Daniel's Sat or Sun

[Matthew]

Looks S to SW Saturday and Sunday-- much warmer on Sunday-- close to 60 degrees. Low 40s on Saturday. Any thoughts on which day will be better wind wise???

My intuition is that Sunday will be better because the warmer air is an indication of a more southerly flow.

Matthew

[djscheele]

It's been a while since I've driven to Daniel's. Can you give me an address that I can use for GPS? Thanks.
Denis

[djscheele]

Never mind, I think I found it! 100-198 Old Mountain Rd, Stanardsville, VA 22973

[George]

That's pretty close. The road to launch peels off to the left just before that but it's pretty obvious that it's the more traveled way. It looks blown out (high gusts) for PG on Sunday. Tomorrow that forecast will be within the 72 hour forecast which is finer grained so I'm still hopeful. I'm fighting off the last of a cold so I don't know if I'm going to make it this weekend.

George

[kcarra]

Friday morning text forecast calls for gust winds on Saturday. From NOAA for Stanardsville, VA--

SATURDAY
PARTLY SUNNY. HIGHS IN THE UPPER 40S. SOUTH WINDS 10 TO
15 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 25 MPH.

SATURDAY NIGHT
MOSTLY CLOUDY IN THE EVENING...THEN BECOMING
PARTLY CLOUDY. LOWS IN THE UPPER 30S. SOUTHWEST WINDS 10 TO 15 MPH
WITH GUSTS UP TO 25 MPH.

Not sure about Sunday yet.

Matthew

[jmcrocker]

Looking at the XCSky's forecast Saturday looks to be the better of the two days and there is a good chance it will be blown out. Wind speed forecast at 2000 ft between 12mph to 20+ late in the afternoon. The forecast shows the wind easing off from 11am to 2 pm and then building back up by 5 pm with 12 mph forecast at 2pm. Wind directions vary from sw to s to ssw as the day progresses. Sunday's forecast wind at 2000 ft is from 17 to 25 mph.

Not much lift forecast for tomorrow, about 300ft/min average at 2 pm so if you can ridge soar Daniels tomorrow may work ok. I'd love to fly if more experienced pilots thinks it would be worth the trip but I need a PG observer to fly with.

Jim

[Matthew]

NOAA Forecast kinda sucks for both days--

SATURDAY
MOSTLY CLOUDY IN THE MORNING...THEN BECOMING PARTLY
SUNNY. HIGHS IN THE MID 40S. SOUTH WINDS 10 TO 15 MPH WITH GUSTS UP
TO 30 MPH.

SATURDAY NIGHT
PARTLY CLOUDY IN THE EVENING...THEN CLEARING. LOWS
IN THE MID 30S. SOUTHWEST WINDS 10 TO 15 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO
25 MPH.

SUNDAY
MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGHS IN THE UPPER 50S. SOUTHWEST WINDS 5 TO
10 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 25 MPH.

I'm hoping things blow through on Saturday and have fingers crossed for Sunday.


Matthew

[George]

I will go Sunday. I'm thinking that Saturday may be South cross. The gusts on the fine forecast are way down from previous forecasts for Sunday. I think it will also be warmer and more sunshine. I don't have the data for usable lift for thermaling and getting away but I don't really plan on that anyway so for me... Sunday.

George

http://www.windfinder.com/weatherforecast/daniels

[George]

I'll take the truck so I can haul big gliders up. coordinate in the morning if there's interest. 667 207 ten fifteen.

George

[George]

I've been advised that winds aloft >3k ft will be very strong. Not an XC day but I hadn't planed on it anyway.

George

[George]

Argh! Latest forecast update shows stronger gusts. I'm on fence again.

[XCanytime]

Walt Melo and I will be there. Can't pass up 60 degrees on Daniels Mountain the last day of November . Bacil

[dbodner]

I've been advised that winds aloft >3k ft will be very strong. Not an XC day but I hadn't planed on it anyway.

George

Yeah, upper winds could be high. Also, they're looking more west than the surface winds, which could "bless" us with some nasty turbulence.
Any other opinions?

[Matthew]

Intellicast Forecast looks Good
ADDS looks Bad
Text Looks Bad
Meteogram looks Good.

Will make up mind in the morning.

Matthew

[George]

I think it's going to be OK and you guys will have great ridge soaring flights. For me the final factor is the drive back North on 95 in holiday traffic. Taking a pass on this one. Still eyeballing Woodstock tomorrow afternoon though.

George

[dbodner]

I've been hit by a bug (not the VW kind), so I'm out.

[Matthew]

Going sailing.

Matthew

[XCanytime]

at launch right now and it is 5 to 10 STFI. Where are the pilots??? Bacil

[Matthew]

Blew a solid 15+ on the bay today. Great sail!!!

Did winds ever pick up at Daniel's?

Matthew

[rlweber]

Today Justin, Walt, Bacil (along with some friends) and I ended up at Daniels. Justin (pg), Walt (hg) and I (pg) all had nice flights. Justin and I launched into straight in 8 to 10 mph. My flight was 1:45 long with an altitude above launch of approx. 750 ft. I was not interested in getting higher due to the winds aloft forecast (that is my story and I am sticking to it). Around 4pm the ridge lift died and we landed. As I landed I noted that the winds had shifted to a westerly direction and picked up. The higher westerly winds had arrived. The friendly donkey greeted us as we landed and packed our gliders. A delightful November day and a great way to end the Thanksgiving holiday.

I am thankful,
Randy

[wmelo]

Finally, I had a decent flight at Daniels.

Sofia, Guinevere, and I arrived at Daniels by noon. The day was sunny, and warm with a very pleasant breeze. Since I am an optimist (by defining, an optimist is someone who has no clue about the situation s/he is in), I decided to put a few wind socks in both fields. A friendly and curious donkey (Matt’s buddy, I believe) stopped by to say hello.

A few minutes later, Bacil and John (Baci’s friend) arrived. We drove our cars to the top of the mountain (Keila will kill me if she reads this post!). When I was assembling my glider, two para-gliders arrived (Randy and Justin). They quickly set up their PGs, and both took off very quickly. They did not have much difficulty moving up. I think they got 500-700 feet above the launch.

Excited about the PG achievements, I moved my glider to the launch area. The winds became very weak. A few thermals balanced the trees, but enough to encourage me to take off. I spent +- 15 min on the launch area waiting for better conditions. Finally, a good cycle arrived, and with the green signal of my observer (Bacil), I had a solid launch: the guest for thermals started!

I decided to turn right after taking off and got a small thermal that allowed to move back and stay on the same level of the launch area. It seems most of the thermals were just in front of the launch area! I moved back and forward a few times, and then decided to move south. This is when I got a few good thermals, but I was not able to keep up. I flew for 30 min. I got a little bit above the launch area, but not very high: around 400 feet above.

Instead of keeping on the south, I decided to move back again and sung. Tried to push myself up again, but I started competing with the PGs on the top of a house: Decided that it was time to land.
I arrived with a good altitude in the main LZ. After doing a single 8 figure, landed without problems on the top of hill. The main LZ was however turbulent. After I landed, the winds became stronger with a lot of thermal activity.

Buddy (???) – a PG 2 – arrived with a beautiful camera and equipped with a telescopic zoom. The light was perfect. He took a few pictures of the PGs landing. I did not see the pictures, but I am sure they are great.

Bacil drove Sofia and Guinevere down, and John drove Bacil’s car. Please note that Bacil did not fly – at the end he showed up only to observe me! Unfortunately, I could not bring him to a well-deserved dinner since I had to drive Sofia and Guinevere to Richmond, and Bacil had to return home.

After dropping Sofia and Guinevere in Richmod and drove back to Ashburn: I faced a HUGE traffic! Naively, I forgot that today is the last day of thanksgiving!
Well, at the end it was a great weekend. I wish to thank again Bacil for observing, John for helping on the wire, my daughter Sofia for going with me (this was her 1st time!) and helping me pack, and Guinevere – Sofia’s kitty – for entertaining us during the long drive.

I am looking forward to returning to Daniels again.

Cheers
Walt