Keep Tuesday in mind....

[markc]

Looks like there might be frontal passage early this week, with good NW flow
behind it on Tuesday afternoon. I'm hoping for a possible Woodstock day, might
still be a bit of color out there.

Anyway, if it looks good and I can get away from work, I will!

MarkC

[mikecosner]

fyi kitty hawk kites is having flyin at woodstock on mon and tues. I hear they are expecting 15-20 pilots. tues looking promising.

[hang_pilot]

Still looking promising.

I'm planning on heading out to Woodstock tomorrow.

~Daniel

[carweill]

OK

I'm checking tomorrow.

Carlos

[silverwings]

I'm interested also. Will see how it looks in the morning. (202)409-2574 c

[DanTuck]

lookin good....
cough, cough....

[markc]

Trying to stay 'cautiously optimistic', rather than jinx it... But I think
that the glider is going on the truck tonight!

MarkC

[Joe Schad]

Hope you have a good Woodstock day. I will be working at the polls Tuesday. Don't for get to vote.

Joe

[XCanytime]

I guarantee it's going to be GREAT! I'll be there after a half day at the salt mine. Bacil

[Pete Schumann]

Steve K & I paln to leave Fairfax at 10:00.


Joe, I just voted too.

Pete

[markc]

Looks like they've backed the forecasts down a bit, and the front is still
quite a bit to our west. I'm thinking it might be better later rather than
earlier, and will aim for a noon ETA at the LZ. If anyone wants to carpool
or run a shuttle, give me a ring: 301 807 5414 .

MarkC

[silverwings]

Count me in. Probably arrive LZ about 12:00. (202) 409-2574 c

[DanTuck]

Me too, me too. Aiming to be in the LZ at noon.
But I have to stop checking the weather and get to work so I can leave!

[markc]

A cast of thousands at Woodstock today!

ok, maybe dozens... 15 pilots from Kitty Hawk Kites for their annual mountain clinic,
plus 12 locals. Let's see: Pete S, Steve K, John M, Dan Tw, Daniel B, Tony D, Carlos W,
myself, John McA, Adam, Bacil D, Gary S. Let me know if I've forgotten anyone.

It's been a LONG time since I've seen that many pilots at the 'Stocker. You had to be
creative finding a place to set up!

Conditions were strong-ish, but with completely launchable lulls. I flew for about 2:45,
landing last as the sun touched the horizon. For reasons unfathomable, I spent much of
my flight to the north, where conditions were clearly not as good as further south. Guess
I was just playing, rather than thinking.... Turned back a bit shy of the resevoir after
running into some stuff that slowed my forward progress to a crawl, and topped out at
2300' over a few times. But that was NOTHING compared to a certain other pilot. Hope
we'll hear more about his flight.

On the south-bound leg, I watched a bald eagle that was absolutely glued to a pilot's
6:00-high (not even sure if the guy knew it was there!). And later, I watched from below
as another pilot had a close encounter with a pair of balds. They flew formation with
him at times, and then would dive and spin with each other. Totally cool to see!

Got back to launch late in the day and headed to Edinburgh Gap. Much more pleasant,
with magic (though occasionally strong) conditions making it easy to stay 800' to 1300'
over the ridge, depending on where you were.

I'm attaching a few photos of my flight below, hope you enjoy them!

MarkC

[XCanytime]

Awesome day at Woodstock. Got there at 12:15P to find lots of Kitty Hawk pilots setting up and a few in the air soaring. Found a nice spot and quickly set up. Got into the air at 1:30P and found strong lift out in front of the slot. Headed SW against a stiff west cross. The cross must have been at least 20 knots at 3K' MSL. It took a while, but I made it down to Waonaze Peak and hung out for over an hour, getting to 4K' MSL and flying out halfway across the Edinburg Gap a few times. Saw 3 bald eagles, 2 full grown and 1 immature, during the time down at the Gap. After an hour the air got kind of nasty, so I headed back to launch in search of Dan Tuckwiller, who I had wanted to escort down to the Gap. Found Dan over launch at about 500' over. I was tired so I went in to land around 3:30P. The whole valley was lifting off, so it took a while to get down. Had a nice landing in the main LZ. Lotsa happy Kitty Hawk pilots in the main field. Steve Kinsley had a nice approach and landing while I was breaking down. At one time in the air I counted 13 gliders in the air and 9 on the ground in the main LZ. Haven't seen that in at least 14 years at Woodstock. After everybody safely landed Dan, Carlos, Daniel, Mark, and I grabbed some chow at Fox's Pizza in Strasburg. Dan got to 5150' over during his flight! After 3:30P the valley to the SW went nuclear. Sure beat working today.

Bacil

[DanTuck]

Fantastic day at Woodstock. HG pilots of many flavors and hairstyles crowded the set up area and we latecomers actually had to wait for people to launch to get a spot to set up. I found a small piece of real estate before long and got going. I was hoping to get flying quickly and join Bacil for a ridge run to the gap. After helping a few people launch, I joined the masses in the air at 2:30. It had actually lightened up a bit by then and for the first hour I couldn't get more than 1,000 over launch. I couldn't find any good thermals and several times I sank back to launch level and had to work the west facing fingers to get back up. Finally I hooked into something 200' over launch and started to get high. I got around 1,500 over in that thermal and decided to finally head SW. About 2 bends down that way I found this monster thermal, smooth, organized, 800fpm on the averager. I rode that sucker all the way to 4,800 over before it petered out. I cruised a little further South and found more lift. That one topped out at 5,150' over launch (7K MSL) and at that point I was really wishing I had put on my balaclava and had some bar mits. Up there I could see over the Shenandoah mountains into the flatlands toward the coast. Giggling, I went South toward the gap and turned back a couple bends early. From there, it was pretty steady back on down to around 1,500' over in magic air, watching the bald eagles until the light began to fade. I left the ridge and gained 300' on the way to the LZ. When I got over it with 2,000', I decided it was too crowded and with the West cross, I headed over to the bridge field. First time I've landed there but I could see Tony and a couple others over there and I wanted to be one of the cool kids. Had a great no-step landing for just over 2 hours in the air and then hitched a ride back up with Gary. Thanks Gary! Pizza and beer in Strasburg capped the day perfectly. So I crushed my personal altitude record yesterday, hopefully it won't be another year and a half before I beat it again. Here's the video and a screen grab from 7K!

[hang_pilot]

Look how big Mark's head gets during a 3 hour flight!



Bacil, Dan and Mark pretty much said it all. My details: 2:15 flight time, 2500 max above launch. Flights of the day go to Dan for the 5000' gain and to one of the KHK kiddies who flew from 11:30 am until 4 pm.

Blue skies,
Daniel

[markc]

Look how big Mark's head gets during a 3 hour flight!

Well... All that airtime has to go someplace, ya know?

Great video Dan Tw! You were speck'ed!

[XCanytime]

Waonaze Peak on the left, Kennedy Peak in the center, 40 degree left bank.

Looking down Little Fort Valley.

LZ scene with 15 gliders!