Smithsburg (or Woodstock) Sunday Dec. 19th

[XCanytime]

initial forecasts point to a nice training hill day, and a chilly mountain day. Temps 40+, and winds straight up the hill/mountain (NW). Bacil

[markc]

Starting to get interested in WStock on Sunday. We'll see!

[silverwings]

Looks very northerly for both sites on Sunday!

[XCanytime]

Looks very northerly for both sites on Sunday!

Remember it's a forecast. Reality may be a little different. And NNW at Woodstock is only 22.5° cross. Not a huge deal. Bacil

[RichH]

If Im not mistaken Woodstock faces about 305-308 degrees.. Wind forecast is for 341 degrees at 1pm..thats more than 30 degrees cross. Not saying it couldn't be soarable.. it's possible, but the turbulence you would encounter from the bowl ridges can be sever. One of the most turbulent flights Ive ever seen was Joe Sherman launching in a cross out of the old launch at Woodstock. Again, its a forecast and true it can be much different at launch but be aware that winds tend to funnel straight in at launch but can be very different 100' -200' above launch..341 degrees is too far north for my safety margin.. Hope it comes around but Im typing this at 7am and the forecast is predicting a North cross all day..

[garys]

You can't rely 100 percent on the Holfuy readings at the WS tower. In a N NNW flow the finger in front of launch re-directs the flow up and over launch and tower both seeing a NW flow. Best forcast is to look at usairnet for Winchester and Staunton and split the difference. Today Winchester cast is NNW which is not ideal but doable. Staunton is due north. I will help with launches and retrieves but am going to bring my mountain bike for a ride.

[XCanytime]

Woodstock, from the site guide published by Christy Huddle around 1993, faces 310°. AND from the site guide the flyable directions are WNW to NNW. So we are not "out of bounds" if we go to Woodstock and take a look. Bacil

[Bari]

So, all FCs show NNW however Front Royal airport shows NW with wind speeds increasing after 1PM unlike how most FCs

[markc]

Couldn't get out to fly today, but I was arm-chair QB'ing this afternoon!

The surface hourlies at KOKV, KMRB, and KFRR were bouncing between NW and N all darn day (And how many times did I check? Well... Just a few, *smile*)

So I'm really curious how things worked out, hopefully some aviation was committed and fun was had!

[XCanytime]

Arrived at 10:45A to light to moderate cycles on launch and plenty of lift indicators in the sky. Put in multiple streamers, then set up and waited for Bari and Gary to arrive. While waiting saw an awesome sight out in front. A pair of bald eagles, one the parent, the other the offspring, climbed up in a thermal from just over the river bend by Idaho. They swapped places at the top of the stack, and whomever was on top dove on the other. The bottom bird would roll inverted and show it's talons. They continued this airplay until they drifted out of visual sight to the left of the launch slot. Gary just came out to help us launch, and possibly help w/ retrieves. Gary brought his electric mountain bike and enjoyed a ride to Signal Knob later. Bari arrived about 11:30A and set up. After Gary's arrival around 12:30P, I launched at 12:50P+ in a light cycle, and had to S-turn in shots of lift to get up enough over the ridge to start heading NE to my target staging point of Mudhole Gap. Dolphin flew up to Mudhole Gap, battling a N wind of 14 MPH according to my GPS. Along the way got to 3K' MSL w/o even trying too hard. Flew a bit upwind of Mudhole Gap and started trolling for a ticket OTB to Fort Valley Airport. Didn't take very long to find a climb to 3200' MSL, and stuck my rear into the wind and arrived over the airstrip in a heartbeat. Had to find sink to get down; there was some booming lift emerging from Fort Valley. The windsock indicated North winds right down the runway, so I flew upwind parallel to the south end of the strip where a power line converged w/ a tree line. I then dove across the tree line and stuffed the bar big time to get down before the hangar. It was turbulent, but I got her down safely, unhooked, parked the glider, and let out a loud "YEAAHHH!" Paul the airstrip owner arrived about 2 hours later, and gave me a ride to my truck at launch. It was soarable at launch at 4:30P. Hit the road w/ a big smile on my face. Bari had an extendo; he launched 15 minutes after I did. Bacil


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