Headed to Ridgely
Moderator: CHGPA BOD
Headed to Ridgely
Suzie & I are up and should be outta here around 1000 on the way to Ridgely. Looks like an AWESOME Spring day (Finally!) for some good flatland thermaling! NW winds might give us a chance to leave the field and go someplace other than the BAY! I'll just be happy to have some warmth .... pack it up and go!!!
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silverwings
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Ashley Groves
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silverwings
- Posts: 1243
- Joined: Thu Jan 06, 2005 11:29 pm
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Quite a few pilots there and I think 3 - 4 went XC. I had to wait about an hour in line before getting pulled up because of others and tandems. Didn't find anything at first and was going down but spotted someone toward the chicken house climbing so headed over there and got some lift when I got there at 1100 ft. Worked that one up to 3500 and then heading back some from my drift found another thermal that took me to 4500. Ended up with just under an hour (not counting tow) and an enjoyable flight. Hope the others post. Got to go.
john middleton (202)409-2574 c
Bruce Engen and I had a great day at Ridgley Saturday. I was not sure how it would turn out, with the blue/light wind conditions and my first flight as a sled.
However, in my second flight I was able to maintain or slowly climb for the first 45 minutes, and ended up at 4,000 feet agl, east of the airport with Bruce. Since we had brought a driver with us, we figured we might at well try going xc, even if we landed just past the river.
Well, team flying has never worked so well for. Bruce and I pimped off each other repeatedly - however Bruce found the two best thermals. At one point near Seaport, Joe Gregor came in below us and had a nice save over a silo. He headed south, as Bruce and I topped out at 6,000 agl and went more easterly. Bruce never got low, but I did manage to struggle a couple of times and watched Bruce spec out over me. Generally, we had a number of thermals in the 300 up range, with several over 500 up. We both topped out somewhere over 6,100 agl.
We saw lots of birds, and even though they were mostly very low, they always seemed to be marking good thermals. We also flew in a nice fire-thermal to break 5,000 feet for the first time that day. Conditions improved during the day and as we headed ESE.
Finally, we topped out about 17 miles from the coast, due east of Bethany Beach. A beautiful day, we could see miles of coast off in the distance. Bruce left a few minutes before I topped out. I tucked in and followed him east, atlthough the beach was impossibly far away. Since we had routinely hit lift for the past 3 1/2 hours and there were lots of good fields to the east, I was confident of getting one more thermal and having a shot at the beach.
It was not to be, at least I never hit another thermal. All the time I was on glide, I wondered how much better I would be doing on a new glider. However, even on my 4 year old Litespeed, my final glide, straight line distance, was 17 miles! I made the beach with 500 feet to spare and landed at Fenwick Island State Park. Bruce landed on the beach a few minutes before me, just a short distance to the north. Our driver arrived before we could break down. What an excellent day! My flight was approximately 57 miles (Bruce about 56!) and about 4 hours long.
This flight is a great example of team flying. We stayed together and even waited for each other at times to increase our odds of staying up. Bruce I will go XC with you any time. A day to remember!
Tom McGowan
However, in my second flight I was able to maintain or slowly climb for the first 45 minutes, and ended up at 4,000 feet agl, east of the airport with Bruce. Since we had brought a driver with us, we figured we might at well try going xc, even if we landed just past the river.
Well, team flying has never worked so well for. Bruce and I pimped off each other repeatedly - however Bruce found the two best thermals. At one point near Seaport, Joe Gregor came in below us and had a nice save over a silo. He headed south, as Bruce and I topped out at 6,000 agl and went more easterly. Bruce never got low, but I did manage to struggle a couple of times and watched Bruce spec out over me. Generally, we had a number of thermals in the 300 up range, with several over 500 up. We both topped out somewhere over 6,100 agl.
We saw lots of birds, and even though they were mostly very low, they always seemed to be marking good thermals. We also flew in a nice fire-thermal to break 5,000 feet for the first time that day. Conditions improved during the day and as we headed ESE.
Finally, we topped out about 17 miles from the coast, due east of Bethany Beach. A beautiful day, we could see miles of coast off in the distance. Bruce left a few minutes before I topped out. I tucked in and followed him east, atlthough the beach was impossibly far away. Since we had routinely hit lift for the past 3 1/2 hours and there were lots of good fields to the east, I was confident of getting one more thermal and having a shot at the beach.
It was not to be, at least I never hit another thermal. All the time I was on glide, I wondered how much better I would be doing on a new glider. However, even on my 4 year old Litespeed, my final glide, straight line distance, was 17 miles! I made the beach with 500 feet to spare and landed at Fenwick Island State Park. Bruce landed on the beach a few minutes before me, just a short distance to the north. Our driver arrived before we could break down. What an excellent day! My flight was approximately 57 miles (Bruce about 56!) and about 4 hours long.
This flight is a great example of team flying. We stayed together and even waited for each other at times to increase our odds of staying up. Bruce I will go XC with you any time. A day to remember!
Tom McGowan
Suzie & I arrived at noon and set up with the most people I've seen at Ridgely in a while. I enjoyed a nice tow around 2:00pm but after getting off I struggled to find lift. I got down to 600 and finally hooked a small thermal over the east edge of the LZ and drifted in it climbing back up to 1200. I was over the chicken coups to the east and contemplating heading XC if I could just eek out another 1000' and then promptly lost the thermal. I tried to relocate but was back down to 900 so I pulled on the VG and headed back to land at home. 25 minutes was all I could muster as I listened to the XC group heading easterly. John Middleton hooked a great thermal in the same area I had been and sky'd out. I took another flight late in the afternoon and was happy that I stuck both landings which has been a weak point over the last year in my Talon. I've finally figured out this Viper harness and the U2 is really a great wing.
Suzie was scheduled for a 4:00 lesson and ended up taking 3 lesson flights. She hadn't flown in 18 months, as last summer she suffered horrible luck and had 4 different lessons cancelled due to bad weather. She really enjoyed getting back in the air and hopes to continue taking lessons this summer.
We had Shasta with us, but the other two were left at home so we bailed back to Alexandria to let the boys out. Baja Fresh & bed were soon to follow. Its nice already having 2 flying days in April, as I haven't started my flying season until May for the past 3 years. Its definately looking up!
C
Suzie was scheduled for a 4:00 lesson and ended up taking 3 lesson flights. She hadn't flown in 18 months, as last summer she suffered horrible luck and had 4 different lessons cancelled due to bad weather. She really enjoyed getting back in the air and hopes to continue taking lessons this summer.
We had Shasta with us, but the other two were left at home so we bailed back to Alexandria to let the boys out. Baja Fresh & bed were soon to follow. Its nice already having 2 flying days in April, as I haven't started my flying season until May for the past 3 years. Its definately looking up!
C