Jacks Saturday Oct 28th

[XCanytime]

Looking pretty good. Bacil

[markc]

What's the LZ situation at Jack's these days?

[XCanytime]

Sounds like it's fine since Dennis Pagen landed in the main LZ 3 days ago and the 3 other pilots flying that day landed at the Mifflin County Airport. Bacil

[krryerson]

Planning to go to Jack's on Saturday, if forecast still looks good.
Will make a final decision on Friday afternoon/evening.
Knut

[markc]

Thanks for the update Bacil! Is the LZ the same one as years back, across from that farmhouse, with a road along the right side? Seem to remember that there were issues with access at one point, but I've lost track of how things turned out.....

[XCanytime]

Yep same LZ. Issues were related to the crops in the LZ, which starts in April with alfalfa in some of the field and may encompass the whole field if the farmer plants crops throughout. Bacil

[Matthew]

Hmmmm. I might be tempted up there with my paraglider.

Matthew

[XCanytime]

Latest State College hourly has the precip moving in by 2P. Switching to 501 now. Latest Harrisburg hourly has no precip up to 8P. Bacil

[krryerson]

Will be going to 501 with Bacil, Saturday.
Knut

[krryerson]

Flew today, for the first time at 501. Great flight and perfect conditions at 4:30 p.m. Video to come later.
Very intimidated first, being that fare away from LZ, on launch. But, local pilots told how good lift I would find. Even fare, fare out.
And they all was right. Beautiful fall colors too, safe launch and LZ. And almost 70 F. What more can you ask for, on one of the last days in Oct.
Thanks for all help at launch and retrieve. Special thanks to Bacil and Charley.
Dining at Wolfe's right now.
Knut

[XCanytime]

Got to the top of the mountain just before 11A to find already there Knut and my old college buddy Charles, who I haven't seen in 10 years. Talked both of these guys into coming out today, Knut for his first flight at 501, and Charles to see hang gliding for the first time and to drive for us. Charles flew UH-1 Huey helicopters for the USAF after his ROTC training at Virginia Tech, where he and I became good pals our senior year of 81' - 82'. We sauntered over to launch at 11A to find it already soarable, with moderate conditions on launch. By the time Knut and I finished setting up at 12:45P it had gotten very strong. So we waited around, and in an hour it started settling down. Charley showed up by this time, so I had a full wire crew. I launched just after 2P into moderate conditions and flew for around 35 minutes, getting 800' over max, and frustrated by the non-cohesive lift. Charles had mentioned that he wanted to get on the road by 3:30P, so I decided to cut the flight short so that he could see the LZ after I landed. Horses in the main field dictated an approach over and landing in the adjoining field. Tried to run out the landing after a late flare but the alfalfa got the best of me by tripping me up, resulting in a belly flop. Charles and Charley came down to retrieve me in the sunny, warm LZ. Bill U. showed up with an experienced pilot and a beginner to check out the LZ. By this time it was 3:45P. Back at the launch it was still breezy, but around 4:15P there was a very noticeable change in the conditions, for the better. Knut saddled up and had a nice launch around 4:30P into the butter smooth, glass off conditions, getting 1K+ over. He went out and landed in the adjoining field. Charley and I went down to debrief Knut on his first flight at 501. Although his flight wasn't all that long, he still had a blast. Looking forward to his video of the flight. Bacil http://www.doarama.com/view/1710759

[krryerson]

If interested, you can see a video from yesterday’s flight at 501.

Would have loved to fly more than 40 minutes, but had to land before it got too dark.

Doarama, combined with Bacil’s flight and mine at 2:45:03: http://doarama.com/view/1712681

Also, YouTube: https://youtu.be/UYCv0g07yNU

Watch line crossing the field. Bacil told me about it before I landed, so flew safely over it.

No thermals were hurt on this flight either!

Knut