Saturday Dec. 29th
Moderator: CHGPA BOD
Saturday Dec. 29th
Merry XMAS. Hopefully a belated present comes our way in the form of a flyable day at Smithsburg and at the mountain site of your choice. So far it looks pretty good. Bacil
Re: Saturday Dec. 29th
I might be able to make Sat work, so watching the forecasts closely! 
Re: Saturday Dec. 29th
Looks good. So far Gary Smith and I are in. Bacil
Re: Saturday Dec. 29th
Forecasts as of Thurs PM are strong at the Pulpit, light-ish at WStock. Currently leaning toward the latter, but we will see....
Re: Saturday Dec. 29th
I am bailing on Woodstock in the favor of next weekend, which looks to provide a higher probability that at least one snippet of time over the span of 2 days will be flyable/soarable. And New Year's Day too. Bacil
Last edited by XCanytime on Fri Dec 28, 2018 10:38 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Re: Saturday Dec. 29th
Count me in at WStock!
Not a classic WS 'cast at the moment, but given the for-sale status of the old primary.... Not inclined to care much if it turns into a sledder, eh?
Not a classic WS 'cast at the moment, but given the for-sale status of the old primary.... Not inclined to care much if it turns into a sledder, eh?
Re: Saturday Dec. 29th
Bacil, it was good, you shouldn't have bailed! 
A bit of a mixed-bag kind of day, with winds fairly strong on launch early. Gary was first off, maybe 2-ish? And he was looking for a relatively light cycle, because it was blowing pretty good....
I went second, into conditions that had started to lighten up quite a bit. Maybe 15+ mins on launch, but finally got a cycle that filled the slot (kinda/sorta). It definitely wasn't a gimme, had to work my way above launch with multiple passes. Once above? Braindead soarable!
John McA was next up, and he had a harder time with the lower-level winds backing off. But he worked the north finger like a MoFo, and got up too!
Oh! And Bald Eagles all over the frickin' place, it was nuts!!! I was at the north finger with no less than five balds flying around, chasing each other and ignorning us. Hoping that I got at least some of them on video.
Topped out at 4K MSL, and found some thermals that were definitely in the C&B category, in spite of the time of year. But also some mellow ones out there, crank-and-NOT-bank, circling as slowly as I could.
Some PG pilots also flew today, though I'm not sure what the fun-factor was for them. Seemed fairly strong even toward the end of the day.
We all landed in the Bridge Field, now John's field. And it was good!
PS: Where was everybody?????
A bit of a mixed-bag kind of day, with winds fairly strong on launch early. Gary was first off, maybe 2-ish? And he was looking for a relatively light cycle, because it was blowing pretty good....
I went second, into conditions that had started to lighten up quite a bit. Maybe 15+ mins on launch, but finally got a cycle that filled the slot (kinda/sorta). It definitely wasn't a gimme, had to work my way above launch with multiple passes. Once above? Braindead soarable!
John McA was next up, and he had a harder time with the lower-level winds backing off. But he worked the north finger like a MoFo, and got up too!
Oh! And Bald Eagles all over the frickin' place, it was nuts!!! I was at the north finger with no less than five balds flying around, chasing each other and ignorning us. Hoping that I got at least some of them on video.
Topped out at 4K MSL, and found some thermals that were definitely in the C&B category, in spite of the time of year. But also some mellow ones out there, crank-and-NOT-bank, circling as slowly as I could.
Some PG pilots also flew today, though I'm not sure what the fun-factor was for them. Seemed fairly strong even toward the end of the day.
We all landed in the Bridge Field, now John's field. And it was good!
PS: Where was everybody?????
Re: Saturday Dec. 29th
I went to the training hill at Smithsburg yesterday. Windy was predicting a fairly high gust factor, but we went "just in case" the wind decided to cooperate. When we arrived around noon, the wind was pretty brisk for a rookie, so we waited a while to see if things would calm down.
During that time, Anthony Lloyd dropped by with his girlfriend. We had a short visit before he left and headed north to pick up a vehicle that he bought.
Conditions quickly improved around 12:30. I got set up and was eventually able to get seven flights in before days end. I'd like to think I'm in reasonable shape for my age, but it humbles me after each training day after I've carried that glider back up that hill over and over and....
After my first two flights, we had another visitor. Eddie Miller was passing by when he saw a glider on the training hill. Some of you may know him from flying the last 20 years. He lives close to Smithsburg, and would have flown with a number of you at the local sites. He said his last flight was four years ago on that same training hill. Good guy! Interesting stories!
Glad you had a good day at WS! Hopefully training continues to progress for me and I'll join you guys on the high flights in the new year!
During that time, Anthony Lloyd dropped by with his girlfriend. We had a short visit before he left and headed north to pick up a vehicle that he bought.
Conditions quickly improved around 12:30. I got set up and was eventually able to get seven flights in before days end. I'd like to think I'm in reasonable shape for my age, but it humbles me after each training day after I've carried that glider back up that hill over and over and....
After my first two flights, we had another visitor. Eddie Miller was passing by when he saw a glider on the training hill. Some of you may know him from flying the last 20 years. He lives close to Smithsburg, and would have flown with a number of you at the local sites. He said his last flight was four years ago on that same training hill. Good guy! Interesting stories!
Glad you had a good day at WS! Hopefully training continues to progress for me and I'll join you guys on the high flights in the new year!
Re: Saturday Dec. 29th
Hi Mark et al
Sounds like a good day. My flying has been so limited due to weather this year, I was too discouraged to give it a try. Who knows, maybe New Years day.
I hope to see you out soon. Tom
Sounds like a good day. My flying has been so limited due to weather this year, I was too discouraged to give it a try. Who knows, maybe New Years day.
I hope to see you out soon. Tom