Woodstock, Sunday 2/19

[Ward Odenwald]

Three days out so it’s still a guessing game, however, forecasts are now trending toward favorable soaring conditions at WS (last night’s predictions vs. this morning’s). Pulpit forecasts are decent but are now showing near blown-out conditions for Sunday afternoon. Both NOAA (GFS) and European (ECMWF) models are predicting ideal wind directions on Sunday for WS and the Pulpit.

Ward

[wmelo]

I am very interested to go to either WS or Pulpit.

[markc]

Agree that Sunday looks like the most interesting day, at least as of Thurs night...But still in wait-and-see mode regarding the site. Hopefully we will enjoy early spring conditions somewhere!

[rlweber]

Looking better and better at WS for Sunday!!!!!
Randy

[markc]

Not a 'classic' WS forecast for the hangies... But I would *love* to give my new-2-me Falcon a try, if there's any chance at all of a soarable day! Pulpit looking good too, guess we'll just have to wait for the Sat 'casts!

[wmelo]

Planning to be @ WS by noon
Gary will be there 2

[markc]

Bit of a gamble, but I think I will give WStock a go today. Now, which wing to bring, hmmmm....

[garys]

If you bring just the Falcon it will blow 30 plus. If you bring just the T2 it will blow 5. Guess you will just have to bring both.

[krista]

On launch. Nice and light. Will watch for a while before launching, but would appreciate a ride back up if I sink out from any forthcoming pilots.

[krista]

Came early with the hopes of getting up before the wind. Don't let my light comment deter folks. It's blowing in the valley and about 3-8mph on launch. I think the wind is a bit cross at the moment from the west, which was also demonstrated in the LZ. Now cycles at 10mph or more.

[krista]

Perfect HG conditions. Had a short flight but wasn't penetrating without speed and wussed out.

[markc]

Good turnout at Woodstock today! PGers included Krista, Rich E, Justin, Randy, Peter, and a pilot or two that I don't know yet. HGers included Walt, Tom McG, Gary S, Jonithan, John Middleton, and Anthony. Bacil and Charley arrived after heading down from the Pulpit (conditions too strong). Randy ultimately decided to fly his HG. Couldn't believe that we were setting up in short-sleeve temps in mid-Feb, unreal!

Krista flew early (10:30??), and that was a good decision based on what we saw closer to noon on launch. Gave Krista a ride up, with Walt and Rich E not far behind... Conditions were 'interesting' : Gusty, then nothing much, then gusty again. The pine tree on the right would rock-n-roll at times. Then it would get way quiet.

After one of those, I carried the Falcon in : So Gary, you were right! Bring in both wings to appease the wind gods.

After seeing that the gusts were holding, I setup the topless. Walt launched first, then Gary, then Tom. I was 10-15min behind Tom, launching at maybe 2pm or so. Flew for about 1:50, but never really connected : maxed out at 1200 over, but with a lot of the flight at 500' over or less. Very cross out of the West: Knew that and tried to fly it, but just could not find a core for the life of me. Tom and Charley, on the other hand, maxed out at 3k and 2k over, respectively. They headed further north than I did and found some better stuff... Or at least, that's my story, and I'm sticking to it!

After a lot uncommanded turns and crazy lift that I couldn't grab, I headed south of launch, and found some (relatively) better air near the chicken coops. But actually, the best thermal of the day was above the bridge field after I'd committed to a landing.

Approach was a bit turbulent (still fairly early), but burned-in on my approach so as not to get tossed around. Knew that there was going to be a wicked gradient... Got lined up with one-up and one-down... Pulled in... But *STILL* got burned by the gradient and bellied-in. Damn it!!! Hate that, esp. when you know it's coming.

Lots of bald eagles and redtails and buzzards. Very few clouds, mostly blue day. Krista flew a second time and made it out to the field that's serving as the HG primary. AFAIK, all HGers and Krista soared, and all launches and landings were solid. Only downside on the day is that the Woodstock Brewhouse had a private event going on, grrr! So we invaded Las Trancas (mexican), across from Sheetz at the south end of town. Lots of flying tales and downing of beers commenced!

[XCanytime]

maxed out at 1200 over, but with a lot of the flight at 500' over or less. Very cross out of the West: Knew that and tried to fly it, but just could not find a core for the life of me.

Ditto on my flight Mark. After driving from the Pulpit with Charley, I arrived just as you launched at 2:40P. I set up quickly and launched at 3:30P. Spent most of the flight turning, turning, turning, for 1.25 hours trying to get to at least 4K' MSL to attempt to land out at our buddy Paul Kos' Fort Valley landing strip by Passage Creek. The best I could do was 3100' MSL. Finally gave up and burned it back to launch where Anthony was S-turning in lift. Had a few hundred over so I staged "upwind" of the main field (west cross expected) before committing to fly out to land. It is a long glide and demands intense concentration for the initial portion of the glide out. Finally looked good but then I hit a stiff headwind and the groundspeed went to nil. I pulled in lots and the ground started moving again so I committed to a long straight final. The fence was moving so I was gonna clear that. Then I got hit by a thermal and shot up at least 100' and got turned towards the bridge field. Had to do a few S-turns to burn that off before getting back on a fast final. Got popped up 10' right as I was going to flare so I pulled back in and pulled off a decent landing. Charley and Anthony landed after me and had great approaches and landings. Good food, drink, and post flight debriefs at Las Trancas . Bacil

[eggzkitz]

Any reactions to the new launch for those launching for the first time since the renovation?

Did all HG land in the new HG primary without incident? Curious how much the HGers are missing the old primary?

Thanks,
Jeff

[XCanytime]

Of the 10 hang glider pilots that flew, 7 landed in the main LZ, 2 landed in the "pond" field, and the remaining pilot landed out up by Strasburg. Do we miss the old main? Yes we do, mainly because there was no pucker factor in making it to the old main. The glide out to the new main can be visually intense if you don't have a lot of altitude (reread my post). That's why I posted in the past that 1K' over is a desirable altitude to have for double surface gliders in order to make the first part of the glide out less visually intense. For a Falcon > 1K' over is desirable for the same effect. It would be valuable to hear from the other pilots on what they experienced visually on their glide out if they had < 1K' over. Bacil