Arrived at Woodstock to light conditions around 10:45A.? Met up w/ Gary Smith and Subdude in the parking lot.? Cumies started popping, but the speed of their shadows indicated pretty strong winds aloft.? Others that arrived were Hank & Karma Hengst, John Dullahan and driver Neil, Bruce Engen, Randy Webber, Dan Tomlinson, and Cragin Shelton.? Entertained a group of wuffos while we waited for conditions to pick up a little.? Local TV passed by just above the trees heading SW very slowly, indicating a strong west cross just above the ridge.? Conditions started picking up, and I launched into a strong west cross around 12:30P.? Turned left and was met by bouncy air in the cross.? Slowly rose above the ridge and crept my way SW.? Didn't dare turn downwind.? Dolphin flew and got to 2K' over following lift lines to the east.? Found a decent thermal to circle in and got to 3K' over near the chicken coops.? At about 2K' over got thrown into a wingover near to past 90 for the first time by strong lift on the left wing.? First time I've ever been bounced that hard.? Then it got dicey.? Lost altitude to just a couple hundred over the ridge, and the winds picked up.? I was always out in front of the ridge, but it was difficult to penetrate at all in any direction.? Stuffed the bar to drift back towards launch.? Looked back and saw a glider stinking high over launch.? Might have been Randy Webber.? As I'm drifting back towards launch, get in some lift line and follow it out from the ridge slowly and climbing.? Get out enough into the valley and start circling carefully.? Topped out at 3.7K' over at about the same time I hear that Hank has landed in a big field NW of the main LZ.? I decide to try to make the Karmy airstrip that I have landed at before.? An absolutely huge field.? Plus it has a nice windsock.? It is located just NE of the last U-bend of the river (which borders the chicken coops) before the Edinburg Gap.? Start heading SW against a good headwind, and lose 2K' pretty quickly to an LZ that I've landed in before one river bend away from the airstrip.? Hover over the LZ and find a lift line and gain 1K' slowly flying upwind to the border of the airstrip.? See John down at the Edinburg Gap.? I contact him to try to get him to land w/ me, but he decides to put down in the LZ area of the Edinburg Gap.? The problem is that both fields have corn in them, and luckily the nearest one to John had a cleared green area, albeit downhill, at the back of the LZ.? I hover over the airstrip watching John manuever the glider to the green area, and disappear behind the tree line bordering the field.? Turns out he landed nicely slightly downhill.? Now to my landing.? Very turbulent, but a wide open field just upwind of the strip is where I'm coming down.? Get down, ready to flare, and I get popped up 15'.? Keep left hand on the downtube, and reach down w/ right hand to the basetube to pull the nose down.? Parachute down to a gentle landing.? Quickly park the glider in the gusty conditions and unhook.? Carrying the glider over to the far tree line (a long way!) is challenging in the gusty air.? Got in contact w/ John, and as soon as I packed up the glider the driver arrived, having already picked up John.? Timing.? Back at launch it was cranking.? The faithful were hoping for the conditions to back down before sunset.? Hopefully it did for them.
??????????????????????????????????????????????????? Bacil
Woodstock Saturday 10/15
Moderator: CHGPA BOD
Great post Bacil. I don't plan to fly in those conditions anytime soon (if ever)...but I'm curious about your wing loading (and penetration ability), since we're both flying Eagles. You fly a 164, right? Are you in the middle wing-loading area? Or closer to the top?
I'm flying a 180, and I'm right at the top edge of wing loading for that (body weight of 225lbs).
Scott
I'm flying a 180, and I'm right at the top edge of wing loading for that (body weight of 225lbs).
Scott
Woodstock Saturday 10/15
Scott,
???? I'm flying the smallest Eagle, the 145.? I hook in right at the top (200 lbs.), or a few pounds over the top.? I chose that size due to the fact that the heaviest wing loading has the best performance in headwinds and sink.? Plenty of headwinds yesterday, that's for sure.? It was fortunate yesterday for it to be at least a 45 degree crosswind (from the west).? If it was straight in, then it would have been much more difficult to penetrate a direct 30 knot NW headwind out into the valley, where we would like to land
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??????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Bacil
?
???? I'm flying the smallest Eagle, the 145.? I hook in right at the top (200 lbs.), or a few pounds over the top.? I chose that size due to the fact that the heaviest wing loading has the best performance in headwinds and sink.? Plenty of headwinds yesterday, that's for sure.? It was fortunate yesterday for it to be at least a 45 degree crosswind (from the west).? If it was straight in, then it would have been much more difficult to penetrate a direct 30 knot NW headwind out into the valley, where we would like to land
.??????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Bacil
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