Woodstock Sunday 11/10

[silverwings]

Forecast looking good at this point.

[Matthew]

We're in!

Matthew

[wmelo]

I am looking forward to going as well.
walt

[Matthew]

The gust forecast keeps changing.

Will check weather forecast updates on Sunday morning to make a "go, no go" call.

Matthew

[markc]

With a G30 forecast, Woodstock tomorrow will definitely be a gamble... But I'm leaning toward giving it a go because the 3k forecast shows a bit of a back-off late afternoon.

My luck with a G30 cast is about 50/50 : Half the times I haven't flown. Of the times that I did, I enjoyed half of those flight, and didn't enjoy the others. So you have to approach it with a pretty laid back attitude, maybe there will be flying,maybe there won't.

Anyone else thinking about it?

MarkC

[garys]

I'm in. ETA 1:00.

Gary Smith

[hang_pilot]

I'm watching conditions. Will make a game-time call in the morning after conspiring with Matthew and Karen -- my wing lives a few blocks from them and I enjoy carpooling when plans allow.

~Daniel

[FlyingFelix]

I left my wing on the car (since I went to Highland today) in case tomorrow looks OK for flying.
I'm guessing it won't be as strong as forecasted. On Friday we backed out since it was looking pretty much the same - then through the day as I was watching conditions it died down to around 10-12, gusting to 19 around the afternoon. Perhaps it's a repreat?
Will make the call in the morning.

[krryerson]

Hi,
Yes, I think it is a about 50/50 also; but, I'm in... .
ETA at noon.
Knut

[kcarra]

I guess we will follow the lemmings to Woodstock-- ETA 1-ish.

Bring your hiking boots-- it may turn out to be a hiking day.

Matthew

[silverwings]

It looks possible for late afternoon flight (double surface gliders) but with the high gust factor and high winds at altitude I am going to pass for today. Good luck to those that go.

[FlyingFelix]

Here's to being hopeful... ETA around 12:30

[markc]

I'll give it a try today, ETA about 1pm. Call if you want to coordinate a shuttle....

MarkC

[FlyingFelix]

Woodstock turned out great after all.
Launched around 2:50, fought a good fight and landed 2 hours later in the main LZ.
Some strong lift, at some point I gained over 1000' in about a minute or less, this without turning once!
5 gliders in the air after 4 PM, great views, awesome flight - tomorrow I'll be sore for sure.
Thank you to my wire crew, Matthew for clearing the cows off the main LZ (I was eyeing other options for a while there) and special thank you to MarkC for the ride back to the top!

Here's a shot of a close encounter with my former wing - that was fun Knut!



Forgot to mention that the highest I got up to today was to 5000' MSL, this happened about 20 minutes before sunset. I topped out another thermal earlier only around 4300" MSL. Weird and unexpected to get that high so late.

[krryerson]

Strong, challenging, but fun day at Woodstock.
I launched after Felix at ~3.15PM and managed to pull of a safe launch and quickly climbed. Ended flying for 1.45 hrs, on mostly full VG. Did top out around 2600 over LZ.
I was the first to land at the primary LZ and it was trashy and cowish; but, managed to pull of a good landing next to 20 cows. Thanks again Gary, Daniel, , Mark, Karen and Matthew for the help on launch. Thanks Karen for driving my car to the LZ and also thanks for chasing the cows away.
Knut

[markc]

Wow, quite the unpredictable day at Woodstock!

I arrived at about 1pm and left my vehicle down in the LZ (thanks Karen!!). Winds a bit gusty, with a notable W cross, but nothing super-rowdy. Put up a streamer.
We checked out alternate landing fields on the way to launch, and then I started a slow-paced setup once up-top: Winds were a bit on the strong side, and I knew that the peak was forecast between 1 and 3pm. So figured I'd do a half-setup and then see what developed. Around 2:20 I went up to the tower for a bit, and found winds to be surprisingly light (nothing over 15) and leaves blowing straight in. So that convinced me to head back down and resume setting up.

Felix was ready to go and had noticed that things seemed pretty benign, so that convinced him to suit up and move to launch. Of course, conditions started ramping up at that very moment (And how many times have we seen that? Seems like both PG and HG can count on the "pilot-on-launch" effect, sigh!). Felix had to wait through some strong stuff but eventually had a decent cycle and then he slipped the surly bonds.... We expected a major elevator-ride as he exited the slot, but that didn't happen. Go figure.

Knut was next up, and things really started cranking. I measured 26.5mph on my Kestrel during one of the gusts. He had a good launch but was majorly rock-and-rolled as he exited the slot. It's a really good idea on days like today to exit the slot with alacrity : getting away from the mountain is the first priority. In retrospect, Knut didn't seem to be punching out and away like Felix had (perhaps because of penetration issues?). This is just an impression, and I haven't seen any video, so take this with a grain of salt.

I'd already decided that I wouldn't be launching anytime soon, due to concerns about landing conditions : Sure, it *might* mellow out, but what if it doesn't? And wow, after Felix and Knut were in the air, conditions on launch were just crazy : Constant strong winds, not a hint of mellowing.

Matthew and Karen bagged it. Gary and Daniel and myself were still set up. We decided that if things didn't change by 4:00 (ok, I was urging 4:15) we would pack it in. I even started a half-teardown (heck, I hadn't set up my instruments or bothered with the harness) after coming back to launch from a respite in the parking lot. And then.... At precisely 4:01pm..... The winds started to mellow out! We started looking at each other... And I started stuffing battens back in, cursing the fact that I'd never really completed my setup.

Gary launched with M&K's help. Then we helped Daniel. And then I was last off with M&K giving me a hand. *Much* appreciated, thank you!

I got to maybe 1500' over during a short flight, and got to enjoy a great sunset. Conditions were strong above 700' over or so, but not crazy-strong. Flew out into the valley following a lift line, then bailed back to the ridge when I was down to 800' over or so. Landed last, lazily circling many times upwind of the LZ, trying to find a good landing cycle when things felt good. No issues, landed with the usual left-hand DBF, and **HUGE** thanks again to Matthew and Karen for clearing the cows out of the field. They had driven down from launch with that task specifically in mind. The cows were absolutely all over the field... Thank You!!!

After hauling Gary and Felix back up top I rendezvous'd with K&M and Daniel at Jalisco's for dinner. Flying, friends, and food, what more can you ask? *smile*

MarkC

[FlyingFelix]

I got bored today and made a video of last Sunday's flight...

http://youtu.be/u9E7-E2N704

[XCanytime]

Great video Felix! Thanks for being bored. Bacil