Pulpit Fly-In 2005

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Matthew
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Location: Tacky Park

Pulpit Fly-In 2005

Post by Matthew »

Big thanks to Daniel and Charlotte and Mark C. and everyone else who helped to make this year's Fly-In better than ever. Winds were NW Sat and Sunday. Who would've ever predicted that???? Oh yeah, I did.

I think about 40 people registered for the event and it was truly a hang gliding and paragliding festival. I flew both wings. I got 10 minutes in my hang glider after launching into a flush cycle and never getting above launch. I followed Linda from below out to the LZ and saw her climbing in something over the LZ. While I struggled to get into the bottom of the thermal on the South corner of the field, Hank hooked one on the North end of the LZ at 280' and beamed right up. As did Linda. Craig and I and a few others missed the trains and ended up on the ground.

I faired better in my paraglider with 5 soaring flights (2 on Sat on 3 on Sund) and a total of 4 hours airtime. I was able to get up to 1500' over a few times on one flight on Sunday but didn't have the cajones to go over the back with it even though I was still climbing, albeit slowly. Juan had a low save early in the day in his comp wing PG, beamed out and made it to the Micheaux State Forest. Other PG pilots included Marcel, Stephan, Andy, Charlie, Laslo, the Cleveland Crew of John, Brian and Noah... Andy, of course, Sparky. Sparky did about six million PG flights. Karen returned to the dark side with her first PG flight from the Pulpit and her first high PG flight since breaking her arm over a year ago. Yay!!!

Big congrats to some others-- Carlos had a great low save and took his first trip over the back on Saturday. Brian jumped to Merceresburg after a low save on Sunday. Dan, the man, did 27 miles or so to Chambersburg and then dog-legging to the South. That no good rat, Gardinator, actually crossed the 12 mile sea of trees that is Micheaux. John D., Hank and Mark all went OTB. Bacil made his first trip across the valley and landed at Waynesboro, short of High Rock only because the POTUS was once again vacationing at Camp David. And David Rice returned to mountin' flyin'.

Everyone who came had at least one soaring flight. It went magic both days. Though it was a tad strong of a wonder wind on Saturday. After my dissapointing HG flight I didn't feel like setting up again. So I tried to launch my PG in a lull. Winds were 15-18 with lulls down to 10-12. The first attempt didn't go so well as a gust picked me up and I started going backwards. I got on the speed bar and came back down on the ramp for a tough and go. But a cross wind hit me and sent me up again and to the South. I danced over the rocks and then onto the back side of the old ramp before getting the wing deflated and having Chris McKee save me from being dragged by takling me. This somehow ended with Chris spooning me on the ground next to back side of the ramp. Yes, there are pictures. Thanks for the fast action Chris! Hmmm. There has to be a better way to phrase that.

Undaunted, and not wanting to sheepish (like others Chris has aledgedly spooned), I went for another try. Sparky acted as an anchor holding my harness and I waited for a longer lull. This worked better and I joined Karen and John M. and Christy and all of the HGs in the sky. Marcel was able to catch a lull about 15 minutes later. But then winds at launch ramped back up to 20-25 and Sparky and the other PGs couldn't launch. Surprisingly, I had no trouble penetrating on the ridge and never touched my speed bar while flying. I did, however, use the speed system to head out to the LZ. But I probably didn't need it even then.

Sunday-- winds were lighter and the evening magic was light too. It was so light that only the PGs were able to stay up till the end. This was the nicest flight of the weekend for me... calm and smooth but still patches of lift to climb in.... circling over the Mountain House and watchig the bikers clad in leather get down to a bad Doors tribute band, seeing other PGs boating on the ridge, watching a bright red sun get close to the horizon.

What a great weekend.

Matthew
hepcat1989
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Post by hepcat1989 »

What a weekend HUH? I enjoyed camping out Friday night, and all the good flying both days!I got to watch, and ask questions from alot of skilled pilots. Nobody got hurt.The weather was "tits".I came away with some memorable moments--- Watching Brian Vant Hall sunday catch a thermal over the lz and take it over the back! Watching Hank do the same right in front of me. I was cheering you both on!!Watching Matthew PG launch in some strong wind saturday morning. That was exciting..Let's see- Hank coming in to land sunday evening with fire coming off his wing tips. FAST!- exciting. I got it on film. I was up in a deer stand filming all of the landings. That was fun!!Everyone that wanted to fly, got to fly.Great! ( Those of you that came into land a little rough sunday evening) If you don't want anyone to see it . The bidding starts at 100 clams! :twisted: Just friggin wit ya! I had fun! I think it was a great success! Where in the hell did those sandwich parking boards come from? Fancy!!
Peace, Shawn.
brianvh
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Location: manhattan, New York

Post by brianvh »

Work to do, but enjoyed my last flight so much I just HAD to post.

People had been sinking for a while, so folks were just hanging out on launch waiting for a change. Finally the sun pops out and I decide it's time. As I carry my glider up people are shouting this is the best cycle they've seen most of the day. I hoof it up the ramp and don't think I even set the glider down - just got the glider somewhat balanced and shouted "Clear!". Shimmied off to the right a bit due to imperfect balance, but it wasn't terrible.

Then despite all indications I didn't go up. Hit a few spots along the ridge but nothing really worked. By the time I was even with the LZ I decided I wasn't getting anything and turned towards the field with a feeling of resignation. People started coming out to watch my landing.

But then my variable started beeping. Not very strong, but I was near the LZ and it was worth stopping for anything. I nursed that baby for at least 20 minutes, a slow glow building inside me. When I was 1500 over launch and climbing I knew I had it. The lift gave out halfway over the back, but I could lawn dart. Found a baby bit of lift over the back that got me within striking distance of Mercersburg. Toyed with the idea of following the drift out over the dirt road regions, but hey, it was sunday afternoon.

Found a nice field right at the edge of town, and as I came down found it was even better than I expected: nice trimmed grass, with a nice upslope hill placed as thought I had ordered it in advance. No-brainer no-stepper.

thanks to Dan and Charlotte for the retrieve. The flight wasn't my longest, but it was by far the sweetest, being handed this gift right as I had given up all hope. Doesn't get much better.
Brian Vant-Hull
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Scott
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Joined: Thu Jan 27, 2005 9:53 am
Location: Shepherdstown, WV

Post by Scott »

Brian said...
The flight wasn't my longest, but it was by far the sweetest, being handed this gift right as I had given up all hope. Doesn't get much better.
Well said Brian. You just summed up one of the greatest things about this sport---the gift of the "rebirth" of a flight when we least expect it. Only having experienced it to a small degree, I know already that no matter how many times it happens, the gift never diminishes. I can't wait for my first "rebirth" from 300' to 1500'! :)

Scott
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Spark
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Location: Evergreen, Colorado

Post by Spark »

I wanted to add a few additional highlights and 'firsts':

Congratulations to H2 pilots Rich Bloomfield, Dave Rice, and Scott Wilkinson on their first Pulpit flights. It was particularly cool to see Rich soaring his home site, within view of his house.

Congratulations to P2 pilots Charlie Givens and Andy Harrah on their first Pulpit flights. These were Charlie's first flights in our area, having previously flown only Torrey Pines.

I had a few 'firsts' myself: This is the first Pulpit Fly in that I have not assembled a hang glider. 7 PG flights on Sunday is a personal site record.

The most memorable flight was at approximately 7:30am on Saturday. A cloud bank enveloped much of the ridge, with small cloud fragments forming below the top and passing through the launch area. I was able to weave my way amongst the wispies, as I made passes along the ridge, and briefly climbed above the cloud. It wasn't quite a 'cloud dive', but a very unique experience indeed.

Thanks again to all who participated!
'Spark
Matthew
Posts: 1982
Joined: Tue Feb 01, 2005 1:10 pm
Location: Tacky Park

Sparky

Post by Matthew »

And BIG BIG THANKS to Sparky for carting his grill and about another billlion things to and from the Fly-In and for helping out all of the paraglider pilots get into the air.


And BIG THANKS too to Shawn for driving retrievals.


Matthew
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Scott
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Location: Shepherdstown, WV

Post by Scott »

Hey Sparky---did all that stuff in the trailer actually make it back to your garage??? :) I had visions of those trash cans ejecting from the back and paper plates being scattered for miles! <grin>

Scott

PS - My thanks again to both Sparky and Matthew for observing my first Pulpit flights!
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Spark
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Location: Evergreen, Colorado

Post by Spark »

Scott wrote:Hey Sparky---did all that stuff in the trailer actually make it back to your garage??? :) I had visions of those trash cans ejecting from the back and paper plates being scattered for miles! <grin>

Scott
We did lose the lid on one of the trash cans :oops: but nothing else.
'Spark
hang_pilot
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Pulpit Fly-in 2005

Post by hang_pilot »

Article from the Hagerstown Herald Mail.? Not sure what pictures ran in the paper-copy.? Spark?
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http://www.herald-mail.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=120134&format=html
?
~Daniel

?
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hepcat1989
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Post by hepcat1989 »

The picture is Ralph launching. Hank took the shot.Chris and Richard Hayes is launch crew. It's a nice article. Shawn.
bustedwing2
Posts: 249
Joined: Thu Jan 06, 2005 10:58 pm
Location: McConnellsburg,Pa

super

Post by bustedwing2 »

had a great time,as usual made my share of mistakes,my thanks to the pilots and instructors who provided friendly and informative insights of my flights,it is always welcomed and appreciated.the soaring flight landed downhill in the primary,used a little less than half the lz,2 steps and a gentle belly flop,love that falcon.can't wait till next time. Rich Bloomfield
carweill
Posts: 514
Joined: Thu Jan 06, 2005 10:58 pm

First XC ever

Post by carweill »

Great day Saturday.
I tried to launch early to have a chance of second flight.
Eventually got ready, started playing the typical low ridge soaring at the
Pulpit. A lot of turbulence, as long as you are on the rising side, it
was OK. On the left tower something started to cook it took me to 3K over
but then I looked at the dark cloud right above. The lift got even stronger,
and I was getting closer to it. Lift this is what I want, yikes too close to
the cloud. I moved to the front, about 30 min into the flight sinking like a brick.
I saw other gliders in front of launch, and tried to get there. Darn! I won't
even make to the primary. Heading to the secondary, I felt a few bumps, as soon as I crossed the into the clearing, it was a more defined thermal. What the heck! I'm going to land, I might as well play some. This one took me to about 2K over, it seemed a lot of work to move to the front.
This time everything felt right, I had the radio, the cell phone, and checked the map. I could see possible LZ's. Called on the radio to let people know my intentions.
Maybe I headed a little too early and didn't squeezed everything out of the thermal. As soon as I crossed the ridge all lift was gone. Followed the road and spotted more LZ's.
Checked for wires or other obstructions. Finally found a huge field, from the drift I could figure the wind direction. Two step landing.

Only 5 miles but a special satisfaction, first XC ever after 9 years of mountain flying.

The way it was organized made it lot easier. Thanks to everyone.
I'll let everyone tell their own tales.

Carlos
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breezyk1d
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Joined: Thu Jan 06, 2005 10:57 pm
Location: Fairfax, VA

fly-in

Post by breezyk1d »

A great fly-in and a great crowd! I had 2 flights Sat (30 min, and 47 min). Hooked a winner of a thermal on my first flight, over the LZ no less, and spec?d out, wondering why that poor fellow :lol: (Matthew) below me was choosing to land when I was headed for the clouds! Not a stellar launch on my second flight (nose angle too high) but I recovered okay and the flight was fun - parked in the magic mountain air with lots of other pilots/traffic to watch. Good landing.

Sunday had a short flight (14 min), didn?t enjoy scratching so low over the mountain, approach didn?t pan out right and I landed downhill, with a power whack landing (first in about a year) when I flared a bit early and popped a little high and got tipped by the wind before coming down. Nothing hurt but my pride :oops: . Shawn, feel free to post the video ? ought to be enjoyable! - Linda
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Marcel Dettling
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Post by Marcel Dettling »

What a fun event, I enjoyed the fly-in very much! Thanks to everyone who contributed to make it so good.

I've had good flights, however without taking the fullest possible advantage of the conditions. Saturday morning the winds were light enough that Spark, Andy and Charlie (two novice pilots Spark observed) could do multiple sledders. By the time we arrived at 11am, the wind had already ramped up. Soon after, Matthew launched his PG and had a good flight, although with quit a bit of speedbar use. The winds even got a tad stronger, so that we could only watch the HGs launch and (some of them) climb to cloudbase. By about 2pm the winds had mellowed down a bit to around 15mph average/20mph peak at launch, so that I decided to give it a go. I had a good launch and a good flight of about 1 hour. Got to 700ft over several times and always waited for the thermal which would take me to cloudbase. Never found the one, though. But on the other hand, none of the HGs made it to cloudbase during my flight, so it might not have been there. The wind aloft was ok to fly a PG, noticeable north cross and lots of drift in the thermals. It was not a necessity to use the speedbar, but very convenient to escape sink and to go upwind, so I used it a lot. Finally, I got flushed together with all the HGs and landed in the HG primary LZ.

Back at launch, conditions seemed to turn magic on Saturday evening. Most of the PG pilots were waiting for the wind to back down a little. With a dramatic launch, Matthew showed that even with the current wind, it works for PGs as well. I set up and perfectly got off in the next "lull" (still around 15mph). None of the other PGs could launch unfortunately, wind speeds of up to 25mph were reported after I had launched. Again aloft, it was fine. Though I sometimes didn't have penetration in min sink configuration, I always had some with hands off, so again, a safe flight was possible without speed bar usage. After I was in the air for 45 minutes, the glass-off decided to be over and I again landed in the HG primary LZ.

We camped in the setup area behind launch and woke up around 7am. Spark, Andy and Charlie were ready for their morning flights. The wind at launch was a nice 5-8mph breeze, so that I joined them for an early sledder (and to get breakfast at McDo) in very smooth air. The winds didn't build up as quickly as on Saturday, so that the three took multiple flights. By about noon, Juan had arrived and launched soon after for the first soaring flight of the day. After he got above launch quickly, he lost more and more altitude and was seriously struggling for at least a quarter of an hour. It was impressing how it seemed that he could still go search for lift here and there, taking advantage of his Boomerangs speed and glide. Finally, he picked up something maybe only about 400ft over the LZ, took it to cloudbase and over the back for the PG site record of thirty something miles. During his flight, I was ready to go, but for a long time not too convinced by what I saw. Finally, I launched and was joined by a bunch of other PG pilots (Matthew, 3 guys from Cleveland, Spark, Charlie and Stephane). I never got a chance to get really high and the sink monster caught all of us after about 30 minutes of flight and forced us to land in the HG secondary LZ. Since Corinne didn't feel to well and decided not to fly, we left after this flight, missing the good conditions that were to be enjoyed in the later afternoon.

Thanks again to everybody who helped organize, drive retrieval and take pictures!

Cheers,

Marcel
hang_pilot
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Pulpit Fly-In 2005

Post by hang_pilot »

Hi!
?
Thanks to everyone who supported the McConnellsburg Hang Gliding and Paragliding Festival!
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The energy at the event was incredibly positive; all the pilots who participated have to be fired up about our free-flight community. There were many folks who deserve special acknowledgement, but as I’m going to write an article for the Skyline, I won’t go into details here.? For now, consider yourself loved! ?I’m sending Chris McKee your way for a spooning.
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We will hold the awards ceremony for the flying competition at the fall meeting, Wednesday, October 26th, at 8 pm.? The location is still TBD, stay tuned for an update closer to the date. You will be able to pick up your commemorative t-shirt at that time.? As you know, the festival is a fundraising event.? ?It is run on a small margin with profits going to the McConnellsburg volunteer fire department.? Last year we donated $233.? By waiting until after the event to order shirts, we don’t waste money on extras and can make a larger donation.? If you cannot attend the meeting, we will mail a shirt to you.? I have arranged a donation to cover the postage expense.?
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At the fall next meeting we will hopefully have a presentation from a member of the Shenandoah Mountain Rescue Group (http://www.smrg.org/smrg/DesktopDefault.aspx) on procedures to follow when you are the first to arrive at an accident scene.? Thanks go to Karen Carra for suggesting the idea.? It will be a fun and informative meeting, so please keep that date free. ?No excuses!
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I hope to fly with all of my friends again this weekend!
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~Daniel
cell 301.275.6584 ?
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dbodner
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Missing Windsock?

Post by dbodner »

I have the windsock from the HG primary LZ left on Sunday. I believe the mast has been identified as a "Ralph Sickinger" model.
David Bodner
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rs54263
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Pulpit Fly-In 2005

Post by rs54263 »

Probably Chris McKee's

~Ralph


================================================================
from: dbodner (09/20/2005 19:44)
================================================================

I have the windsock from the HG primary LZ left on Sunday. I believe
the mast has been identified as a "Ralph Sickinger" model.David Bodner
(703)516-7101
(703)946-0123 (cell)
mcelrah
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Pulpit Fly-In 2005

Post by mcelrah »

Gran felicitaciones! Way to go Carlos! - Hugh

On 20 Sep 2005, at 08:37, carweill wrote:

>
> Great day Saturday.
> I tried to launch early to have a chance of second flight.
> Eventually got ready, started playing the typical low ridge soaring
> at the
> Pulpit. A lot of turbulence, as long as you are on the rising side, it
> was OK. On the left tower something started to cook it took me to
> 3K over
> but then I looked at the dark cloud right above. The lift got even
> stronger,
> and I was getting closer to it. Lift this is what I want, yikes too
> close to
> the cloud. I moved to the front, about 30 min into the flight
> sinking like a brick.
> I saw other gliders in front of launch, and tried to get there.
> Darn! I won't
> even make to the primary. Heading to the secondary, I felt a few
> bumps, as soon as I crossed the into the clearing, it was a more
> defined thermal. What the heck! I'm going to land, I might as well
> play some. This one took me to about 2K over, it seemed a lot of
> work to move to the front.
> This time everything felt right, I had the radio, the cell phone,
> and checked the map. I could see possible LZ's. Called on the radio
> to let people know my intentions.
> Maybe I headed a little too early and didn't squeezed everything
> out of the thermal. As soon as I crossed the ridge all lift was
> gone. Followed the road and spotted more LZ's.
> Checked for wires or other obstructions. Finally found a huge
> field, from the drift I could figure the wind direction. Two step
> landing.
>
> Only 5 miles but a special satisfaction, first XC ever after 9
> years of mountain flying.
>
> The way it was organized made it lot easier. Thanks to everyone.
> I'll let everyone tell their own tales.
>
> Carlos
>
Paul Tjaden
Posts: 398
Joined: Tue Feb 08, 2005 10:28 pm

Pulpit Fly-In 2005

Post by Paul Tjaden »

In a message dated 9/20/2005 8:38:46 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, carweill@yahoo.com writes:
Only 5 miles but a special satisfaction, first XC ever after 9 years of mountain flying.

Congrat's, Carlos and I bet the LZ you landed in was MUCH nicer than the primary at McConnelsburg. That's almost always what you find. Now, go out and do some more!
?
Paul T.
hepcat1989
Posts: 684
Joined: Thu Jan 06, 2005 11:15 pm

Post by hepcat1989 »

Yeah, and no gliders taken out of action in our lz this time!
carweill
Posts: 514
Joined: Thu Jan 06, 2005 10:58 pm

Post by carweill »

Thanks, but there were a lot very accomplished flights that weekend.
Mine was more of taking a new step.
Still nothing compared to a couple in Florida who is kicking butt.
The question is, are they already in hibernation mode?

Carlos
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