Plymouth

[This flight took place on September 24, 2009.]

It had been several years since I flew the sand cliffs near Plymouth Massachusetts, so it didn't take much convincing to join JJ for a day at the beach.  It is a coastal site with sand cliffs constantly eroding into the sea.  The cliffs form a shallow bowl about 3 miles long (4.8 km).  Parts of the beach are littered with rocks and boulders, but there are plenty of places to land when the beach is deserted.

After the 2 hour drive south, we parked JJ's car along the highway and hiked our gliders 0.6 miles (1 km) to launch.  The hiking wasn't bad, but the shiny succulent leaves of poison ivy lining the trail were trying to paint my arms and legs with days of torture.  I took a mini-dust/sand bath before setting up to remove as much oil as possible.

We were just about finished rigging when Nick unexpectedly showed up.  He graciously offered to help us launch before going back for his equipment.  The combination of tall shrubs, slightly cross wind, and a curved washout made it near impossible to get gliders into position at launch and safely keep them there.  Nick and I helped JJ launch first.  With only two of us, it was much more difficult getting me into position.  I told Nick I was concerned about him launching by himself, but he assured me he would be OK.  I promised I would be directly overhead when he launched to offer help if something went wrong.

A while later I parked directly over Nick as he carefully and methodically worked his way to launch.  I could see the glider getting tossed about and was glad I was in the air and not on launch.  I was impressed with his finesse as he inched his way forward and then simply stepped off for a clean launch.

It was mindlessly soar-able.  I suspect there was more than just ridge lift at work.  The ocean at that time of the year is much warmer than the land, so widespread thermals or some type of convergence must have been helping out.  It was also strange that the lack of wind lines on the water didn't indicate strong wind.  I was high enough that I could easily see the ocean to the southeast towards Buzzard's Bay and the outer cape across the bay.  I even spotted fields well inland I could reach if I flew too long and the tide consumed the beach.  It was definitely not a day of "dragging wing tips through the sand".

I practiced high-speed runs in the glassy air and then entertained myself and golfers at the club with some "expressive flying".

Notice how the flag in the next picture is blowing directly opposite the flag in the previous picture.  Think there might be rotor present?

I eventually watched Nick land, break down, and hike out.  Unless I wanted to land with no beach and no light for the hike out, it was getting time for me to also land.  I had to work hard to get down below the top of the dunes to the south of launch.  Even so I floated much further along the beach than I expected and had to hike back to the stairs off the beach.  JJ landed a bit later winning the "air hog" award for the day.

 Carrying a glider up those stairs is always a joy!

Here is short video I shot during the flight.

Flight time: ~3:00 hours, distance: 3 miles (many times), wing overs: too many to count