High Point (Cumberland) Flying - Tues 2/7/12

[theflyingdude]

We finally had a pretty sweet day yesterday w/ temps in the mid to upper 40's and a forecast of WNW 5 - 10 mph. Larryboy and Lesa Ball joined Will Jenkins and myself on a day that looked like it might be strong until we got to the top and found that it was barely puffing in. The launch and set-up were snow-covered and the valley looked soggy, but at least it was blowing in the right direction (as opposed to last Friday when the same forecast turned out to be blowing down). I launched first and found conditions weak, but marginally soarable as did Will and then finally Larryboy. There was little to no ridge-lift, but weak thermals (1.0 - 2.0) were abundant and while I wouldn't call it automatic, it was fairly easy to stay up. For the first couple hours we yo-you'd between launch level and 3500' where there seemed to be an inversion. Then about 4 PM and just after I radioed that conditions seemed to be shutting down, we found the best thermal of the day (4.0 - 5.0) and climbed to 5300' sharing a portion of it with an unkindness or congress of ravens (synonymous with "gaggle"). We then migrated southward down the valley without losing much altitude and ultimately everyone landed at Barton's LZ after 2.5+ hour flights. Pretty damn good day for early February!

JR

[sailin]

Nice!! Sounds like great flights. I ended up doing some laps up and down the hill over at Smithsburg on my Pulse. Beautiful day to be outside!

Jon

[Dan T]

Great flight JR. I think the Cumberland sites are some of the best and most interesting ones in the Region. Unfortunately it's a long drive for me and I haven't done it since Doug Wakefield moved to Canada. I might be able to scare up a PG pilot carpool some day. Is it getting any PG activity?

Dan T

[theflyingdude]

Ben (our current Prez) and LE Herrick are our resident PG pilots. It can be a long-ish glide from the High Point launch to the Fairgrounds LZ for a PG depending upon conditions. The Dogpit (below launch) is still off-limits and considered a DNL field (unfortunately).

JR

[florent]

Hi Jim, it seems that 2012 is starting well.
I agree Dan, CD is a very good place, even for PGs. Great band of local pilots, very good memories.
Florent