Not yet sure if I could handle nearly 6 hours
on the road today.... But the forecast *is*
calling for SE@6 surface and fairly strong
SSE@3k, so.... Possible Jack's day?
Mark C.
301-807-5414
Jack's Sun22Jan?
Moderator: CHGPA BOD
Jack's Sun22Jan?
How 'bout a report on the conditions at Woodstock yesterday during your flight?
????????????????????????????????????????????????? Thanks,
????????????????????????????????????????????????? Bacil
????????????????????????????????????????????????? Thanks,
????????????????????????????????????????????????? Bacil
Actually, I DID go to Jack's. But there's a long story involved.
Richard had two new H2 students ready for the mountains, except they hadn't got parachutes put in their harnesses. So the plan was to meet at Oregon Ridge, have the chutes installed, and do a few practice runs before going to the mountains. Since I hadn't seen any interest on the list by 9 am I was afraid we wouldn't have wire crew for Jack's so pretty much decided we'd have to go to Bill's even though the direction wouldn't be as good.
Well, the winds at Bill's weren't too cooperative, so Glen and Yanni weren't ready to go until 1:30. By that time Rich's other student had done a few, shall we say, glider acrobatics and decided it was best for him not to continue the lesson and come with us to check out what things looked like in the mountains. Even better, Linda showed up wanting to see if she was back in the right head space for mountain flying. Suddenly we had wire crew and drivers, and we redirected towards Jack's.
Rusty, the nearly H1 student, lived in Harrisburg, so was point man to get us through the town as quickly as possible. I told him time was off the essence so the caravan hit the road at a speed of about 80. He got us through Harrisburg like a knife through butter, then I remembered that Glen wanted to stop for food so flashed my lights, pulled over in the turn lane, and waited for Rusty to notice we had stopped. At first he kept going, then slowed down, so I thought he had seen us and pulled into Wendy's.
He hadn't seen us. All he knew is one moment we were with him and the next we weren't. I was standing out keeping lookout but never spotted him, so we hit the road again hoping he'd pull over. He didn't - he circled around. Fortunately gliders are easy to spot, so after a flurry of blatently illegal activity involving medians and sh*t we were back on the road.
Once we turned onto 522 I took the lead and found I had to go 90 just to keep from getting run over by traffic from behind. Gotta love pennsylvania. By the time we had done the LZ walk and got up top it was 4:30 and overcast. But it was blowing in PERFECT.
I'm sure most people remember their first reaction on seeing Jack's launch right off the training hill: Scary steep, with trees and refridgerator carcasses at the bottom. Glen took one look and declared he wasn't going. Jumping up and down and telling him how perfect it was, how easy it was just wasn't gonna do the trick. Jack's was my first mountain launch, and I remember I had to see someone else go off before I'd believe the mountain of crap I knew folks were trying to feed me. Unfortunately Linda's sport 2 takes forever to set up.
Then Dennis Pagen arrived, and jumped up and down and declared how perfect, how easy it was. His magical aura was enough to convince Glen to set up, though he still was uneasy about the whole thing. I decided I'd go first as demonstration, and Dennis could throw Glen off if it did the trick. It DID do the trick, but it was already too dark and Glen wisely decided to wait for another day. After all that driving and attempts at persuasion, I was damn proud of him for not caving in to pressure. He's ready to go next time now that he's seen that you DON'T in fact run straight down the hill and into the trees, and you DON'T in fact even come close to the power lines if you follow a proper flight plan.
I'm pretty sure Yanni will be ready to go after seeing Glen float off. Seeing Karen go for her first Jack's launch was what finally convinced me, so I think it will work. They're both great guys and will make a great addition to the community. And they gave me way too much gas money...enough for another trip.
As for my flight - there was a cross, making ridge soaring more of a scratching proposition, and since I didn't really want to break down in the dark I just went a hundred yards along the ridge and headed out for a perfect no step landing. Of course it was - nobody was there to see it.
PS - the white house on 522 is only open for dinner until 6 on sunday, but 9:30 on saturday. The very acceptable and dirt cheap bar is open late, though.
Richard had two new H2 students ready for the mountains, except they hadn't got parachutes put in their harnesses. So the plan was to meet at Oregon Ridge, have the chutes installed, and do a few practice runs before going to the mountains. Since I hadn't seen any interest on the list by 9 am I was afraid we wouldn't have wire crew for Jack's so pretty much decided we'd have to go to Bill's even though the direction wouldn't be as good.
Well, the winds at Bill's weren't too cooperative, so Glen and Yanni weren't ready to go until 1:30. By that time Rich's other student had done a few, shall we say, glider acrobatics and decided it was best for him not to continue the lesson and come with us to check out what things looked like in the mountains. Even better, Linda showed up wanting to see if she was back in the right head space for mountain flying. Suddenly we had wire crew and drivers, and we redirected towards Jack's.
Rusty, the nearly H1 student, lived in Harrisburg, so was point man to get us through the town as quickly as possible. I told him time was off the essence so the caravan hit the road at a speed of about 80. He got us through Harrisburg like a knife through butter, then I remembered that Glen wanted to stop for food so flashed my lights, pulled over in the turn lane, and waited for Rusty to notice we had stopped. At first he kept going, then slowed down, so I thought he had seen us and pulled into Wendy's.
He hadn't seen us. All he knew is one moment we were with him and the next we weren't. I was standing out keeping lookout but never spotted him, so we hit the road again hoping he'd pull over. He didn't - he circled around. Fortunately gliders are easy to spot, so after a flurry of blatently illegal activity involving medians and sh*t we were back on the road.
Once we turned onto 522 I took the lead and found I had to go 90 just to keep from getting run over by traffic from behind. Gotta love pennsylvania. By the time we had done the LZ walk and got up top it was 4:30 and overcast. But it was blowing in PERFECT.
I'm sure most people remember their first reaction on seeing Jack's launch right off the training hill: Scary steep, with trees and refridgerator carcasses at the bottom. Glen took one look and declared he wasn't going. Jumping up and down and telling him how perfect it was, how easy it was just wasn't gonna do the trick. Jack's was my first mountain launch, and I remember I had to see someone else go off before I'd believe the mountain of crap I knew folks were trying to feed me. Unfortunately Linda's sport 2 takes forever to set up.
Then Dennis Pagen arrived, and jumped up and down and declared how perfect, how easy it was. His magical aura was enough to convince Glen to set up, though he still was uneasy about the whole thing. I decided I'd go first as demonstration, and Dennis could throw Glen off if it did the trick. It DID do the trick, but it was already too dark and Glen wisely decided to wait for another day. After all that driving and attempts at persuasion, I was damn proud of him for not caving in to pressure. He's ready to go next time now that he's seen that you DON'T in fact run straight down the hill and into the trees, and you DON'T in fact even come close to the power lines if you follow a proper flight plan.
I'm pretty sure Yanni will be ready to go after seeing Glen float off. Seeing Karen go for her first Jack's launch was what finally convinced me, so I think it will work. They're both great guys and will make a great addition to the community. And they gave me way too much gas money...enough for another trip.
As for my flight - there was a cross, making ridge soaring more of a scratching proposition, and since I didn't really want to break down in the dark I just went a hundred yards along the ridge and headed out for a perfect no step landing. Of course it was - nobody was there to see it.
PS - the white house on 522 is only open for dinner until 6 on sunday, but 9:30 on saturday. The very acceptable and dirt cheap bar is open late, though.
Brian Vant-Hull