First things first: Kudos to Bacil for making my Monday flight possible. He graciously offered to help out that afternoon, and I would not have taken time off from work without knowing he would be there to make things possible. I owe you dude.
Sunday: *Very* west-cross and strong. I knew from the get-go that I would not be flying that day (given a major step back to my Falcon), but I had said I would be there.. And had loaded up the night before... So no excuses!
Knut, John McA, Bari, and Will all flew. They mentioned that the fun-factor wasn't the best, with zero ground speed at times. Maybe it's because I've been out-of-the-loop for so long... But wow. The difference in conditions between Sunday and Monday was stark: On Sunday, the launchable windows were very short, and the trees at the bottom of the slot were heeling over left to right. I honestly don't think I'm hungry enough for air time to deal with conditions like that anymore.
(Don't get me wrong. I certainly have in the past. Depends on what you want. But maybe not anymore, for me.)
Monday: Way, way, way better. True NW direction, and the wind velocity dropped from about 4pm onward. Both sides of the slot were lit (not so on Sunday). Unfortunately, Rob (from Rochester?) and Will both had long drives ahead and were packing up by the time that Bacil and I arrived.
I launched a bit after 5pm : Probably should have done so sooner because the winds were shifting a bit North. But I didn't want to get fooled by a sucker-lull, on a Falcon, so I may have waited longer than need be.
Joe Schad and Tom Cuenan arrived just as I was ready to go: Very nice to have their help, thanks guys!
The flight: About 1:15, mostly 200 to 400 over, briefly 800 over in some thermals. Fair amount of sink while I was up, and didn't want to push the timeframe for smoother conditions given Bacil's time constraints. So I ultimately landed in the old primary, where winds were completely zero. Unsuprisingly bellied-in after a weak flare.
But... I'll take it! Back in the air! And additional kudos to Anthony and Matthew, who have both helped out on days when I've been at Smithsburg in the past couple of years.
MarkC
