Ascutney: OD

Jake awoke me this morning with a call asking if I was going flying. Although it was sunny at the moment the last forecast I read was predicting rain, scattered thunderstorms, and maybe some small hail. However, it doesn't take much to get me interested in flying, so I told Jake I would check the weather and let him know if I was going. The morning blipmaps were interesting. The RUC model showed a lot of over-development, OD, along the coast and to the north. It sounded like a convergence line and that would explain the rain in the local forecast. I also noticed a lot of predicted OD from the Ascutney area north, but not much west of the Connecticut River valley or south of Ascutney. I briefly considered going to West Rutland, which is even further west than Ascutney, but it would potentially required launching with a tailwind, a longer drive, and probably no driver. I also thought about the Mohawk Trail in western Massachusetts, but again with no one else around getting back to my truck would be difficult. So I left a message that I would meet Jake at the mountain at noon, convinced Mark to drive up with me, talked with Tim who was also thinking of going, talked with Greg who decided to go at the last minute, and started making calls to potential drivers. Oh, yeah, I needed to pack my gear.

Mark showed up around 10am, wrestled me away from a phone conversation with Julie and Dave who are playing in the skies of Florida, and started our 2 hour drive north. The clouds were quickly building and filling in, but that was forecasted for our area so we didn't get too concerned. By the time we drove through Keene at 11am the sky was looking great and the OD we saw earlier was behind us to the south east. Once we drove into the Connecticut River valley we could see cloud decks forming to the north. The tops of clouds were blowing over around 7000 feet and filling in the sky quickly. At least the clouds would probably not go ballistic and form cu-nims. Mark and I realized that the first 25 miles away from Ascutney would be tough. We just hoped the sky to the south stayed this way and that we could tip-toe through the OD to get into the "good stuff".

We meet up with Jake, Jeff, Judy, Greg, and Tim at the base shortly after noon. Marshall showed up just before we drove up the mountain and offered to help us launch and maybe even drive. Whew, talk about a last minute save.

It was blowing in lightly when we arrived to launch after our "enjoyable" hike in. However, there was very little sun making it to the ground. Total shade would be a fair description. By the time we were ready to go, we even spotted showers over the Green Mountains to the west and over the White Mountains to the northeast. The pilots closest to launch wanted to wait until a small band of sunshine reached the mountain. I would have preferred to launch into the wind blowing into launch but I was willing to wait. We made another "sled-ride suicide pack" and all dove off one after another in a rapid fire sequence. (Thank you Judy and Marshall for the wire launch assistance.) Mark found a small thermal that got him up shortly after launch, but the rest of us sank below launch; some sank very far below launch. Jeff found a good climb over the ski area, but Jake could not connect with it from below. Jake ended up landing out front; I felt his pain. Jeff was soon at cloudbase around 7000 feet and radioed that he was heading down the river. Meanwhile, Greg snagged a climb low over the ski area while Tim and I worked some broken stuff in front. Soon Greg, Tim, and I were slowly climbing and drifting away from the mountain at 4000 feet. I was tempted to returned to the mountain and hope to get another climb but wondered if there would be another climb to get. Tim turned and headed back just as I decided to drift away at that "less than idea altitude" (4000 feet is not much higher than the mountain and doesn't leave a lot of options for LZs). Meanwhile, Mark returned from the south to join Greg and I; I guess he likes our company!

I plowed through some heavy sink as I dove for a darker cloud-complex to the south. I was rewarded with a climb that finally took us to 7000 feet. I boated around near cloudbase waiting on Greg and Mark. Meanwhile I watched Tim come in far below us and work over the few fields in the highlands. I should have been watching what I was doing since I was too close to cloudbase and started worrying about getting sucked into the clouds. I started turning in light sink to keep out of trouble. I also kept looking for Jeff, who reported earlier that he was south of Springfield but not doing so well. I stayed over the high ground as we finally moved on and connected with another good climb south of Springfield. I soon realized that Mark had gone more towards the river valley and Greg somehow got much lower than either of us. I played around at cloudbase again, diving under the edge into the 900 fpm climb and then taking a long loop in the sink to lose some altitude. I was also watching another darker area form to the south and was ready to head there when the rest of the crew caught up. Mark found the strong climb and was soon at cloudbase ... oops it looked like he was above cloud base. (He probably was inside the dome so it only appeared he was in the cloud). I decided I should not be playing around the edge of the cloud knowing that Mark would soon be running my way so I started gliding for next cloud I had been watching. I was punished during my glide, falling from 6200 feet to 1800 feet. I was still over the high ground so I wasn't very high off the ground. I finally found a nice climb over a burning pile of trees. Mark came in below me but could not find the lift. I waited around at 5000 feet in weak broken lift while Mark found another climb.

Meanwhile I was looking for Greg, Jeff, or Tim. It was also becoming clear that we were not going anywhere far today. I was only averaging 16 mph and it was already 4pm. Jake, who grabbed Jeff's truck, informed me that our driver Marshall had changed his mind. Oops, now what. Jake said he could pick us up, but only if we landed soon so that Jeff could get home at a reasonable time. At that point Mark headed towards the river valley south of Bellows Falls. I headed a little further south over the high ground, but decided a ride home was better than more miles and flew out over the valley. I bounced along for a bit and then spotted Greg about a mile down the river. I flew over and joined him. Greg's microphone wasn't working so we could only ask "yes" or "no" questions. Two clicks meant yes, one click meant no. I asked Greg if he wanted to move on to the dark cloud to the south. Four clicks. I guess he was tired of that thermal. We went on a long smooth glide to the south west along the river. We did our best to find something to keep us going, but the day was quickly fading. I cruised low over the river and Interstate 91 before turning to land on a grass airstrip on the Vermont side of the river north of Brattleboro. Greg landed about 30 seconds after I did.

Greg and I had a nice conversation with the owner of the air field just before everyone, except Tim, showed up. After we were loaded up, we headed out to find Tim. We spent an extra 45 minutes on a false lead before returning south to find Tim on a farm up in the hills. Tim definitely has his restricted landing field technique polished if he landed there!

I found out this morning that someone flew 96 miles from Ellenville, NY yesterday. I wonder what I could have done if I launched at 10am instead of 2:30pm. Still, a 36 mile XC flight and a few hours spent with friends is an acceptable way to spend the day.