Calvert Cliffs

stevek · Post by **stevek** » Fri Sep 16, 2011 9:57 am

Sunday is looking good for Calvert Cliffs (aka Gary's Beach). Get there early! 202 812 8305

garys · Post by **garys** » Fri Sep 16, 2011 11:57 am

Staying overnight Sat night to get an early start Sun morning. Plenty of cabins open so just bring a sleeping bag . Conditions look great. Come on down but get there by 10:00 am to soar. Bring bugspray as the chiggers are nasty. Gary 540-686-0351 Matoaka beach cabins.

Post by **markc** » Fri Sep 16, 2011 9:58 pm

I'll be there if forecasts remain as encouraging as they were earlier today!

(how's that for a kinda/sorta/maybe?

)

Post by **dbodner** » Fri Sep 16, 2011 10:23 pm

Thinking...

stevek · Post by **stevek** » Sat Sep 17, 2011 8:32 pm

Latest Iwindsurf forecast shows it blowing strong all day. Looking good!!

Post by **dbodner** » Sat Sep 17, 2011 10:36 pm

I'm all packed.

Post by **jyoder111** » Sat Sep 17, 2011 11:46 pm

I've heard of this site a couple times, but I can't find mention of it in the site guide. Can someone give a description? rating level? etc.

Jesse

Post by **hang_pilot** » Sun Sep 18, 2011 7:30 am

Hi, Jesse-

If you do a search on this forum on Calvert Cliffs, I believe you'll find all the information you need. ~Daniel

Post by **dbodner** » Sun Sep 18, 2011 6:57 pm

Jesse, if I'd seen your post before this morning, I would've called you. OTOH, this site isn't rated yet, and I would yield to Gary as to who ought to fly. The LZ is way different from anything else around here.

Seven of us flew and most soared. Steve K. got us started, then Pete S., Tom M., Gary, and Mark launched quickly afterward. I launched after Steve got back.

I flew for around 40 minutes in the ridge lift with minor thermal activity. Lighter winds caused me to land on the beach. I was concerned about landing, but it turned out to be a non-event. Pete actually went xc and landed in a corn field nearby. We had a late lunch/early dinner in Stoney's on the Patuxent River afterward. Nice crabcakes.

Oh, I mentioned seven pilots. Glenn came out after the rest of us landed and sledded to the beach. I'm not really sure what happened, but he ended up landing downwind. No apparent injury to pilot or glider.

Post by **markc** » Sun Sep 18, 2011 10:50 pm

Flying in a coastal environment is pretty rare in these parts.... I've got to say that I was completely stoked, even though all we were doing was cruising a few miles of the Western Shore of the bay, a few hundred over the trees. Fantastic views (perhaps combined with an adrenaline concern about the landing) really made for an enjoyable flight, in an environment hugely different from the mountains. Old-hat to many coastal pilots, I'm sure, but I was completely thrilled!

Arrived at "Gary's Beach" around 9:40am, later than I'd hoped, after encountering rain during the drive ("Oh no, what was I thinking?"), and finding Tom, Pete, Gary, and Steve at launch with wet gliders. I set up on the trail leading to the cliff : the site is pretty tight, and moving gliders into launch position was a bit of a ballet.

Steve was off first, then Pete, Tom, and Gary. Lots of good advice for picking a good launch cycle from Gary, who has flown there eight times now, with this being his third soaring flight. In spite of that advice I had a sucky launch, with a high right wing and a turn to the left after launch. Hard to know why it went downhill without video.... But I think I might have been transitioning to the basetube without an aggressive input to the right, plus I was flying with my old knee-hanger, and I _think_ I simply *swung* over to the left in response, legs dangling in the air, ya know? My thinking was to fly the 'hanger given the possibility of landing in the water, but that might not have been such a great idea given that it's only seen occasional training hill use in the last decade or so. Sigh.

After a poor start, I managed to wrestle the wing right (south), cruised down the cliff a bit, turned back north.... and I was up and golden, woo-hoo!!!! What a blast, flying with everyone else in a fairly small space, trying not block anyone off, watching all the birds, feeling the wing! No vario (thanks for that bit of advice Gary) given the possibility of a splash down, so we were all wingin' it today

There were bald eagles and osprey all over the place! And there were thermals blowing through at some points during the flight, especially when the sun broke through for a bit. Up to the north, a couple of cliff faces, there was a significantly wider section of beach which looked much friendlier for landing. But from the air it seemed like the hike out would be hassle, so I often tested the air to the south, trying to gauge whether I would be able to make it to the Long Beach jetty. I finally called it quits after about 1.5 hours in the air. And I gotta say.... Soaring in that damn knee-hanger was literally a pain in more places than I want to think about right now! It was really hard to rotate *down*, and to slow the wing at that same time. I think I was last in the air at High Rock in the mid-90s with that thing, in a Pulse, but this (in a U2) was much more challenging. Live and learn.

Gary landed on the beach near his parent's place, and so did Dave. Pete headed in-land to a field that he liked. Steve, myself, and Tom landed at Long Beach. It was totally cool, skimming along the sand, trying to crab into the wind, getting popped up, skimming *further* down the beach.... I finally got the wing down right along the water's edge, with the base tube in the water and a wet knee, but no other issues. Steve was there, packing up, and he helped me get the wing out of the way before Tom's landing. Thanks Steve!

We all went back up top and helped Glen launch, but I think that conditions had backed off _just_ a tad bit too much, so he was down on the beach after a couple of passes. Nice launch though, way to go Glen!

Late lunch/early-dinner at Stoney's to cap off a wonderful day, what could be better, damn near nuthin!

MarkC