Woodstock reprise Sun June 3?

[markc]

I'm seeing w 10-15, like yesterday... Worth another shot?

[garys]

I am in. Tomorrow looks good too. Then Calvert Cliffs on Tuesday. Four in a row anyone? Gary

[stevek]

I will be there.

[markc]

More details on the day later.... But hard to believe nobody is here to fly, the conditions are simply fantastic at launch right now, braindead soarable magic!!!!

[mingram]

Mark eats Woodstock for breakfast! I love that! The sky looked awesome today. I almost flew Warrenton PPG today but decided it was too windy and I was too hungover.

Matt

[markc]

And I simply can't stand it, what a fantastic night. Camping at launch and I'll decide if I give a flying F about work tomorrow when I see the day's forecast. In the meantime... beer and potato chips!

[mingram]

You're the man! I gotta learn to hang glide so I can join you!

[stevek]

I'll be there.

[Roger]

Considering tomorrow. How's the bridge field. IOW how tall is the crop. (not interested landing my glider in the pri lz with thigh high grass)
And is it ok to land in the bridge field?

[CraginS]

Roger,
The bridge filed is seedlings - no more than a few inches. Matter of politeness not to use it now, since a run out could trample some of them.
As for the primary, it is not thigh high.. it is knee high and not thick. It is a quite reasonable place to land for all but the brand-newest H2s.

[Roger]

Well, I'm on the fence four hours away. Looking at the forecast, my concern is it turning North earlier than predicted, and the lift predictions sw of launch on the NAM and behind launch on the GFS. The RAP looks really good (a bit north), but good.
Thoughts?
MarkC are you still at WS?

[Roger]

Oh, thank you very much for the lz update CraginS.

[laszlo]

And I simply can't stand it, what a fantastic night. Camping at launch and I'll decide if I give a flying F about work tomorrow when I see the day's forecast. In the meantime... beer and potato chips!

Mark,

Many thanks for the launch conditions report yesterday evening, and good luck for today! Happy to see that you planned this well (having a balanced meal with all the major food groups for dinner).

Laszlo

[garys]

Great flying the last couple days. Almost landed on a fawn in the primry LZ yesterday. I flared and as soon as my feet touched the ground it screamed and took off inches from me. Still on wobbly legs. Probably got a signal from mom to get the heck out of there before the big bird snatched it up. Back for more fun today (monday) at 1:00. Gary

[Roger]

I'm gonna pass. I hope you all have a great time.

[Roger]

Nevermind, I'm going. You promised right Bacil.

[garys]

The sky here in Winchester is 90 percent decked over at noon. Not so sure about flying today. I will wait till 3:00 to decide. Gary

[eggzkitz]

Hmmm.. Here too in DC. Let me know as I was planning on heading out shortly.

[eggzkitz]

Hmmm.. Here too in DC. Let me know as I was planning on heading out shortly.

[markc]

Sorry for the lack of input earlier... Phone battery died on me.
Unfortunately I let work guilt/responsibility get the best of me and decided to head for home shortly after sunrise. Should have set the glider up last night to protect against that

Sure hope that those who give it a try will have good flights, that would be three WS days in a row!

[eggzkitz]

Here on launch. Steve Kingsley and topless from NC in air now. Strong still, so I'm waiting hoping for it to back off.

[markc]

Sunday at Woodstock was a bit iffier than the previous day : the winds were much more W, and perhaps even WSW in the valley. I had stayed at the Budget Host Motel on Saturday night, and then met Gary around 10:30 at launch (after an amazingly-good breakfast at Woodstock Cafe & Shops, across from the courthouse building, highly recommended). Things didn't look good at all when we first arrived, but conditions slowly started to improve. We eventually decided to drop a vehicle in the LZ, then started setting up in earnest.

The cycles were blowing great, and I was starting to get motivated. When clouded over, things shut down, but with the sun it was great. Steve K showed up.... And with a large patch of sun on the way I decided to give it a try (after the usual "Would you like to go first? Oh no, I insist, after you! No, I couldn't do that, I really do owe you a hand on a wire.")

My launch felt good, and I turned left, and promptly got clobbered in sink. I turned back to the north and made a beeline for the finger, but was pretty low. I stumbled into some lift about 350' below launch, at that very prominent knob which is NE of the LZ. Worked it for all I was worth and finally got above launch. From there it was cake, however, the lift was very turbulent, and the clouds were quickly developing.

I saw a cell a bit south of Woodstock develop, and watched it for perhaps 30 minutes, trying to estimate what it would do (and hanging to to north, in case I had to make a run for it). Topped out at 2k above launch. Watched Randy, Gary, and Steve launch. The cell had started dumping rain, and they decided to land shortly after seeing that. Wish I'd set up my radio, because by that point I could see that the cell was crossing almost straight across the valley. I hung out a couple fingers north and watched it blow through the Edinburg Gap.

The sky was very dramatic, with rain dumping on Front Royal and Q's starting to tower over Skyline Drive. On the ridge, conditions to the south had completely cleared out, but there was one dark cloud heading toward launch. So I punched south, thinking that I would ride out any potential OD just like the previous storm. But...... I couldn't quite see what was happening behind that cloud, and the air was extremely stable as I got into the area that the previous cell had been through (damp), and I realized it would be a big PITA if I decked it in some field just a few miles away, and, and, and. So I made a beeline to the LZ, landing across the crest. Although we hustled to get everything packed up, no rain actually fell in the LZ, and just a few drops on the mtn at launch. Afterwards, it cleared up beautifully, and the winds started blowing again.

I hadn't packed bags into my harness, so I had to go back and finish packing up. By the time that I did, things were really turning on in the LZ, so I called Gary and Steve to see what they wanted to do. Steve offered to come down and pick me up if I wanted a second flight, which I did. But half-way up the mountain, with my glider on his vehicle, I realized that I didn't have : harness, helmet, basetube, or vario. This I took to be a sign : You are too fatigued to fly again, let this one go.

So I did. Even though it practically killed me to pass on the magic conditions that had set up. Oh well, next time!

No flying photos, but I do have a few cell phone photos from that evening and Monday morning. What a great weekend!

MarkC