Woodatock Report
Moderator: CHGPA BOD
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Ashley Groves
- Posts: 247
- Joined: Sat Oct 01, 2005 9:01 am
Woodatock Report
To South to launch safely. But got to see a new site and a few more pilts at least.
Ashley Groves
'Pilts'? Now I know I'm overdue for a haircut.
Glen and Yanni finally hit the road around 7:30 am from Essex, a SE community of Baltimore, and were at launch 2 hours later despite 3 pit stops. They would have arrived an hour earlier if I hadn't asked them to wait for me to check the weather so I could at least tell them what their chances were. Cavanaugh now has serious competition in the speed driving category, and Bacil has competition for the early arrival category. Now that I know how they operate I may meet them at woodstock for some pre-thermal morning launches. They've walked the LZ and had several pilots point out to them that a slot launch is not in fact just like a training hill launch, because it can look deceptively benign while just beyond the trees it's howling cross.
Ran into Ashley at Chappelino's, then Randy Webber joined us up top. Joe Schad and Zelda joined us sans wings just because they are incredible people and wanted to help out. After an hour of listening to freight trains crash through Glen and Yanni left...if not for the cross I would have asked them to wait for it to calm down. After another hour of watching the streamers skitter around randomly during increasing lulls I decided it wasn't gonna happen and left myself. Ran into Gary Smith and Bruce Engen on their way up. Nobody had moved into launch position by the time I retrieved the windsock.
The cows in the LZ have calves and are very defensive. There's a bull out there I haven't seen before who was also acting a bit aggressive: facing interlopers and snorting. Something about the way the cows stood up when I walked out and kept shifting a defensive wall to mirror my movements told me to keep a safe distance. The calves were pushed into a huddle behind the wall. For the present it may not be a good idea to land there with cows in the field.
Glen and Yanni finally hit the road around 7:30 am from Essex, a SE community of Baltimore, and were at launch 2 hours later despite 3 pit stops. They would have arrived an hour earlier if I hadn't asked them to wait for me to check the weather so I could at least tell them what their chances were. Cavanaugh now has serious competition in the speed driving category, and Bacil has competition for the early arrival category. Now that I know how they operate I may meet them at woodstock for some pre-thermal morning launches. They've walked the LZ and had several pilots point out to them that a slot launch is not in fact just like a training hill launch, because it can look deceptively benign while just beyond the trees it's howling cross.
Ran into Ashley at Chappelino's, then Randy Webber joined us up top. Joe Schad and Zelda joined us sans wings just because they are incredible people and wanted to help out. After an hour of listening to freight trains crash through Glen and Yanni left...if not for the cross I would have asked them to wait for it to calm down. After another hour of watching the streamers skitter around randomly during increasing lulls I decided it wasn't gonna happen and left myself. Ran into Gary Smith and Bruce Engen on their way up. Nobody had moved into launch position by the time I retrieved the windsock.
The cows in the LZ have calves and are very defensive. There's a bull out there I haven't seen before who was also acting a bit aggressive: facing interlopers and snorting. Something about the way the cows stood up when I walked out and kept shifting a defensive wall to mirror my movements told me to keep a safe distance. The calves were pushed into a huddle behind the wall. For the present it may not be a good idea to land there with cows in the field.
Brian Vant-Hull
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silverwings
- Posts: 1243
- Joined: Thu Jan 06, 2005 11:29 pm
- Location: Bethesda, MD
- Contact:
There would be gusts of 15-20 interspersed with sometimes quite lengthy (10 minutes or so) lulls of 5-10. The streamers often straightened for the gusts, then crossed for the lulls. Or they'd switch around every 10 seconds during the lulls. When I was up on the tower it seemed fairly constant, so assuming that short period is representative we were seeing the effects of mechanical turbulence in the slot.
In the LZ it was blowing cross and strong (5-10). I think with such a cross the wind funnels down the valley and you don't get much of a "woodstock effect". I was actually more frightened by what I saw in the LZ than by what I saw at launch. It would switch by 90 degrees in about 30 seconds. That's why we went to lunch instead of to launch.
Only once was I tempted to head for the car to get the glider (20 minute lull), but changed my mind after about 50 feet.
In the LZ it was blowing cross and strong (5-10). I think with such a cross the wind funnels down the valley and you don't get much of a "woodstock effect". I was actually more frightened by what I saw in the LZ than by what I saw at launch. It would switch by 90 degrees in about 30 seconds. That's why we went to lunch instead of to launch.
Only once was I tempted to head for the car to get the glider (20 minute lull), but changed my mind after about 50 feet.
Brian Vant-Hull