Sat (12/03/2016) @ WS

[XCanytime]

Jeff check this thread out on the WGE (Woodstock Gradient Effect). It really has nothing to do with wave. Just talked to Hugh about the subject of how high the sailplanes from Front Royal Airport got in the wave Saturday. They got to 12K' MSL and didn't go any higher due to O2 concerns. Hugh thinks that the wave crest may have been > 20K' MSL! It's good that Mark did NOT get much higher and run the risk of not being able to penetrate upwind. Bacil

http://www.chgpa.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=6877

[XCanytime]

I never felt threatened on this flight.... Perhaps a combination of luck and awareness? Among the oddities: No turb as I was climbing into the wave, definitely within the vicinity of the downwind cloudbank that I climbed above later; no turb as I pushed out ahead of the upwind portion of the wave. Given the clouds behind and in front, I was expecting to encounter something unpleasant, but it didn't happen (this time). I would have thought that the cloudbanks were marking rotor, but that just didn't seem to be the case. Luck?

From Dennis Pagen's book "Understanding The Sky": "Wave lift is characterized as being smooth and widespread. One way to avoid the turbulence associated with the rotor spinning beneath the wave crest of the wave you are in is to simply fly upwind to the next area of sink. Remain in this sinking air by flying crosswind. As you get lower move a little downwind to avoid any possible rotor from below the upwind wave crest".

Mark what you experienced is common, not odd. The turbulence is way upwind and below you, and a little downwind and below you as you climb in the wave. And it wasn't luck as you did everything right to exit the wave and avoid any possible turbulence. Bacil

[thermalup]

...
When I first read Mark's description of his flight I was wondering about the safest plan for exiting a wave if things get uncomfortable. Bacil's post
answered that question and it sounds like that is exactly what Mark did to get down.

The wave section view illustration in this link shows this too: http://www.ssa.org/GliderLiftSources (scroll to the bottom of the page).
It is very interesting to note that the wind below the sink trough can be 180 degrees from each other depending upon which side of the rotor zone the pilot is. It appears that mapping out the sink zone is very important for landing safely.

Does anyone know if Nelson Lewis had clear skies or were lenticulars present when he did his impressive downwind XC wave flight some years ago?

..::Jim G.

[XCanytime]

Jim I will check on that. Nelson's flight took place on April 5th, 1992 from the Woodstock site. He flew 73 miles in pure wave lift. He exploited 7 waves downwind of the initial wave he climbed in in front of the mountain. However, if one is caught unawares in wave, it can be a harrowing experience. Consider the experience of this pilot from his post from late October 2005. Bacil




Saturday I arrived late when most people were set-up.
I heard on the way up to launch that a glider with VG having penetration problems, once at 2K over.
My plan was to stay under 1800 over and remain vigilant.
I launched at around 5:00 PM, thanks to Dave Bodner and Joe B. While staying in front of the ridge I played around a little, the vario did not stop beeping. I could not see the vario against the sun. After a few minutes I just turn the vario to see 2300 over. OK do not want to climb anymore. Tried to move up-front by pull in, no progress. Tried to turn some, but that only got me further behind, but still in front of the ridge. I pulled in and extended my arms, staying us prone as I could be, I was higher than before. Around 4500 now. All this time the vario did not stop beeping. I figure I was 30 minutes before sundown. I had to make a decision. I crossed the second ridge at still 4500 over and checked for a few potential LZs. On the south side could not see, then I crossed a thin layer of turbulence as I started to go down.
Finally the vario stop and even beeped down. I could move north where the better-looking field was. I checked for fences and power lines. There is a gap on the second ridge that lets some wind come thru, but once 500 over it there is no effect. On the ground, it might be a long walk, who cares.
I've flown here a few times and when the wind gets strong I don't because of gradient. When I fly and gets stronger, I stay low and move up-front, always checking my ability to move around. A few minutes of distraction put me in this predicament. Hopefully I learned something.

[lbunner]

Awesome flights! Glad you kept it safe Mark. Wave at Woodstock does appear to occur more frequently than other sites in the area. With the technology today isn't it possible to predict wave days? Surely, experienced pilots in the valley whether they be sailplane, HG or PG have developed a method for prediction. Any thoughts?

On another note, I relearned the need to eliminate distractions from my flying at The Pulpit almost 10 years ago. It was February 15th, high 30's, nice 10-15mph winds and the goal was to fly to High Rock. I made it that day but froze my $%% off. I vowed then to not let cold get to me again. Bar mitts, heat packs, no fog neoprene face mask, full face helmet are all essential to making a good day a great day. 2+ hours on a cold day is quite impressive regardless, I congratulate Mark on his persistence and pain tolerance and especially on finding that wave! As for landing because you have to pee, I'm not sure I can understand that one. I once had a pilot friend tell me he landed because he was hungry. I gave him a hard time for it for sure. I refuse to let hunger pangs or loin pains put me on the ground. Soaring flight is too infrequent to let these distractions put me on the ground. Just sayin'.

[XCanytime]

Larry it's good to hear from you. When are you going to come back to the Region 9 area? We miss flying with you. Wave is very prevalent at Woodstock, being downwind of some of the main wave instigators - the plateau at Dolly Sods, WV, and Laurel and Chestnut ridges east of Pittsburgh, and the rest of the folds of the Appalachians. As far as forecasting it, I refer you to an excellent seminar given by MASA in January 2015. Here is the link to the YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGNUZsjhpR4. Your dogged determination is admirable, but I have to disagree about repressing bodily functions in the pursuit of recreational airtime. In competitions yes, and maybe in areas of the country that don't have mountain ridges, but soaring here in Region 9 is not infrequent. In fact, it is quite frequent, save for the dog days of hot, hazy, and humid weather from mid-July to late August, 7 weekends usually. The rest of the year is replete with moderate to strong cold fronts bringing soarable conditions, sometimes for many days in a row. The Monday thru Friday 9 to 5er is at a disadvantage, since he has only a 28% chance of hitting the soarable conditions, but the retired folks have literally a 100% chance of hitting the soarable conditions any day of the week. Bacil

[lbunner]

My point was more geared toward eliminating distractions that impact ones ability to fly. Eliminate the need to pee for a few hours by modifying your liquid intake or fight the urge. I am certain we all have fought the urge on many occasions for longer periods than this. This was meant to be constructive but perhaps came out the wrong way. Anyway, I would guess that Ric is evaluating his flight and looking internally at what he can do to fly even better the next time.

[XCanytime]

No worries Larry. Let us know when you are local to the area and we'll all look forward to flying with you again. Been too long since the Bun has torn up the skies around here . Bacil

[mingram]

I liked Larry's attitude. I was thinking of it today in the freezing cold at Woodstock.

Krista, Michael and I flew Woodstock. Conditions were great. Huge
areas of lift. A little cross from the West. Lots of wave in the sky,
but that went away and the sky filled with cumulus. Michael got sky
high! I pushed upwind into the valley hoping to get underneath a
clouds and didn't lose too much, but wanted to get to the bigger HG
LZ. Had a pretty easy elevator landing.

We all landed when we got cold. I flew 45 mins. My heated gloves
worked pretty well, but we all want mittens to go over our gloves.

I forgot to zip my armpits and my balaclava was messed up. Long johns
and toe warmers in the pod harness was nice. Could use extra toe
warmers. Ski goggles were great.

Next time I'll be able to fly longer!

Matt

[XCanytime]

...

Does anyone know if Nelson Lewis had clear skies or were lenticulars present when he did his impressive downwind XC wave flight some years ago?

..::Jim G.

Finally looked up Nelson's account of his flight from the August 1993 issue of Hang Gliding magazine. He reported widely scattered cumulus covering 10% of the sky when he took off at 1:15P on 4/5/1992. No mention of any lenticulars in the account. Bacil

[thermalup]

...

Thank you Bacil for the research on Nelson's flight. Quite amazing that it happened almost 25 years ago(!).

Marzena and I hope to fly with you guys toward the end of April.

..::Jim G.