Spring in New England

Although it was misty and cloudy at home in Massachusetts, the forecast for the mountains to the north and west was good enough to post a message to see if anyone else wanted to play.  The forecast for Mount Ascutney to the northwest was the best with moderate northwest winds and reasonable lift.  Since I am one of the few pilots entrusted with the keys to the park for off-season flying, access would not be a problem but getting my truck driven down would be.  The other options were the Mohawk Trail to the west with weaker lift and lower cloud bases or West Rutland with a challenging wind direction.  Most of the usual fliers and their drivers were staying home after flying in great conditions on Monday and Wednesday.  It was easy to convince Peter J to go no matter where we flew.  However John B was in only if we flew at Mount Ascutney.

Peter showed up even before I was packed to go!  John showed up a short time later assuming things would somehow work out.  After exhausting our complete list of possible drivers and beginning our drive to the Mohawk Trail, I got a call from Dan who needed access to Mount Ascutney.  He could get my truck driven back down if I could chaperon him, Ed and Doug.  No problem.  Its cool when things magically fall into place.

We got to the mountain later than usual but still took time to spot Dan's car on the other side of the mountain in case we didn't get up.  At the parking lot on top it was apparent the winds were not as forecasted.  The winds were southwest instead of northwest and a bit stronger.  We weighed our options and decided to hike our packs in and check the conditions on launch.  Yep, about 90 degrees cross but there were some launch-able cycles mixed in.  After more debate, hand wringing, and the prediction of northwesterly winds later in the day, we hiked 0.8 km (0.5) back out to get our gliders.

By the time we returned with our gliders the launch-able cycles were more frequent and longer lasting.  We made the right decision.  (If we had made the wrong decision it would have meant a long de-moralizing hike back out with our equipment.)  We rigged, thanked Jim N and Louie in advance for driving our vehicles back down, and settled on a launch order.  We decided to launch an advanced rated pilot first (Peter) and then the 3 intermediate pilots (Ed, Dan, and Doug), with the 2 remaining advanced pilots (John and I) assisting the intermediates on launch and then launching last.

Peter had a good launch and immediately started climbing.  He was soon climbing away at 5 m/s (1000 fpm) and telling everyone to dress warmly.  I was eager to go before a large blanket of thick cirrus would return and put out the newly ignited thermals.  Ed, Doug, and Dan launched and quickly climbed above launch.  John graciously allowed me to go next.  (I wanted an experience pilot on my upwind wing since this was my first foot launch for the season and the first time I launched my T2C with its larger control frame.)  Launch went well and I was soon climbing away at 2 m/s (400 fpm) over the shaded mountain.  Although I didn't have the express ride Peter had, I did climb to over 2400 m (8100 feet).  I watched Dan and Doug glide away on their first XC flights from Ascutney to Morningside.  (All 3 landed at Morningside and got their ceremonial dunking in the pond to commemorate their achievement. Congratulations!)

Since I launching late (4:00 PM), the sky was being smothered by cirrus, and I didn't have a driver I was initially hesitant to fly east, but its hard to stay put when you're that high.  I floated around Claremont until John caught up and we headed out.

We found abundant weak lift under dying clouds but nothing solid.  I flew southeast and got a great view of the wind turbines in Lempster.  Instead of diving into the ridge south of Mount Sunapee, we took a conservative route east of Newport.  Of course, we ended up back at Mount Sunapee lower than if we had just dove across in the first place!  However, it was fun playing in the weak 0.5 m/s (100 fpm) lift.  I pointed out suitable LZs south of Mount Sunapee to John as I stumbled into a nice lee-side climb to over 1800 m (6000 ft).

I went on a long glide over the trees south of Bradford.  I wasn't sure I had Henniker on glide but saw a cleared hill top that would do for LZ if I encountered sink.  Instead of sink, I got another lazy climb over the cleared hill top and easily glided into Henniker at 1500 m (5000 ft).  At that point it was almost 7:00 PM, the thick cirrus made it seem even later, and John had radioed he was landing back at Bradford.  Instead of gliding on towards Concord, I whipped out the camera and did some sightseeing.  I flew over the ski area and over the covered bridge in town.

I watched two tractors plowing and disking a field as two kayakers floating down the nearby river.  (You can see both in the picture).  After playing around some more I flew along the river on my downwind leg and called out to the kayakers below.  I could see them looking around for "the voice" but wonder if they eventually saw me as I flew beyond them.

I landed at a nice airfield with a paved runway facing directly into the wind.  I don't usually land on pavement, but the orientation of the runway and the sloping field on either side made it the reasonable choice.  I was immediately greeted by three children and their dog.  I chatted with them as I walked back to the mowed yard around the hanger and continued answering a thousand questions as I broke down.  I showed them airborne pictures of their town and neighborhood, let them poke around the glider, and play with my heat packs.

Peter, who landed at Morningside, was gathering up downed pilots on the way home in my truck.  He and John got to me just as it was getting dark.  We stopped at a brew-pub in Nashua for some good food and drink and caught a couple tunes from live band.  It wasn't a typical day or an epic day but a very enjoyable and rewarding day just the same.  It was good to be back home.

Flights: 1, Time: 2:41, Distance: 38.7 miles