A Gift

I really didn’t expect to fly today. I awoke at Morningside to a heavy fog that filled the entire valley. The heavy fog meant any thermal production would be delayed several hours. September in New England means we only get a few hours of sunlight each day so losing the morning sun hurts. Then as soon as the fog cleared the wind blew hard from the northeast and shut down all flying at Morningside. Since the National Weather Service forecast called for a slow shift in direction to the northwest, I held on to a slim hope of flying later in the day. By noon I had succumbed to reality. Amy and I were heading down Morningside Lane to go mountain biking when Jeff B called. He was at launch with Andy, Chip, Jake, John A, and Pete J. He said it was coming in straight in at 15 mph and he wondered when I was coming up. Now, for the few that don’t know how things work at Ascutney, this phone call smelled like the standard “set up”. It was probably blowing in much stronger at launch and the crew already there probably needed help to launch and I was it. I knew it was a setup, but told Jeff I would be there in an hour or so.

I was surprised when I got to launch and saw it really was blowing straight-in at 15. If I wanted any help launching, I had to setup and get out of there ASAP. I started throwing battens into the glider as Chip, Pete, and Judy helped launch the rest of the crew. I was cramming stuff in my harness when Pete launched. Chip was still not ready, so I hustled to launch and with Chip and Judy’s help I was quickly in the air.

Although I expected Pete to still be around, I was surprised to see that only John had left the mountain. I found a strong climb right in front of launch and was soon at the low cloud base with Andy, Jake, and Jeff. I was also surprised at the strength of the climb. I am happy to find 300-400 fpm this time of year, yet that initial climb was 700 fpm. Meanwhile, Pete was struggling over the ski area not noticing our climb and Chip was still on launch struggling with his harness and backpack. (Gary would later show up and help Judy launch Chip).

Once at base I wasted no time in leaving. I decided to leave the thermal by swinging around the west side before heading south. Oh boy, was that a mistake! I put my tail between my legs and plummeted away as fast as I could. I soon found myself downwind and below the mountain. Even worse, Andy and Jeff followed me and were treated to the same gift. Jake, seeing what happened to us, wisely stayed further east. I started getting seriously worked over by the rotor and noticed Jeff was also. I quickly radioed to Amy that I might not even make it across the river. I found some buoyant air that finally turned into a weak but turbulent climb that allowed me to drift away and then above the mountain. It took Andy and Jeff more time to get out of that trap, but eventually, we all continued on.

The flying after that was enjoyable with 600 fpm climbs to cloud base over the west side of the river. It was hard to believe it was September. Ahead of us a large cloud complex was developing on the east side of the river while the west side was turning blue. When Jeff and Jake turned back upwind to join a climb with Andy, I continued on to the east side of the river. I didn’t expect great climbs under the dark clouds, but did hope to find buoyant air that would allow me to glide past the now large blue hole on the west side. I glided. I glided some more. I glided even more. No climbs, not even weak climbs. Oops. I tried some good looking spots, but nothing was working. I looked back upwind and noticed a line of clouds forming. I drew a line from those clouds to my area and decided my last-ditch attempt would be to dive to the east and get in that line and hope that something lifts off.

There was obvious wind on the ground so I wanted a big field to land in. I was due east of Fall Mountain by this time and knew I needed a climb or I would be forced to land or fly into the rotor behind that mountain. About that time I saw John breaking down in a field below and in front of me. I decided to hit the little hillside to the east and if I didn’t find anything, I would land with John. I found a snotty thermal with a good climb rate for about ½ of a turn and was quickly drifting away from the last good landing field. I had to reevaluate my situation after each turn. Finally I started climbing with some certainty and decided to let go John’s field.

Once climbing again, I looked around for signs of the rest of the gang. I couldn’t spot anyone. Surely, they are still in the air, but where? I also noticed that the wind had shifted more to the northwest and I was drifting out over the trees towards Keene. I didn’t want to drag my knuckles through the trees on a windy day with a low cloud base, so I used most of my altitude on a glide back to the edge of the river valley. I stumbled into a reasonable climb south of the Route 5 & Route 12 intersection and started checking out my options. The sky to the north was quickly drying out. There were no clouds on the high ground to the east of the river, but good looking clouds on the west side. I knew I would not be able to make the west side with a single glide. Um, what to do?

Something caught my eye and I watched someone land south of Bellows Falls. In an uncharacteristic move, I decided I had enough flying for the day and decided to land with that pilot. I flew upwind about 5 miles to land with that glider and on the way there I noticed Andy and Jeff climbing near cloud base further upwind. I also noted that the trees below were dancing all over the place in the wind. Oh joy. Although I expected turbulence, I had a smooth landing in a stiff breeze that made it easy to carry my glider over to where Jake was already breaking down. Within 10 minutes the wind dropped to almost nothing, the sky dried out, and it seemed like most thermal activity stopped. I later learned that Jeff and Andy flew another 25 miles south, with Jeff landing in Massachusetts.

Jake and I had a good time reliving the flight as we broke down. Amy and Judy showed up with the vehicles even before we finished packing. When we got back to Morningside, some pilots thought I was joking when I said I just got back from a nice early fall XC flight. The wind was still blowing from the north-northeast and no one even considered flying the entire day. I guess I owe Jeff a thank-you for the phone call!