday. Many years ago I had a similar incident but much scarier when I launched from the old ramp into a north cross. Everything looked good and I left the ramp in good shape. Then all of a sudden I dropped like a stone just barely above the brush and rocks below the new ramp. I just kept the bar pulled in slightly (do NOT want to yank the bar - could theoretically dive into the brush - not good) and then I hit the wall of air described previously and traded all that free airspeed for some much needed altitude at the time. Timing is everything. Bacil