HIGH POINT- Clear Day / Light Winds

Pat, JR and Pete gathered on a not-too-cold, clear day of light winds.  Indeed, it was light enough at launch that there was some concern about it being soarable.  Launching first, Pat was once again flying The Tent, his big Falcon, and it proved to be the ideal glider for the day.  However, after a pleasant 1:10 in the air (and a good job of getting up from low) he suffered the humiliation of whacking a Falcon landing.  

JR (1:06) was off next and he had the day's best gain, getting to 3,500 msl in one of the day's surprisingly good thermals that had bits of 500 fpm in it.  Pete was off last and got 1:20 including a late, spookily strong thermal to 3,400 that reminded me of the scary stuff we'd seen the last time we flew High Point.  For the end of December it was remarkably fun thermal flying.

DECEMBER 30  HIGH POINT

Pat Halfhill, JR and I gathered on a not-too-cold, clear day of light winds.  Indeed, it was light enough at launch that there was some concern about it being soarable.  Launching first, Pat was once again flying The Tent, his big Falcon, and it proved to be the ideal glider for the day.  However, after a pleasant 1:10 in the air (and a good job of getting up from low) he suffered the humiliation of whacking a Falcon landing.  JR (1:06) was off next and he had the day's best gain, getting to 3,500 msl in one of the day's surprisingly good thermals that had bits of 500 fpm in it.  I was off last and got 1:20 including a late, spookily strong thermal to 3,400 that reminded me of the scary stuff we'd seen the last time we flew High Point.  For the end of December it was remarkably fun thermal flying.

DECEMBER 13  HIGHPOINT: A SHORT-SOILING SORTA DAY

 from JR’s on the front side of the mountain. Our concerns were soon alleviated when John called to say that, not daring to land at the Fairgrounds LZ, he had accepted the calculated risk of shotgun pellets, dogs and cow pies in the big Dog Pit LZ.  Fortunately, the farmer was absent so dogs and shotguns were not a problem.  But the cow pies did a lovely job reducing the friction of his landing... John says that the turbulence was present down to fifty feet off the deck.

So, what the hell was going on?  Our best guess is that the strong true winds aloft were creating a wave off the Cumberland Plateau upwind of launch, and we were flying in an area influenced by that wave’s dynamics.  After we had landed we could see a very clear wave cloud form along the Knoblies.  Whatever the cause, it was a decidedly unpleasant and surprising day considering the remarkably light conditions at launch.

Airtimes:  John circa :45, Pat and I both got half an hour, and Jim about ten minutes.  Pat got five hundred feet over launch, and I might have been somewhat higher, but was flying without a vario and can’t be sure.

John McAllister, JR, Pat Halfhill and I decided to take a chance on a somewhat sporty forecast that turned out very differently than we’d expected, and far more than we had bargained for.

Pat and I drove over the mountains from Pittsburgh in drizzle, mist, and through some Dr. Zhivago winter scenes before breaking out into clearer skies as we approached Cumberland .  When the four of us arrived at launch it was crankin’ and seemingly blown out.  But after a short while it began to back off, and continued to do so until there was essentially no wind by the time we were ready to launch.  Indeed, it briefly blew over the friggin’ back!

It did not look at all soarable when Pat went to launch first with his big new Falcon.  Pat had taken the Falcon after having misread the day’s forecast as calling for light conditions.  As a result, the rest of us gleefully and selfishly figured that he wouldn’t be able to fly and we would have a driver.  However, the light conditions suddenly made the Falcon look like an inspired choice.  After getting a bit of wind to blow in Pat finally dove off and promptly plummeted nearly two thirds of the way down to the Fairgrounds.  At about four hundred fifty feet he began to climb in the first of a series of short, violent bits of lift, interspersed with some amazing sink, eventually getting above launch for good. 

Back at High Point , Homer was waiting for a puff of air in which to launch while Pat finally climbed out.  With JR insulting his manliness and calling him Christy, John finally got some wind to launch in and headed over to join Pat.  He didn’t get as low as Pat had done, but it was essentially the same flight: vicious sink, turbulence and nasty lift. But at least he too got up and over the ridge.   Next off was JR who got up quickly, but was so unhappy with the appalling turbulence that he decided that landing in the spooky Fairgrounds lz was better than staying in the air.

With Pat and Homer still in the air, I ran off the hill and, surprisingly, climbed out quickly and easily in the vicinity of launch.  I stayed near launch and at first saw little of the turbulence being felt by the others.  It was only upon venturing in their direction that I began to experience some truly violent turbulence, perhaps the worst trash I have seen in twenty years.  I now understood Jim’s decision to land, and within minutes Pat was on the ground at the airport after having gotten high enough to run there.  I joined him as soon as I had again gotten high enough to risk transiting the strong lee-side rotor. I didn’t dare take a hand off the base tube to unzip my harness until I was beyond the rotor.  

From the airport Pat and I looked back at the ridge to see how (radio-less) Homer was doing, and soon became worried as he had disappeared from our sight, as well as

THE PULPIT - Don't Trust the Forecasts

Pat and Pete headed to the Pulpit on a sketchy forecast of clear skies, light lift, and light left-crossed winds.  However, as they drove eastward on the Turnpike cumies began to form and become ever better-shaped as they neared the site.  By the time they arrived at launch the sky was full of well-streeted and reasonably shape clouds.  The wind was light but certainly launchable, albeit with a north cross; not the forecast left cross.

Tom McGowan was already set up when we arrived, and he launched first, ahead of Pete and Pat.  Tom had to wait quite a while for a straight cycle, but immediately climbed slowly, right in front of launch.  He soon beamed out to base at 5,600 msl (4,900 above the valley behind) averaging 350 fpm in the day's best thermal before departing over the back under a well-defined street.  Pete launched soon behind Tom, but didn't get up at launch and had to struggle a bit to do so.  Pat then launched right behind Pete in his new tent-like Falcon 225 and climbed out almost immediately, accompanied by two eagles.  

Pete finally climbed to join Pat and they left together under already less well-defined cumies, wandering a fair bit chasing lift.  Pat did a good job of staying with Pete for over ten miles before they became separated and Pat finally landed on a friendly Mennonite farm southeast of Chambersburg for 18 miles and 1:26 in the air.  

Tom continued on ahead of them in a rather more direct line, flying straight towards his goal of the High Rock lz, which he made (27 miles, 1:42) after only once getting down to 1800 agl.  After Pat and Pete separated south of Chambersburg Pete began a weird, arcing southern detour chasing the ever more short-lived clouds.  Only when he got near Waynesboro did he finally find a climb that started weakly but eventually got him to base.  

That cloud was part of a street heading towards his chosen destination, the Fairfield glider port on the east side of South Mountain.  Leaving at cloud base for a ten mile final glide, Pete just made it to the airport, having had to fly around the Liberty Mountain ski area’s hill to get there (34 miles; 2:24).  After landing, hang glider and sailplane pilot Danny Brotto ran out to greet him.  He then fed Pete beers in his warm trailer as he waited for Bacil Dickert to come and get him after first picking up Pat and Tom. Thanks, greatly Bacil, we owe you.

It was a ludicrously fun day, made all the more so by the utterly unexpected nature of the conditions.

Zirks - Business Meeting - Test Flights, Sled Rides and Brush Cutting

Meeting - We agreed to provide calendars and hams to the same set of landowners as last year.  We also discussed the upcoming project to replace planks on the trestle into the Zirks LZ, although that project is on temporary hold as a portion of the road to the trestle is currently blocked by hay bales/rolls.

Club officers for 2015 are as follows:

President - Mark

Vice-President - LE

Secretary/Treasurer - Jim

Board of Director - Ben 

Board of Director - Greg 

Treasure's Report -  Send In your DUES - To J.R

R, Ben, LE, Mark Gardner, Greg and Pete went to the hill on a beautiful, blue fall day, albeit one with very light left-crossed conditions.  

Marc in the weeds

After  trimming the high brush in front of launch, using ropes to keep from falling over the cliffs, the site is a lot safer.     

John's New Glider

We may have erred by first clearing launch, but the launch was grown up badly enough that it really was needed. 

Unfortunately, by the time we were finished working the winds had lightened further.  It was nearly hopeless as the lemmings all approached the edge and jumped.  Ben went first and had a short soaring flight, while LE had a somewhat longer one that included a thermal to an astounding two hundred feet over launch.  

Then began a series of sled rides of varying duration, but sled rides all.  Pete was last off, test flying John’s new U2-160  (Note: all gliders must be flown by the dealer before delivery to the customer) (but you probably knew that)  and expecting a sled ride as well.  But he masterfully eked out five minutes on the main ridge before losing it there and heading for the lower southwest cliffs. There I got another five minutes of desperate scratching below the top before being flushed off it.  Flying out towards the inevitable landing, at 400 feet he ran into a thermal that got him back onto the SW cliffs where it was now easily soarable.  He finally landed after fifty minutes.  The U2 flew really well; John’s going to love it.

Mark Stuffing Battens

Ben

LZ Breakdown

Pete brings it in 

Sangre de Cristos

The first batch of pix from Pat H,.

As you doubtless recognize, the first one is of the Sangre de Cristos range from the middle of the valley during Pat's flight from Whale onto the Sangres.  I believe all of the in-flight pictures were taken on that flight.

The group picture is L to R, Reggie Jones, Pat H, Pete, JZ and Tony

Pete

Add caption

Handicap Launch

Getting There

Wrecked Glider

Flying after Will's Funeral

Will's funeral was huge.  Hundreds of people gathered, You got to have lived a remarkable life to have it end the way Will's did.    (NTSB Preliminary Report)  We will really miss him.

High Point, WV -  Jim, Pete, John, Greg, Mark, Larry B., L.E.  and,  Lisa as driver,   Arrived conditions were  just about perfect.   L.E.  got ready and out on launch with  paraglider within about 10 minutes of arrival.,  Then a wing tip flip  -- Then really started to weird out as the gust continued to pick up and a unhook and retreat.

The next two hours was unpredicted 90 degree cross, gustly winds 15 - 25  -  blown leaves around in twisty patterns.  Few of the birds even wanted to be a part of this.  Sometimes it's just luck.  Sure good no one was in the air.



We told Will Stories and Laughed with him through a recording of Bug Stomping, the (Quest air stomp).

Later - Pete was first off, and the only one to find real thermal lift, getting to nearly 4,000 msl, but after that they all stayed fairly low.  Indeed, they were low enough that we feared they might have to land in the switchy and turbulent Fairgrounds LZ.  

However, one last thermal got  all high enough to easily glide through a sharp rotor to land at the airport shortly before sundown.  John, Larry and Pete  all got plus/minus an hour, and after being picked up by JR everyone went to Shooters for a liquid dinner in Will’s honor.

Beautiful day -  Beautiful evening.