Pulpit, Friday and/or Saturday

[Ward Odenwald]

Both tomorrow and Saturday are looking very good for soaring flights. Please cast your vote for your day of choice. I'm willing to fly either day.

[chuckok]

I'm voting for Friday.

[chuckok]

Ward ... what's your cell phone number? Will call to confirm.

[Ward Odenwald]

The most recent forecasts are all indicating that Saturday will be the better of the two (Fri vs Sat) with Sunday being blown-out. Sunday's winds aloft forecasts are suggesting that Falcons will have penetration issues.

[sailin]

I'm up for both Friday (tomorrow) and Saturday. As of now I don't think there are any observers for Friday???? .......so that leaves Saturday for me I can fly somewhere Sunday too but it is looking pretty blown out everywhere....except maybe Smithsburg??

thanks,
Jon

[chuckok]

Looks like Ward's going for Saturday, but I'm tied up. I'm still up for Friday if someone else wants to go. The Woodstock call is light, but could also be an option.

[Ward Odenwald]

Forecast for the Pulpit is still looking very good for ideal ridge soaring conditions (both surface and winds aloft). My plan is to arrive around 10:30 to 11.

Ward

[Ward Odenwald]

Flying on Saturday, sorry for the confusion.

[Matthew]

Planning on going to the rock and trying to fly from noon-thirty to 2:30... and then doing Observer duty rest of afternoon.

Matthew

[Matthew]

Don't forget-- getting your Assisted Windy Cliff Launch signs off includes learning to ASSIST in windy cliff launches. You learn as much or more about AWCL lauches by wire crewing as by launching.

Matthew

[DanTuck]

I believe I shall try the Puplit tomorrow. See you there, Ward.

[sailin]

Headed to the Pulpit. Planning on arriving between 930-1000. Hope everyone has great soaring flights where ever you end up!

Jon

[XCanytime]

Great day at the Pulpit today. Jon Brantley and Amy were the first to arrive at 9:30A. He reported straight in winds of 8 to 10 MPH on the pad. On the way up I took a pic of a humongous wave cloud stretched out 15 miles, located between Catoctin and South Mountain. I told Jon to set up and I'd launch him as soon as I got there after 10A. The plan was followed, and Jon launched around 10:30A into straight in 10 MPH from the pad. He had an excellent launch, and was rewarded with a nice soaring flight of a half hour+, 600' over, and landed only due to cold feet. Ward and Dan arrived in succession, and they and Amy helped me launch at 11:30A from the pad into 10 MPH straight in winds. Got up a few hundred right in front of launch. Stair-stepped my way up to 3800' MSL and looked lovingly OTB. However, on the way up, saw they were making snow at Whitetail. So I bailed on OTB and headed south in hopes of catching a thermal ride downwind to near Whitetail. It was cold ! The clouds were sparser down south, and there seemed to be a north cross on the ridge. I found some weak lift that got me to 3200' MSL, so I drifted OTB into the Rt. 456 valley. Hit lots of sink and ended up landing uphill at 12:30P next to Rt. 456, about 5 miles south of the Rt. 16 junction. Jon and Amy came and retrieved me after helping Ward and Dan launch from the new ramp. Thanks a bunch Jon and Amy. Daniel Broxterman showed up from High Rock, and we helped him take off into 8 to 12 MPH winds on the old ramp around 2:45P. He got up pretty easily in the pronounced north cross on the ridge. I went and picked up Ward on Lemar Road, who had a nice maiden flight OTB on his new Moyes Lightspeed. Jon and Amy retrieved Dan from the main LZ. We convened at the bar for some cold beer and warm food. The chili was delicious. Pics later. Bacil

[XCanytime]

Huge wave cloud on the drive up.

Near cloudbase, view of McConnellsburg.

Looking south down by The Corner.

My uphill LZ next to Rt. 456.

Looking east at Cove Mt.

[jyoder111]

Glad to hear you guys had a good day! I was bummed I couldn't get out to join you. I took the GRE today and did alright, so that's a plus anyway.

[sailin]

Wonderful day at the Pulpit yesterday and my first true cold weather flight ! Seeing that huge wave cloud going the length of the ridge while driving out was pretty cool. It was MONSTROUS!!!
After arriving and talking with Bacil on the phone I set up and got ready to go. Shortly after he arrived I was on the launch pad ready to go. Wind was coming straight in at 7 or 8mph with puffs to 10mph. I had a good launch and headed straight out finding a nice thermal right out in front of launch. I soared the ridge between launch down to the primary LZ and and back again several times. Best I got above launch was 600' over. There was a lot of thermal activity out in front of the ridge and the air everywhere was buoyant! It was awesome having the air all to myself!!!
I had set a time goal in my head before my first "winter" flight of 30 minutes. The thinking was I didn't want to get to a point where I was so cold I HAD to land and then finding myself not in the best shape to pull off a safe landing. After hitting the 30 minute mark and then some the only thing that was cold was my toes (they weren't horribly cold but they were getting colder and colder).......it actually kind of surprised me.....I was sure something else would get cold first and I guess I didn't pay enough attention to wrapping those dogs up.......two pairs of socks and some foot warmers next time My hands were WARM and SNUG thanks to the bar mitts I got from Steve Wendt. I literally pulled them out of my PO BOX the night before. Thank you Steve...those bar mitts ROCK! As I was heading out to the primary LZ I could see Ward setting up a wind indicator down there....thanks Ward, perfect timing for me! As I came around on to final I realized my hands were still taostily inside the bar mitts...DAMN ....I should have taken them out before I started my approach. As I took my hand out and tried to position it in my normal landing position, I popped the nose a little bit which cost me some valuable airspeed. Once I got my hands situated I was able to get a little bit of the speed back but not enough. As a result I came in a little to slow and the glider was sluggish. I ended up landing on my feet and control the glider but it definitely wasn't my prettiest of landings. Amy then graciously came down and picked my up so we could both go help Ward and Dan get off the mountain. Thank you Amy for being such a huge help with launching, driving, photographing and those yummy brownies you made Both Ward and Dan had super nice launches into a then prominent north cross. Congrats to Ward on his maiden voyage on his new wing......that thing is SEXY!!!!! After some car shuttling and picking people up we all met for a cold beer in the warm bar Thank you Ward!
All in all a cold but GREAT day! It makes me exited to fly the rest of this winter!!!! A big thanks to Bacil for observing me again and dropping lots of useful nuggets of information.......I am learning a lot from our on site weather discussions, seeing the stuff happening right before us.....Thank you!

Look forward to flying with you all again.......next weekend???

Jon

[sailin]

Jesse congrats on doing good on the GRE!!

[hang_pilot]

I joined the Pulpit festivities late in the game but managed to sneak in a nice hour-long flight, landing just long enough before the sun set to avoid breaking down in the dark. Thanks to Bacil, Jon and Amy for staying late to launch me and shuttle my car to the LZ.

Early into the flight, I saw a man taking pictures from the ramps and so I did a few passes, media slut that I am. Turns out he’s a McC'burg based photographer; he left a note on my car and hopefully I’ll get to see what he shot in a few days.

There were a few fleeting thermals but it was mostly ridge lift, highest I saw was exactly 400 over. I hadn’t flown the mountains since August due to some health issues, so it was a really rewarding flight, but aren’t they all, really?

Jesse – what type of grad program are you applying to?

Ward – the new blade wing is hot!

Blue skies,
Daniel

[DanTuck]

Thank you to Amy and Jon for all the help on Saturday. When I pulled up to launch my car read 29 degrees F and small patches of snow dotted the set-up area. At least there was some sunshine and Amy tossed me a hand warmer to keep the blood flowing while I stuffed battens. Thanks! Ward, with his super hot new bird, and I both decided to launch from the newer wooden ramp for maximum clearance in the lightish but pronounced north cross. After picking up a bunch of times (thank you Jon, Amy, and Daniel for your patience) I finally got level and launched clean beaming right up in smooth lift. Ward and I cruised around on the ridge spending a lot of time between 3-600' over. My highest gain was to 900' over but my problem was my fingers. Even with liner gloves and heavy winter gloves over them, my fingertips were numb. I really need to buy some bar mitts. I headed out to land and at ridge height found another really nice thermal that I couldn't resist and climbed back up to 600' over. When I remembered that I need my fingertips in life, I bailed for lower altitude and warmer air. I cruised out to the main LZ and had a really nice precise approach and landing to the North on the crest. I ended up flying for just under an hour. As I closed the zipper on my glider bag Amy and Jon showed up with my car, perfect timing, I can't say thank you enough. After a brief recap at the bar, I headed to Larry B's and picked up my new (to me) Woody Valley Tenax. Watch out!

PS- Jesse, glad to hear the airtime sacrifice was worth it.

[jyoder111]

what type of grad program are you applying to?

I'm applying to a Master's program in Occupational Therapy. In Winchester, VA, no less. Might make the trip out to Woodstock a bit easier =P

[hang_pilot]

I'm applying to a Master's program in Occupational Therapy. In Winchester, VA, no less. Might make the trip out to Woodstock a bit easier =P

Excellent pre-party planning! Glad you were happy with the GRE results and I think the program will be lucky to have you.

~Daniel