Headed to the SAC after working in the AM. Lost an hour in traffic in Harrisburg and on I-81 on the way up. Arrived just after 3P to cumie filled skies and moderate conditions. Joe Gorrie arrived a few minutes after me, then Allan Bawell got there around 3:30P. Joe and Allan assisted my elevator launch off of the earthen mound around 4P. Allan hollered about strong up on the right wing prior to my launch, but the glider felt balanced, so I cleared Joe and Allan, took one step, and up, up, and away. Flew fast out of the slot and turned into a NNW crossing wind. Got up easy after a few passes, and relaxed and plotted my flight.
Initially I headed east towards Rt. 125, dolphin flying, and getting to about 500' over. Earlier Charlie had alerted me to the fact that his Liverpool property was mowed and ready for landing. So my goal was to fly to the river, jump it, and land on Charlie's property. Headed west towards the Klingerstown Gap. Halfway to the gap I found a thermal that was cohesive enough to do full 360s in lift. Prior to that, couldn't find cohesive thermals in the mild chop. Gained up to ~ 3800' MSL and got cold, w/ only a t-shirt on. Was joined in the thermal by a mature bald eagle. Initially below me, in 4 turns he climbed right thru me! Bailed out of the cold air and used the altitude to jump the gap easily.
As I approached the Pillow Gap, I noticed my GPS showed NE winds @ 14 MPH. Uh oh, 45 degree cross from the right. And I noticed there was no lift to be found. Made one turn into the cross, and came to a standstill. Got scraped off of the ridge, and landed in between corn patches in a farm field just 1 mile east of Pillow. Had a decent crosswind landing; it was ENE in the field. Had to carry the glider to the back of the field to get around the southernmost corn patch. Called Allan to alert him of my predicament. He said he'd retrieve me after flying his flight. So I broke down the glider and stashed it and the harness behind hay bales near the road. Not wanting to just sit around for 3 hours, I decided to start walking eastward towards Klingerstown.
After walking for about 1 hour and making it around 3 miles to the small hamlet of Hebe, I decided that continuing on was not in the cards; I was exhauted, and it would take another 2 hours to make it to the base of the mountain just below the launch. So I remembered that around 3 years ago I had landed out just west of Klingerstown, and a nice lady had given me a ride back to launch. I still had Tammy's cell phone # stored in my phone, so I rung her up. And sho' nuff, her and her husband Ferus picked me up and took me back to my truck at launch. Called Allan on the way to let him know that he didn't have to retrieve me, which was a relief to him. Picked up my stuff stashed behind the hay bales, and made it home by 11P.
Conditions were much better earlier in the day. It was a 100 mile OTB day. That hour I lost was critical. I could have been at the river by 4P, waiting for a climb to jump the river and land over at Charlie's. Next time! Bacil
The SAC 7/1
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