High Rock Fly-In

[Matthew]

BIG, BIG THANKS TO RICHARD AND LEE HAYS FOR PUTTING TOGETHER ANOTHER GREAT PARTY AT HIGH ROCK!!!!


Karen and I headed over to the Rock on Saturday after Bacil was kind enough to pick me up in Upton. It was still blowing hard and gusty at the Pulpit. Hence, our choice to head over to the rock.

We arrived at about 5:15 to find Kelvin 2 k over out in the valley and a bunch of pilots sitting on the block-- no one was set up. It's blowing straight in at between 5-8.

Huh?

Danny says something about it being cross. Again I look at the streamers blowing straight in. The trees below show a slight West cross and I tell them that there all crazy, especially as the forecast calls for it to turn NW by evening. Then Joe Brauch points out that smoke in the valley, which indicates that it is blowing out of the NW. SET UP! SET UP! I tell them. Eddie, Kurtis, Joe B. and others just sit there like logs while Kelvin continues to soar. So Karen and I slap together her glider and she gets a great 45 minute end of day flight at about 1200 over--- lift everywhere.

Sunday morning Karen and I head to the Pulpit-- arrive at 10:20. It's blowing straight in at 8-10. So I pull out the bag wing. It ramps up to 10-15 by the time I get ready and I launch in a lull. The air is a bit ratty... but I can still penetrat easily.... for the first 15 minutes anyway. Then it starts to ramp up and I'm using my speedbar to move back out front. The thermals ar moving too fast for me to climb out with enough altitude to safely get over the back. It gets stronger and I get pinned and start thinking about landing in that guys yard to the south of launch on top of the mountain. I go full speedbar on my tippy toes and fly out over the secondary. I keep working lift still hoping to core a big one. But it's just too choppy. So I land after a 35 minute flight.

We had to High Rock via Smithsburg. There are still beans growing in the lower field. But the hill has been hayed and looks great.

We arrive at the Rock at about 1:30. It's blowing straight in and everybody is up. We set up and I'm ready to launch just as a flush cycle claims a handful of pilots. I wait a few minutes and launch at about 2:30-- getting up to 200 over. But then I'm down on the deck and below launch. I scratch for abut 10 minutes below launch before catching a ride up to 2100 over. It's just me, John D. and Bunkhouse Bob in the air. And then John heads out to land and it's just me and Bob. I think I'll be flying till sunset. Then another flush cycle comes through and Bob and I land at abut 3:30. It turns back on an hour later and Kurtis, Karen, Eddie and Glen launch-- they all get up easily and land after 6pm.

Pilots for the day also included: Tom, Carlos, Steve Padget, Tim H., Kelvin, David Churchill and some guy from Hyner. Big thanks also to George and Rusty for wire crewing all day.

Also, apparently there was a bit of air traffic and near misses during the first flush cycle.

Back in the old days when we had more pilots and we flew High Rock more often, pilots were more accustomed to landing together during a big flush. Any recommendations on this subject would be greatly appreciated.

A couple things to keep in mind are that you need to not only be aware of the pilots below and ahead of you, you also need to know abut the pilots above and behind you. And watch out for the stray pilot coming in from out in the valley or way far up the ridge. You head needs to be on a swivel as Joe Gregor used to always say. Next it's important that everyone follow the same pattern. You can't do a figure 8 when everyone is doing a left handed aircraft approach. Follow the leader! And don't dick around trying to milk it or get back up when you know other people are coming in behind you to land. Once you get over the LZ or into the pattern, get the glider down as fast as possible. Once on the ground, immediatley look and ascertain the position of the next landing glider(s). If the glider is on final and low you may need to stay put so as not to be a distraction or hazard. You may need to move to one side or the other. If the next landing glider is still a few minutes from landing, then quickly move to one side of the field or the other to keep the landing area clear. When everyone is down, move your glider to the break down area. Don't break down in the middle of the field!!!!!!!

Also, keep your options open when landing with a tight group. If it looks like things are going to be too tight or beyond your comfort level, then fly to another field and land there away from all of the traffic.

Matthew

[brianvh]

With key members of MHGA pulled off in different directions, Richard and Leigh did the whole thing themselves! I may have found it painful to not fly because of healing bicycle injuries, but Richard chose to not even bring a glider so he could haul the horse trailer with everything in it. They even shooed away most people who tried to help on site. Aren't those two amazing?

[Paul Tjaden]

OK.....So every issue of the USHPA magazine tells about another couple of free flying brothers who aren't around anymore cause their paragliders turned into a ball of laundry when they tried to fly in too strong conditions. I have considered getting a PG rating myself and then backed off because of this. Of course, all my bi-wingual friends say "It's only dangerous if you fly in strong conditions, just set up the HG when the wind blows strongly". This sounds reasonable and I am almost swayed and then I read this from Matthew:

Sunday morning Karen and I head to the Pulpit-- arrive at 10:20. It's blowing straight in at 8-10. So I pull out the bag wing. It ramps up to 10-15 by the time I get ready and I launch in a lull. The air is a bit ratty... but I can still penetrat easily.... for the first 15 minutes anyway. Then it starts to ramp up and I'm using my speedbar to move back out front. The thermals ar moving too fast for me to climb out with enough altitude to safely get over the back. It gets stronger and I get pinned and start thinking about landing in that guys yard to the south of launch on top of the mountain. I go full speedbar on my tippy toes and fly out over the secondary. I keep working lift still hoping to core a big one. But it's just too choppy. So I land after a 35 minute flight.

OK, so Matthew might have gotten caught unaware that the winds were going to ramp up but considering it was mid morning at the Pulpit, I have my doubts that he didn't know of this likelyhood. It also seems to me that winds of 10-15 and ramping up would call for a change in flying equipment anyway. At least he had the sense to land fairly quickly.

So, Matthew, being one of the people on this earth that really likes you and would like you to stick around for a few more years, quit being so lazy and set up your HG next time! And stick to what you and Hugh and John and all the rest have always promised. Fly the plumbing when it's strong or likely to get that way!!!

Paul

[Matthew]

You are correct Paul Tjaden. I won't be doing that again. The forecast was for light West winds and I knew that there was a possibilty of it ramping up. There's always a possibility of it ramping up anywhere you fly. Joe Gregor got in trouble in a Falcon at Woodstcok when it ramped up at the end of the day instead of backing off as predicted.

But I have flown at the Pulpit in my PG on several occasions where it has ramped up at launch when I was flying and winds did NOT ramp up along the ridge. The Pulpit does that because launch is in a venturi and thermals come blasting through as the day heats up. The air may have been ratty. However, I didn't even have a tip flutter while flying. And the speedbar is a tool for flying just like the base tube in a hang glider. You use it to go forward. I used my speedbar to go forward and stay away from the ridge when things picked up and then landed because I didn't want to be in the air if the winds got any stronger. I've been pinned a few times in my hang glider and had to stuff the bar to go forward. zis that any different?

However, it's just too much work and not worth the risk to try that again at the Pulpit. It's better to wait till around noon or later and launch if it's already windy at 10am. That way you can see how much of the wind is related to thermal activity and how much is related to the actual wind speed.

Matthew

[Kelvin Pierce]

I can't say that I can remember a nicer weekend of flying at High Rock. I arrived at the Rock on Sat. about noon with Susan and the girls for the High Rock fly-in and there was nobody there I guess most people misunderstood and somehow thought it was the Pulpit fly-in instead. Conditions at launch were W cross mostly but with a fair amount of straight in cycles. It looked doable to me so I set up in hopes that other pilots would show. As I was setting up Danny, Dave, George, Rick and Eddie showed up. I decided to give it a go at about 1:45 but as I was on the ramp waiting for a launch cycle it started crossing more consistently than before and was somewhat gusty so I took Danny's advice and backed down to give it some more time. About 4:00 the cross cycles subsided and Hagerstown began consistently reporting NW winds. I gave it another 30 minutes just to make sure and launched at 4:30. My launch was less than desirable and was the subject of a scolding from my daughter Marieka in the LZ after I landed. The air though was wonderful! Glass smooth with abundant lift. Within a few minutes I was at least 1000' over enjoying an absolutely beautiful day. The conditions seemed to just get better and better the longer I flew. About 45 minutes into the flight I found a nice thermal to 2000' over. About an hour into the flight I decided to fly out into the valley for some fun. When I got out well beyond the railroad tracks at about 1300' over I flew into a strong thermal which showed up to 600 up at times on my vario. I took that to the back of the ridge and to 3000' over. It was about 5:45 when I topped out in that one. I then flew out into the valley for about 5 miles and then came back to launch and arrived over launch with still about 1200' over. I flew back out into the valley and found it difficult to get down as there was literally lift everywhere. I would have to say it was one of the most pleasant flights I have ever had at High Rock. One of those rare days indeed. I landed about 20 minutes before sunset with 1:40.
On Sunday Susan convinced me to come back for more. This time the place was packed with gliders when we arrived about 1:00. Gliders were in the air and soaring so I wasted no time in setting up. I launched at 1:45 and again had another great flight though you had to work hard at times to stay up. Even though there were ample thermals there was also massive areas of prolonged sink. I maxed out a few times at 2500' over and flew till I was parched (forgot my camleback) and tired. Landed with 1:35 and big grin from the best weekend of High Rock flying I can remember.
The party in the LZ Sat evening was great fun and we all enjoyed catching up with so many friends. Many sincere thanks to Rich and Leigh for making this a great time for all.

[Danny Brotto]

Mathew

I’m not sure what your point is. My observation that it was westerly was based on the pilot in the air (Kelvin) and the birds on the ridge both pointed to the west and the leaves of the trees below upturned by the west wind. For more evidence of the recorded direction in the valley check the historical data for Hagerstown between 5 and 6:

http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstat ... &year=2007

A straight in streamer at launch does not necessarily depict what the air mass in front of the mountain is doing. Was it too crossed for a competent pilot to launch? No; no one said it was. I think the conditions may even have been reasonable for a strong H2. I don’t believe my observation that it was cross dissuaded any of the quite competent pilots in attendance from flying. Some had been there since early afternoon. I’m sure they had their reasons. I would never chide a pilot for his/her decision to not fly for whatever reason is claimed.

My own reason was attributable to my (second) arrival at 5:00 pm. Realistically, it takes me an hour to go from car top to “Clear”. This includes a safe, unhurried, and thorough rig and preflight of my equipment including the harness. With official sunset at 6:33 pm, that would have left only about a half hour of flying. I would then be breaking down in the dark.

The risk/reward ratio was not there for me. Pretty pathetic, huh?

Danny Brotto

BTW, on Friday I was able to fly the sailplane to 17,000 plus feet in the wave. I launched at about 8:30 am to avoid the predicted blustery conditions towing to 5.5K MSL right into the wave near Blue Ridge Summit. It took 3 additional wave bars to connect with the one that took me to 17K+ MSL. O2 was copiously flowing and try as I could, that additional 999 ft were not to be had. The trace is viewable here:

http://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-2.0/gl ... 1595507028

[davidtheamazing1]

Hey all,
Called Shawn who came out on Saturday just to observe/help out and throw me off the rock for the 1st time. Met him at the LZ around 10:30, and went up to the top. Wind was straight in Set up. As the pilots were arriving, I was the second one to launch and while I got ready Shawn found me the best wire crew a guy could ever have: Tom McGowan, Cragin, and Brian VH.

After a textbook cliff launch, had a great time soaring back and forth on the ridge, easy to stay up and probably caught a little bit of a thermal up to about 1000 over.

It turned off about 2 hrs later and flushed most everyone down at the same time. I had a little trouble with my landing as the thermals were popping me up, and ended up high on the approach. After flying past 3/4 of the field, I saw the mostly calm windsock and I was still high so turned around an landed the other way. More speed on the downwind would have probably helped. As I was touching down another glider was heading in on his final. It was trafficy... I think about 4 people landed in the course of a minute.

Image how efficient National airport would be if they tried landing four planes in that timespan.

My shoulders and arms are sore today.
-David

[Matthew]

Mathew

I’m not sure what your point is.

*****

Just the obvious that you guys blew it.

Even more obvious when Kelvin says it's the sweetest air he has ever flown in and one of his best flights ever.



Matthew

[Bunkhouse]

I want to pesonally thank you guys for your contributions to this years High Rock Fly In. We were able to meet all expenses and donate $ 340.00 to Emma Jane Carbaugh in support of her and her family for allowing us to land on their property ( 30+ years!! )

To Kraig and Connie; the raffle was a big success and netted a lions' share of the money for the gift contribution to Emma. Thank you so much for your generous contributions. Everyone got recognized the night of the raffle and will so again in the forthcoming article posted for the two websites.

Richard Hays
Pres. Maryland Hanggliding Association

[hepcat1989]

David, You need to thank John Dullahan, Bacil, Tim Hurrlinger and Tom Magowan. That's who was on your wing after I cleared the nose. Gotta work on those approaches! Launching is optional . Landing is mandatory!
Good Launch, Good Flight! 2hrs. of airtime!
Good job with that David!
I also helped Rich Bloomfield off launch.
Good job Rich. Good landing.

It was a good day!
Shawn.

[hang_pilot]

probably caught a little bit of a thermal up to about 1000 over....It turned off about 2 hrs later

A W E S O M E !!! Not many H2's have 2 hour-flights, so you should feel really good about that accomplishment! Hopefully that will keep you pumped up to fly more.

and flushed most everyone down at the same time

As you process the advice you got from your kickass obsever, Shawn, make sure you're also thinking about what you just wrote there. A crowded approach is stressful and probably made it harder for you to realize and fix your altitude issue. Think about how you might avoid the big flush in the future and also what you'll do the next time it does happen. (I think that might have been one of the essay questions John made me write for my H2.)

Hope to fly with you in a few months when my schedule lightens up.

Cheers,
Daniel

My thanks also to everyone who was involved in making the HR Fly-in a success.