NW weekend

[XCanytime]

Looks NW all weekend, and blowing nicely at the Pulpit and HR both days. Temps above 40. Anybody interested? Bacil

[Matthew]

Ugggghhhhhh!!!!!!!!

We will be in Dreaded Florida all weekend visiting family.

Bacil, can you re-schedule the NW winds for the following weekend?



Matthew

[darbbb]

I'd be interested in the pulpit Saturday or Sunday

[Ward Odenwald]

To early to call - waiting for the Baciltron parallel CPUs to grind the numbers and point us in the right direction. Right now, both the Pulpit and WS are in play for either day.

Ward

[markc]

Most definitely interested! Hoping for 40+ temps and lots of sun at least one of the days, easier to get motivated. Some time constraints on Sunday, but could be worked around in a pinch. Hope the current 'casts stay on track!

[krryerson]

Did promise to go skiing on Saturday with my son; but, I am interested in flying on Sunday. Woodstock or Pulpit? What ever works best... .
Knut

[XCanytime]

I am targeting the Pulpit on Sunday. There seems to be a lot of pilots interested and at least 5 or 6 have committed to Sunday flying. From my perch at this point the pattern looks great for the Pulpit. HGR temp on Sunday is forecast to be 46 degrees. Not too bad. Bacil

[George]

Now that WS has fallen into the 3 day forecast it's looking mighty fine for Saturday. That's almost a disappointment since it will surely change somewhat in one way or another but I'm still putting my hope there. I'll have the truck with front rack. Ping me if anyone wants to coordinate a drop off in the main LZ otherwise I'll park at Elsie's or up top. 667 207 1015

George

[wmelo]

I am looking forward to flying this Sunday, although, I am not sure yet where. I will follow the flock of HG pilots/observers.


SUNDAY @ Woodstock
SUNNY. HIGHS IN THE UPPER 40S. NORTHWEST WINDS 10 TO
15 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 25 MPH.


Sunday @ Pulpit
PARTLY SUNNY. HIGHS IN THE LOWER 40S. NORTHWEST WINDS
10 TO 15 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 25 MPH.


Walt

[markc]

The picture has definitely gotten murkier.... The NWS text 'casts for Pulpit and High Rock have both been jacked-up quite a bit. The hourly 'cast for High Rock agrees, but not so at the Pulpit (yet; that product might simply be lagging behind a bit).

And yet, the current forecasts for Woodstock are pretty light (thus far).

Hoping it's not going to be one of those "way-strong to the north, too-light to the south" situations...

MarkC

[Danny Brotto]

Probably going to fly the sailplane on Saturday but would like to fly the HG on Sunday. HR preferred with McConnelsburg or Smithsburg on the list too.

BTW, flew the sailplane last Sunday and got a couple of hours in wave although it was a very strange day. The wind aloft (4KMSL to 6.2KMSL) was around 35K from ~60 degrees. There really are no significant topographic features upwind to set off classic wave so I found it odd. The wave broke down and shifted 3 or 4 times quickly during my flight but I was able to reconnect a mile or 2 upwind or downwind. The wave was pretty localized. Finally coming down through pretty choppy rotor, the lower level winds were more like 15K from the about 15 degrees. That was a pretty big difference in direction. In retrospect I'm thinking that the wave was induced by the shear between the air mass.

Danny Brotto

[silverwings]

My guess is that the Pulpit is going to be moderately windy 15-20+ mph at launch for both days. Woodstock could be light but some conflicting forecasts. Sunday may be the better day but both days indicate fairly strong winds at 3K. I will most likely be going with a student on Sunday.

[Ward Odenwald]

The weekend waiting game - Should we wait/hope for it to ramp-up at WS or wait/hope for it to throttle back at the Pulpit tomorrow? For Sunday, predicted wind speed above the Pulpit translates to negative ground speed for most of us and Sunday’s cast for WS looks only slightly better at the other end of the speed window (direction looks great for both days at both sites). I’m committed for tomorrow and possibly Sunday but haven’t decided at what end of the speed spectrum I should wait/hope for a shift. Will decide after tomorrow’s 6 AM casts.

Ward

[jyoder111]

woodstock tomorrow looks pretty good for slow wings. Which day are you taking your student, john?

[markc]

I'm thinking I might gamble on Woodstock tomorrow : Not a classic WS 'cast (for hangies).... And could be a bust.... But there's always Sunday if it doesn't work out!

[Ward Odenwald]

Wind speed differences between WS and the Pulpit haven’t changed since yesterday’s forecasts and it may be even weaker at WS and stronger at the Pulpit. Sunday’s predictions are showing a stronger airflow at WS and blown out conditions for the Pulpit (30mph at launch). I’m going to WS tomorrow and will stay home today.

Ward

[George]

The forecast looks better than ever for Woodstock today. Lee and I are leaving here around 7:45 Check with us on 146.50 from the bridge. I also have a favor to ask. If you have GSM cell service with a carrier other than ATT can you please go up the tower and give me a signal strength report. Attempt to open a web page. Try and send me a picture as email attachment. This is for a club project.

thatboatguy at g mail

Thanks

George

[jyoder111]

I've come down with a head cold so I'm bailing. Dang. FYI I'm back in the area and just got a brand new glider so hope to see you all out there sometime soon.

Jesse

[markc]

(noticed that change to you profile Jesse, welcome back, yay!!)

I'll give WS a try today. If it works, it works.... Probable ETA: 11:30 or so. If anyone wants to coordinate on leaving a vehicle, please give me a call: 301-807-5414

[mcgowantk]

Hopefully today turned out ok for everyone. I am looking at Woodstock for tomorrow (Sunday).

Tom McGowan

[markc]

Worked out OK for me (HG) in spite of the very light conditions in the slot.... More later, but whoa, trying to figure out a way to fly tomorrow too, given the current forecasts, potentially a really good one!!

MarkC

[markc]

So the bad : The "partly sunny" of the Sat AM forecasts did not come to pass. Like, at all! A bit of sun burning through the cirrus at a few points, but not much at all, until 4:15pm (after the day's flying was done).

Cast of characters : Ben, Tom C, Krista, Syrus, Ben, Austin, George, and Randy W (PG). Myself (HG). Plus, Tony Delisio swung by, just to help out, no plans for flying himself. And that actually made the difference between fly/no-fly for me, so I owe him for that!

I showed up at noon, and I think both George and Syrus were in the air. Some early reports of strongish conditions for PG at 3.5k, and winds in the slot were initially pretty good.

After setting up, and watching a major flush cycle for the PGers, I backed off launch. Tom and Austin launched, but they weren't exactly beaming out.... With a weight differential of probably 70 pounds, I decided to wait it out. Conditions in the slot were very light, and getting lighter, as Ben and Cyrus launched. I was pretty bummed out, ready to break down up top... But then Tony offered to come on down in my vehicle if I sledded out! That was enough to change my attitude, and I decided to give it a go. Helpfully, we started getting some more NW cycles (*way* West cross much of the day), and the velocity picked up by a few mph. I launched, turned left, and immediately got up. A bit weird, I wasn't expecting that : I like to see at least 8mph in the slot.... As it turned out I was probably being too conservative. The W cross was making things very light on launch, but once in the air and into the wind, it was pretty much a no-brainer.

Well.... Kind of! When it went hard W cross, it was tough. Some of the PG pilots who gave it a go at the wrong time didn't get up. And I was in the wrong place at the wrong time during one of those very cycles (trying the N finger, no luck). Didn't recover, was getting low, so I decided to call it a day and landed in the bridge field.

Flew for maybe 45 minutes, and had one close encounter with a fully-mature bald eagle. Wow! Can't complain about that!!!

Major thanks to Tony for bringing my vehicle down, and providing the motivation for giving it a try.

MarkC

[krryerson]

I do see that Tom Mc. is looking at Woodstock for tomorrow and it looks like Woodstock will be a good option for Sunday, Dec 14; so I am targeting Woodstock. It seems like the bridge field is open too... .
Estimated arrivals at WS ~11:00AM.
c 703-967-8277
Knut

[markc]

A G30 has crept into the NWS text forecast, hrrmmmmm....

Probably will go regardless, but with expectations a bit lower than yesterday.

ETA: 10am. Call if you want to leave a vehicle by the bridge field: 301-807-5414

MarkC

[g.sessa]

I am interested in flying Woodstock today, and hope to fly early in order to make a later commitment. ETA 10:30 am