Cannon Mountain

The forecast of light northeasterly winds and a nice high cloudbase made Cannon Mountain an easy choice. However since I didn't have my truck for the day I wasn't going anywhere unless I could convince someone else to go along and give me a ride. It didn't take much effort to talk Mark and Rodger into making the 2.5 hour drive north. (Thanks guys!)

We met Jake, Judy, Dave, Julie, and Pete K at the Franconia Airport, a grass airstrip to the north that serves as the preferred LZ before heading to the mountain. Greg and Jon pulled into the parking lot at the ski area just as we arrived. Dave D was already there to greet us. After signing waivers and registering for the day, we loaded our gliders into the tram for the scenic ride to the top. After unloading at the top, we hiked a short distance to a flower covered ski slope that is our launch.

Before I talk about the flights, I should point out that some pilots don't like the looong glide out to the airport. Maybe its the 6:1 glide or the absence of any "bail outs" along the way. The official LZ at the bottom of the mountain is a gravel parking lot surrounded by tall trees on the back side of a hill. Sounds lovely doesn't it! The other option, which is perfectly acceptable on light to moderate winds days, is a downwind-uphill landing on a ski slope covered in tall grass. Some pilots never fly here because the landing options are not within their comfort range. Other pilots fly here, but are uncomfortable until they gain some altitude. Check out Rodger's comments on the Vermont Hang Gliding forum for a more humorous description of his first experience here.

We set up our gliders among the buttercups and daisies, posed for Julie as she took a quick group shot, and we then commenced launching. Jake went first and headed to Mittersill, a smaller mountain that is on the way to the airport. I launched next into a good cycle, took a couple quick turns, and then continued along the descending ridgeline towards Mittersill and Jake. I was below the top of Mittersill by the time I arrived there and was beginning to think I might be on a sled ride to the airfield. I couldn't see Jake, but assumed he was around the corner to the northwest. I finally found a shifty little 100 fpm climb that slowly took me over the top of Mittersill. I saw Jake below me to the northwest with a lot of trees between him and the LZ. In fact, there were a lot of trees between me and the LZ! I got on the radio and assured the other pilots on launch that there was lift out here. As I climbed through 4000 feet the lift increased to 500 fpm. Yahoo, cloudbase here I come!

The remaining pilots started launching and also got below Mittersill before getting a good climb established. Meanwhile, I was drifting southwest of Cannon Mountain and enjoying the spectacular views of Francia Notch, Mount Lafayette, and the endless carpet of trees. I headed southwest to another good cloud before realizing that the only way I was going to leave the valley was by heading north and then west. I "probably" had a good glide to some fields to the southwest in the Connecticut river valley, but it just wasn't worth the risk. So I started working to the north and then to the north west without much trouble. I was at the edge of the cloud field to the northwest when the rest of the gang finally reached cloudbase back at the mountain.

I could have waited for the group to catch up, but I decided to head into the uncertain blue by myself. I had a long glide over the trees and was low enough to be picking out LZs when I finally found a very weak climb. It was just strong enough to keep me within reach of fields as I drifted back into the trees. I kept looking for other signs of lift, but since I didn't see any I didn't dare leave the pathetic climb I was in. I was getting bored going nowhere, so got on the radio to let everyone know that I was low and struggling to stay in the air. The little climb I was in finally dissipated and I moved on. I spotted Dean Memorial Airport to the southwest and started gliding in that general direction. I came across a few weak climbs that would give me a couple hundred feet, but would soon fizzle out. I spent about 20 minutes working light climbs around the airport hoping to find the ride to cloudbase that would put me back on course. However, I finally gave up and arrived at the airport with a no-step landing that drew compliments from several pilots.

I was greeted by a co-worker of Greg's that was excited to see a hang glider up close. After I found a shady spot, I gave him and another pilot a quick walkthrough of my equipment. Greg's friend had flown a Cessna in from Lebanon New Hampshire. I let him know that Greg was heading in this general direction and that Greg's glider had the same colors as mine. Greg later told me that his friend did find him in the air and made visual contact. I talked to several pilots who were interested in my unusual (for them) aircraft. The airfield itself was nice. I resisted the temptation to pick the raspberries growing in the garden along the taxiway. The garden and environment around the runway made it seem like I was landing at someone's home.

Dave C, Greg, and Mark made it to the airport with plenty of altitude shortly after I landed. Dave was having problems with his harness so he decided to land there. Dave and I then broke down our gliders while listening to Mark and Greg as they continued down the river valley. Both would be silent when gliding. Then we would hear the vario chirping away in the background and one of them shout "I have one!". Then they would be quite again until it was time to decide where to go next. After some discussion one would say "I'm leaving" and the cycle would start anew.

Dave D headed upwind to land on or near some family property. Everyone else landed at the airport. Julie and Peter drove back in Peter's truck to pick up Dave and Rodger drove Mark's truck to pick me up. Greg landed in a field next to his home. Mark landed a few miles further south for about 38 miles. We had a tough time finding Mark since he was out of radio range and we didn't have good cell phone coverage. I talked to Mark just long enough to find out he was on "Hogback Road". I didn't get what state or town he was in or his GPS coordinates! Sigh. We just kept driving south and eventually made contact with Greg who relayed messages to us until we were close enough to make direct contact.

Jon, Dave C, Julie, Rodger, Mark, and I stopped for Tai food in Hanover. Greg also stopped in for a brief chat. We all agreed that next time we are at least flying to Morningside.

Once again I want thank Julie for the awesome pictures!