Blue Sky-Sep 23

[rancerupp]

I know its a little late ans possibly a little boring but here's an update to Friday flying. Got there later than I'd like to (given the good conditions), about 2p. I knew Sat/Sun would be overcast so wanted to get in another flight before Tennessee. After watching Scott take two truck tows before me, I set up from the opposite end Scott had been towing and got a tow in the crosswind. Although I only got to 700, I pinned off and began working the lift that was there, punchy with tight cores. I managed to eek out a gain to 1700 or so until it ran out (that sounds so much better than 'I lost it'). I had to loiter a bit for landing to make way for the truck tow in progress but still had a reasonable landing. It was good to be reminded that flights can still be had on low truck tows. While Scott was working on his spot landings for his H3, he had some altitude gains as well.

Not long after I was down, Tex arrived so I opted for an aerotow. I had seen a slight inversion at 1500-2000 but that was at 10am, it may not even still be present. After pinning off, I managed to find some light lift before sinking too far, I worked it to about 4500 making my way just across 360. Fortunately, I was not drifting very fast at all. I lost that and headed back but found absolutely no lift at all, all the way back. However, the smooth cool air was a distinct treat from the hot air on the ground, at least for those 40 minutes.

While flying, I watched as Tim took more truck tows. Too bad the wind switched prohibiting his aerotow. He was on the cart ready to go when the wind in the trees began howling. After breaking down, even with a trip to Vinny's, we still somehow missed getting our gliders rained on. Another fun day at the flight park for all.

[Scott]

That was a good day Rance! And besides doing spot landings, those were some of the craziest truck tows I've done---some in fairly strong 90-degree crossing conditions.

At one point my glider yawed almost a full 90 degrees to the right...and I actually "puckered" a bit, glanced at my release line, about to yank it, when Steve cranked up the pressure a bit which pulled me back inline with the truck. That's a situation where an expert tow driver like Steve can make a big difference!

I forgot to ask Steve if he read the detailed report on John Woiwode's truck towing accident/lockout a while back. (The report was in a recent Oz Report issue.) That seemed like a freak accident, and I'd be very curious to know what Steve (who's probably done more truck towing than anyone in the country) thinks about what might have happened.

Scott