Arrived 10:30A to light conditions on the ramps and cumies dotting the sky.? Matthew and Karen, Mark C., Dave Bodner, Gary Smith, and Dave P show up.? Give it a go around 11:30A, even though the conditions on the ramps (still light) tell me it is not soarable.? What the heck, haven't flown in 7 weeks, good takeoff and conservative flight would do me good.? Got the first half right, but not the second.? Take off, turn left, dolphin fly throught some small bumps.? Notice a distinct SW cross on the ridge.? Get a nice pop and decide to chase it back towards the ramps.? Not a good decision.? Fall out and lose a good bit of altitude.? Time to head out to the secondary LZ.? To make a long story short I barely made it to the secondary, with the low altitude and the quartering headwind.? There is a clear area that you could land on just uphill from the secondary.? It is sloped (still part of the mountain).? I was eyeballing it as the backup landing area in case I did not make the secondary.? It is separated from the secondary by a few trees and a power line.? Nice day for a hike since it was barely tickling 30 degrees, and I have never hiked Tuscarora Mt.? As I was hiking up the clear cut where the high voltage lines run, the wind up the clear cut told me it was soarable at the top!? Saw a glider on the ramp while I retrieved my glider from the secondary.? The pilot backed off, and I headed to Smithsburg to find Eddie Miller already packed up after 7 flights, each one a soarable one, Shawn Ray packing up after a good number of flights, and Cragin Shelton packed up and ready to go to the Pulpit.? I know that there was some good soaring to be had before sunset at the Pulpit.
???????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Bacil
Half of Pulpit Saturday
Moderator: CHGPA BOD
Pulpit 2nd Half
Blew like stink all day shortly after Bacil launched. I initially dragged out the PG to fly early; but by the time we launched Bacil and I got up to launch it was blowing 15 with gusts to 20. Backed off and set up the HG. Proctor was first in line for HGs at about 1:00. It was blowing 20-25 with gusts to 30+. He backed off. Kept blowing like stink till 5:15. Cavanaugh went first. Still 20+ on the ramp most of the time. But the huge gust factor pf 10-30+ had dissipated. He got off in a lull of about 18 and beamed right up.
I went next. Of course it started cranking again when I got up on the ramp. But I gut a lull of around 20 and had a good launch. Got 1100 over. Cavanaugh made 1300 over. Some smooth spots with the lift ban going out beyond route 16. But there were also major sink holes and the occasional gust that tried to swat me back into the mountain. Gary Smith launched about 10 minutes after me and we all landed just before sunset. I got about a 30+ minutes. We all encountered major sink going out to the LZ. I was in 1000 down and was worried about making the LZ even though I left the ridge at 500 over. Once I got to the LZ all the air was going up and I had to do diving spiral slipping turns to get down. Landing in the foot high corn stubble sucked. But we all made it down safely.
Everyone else packed up and then we had dinner at McKinstry's in Mercersburg.
Matthew
I went next. Of course it started cranking again when I got up on the ramp. But I gut a lull of around 20 and had a good launch. Got 1100 over. Cavanaugh made 1300 over. Some smooth spots with the lift ban going out beyond route 16. But there were also major sink holes and the occasional gust that tried to swat me back into the mountain. Gary Smith launched about 10 minutes after me and we all landed just before sunset. I got about a 30+ minutes. We all encountered major sink going out to the LZ. I was in 1000 down and was worried about making the LZ even though I left the ridge at 500 over. Once I got to the LZ all the air was going up and I had to do diving spiral slipping turns to get down. Landing in the foot high corn stubble sucked. But we all made it down safely.
Everyone else packed up and then we had dinner at McKinstry's in Mercersburg.
Matthew