Sat24Oct : Possibly a Highland Day?

[markc]

I realize it's a bit early to plan for Saturday... But at the moment it seems like we might see some very light winds on Sat, at least for the hangies... And that might make Highland a good choice! Given that it's already past mid-october, I'm thinking it might be a good idea to plan for some aerotow fun this weekend, while they are still open for the season! Thoughts?

MarkC

[Ward Odenwald]

I agree, light ESE winds and sunshine (as of now). Hoping it holds.

Ward

[Lostgriz]

Thinking about it....

[Rich E]

Myself, Dan and Erika are planning on being there

[bowen.tim]

I have a hall pass from my wife, so I can be there too.

[jimsmess]

What is everyone seeing for weather tomorrow, I have concerns about cloud cover moving in. Is anyone else seeing that. I would love to get a nice soaring flight in before it gets to cold, and hang out with the Highland gang.
Jim Messina

[markc]

Yeah, I see increasing clouds too, but leaning toward 'go' anyway, given the time of year. Guess we'll just have to see how things look tomorrow....

[Matthew]

Karen, Hugh and I might be able to get there late-- around 5-- after sailing.

Anyone wanna lend us their gliders for end of day flights?

Matthew

[Ward Odenwald]

ETA 11am.

[Rich E]

Mathew, my Fizz will be there plus Erika's MkIV so we should be able to sort something out for you all. Enjoy the sailing.

Rich

[Matthew]

Thanks.

If towing a Mark IV is anything like towing a Pulse, which I imagine it is, then you will want to get a length of paracord and tie it to the nose plate at one end -- and the junction of the downtubes at the other end, along the length of the undersurface zipper. Then put a loop with a knot in the line partway along the length to work as a tow point. Otherwise, the tow forces are awful. Ask Adam or Sunny about this.

Matthew

[markc]

Still leaning towards "go", at least there's some sun out there, totally gray and depressing in Rockville at the moment.

[Ward Odenwald]

Surprisingly good! Early morning forecasts were mixed so it was one of those “you won’t know if you don’t go” kind of days. Many pilots flew – way to many for my fading memory to name (maybe 15 plus). Jim Messina had the flight of the day with a pre-noon launch/practice that turned into a 1.5 hr plus flight including an amazing low save starting at ~3 to 4 hundred feet over Highland taking him up to cloud base. By the time the rest of us were ready to go, an approaching front/weather system from the north brought with it significant cloud cover that slowly spread over Highland.

Mitch waved me off the tow in a thermal that MarkC and JohnS were already climbing in. As you can see from the first two images, winds aloft were pushing the thermals to the NNE towards the approaching cloud bank. My best climb was under the cloudbank to 3.6K msl. The first image shows Mark and I climbing in a thermal that he found soon after releasing from Mitch’s tow, the second is near the top of my highest climb looking back at Highland and the last three are from my low altitude return to the flight park.

Ward