Woodstock Flying and "no-land" Field.

[John Dullahan]

Arrived around noon and set up. Around 1:30 pm Walt Melo and Randy Weber arrived, followed by Steve Kinsley, and later John ? (from California who posted the neat video). Much later after I had launched, several PG pilots arrived to take advantage of a nice evening glass off.

I waited around to observe and get Walt in the air. A moderate west cross meant he had to wait for a decent cycle and then had a nice strong launch. I also had to wait for a straight-in cycle before getting off and climbing out to around 1,500 ft over launch. I meandered north, occasionally climbing out to about 2,500 ft over then losing it down to around 1,000 over.

Went almost to the reservoir and about halfway back got low and picked a large field about 500 yards from the base of the ridge. There are two oblong buildings with white roofs perpendicular to the ridge, and with the smaller one closer to the ridge. Just to the south of the white buildings is a distinct square, about 150 X 150 yards, consisting of trees, a tennis court, and smaller buildings with white roofs. All of this is in the middle of the U formed by the river. A private dirt road leads directly NW from the building and after about a mile ends at Riverview Avenue, or route 747. The address on the mailbox is 2962 Riverview Avenue (Google Earth image attached).


As I was breaking down the owner arrived in a pickup. He was visibly irate by the alleged repeated HG and PG landings on his property, saying these landings frightened his cattle (They seemed unconcerned when I landed some distance from them). In a submissive and apologetic tone I promised never to land there again and to use our club’s list server to advise other pilots to do likewise. He appeared placated by my obsequious tone and undertaking to “spread the word,” and actually exchanged a few pleasantries before departing.

My driver, Rich Donahue, was using the coordinates I had sent to pick me up. However, the GPS in my car didn’t have the private drive it its data base. So it sent Rich all the way to the end of Riverview Avenue (route 747) which placed him in the U to the north, so we were separated by the river. Though we talked by phone, neither of us knew where the other was. I eventually walked a mile to the end of the private drive, read the address on the mailbox, and gave it to Rich by phone. Problem solved.

After pickup, drove back to the main LZ to pick up Walt, Steve, and John of the neat video and give them a ride to launch. By then several PG pilots were launching to enjoy the nice glass off.

With Rich, Joined Steve and Joe Shad in the Hotel Strasburg (Highly recommended: The Philly cheesesteak sandwich washed down with an appropriate beverage).

In all, a very rewarding day in the Shenandoah Valley while sharing the air with fellow HG and PG pilots.

[XCanytime]

John,
You landed on what I have always called "Southfork" since the house reminded me of the house in the soap opera "Dallas" when I landed there in 1998. The landowners at that time were an elderly couple that were very nice. Later that same year the late Ed Reno and the late Judy McCarty both landed there during an engagement party and were feted nicely with champagne. I believe that John Brantley landed there in the last couple of years and described the same chilly reception from the same folks in pickup trucks. Well it ain't "Southfork" any more sadly .

Bacil

[mingram]

Thanks for the great write-up John. I notified the Paragliders and asked Peter to add this as a restricted LZ on his site guide.

[jmcclave]

Here is a quick report from Tuesday evening to add to John Dullahan's HG report. When we showed up on launch it was very strong with cycles coming through over 14mph on launch. We saw that the hang gliders were having difficulty penetrating. Two also appeared to land voluntarily (note to self - it would have been great if we were on the same radio frequency or we had known what frequency they were on). We settled in to wait a bit for things to calm down.

I launched first at 6:25 and flew until 7:30ish getting to 3,400 and I could have gone higher. There was strong lift all over. I flew out several times over the landing area to loose altitude and then came back to the ridge where I traveled between Signal Knob and the Edinburgh Gap. I needed speed bar early and I stayed out in front of the ridge most of the flight. Michael and Josh launched later when things had calmed down a bit. Michael had a nice flight and I saw him doing wing overs by Signal Knob. He also appeared to travel along the back ridge (over to Michael for his report). Josh got stuck on launch for a while waiting for wind but he did get a flight in.

As I was packing up I had a nice long conversation with Elsie the landing field landowner. She had been out on vacation in Bermuda and her daughter had mowed the field late leaving a carpet of dead grass. Elise had just finished raking and removing the grass (a several day job) because she could not find someone to do it at $20 per hour. I gave her my contact information so we can help when something like this comes up in the future. I also let her know that Peter would be her new neighbor.

It was definitely worth making the drive yesterday.
Jim

[markc]

A blast from the past: I landed at that same field 10+ years ago with Paul:

http://chgpa.org/hangola_jm2c/02_1/020619.htm#markc

Definitely got a vibe from the landowner at the time.... Maybe the same person, maybe different.

If I remember correctly, this property is just north of the "fat finger" along the ridge. So if you get stuck down low in that area, it might be your only landing option

I remember one detail: There was fenced portion of the property, closest to the ridge, which did NOT have any livestock or crops. So that was my choice.... And the landownxer initially seemed appreciative of that. So if you have no choice, can't land anywhere else, pick that portion of the property.

MarkC

[XCanytime]

Just checked w/ Jon about his experience. Turns out the angry people are NOT the landowners. They lease the land; the elderly folks are still the owners. Jon spoke w/ a pair of elderly ladies, one of which said she was the landowner. They were nice and Jon told them of his less than stellar encounter with the leasers. The landowner lady made a joke about one of them missing taking their meds for the day, and that it was OK to land on her property. Bacil