Thursday and Friday

[Joe Schad]

Looks like a light day at Dickey's on Thursday and a good day for Woodstock Friday.

Any interest?

Joe

[garys]

Count me in for Fri afternoon at WS.


Gary

[markc]

I'm keeping an eye on Friday... Would be awesome if WS is soarable twice within a week....

MarkC

[jyoder111]

Also interested in Friday.

Jesse

[jyoder111]

Looking good at Woodstock tomorrow! Hopefully it doesn't go North earlier than forecasted. I'm thinking of a 10-11am ETA.

Jesse

[markc]

ahhhh.... shoot! I won't be able to clear enough things at work to be able to take time off tomorrow.
I hope the day turns out well for those who can get away!

MarkC

[DanTuck]

I'm in.

Jesse, do you want to meet in the LZ and drop a vehicle?

[Joe Schad]

Dickey's was classic Dickey's today. Winds very light and switchy. Waited almost an hour for a launch cycle but got off around 3;30 for a 25 min flight. A couple good thermals was all I could manage. landed in the lz. Grass must have been cut this summer. the west side was cut recently while the east side has some grass about a foot high.

I did meet my goal set some time ago which was to fly dickey's at the start of my seventh decade. Unfortunately Steve Kinsley was not able to do so as well. We do need some of you younger hang glider folks flying this site. It is just a walk up a hill to fly.

Hoping Woodstock works Friday.

Joe

[dbodner]

I think I'm in for Friday.

[mcgowantk]

Joe

Congratulations! You are an inspiration to the rest of us. I hope to get out to Woodstock before long - maybe midweek - and share the air with you.

Dickey Ridge is one of our best sites and one of the few SW-W sites. I recommend it to anyone that has the ratings and good foot launch skills.

Take care and all the best

Tom McGowan

[silverwings]

I am interested. Will check in the morning.

[Dave Proctor]

I might make it to woodstock tomorrow. I'll take a look at the weather in the morning. I'll give you a buzz then Dan.

DaveP

[jyoder111]

Yes, I'm up for dropping a vehicle on the way in.

Jesse

[Dave Proctor]

the 10-15 sounds good....the gusts 25 doesn't. Will probably be OK, but I think I am going to go truck shopping today (new HG vehicle) and try Highland tomorrow. Good luck,

DaveP

[silverwings]

ETA about 12:45 (202)4092574 c

[Joe Schad]

Strange day. Everyone got off ok. Dan was first off and landed shortly after i launched. I was last and tried to get to Strasburg. Lots of north wind so progress was slow. Jesse, Dave, and John were ahead of me but all came back to Woodstock. I sunk out short of Strasburg. Good flight.

Joe

[DanTuck]

Fun day at Woodstock today. The strength wasn't a problem and the gust factor was not that high but it was pretty cross and the air was kinda ratty at times. Dave B, Jesse, John M, Joe Schad and I all flew and soared as much as we wanted. Up above the ridge (1,000'+) the air was pretty nice, but also pretty cold. Never got higher than 3,700' msl although Jesse sure did in his new Sport 2. There was a visiting pilot from Utah named Jay who was flying a speed wing. He still had to wait until later but that tiny little thing actually soared for awhile. It was cool.

I had an amazing moment in my flight with a mature bald eagle. I was cruising along the ridge and saw the familiar white head and tail waaaay below me and I watched for a second. Then I saw it was a pair and they were flying together. They began to circle below and I knew all I had to do was wait and they'd climb through me soon enough. Before long they were getting close to me and one peeled off and dove away. The other didn't and I flew with him for almost a full minute. He didn't seem to mind my presence and eventually just sped up and flew away.... How lucky are we? Let alone we get to defy gravity for hours on end, but we get to do it with one of nature's most majestic creatures. It seems like one of us has an incredible experience with a baldy every year. This one was mine. The best part is that it's all on film.

Big thanks to Gary Devan for coming out and helping with wire crew. Good to see ya Gary!

[jyoder111]

Nice shot, Dan! Glad you got it on film. I was watching you two flying together and tried to catch up but was too slow.

I had a great flight with some personal bests: 2 hours and 4100 ft MSL. The conditions were somewhat unstable, with some nice air and some ratty air. I was able to get high and reach my goal I set early in the flight of getting to 4k MSL. Later, I punched out into the valley to route 11 (almost) and then back to the primary. It was fun flying around with John Middleton up high. Long way from my first days at the training hill...

As I came down over the LZ, DanTuck on the ground motioned that it was dead north in the LZ so I planned to come up the south tree line and curl in to do a NNW final up hill. I came in fast and just as I was clearing the tree line I got slammed into a left bank and had quite a serious oh sh*t moment getting back on course and down into the LZ. If you listen closely on the video, you can hear my right wingtip going through some branches and leaves.
What have a I learned? or relearned? stay inside the tree line! Honestly, though, the turbulence happened clear of the trees so it might not have helped all that much. It's sobering to realize how differently the day could have turned out. Live and learn.. emphasis on live

Fun day, nonetheless!! Thanks to David B for the carpool!

Jesse

[heaviek]

Speed Gliding Video?