Daniel's Sat07Oct
Moderator: CHGPA BOD
Daniel's Sat07Oct
Thinking of giving Daniel's a try tomorrow, what the heck eh? Maybe there will be enough sun on a warm day to yield more than the SSW@10 that's forecast for the SFC.
Re: Daniel's Sat07Oct
I haven't been to Daniels in ages and am planning to go.
Re: Daniel's Sat07Oct
Clarification: Hoping for that >10 for the hangies, and <= 10 for the pgies, with good conditions at some point during the day for everybody! Could happen, right? 
Re: Daniel's Sat07Oct
Huh, now looking light early, then G20, then light again late : Maybe a combo HG PG day for real?
Re: Daniel's Sat07Oct
'Course, the forecast had increased as of Sat AM, with G20 for a good part of the afternoon at Daniels, figures right? Brought out the Falcon, hoping for an easy soaring day, or at least an easy sledder, but conditions didn't want to cooperate with that plan.
Blew hard on the entire drive down, and for a change it didn't go completely calm upon arrival at the LZ (12:20-ish). Had guessed that would likely be the case given the ADDS 3k forecast. First time up to Daniels launch in the new Subaru, no issues, but the road is about as bad as my last trip up in the Spring. Definitely need to get tougher tires....
Up top the slot was switchy, peaking at about 14 for the cycles that I measured. Not too bad, and definitely promising for any non-Falconeros. Randy was such a pilot, already set up when Matthew and I pulled in. Good stuff for U2/etc class HG gliders, plenty of sun, plenty of thermals.
But the issue that really had my attention was the condition of the slot. Good sized impingements on both left and right, halfway down. And I didn't have a damn thing with me due to a beach trip last weekend (vehicle unloaded), cr@p! Luckily Randy had a crescent saw in his vehicle, so I attacked the right side (winds were cross right) after his launch.
For like 2 hours. Sigh! There was just no way I was going to fly without some improvement, so it was that or call it a day.
Back up top after the thorn-and-burr-fest, winds were still gusty at times, dead at times, switchy, and with clouds moving in. After much hemming and hawing I decided to set up, and launched with Randy and Matthew's help. Maybe 4:40? Good launch, had a 25-30 minute flight, getting a couple hundred over.
But I wasn't able to milk the lift cycles/lines as well as M & R (both flying PG), so my flight was pretty short. Constant concern about making the primary, as well as the swirly gray clouds to the SW, so I set a threshold for heading out to the LZ (about 50' over launch). A poorly-timed foray to the left of launch put me at that threshold so I headed out.... Sink the entire way, peaking at 600'/min down, yikes! Arrived at the primary (gully field) with enough altitude for exactly one 360, then into the DBF, and down on the ground with a 1-stepper. Very glad I made the call when I did.
Did a half-breakdown and then hiked up to the top. In my vehicle at 6:15 and enjoyed the AC, must say!
Bit of rain on the drive back, but glider dry and cosy back home. Hopefully Matthew and Randy will chime in with some details about their flights, they were doing way better than I did!
MarkC
Blew hard on the entire drive down, and for a change it didn't go completely calm upon arrival at the LZ (12:20-ish). Had guessed that would likely be the case given the ADDS 3k forecast. First time up to Daniels launch in the new Subaru, no issues, but the road is about as bad as my last trip up in the Spring. Definitely need to get tougher tires....
Up top the slot was switchy, peaking at about 14 for the cycles that I measured. Not too bad, and definitely promising for any non-Falconeros. Randy was such a pilot, already set up when Matthew and I pulled in. Good stuff for U2/etc class HG gliders, plenty of sun, plenty of thermals.
But the issue that really had my attention was the condition of the slot. Good sized impingements on both left and right, halfway down. And I didn't have a damn thing with me due to a beach trip last weekend (vehicle unloaded), cr@p! Luckily Randy had a crescent saw in his vehicle, so I attacked the right side (winds were cross right) after his launch.
For like 2 hours. Sigh! There was just no way I was going to fly without some improvement, so it was that or call it a day.
Back up top after the thorn-and-burr-fest, winds were still gusty at times, dead at times, switchy, and with clouds moving in. After much hemming and hawing I decided to set up, and launched with Randy and Matthew's help. Maybe 4:40? Good launch, had a 25-30 minute flight, getting a couple hundred over.
But I wasn't able to milk the lift cycles/lines as well as M & R (both flying PG), so my flight was pretty short. Constant concern about making the primary, as well as the swirly gray clouds to the SW, so I set a threshold for heading out to the LZ (about 50' over launch). A poorly-timed foray to the left of launch put me at that threshold so I headed out.... Sink the entire way, peaking at 600'/min down, yikes! Arrived at the primary (gully field) with enough altitude for exactly one 360, then into the DBF, and down on the ground with a 1-stepper. Very glad I made the call when I did.
Did a half-breakdown and then hiked up to the top. In my vehicle at 6:15 and enjoyed the AC, must say!
Bit of rain on the drive back, but glider dry and cosy back home. Hopefully Matthew and Randy will chime in with some details about their flights, they were doing way better than I did!
MarkC
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Re: Daniel's Sat07Oct
Mark, Matt, & Randy can you comment about the slot conditions and especially the tree height at the bottom?
john middleton (202)409-2574 c
Re: Daniel's Sat07Oct
I had a biwingal day. On both flights I stayed home and enjoyed the scenery. The sky to the north was blue with no thermal markers so I stayed home with hg. I also did not get "stinking'" high. Thanks to Matthew for the retrieve.
The winds quieted down enough for pg flying around 5 pm. The pg flight ended when we saw rain to the west. I brought the weather radar up on my flight computer/cell phone and saw the rain was coming towards us. Matthew Graham and I landed after boating around the ridge. So thankful for the partial ride that Mark gave me back up the hill.
Stats for first flight -HG
launch- 1:51pm with wind gusting to 17mph, but with very launchable cycle. I launched in a lull and carved my way down the slot and out over the trees.
max alt-3514 ft
max alt above launch- 1923 (around 2000 over you can see into the Shenandoah valley)
time: 1:21- landed voluntarily
Stats for second flight-PG
launch- 6:00pm
max alt-2421 ft
max alt above launch- 794
time: :26- landed due to incoming rain.
I did not have a problem with the trees. It would be good if they were topped. The problem is that the real tall ones are on another person's property.
Randy
The winds quieted down enough for pg flying around 5 pm. The pg flight ended when we saw rain to the west. I brought the weather radar up on my flight computer/cell phone and saw the rain was coming towards us. Matthew Graham and I landed after boating around the ridge. So thankful for the partial ride that Mark gave me back up the hill.
Stats for first flight -HG
launch- 1:51pm with wind gusting to 17mph, but with very launchable cycle. I launched in a lull and carved my way down the slot and out over the trees.
max alt-3514 ft
max alt above launch- 1923 (around 2000 over you can see into the Shenandoah valley)
time: 1:21- landed voluntarily
Stats for second flight-PG
launch- 6:00pm
max alt-2421 ft
max alt above launch- 794
time: :26- landed due to incoming rain.
I did not have a problem with the trees. It would be good if they were topped. The problem is that the real tall ones are on another person's property.
Randy
Keep Calm And Soar On
Re: Daniel's Sat07Oct
First high flight in over a year. Got 900 over and about an hour. It was very light on launch by the time I launched my PG. AIr was a little choppy. But there were nice lift lines out into the valley, especially to the west of launch. So weird being there without Karen. It's coming up on two years since the accident. I still cannot believe that she is gone.
Matthew
Matthew
Re: Daniel's Sat07Oct
It was great to see you in the air again Matthew! Sure hope that you were able to get some enjoyment out of your flight.
The tall trees at the bottom of the slot definitely aren't ours to take out... But there's still plenty of 4-6" diameter saplings 15+ feet high within the confines of the area that we've always cut. It all needs to go, airflow would be much improved. Maybe I'll make a trip down there on a non-flying day to clean up the left side a bit....
The tall trees at the bottom of the slot definitely aren't ours to take out... But there's still plenty of 4-6" diameter saplings 15+ feet high within the confines of the area that we've always cut. It all needs to go, airflow would be much improved. Maybe I'll make a trip down there on a non-flying day to clean up the left side a bit....