Several of us flew PGs at Daniel's yesterday. The lapse rate and top of lift forecasts were excellent. Unfortunately they did not take into account the high haze created by the Canadian forest fires so actual conditions were significantly suppressed. I had one of the better flights of the day at 35 minutes and nearly 1,000 above launch at one point. However it was a lot of work. My track log looks like spaghetti on a fork.
Between the volunteers that worked a couple weeks back and the paid help that our chapter president obtained the slot looks pretty good. The usable space is wider than I've ever seen it. On the down side the punji stakes are still in place (from brush and small trees that weren't cut all the way to the ground). There is also a lot of leaf and twig debris at the top edge of the set up area. This debris is a non-issue for HG but poses a significant risk of entangling the lines of the PGs. Nearly every PG that flew yesterday had some sort of stick in the lines. Fortunately none of them that I saw were interfering with the shape of the wing. A couple rakes, some big black trash bags and a vehicle to haul them out would make short work of the leaf debris. I understand that Patrick may have already made arrangements for the removal of it. Perhaps he can give us a status report?
The PG community is learning to XC out of some sites that haven't seen much XC in the past, including Daniel's. We will be glad to share what we've learned. Hopefully we will get to see some of the HG pilots give it a go in the near future.
Daniel's yesterday
Moderator: CHGPA BOD