Mount Washington Sled-fest

Rhett wanted to fly Mount Washington before he heads south for the winter and I thought last Thursday might be the day.  I gave Rhett a call the day before so he could clear his schedule.  Once word got out that we were heading to Mount Washington, Dan G, John P, and Steve P also decided to give it a shot.

I left home around 6:00 AM so I could meet everyone at the parking lot at the base of the auto road and point out the LZs and warn them about the fickle weather common in the valley.  (For example, the wind at the base of the Wildcat ski slopes was south at 24 km/h (15 mph) while the winds just a couple miles away at the toll road was north at 8 km/h (5 mph.)

Steve and the cog railway engine

The wind on top was light northeast (almost 90 degrees across launch) instead of the light southeast as predicted.  I hoped the winds would switch around to the predicted direction before clouds engulfed the summit or it started blowing down.  We played the waiting game while watching clouds form as the southerly and northerly winds collided in the valley below us.  We also watched the clouds push in from the southeast and flow over the ridge into Tuckerman's Ravine.

Steve and Rhett

Dan

Once the the wind dropped to nothing or came in a bit, we setup our wings the best we could on the rocky slope.  Dan was the first to launch and even climbed a bit above launch on his way out to a gap between the clouds.  We could hear Dan hooting and hollering as he flew alongside the clouds!  He really should relax and enjoy the moment.  ;-)

I launched next.  I flew through a weak climb hoping to find something stronger on the south side.  That didn't happen and I was soon carving my way through the clouds over Tuckerman's Ravine and below launch.  I made a few turns in the bowl to the north before buzzing spectators along the road.  I might have been a bit too aggressive as one photographer fell back into his car has I zoomed straight over his head.  I managed to climb several hundred feet over the last knob but moved on to the LZ when it faded away.

Dan announced the wind in the LZ was from the south, directly opposite the northerly flow we saw earlier.  That didn't surprise me, but the velocity and turbulence did.  At 240m (800 feet) the leaves were still and the wind was 5 km/h (3 mph), but on the deck the leaves were thrashing and it was blowing 35 km/h (20 mph).  I circled the LZ and noted the parked cars and people milling around at the same time I noticed multiple dusties whipping along the driveways and walking trails.  Add in a sudden 45m (150 foot) drop in rotor turbulence and I was running downwind to a larger field nestled between some trees but further away from the ridge throwing off the rolling bundles of joy.  I flicked the glider around about 1/2 the way along the field, threaded it between some trees, and hovered down to a no-step no-flare base-bar landing in front of a fence.  Yeehaw!

The winds subsided a bit as I tried to warn the other pilots about the landing conditions.  Steve got a taste of the horizontal rollers on his approach but he came in during a relative lull and was spared the full treatment.  By the time Rhett and John arrived the wind was substantially less, but still strong enough to keep them busy and to cause them to come up short.

I didn't get any flying video, but here are some clips from before and after the flight.  Steve flew with 2 video cameras so he should have some nice footage.

Everyone seemed to enjoy their flights, although more airtime would have been better.  Thanks Marilyn for driving the truck down!

I noticed too many trees starting to loose their green color which can only mean cold weather and endless days plastered to the ground are nearby.

Flights: 1, Duration: 0:18