Blue Sky Saturday Reports

[CraginS]

Blue Sky Saturday Reports
I got lazy last week, so today I will report on sequential Saturdays at Blue Sky in Manquin.
Saturday June 11th I joined a very small crowd at Blue Sky. I think only 3 or 4 gliders were set up. Forecast was light wind from the north. Actual was a but stronger, but still with good direction right down the runway. I opted for truck tows, rigging my Ultrasport accordingly. I had to swap out a sidewire on the glider before flying (bent tang from my less than proper landing at Woodstock a few weeks ago), so I did not hit the truck until a bit after 3. Only got to 900' on the first tow, but did catch a brief puff of lift over the golf course, to qualify for a legitimate extendo. That encouraged me, so I hopped right back on. Two more tries had increasingly good pin off heights, of 945 and then 965, but even less thermal bumps on each in succession, With my landings going well, but the prospect of more sleds, I took time off to socialize and rest.
Headed back to the truck shortly after 6. This time I hit 1150 and 1325 on the tows. Really nice altitude, but still pretty much nada in the way of lift. I declared 5 flights with improving tows and decent landings a good day.
Bill Priday was flying AT, with a couple of nice flights, and Nick and Sandy were there with Nick flying and Sandy taking photos.
About 3:30, Matthew and Karen had driven up, on their way home from the Outer Banks. both flew their hang gliders a few times, and then Matt tried a couple of truck tows with his paraglider.
The three of us departed after 9:00, and stopped for dinner at Vinnie's in Manquin. home late, but a nice day.

Then yesterday, June 18, I was back at Blue Sky, expecting a switchy day with winds forecast to move form N to E. bit larger crowd on hand, which was good. Chuck from NC was flying his new Lightspeed S. Bill Priday and Nick back again. Ray Mitchell getting in some truck tows. Davis Straub took one AT launch in his ATOS and spent the afternoon way high (6K+, i heard) Mike on his Falcon had super flight, with a low save at 500' that he used to read 4K. Jim Kingsley may have had flight of the day for a flexwing, gone a long time (I missed his stats).
I opted for aerotow this time, having had a satisfactory truck day the previous week. Also, it looked like low lift would be even less likely. Winds had switched more easterly, so Tex was pulling us off along the short runway in front of all the spectators. As I lifted from the cart on my first flight, I was immediately fighting a lot of yaw and squirrelly handling. Right away, I thought,"Crud! I forgot the fin!"
Well, OK.. the first word might not have been "crud." Anyway, I got the glider under control, and spent the rest of the tow all over the sky behind Tex, and ready to pin off quickly if things got out of hand. The tow was uneventful, but stayed a challenge the whole time. I was thankful the air was benign. Once aloft, I was unsuccessful in doing more than maintaining for 5 minutes in the thermal Tex dropped me in. Only got to about 200' higher than pin off height, then lost the thermal and could not find it again. Daniel reported a similar experience on his flight, the next launch after mine. Back on the ground, I apologized to Tex for my wanderings in the sky behind him. He said I had done fine, relative to many other pulls he has made. Maybe so, but IU had concluded I would not make that error again.
After a break and a chance to install the fin, I hopped back onto the cart. This time the the entire tow my glider was on rails. Not a bit of sway or oscillation, it looked like the tow line was a rigid rod instead of a string. Tex spotted Bill and Daniel playing under a cloud two fields away, so he pulled me over to join them. Nice idea, but I seemed unable to find their lift. At ~1600 AGL I turned back to the LZ, not wanting to squeak it in. Within couple of minutes after I touched down, Bill and Daniel both landed, too. Seems their lift was dissipating just as Tex added me to the gaggle. Oh, well.
Of course, only a few minutes later, Joe Schad switched from truck to aero tow, and hit lift in that same area, working it for well over an hour. Timing is everything. Well, not everything - Joe is a dang fine thermal pilot, too.
The flying was fun, and the company enjoyable at Blue Sky. And I have now (accidently) conducted the experiment I had been contemplating for over a year - AT a US sans fin. Yes, it is possible. No, I am not interested in doing it again.

Cragin

[Scott]

Nice report Cragin! Still being limited to truck towing, I've tried to see the positive side: I firmly believe if you can get up high off the truck, then you are qualified to call yourself a very good thermaling pilot! (I've only done it a few times out of many truck tows, so would not yet call myself "very good." Joe is "very good!")

Simply put, you're scratching the minute you release from the truck...so you definitely get good at working *anything* that comes along!

Scott

[CraginS]

Scott,
Thanks. As it happens, my highest flight ever at Blue Sky was from a truck launch. The only time I have gotten to a mile AGL there!
I was truck towing for a couple of years before I started AT. I enjoy both, but truck is a bit more fun.
For a good truck tow thermallling pilot, keep an eye on Joe Schad. Note also he is as likely to sky out on his Falcon as on his higher performance glider. Lots to learn from him.

craign

[quote="Scott"]Nice report Cragin! Still being limited to truck towing, I've tried to see the positive side: I firmly believe if you can get up high off the truck, then you are qualified to call yourself a very good thermaling pilot! (I've only done it a few times out of many truck tows, so would not yet call myself "very good." Joe is "very good!")

Simply put, you're scratching the minute you release from the truck...so you definitely get good at working *anything* that comes along! :)

Scott[/quote]