That evening, the forecast for the next day, Saturday, described a warm and somewhat stable southwesterly flow, broken cirrus, and a small chance of rain. I went to bed thinking I would have to settle for a marginal day of soaring at West Rutland. However, the forecast for Saturday was a gift from heaven to air-starved New England pilots; light west-northwest winds, scattered cumulus clouds around 1800m (6000 feet), and no rain. The cirrus and warm air advection on southwesterly winds would hold off until mid-to-late afternoon. No indecision or complicated decision making was required Saturday morning; we were going to Mount Ascutney and we were going XC.
Jeff C, Nick, and Rodger meet at my place, loaded our gear onto Rodger's SUV, and drove north. Since everyone was interested in going XC and we didn't have a driver, someone would have to find their way back to the car and then pick up everyone else. This time-honored arrangement definitely encourages long flights!
Although some regulars were away on summer vacations, the limited setup area was packed with gliders and visitors hiking the mountain.
PK squeezing in.
Jeff B posing.
Rigging in the trees.
Mike
Excitement turned to dread shortly after noon as a thick deck of cirrus crept in and the few nearby wispy cumulus clouds started drifting from the southwest instead of northwest. The occasional puffs of wind on launch became more and more cross and we began worrying about launch conditions. At this point, Randy, who had to be at a party later in the afternoon, volunteered to go first. Although he got a bump here and there, he essentially sledded to the LZ.
We faced a tough decision. Wait and hope the increasingly filtered sunshine would trigger more thermals or launch now before the wind became too cross or over-the-back forcing us to hike our gear out without flying. John A decided to go while he could. He launched and disappeared around the corner to the southwest bowl. We watched the sky behind us hoping to see him climb out, but finally gave up our vigil.
Around 2:00 PM Jeff, Jake, and I decided it was time to launch even if the thermals weren't ready. Jake and I had to gently nudge Jeff into void. We found a small broken thermal on the western spine, and after a few tense moments, started climbing up the backside of launch. I also noticed that John, who launched earlier, was still in the air and climbing to our south. Whew, it looked like the day was starting to turn on. Jeff and I topped out around 1500m (5000 feet), but returned to the mountain to hook up with more pilots before heading out. I regretted that decision about the time I sank below launch height. However, that was short lived as I found a climb on the north side of the mountain and then hooked up with Jake and PK in a strong climb over the bowl. Although the cirrus was thickening I noticed cumulus now forming in every direction. I guess the temperature had finally reached the trigger point and/or the high pressure system was beginning to slide away from our area. Either way, it was good news!
Jake had to work that evening so he peeled off for Morningside as Jeff and I headed towards Claremont NH to the east. My flying gaggle for the day was completed when PK joined us in a climb east of town. We had an easy run until we couldn't find with a good climb at Newport. Jeff didn't connect with the weak climb PK and I were circling in and was forced to move on low. I pushed on towards Lake Sunapee and found a moderate climb and noticed the tents for the Annual Craftsmen's Fair at Mount Sunapee. I flew back a mile or so when PK announced a stronger climb. It probably wasn't worth backtracking for, but it allowed all three of us to hook up again.
I watched all the boats playing on the lake as we glided over towards Mount Kearsarge. I wanted to glide right onto the side of the mountain but Jeff and PK wanted to stay over good LZs so we made a turn to the north where Jeff marked a good climb right when we needed one. Once again I headed directly to Kearsarge over PK's complaints about the lack of LZs. I assured him we wouldn't need any LZs. We climb right over the top of the mountain and left before base since the cloud was doming on the underside.
I lead a long glide to the east towards a good looking cloud.
This cloud was dead when we arrived.
I snapped a few shots of Jeff as he pulled up beside me.
The next intended refueling stop quickly fell apart as we approached. I was hoping for a least a weak climb but the old cloud offered nothing more than a few bumps. Oops. Now where? There were no clouds to the east within reach and the ground to the east was a river valley which was probably wet. I decided on an all-or-nothing gamble on a cloud to the north while Jeff and PK continued to the east. I was eventually rewarded with a moderate climb while Jeff and PK struggled low over the valley. Eventually Jeff came back and landed in a nice level field near the river. I could have continued a bit further north to more clouds but decided to run into the blue to join PK in a climb. However, PK left his "climb" shortly before I arrived and was heading the opposite direction. Dang. I was now too far from the clouds so I continued on to the higher ground to the northeast of Northfield NH hoping to find something in the blue. Speaking of blue, there isn't much northeast of Northfield except trees and the blue waters of Lake Winnipesaukee and a dozen smaller lakes. The lack of any substantial climb, the proximity to a major highway (I-93), and the absence of decent LZs was enough to turn me around as well.
I didn't have a lot of good LZ options, but choose a reasonable small hayfield that was being baled. I made a fast, fun technical cross-wind approach that left me standing on the driveway between two buildings. Sweet.
Although I might have flown further, I definitely didn't win the best LZ award. Jeff and PK were served shepherd's pie while they waited. Rodger, who landed in Newport, walked to a nearby pub and waited with beer in hand. Jake and Nick landed at Morningside, complete with cold soda and lots of friends. I probably tied with Dennis' field east of Claremont. I did better than Jeff C, who landed in the tall grass in the bailout LZ and Mike who landed behind the mountain in a field with an upset owner that doesn't want pilots landing there anymore.
Jeff C hitched a ride back to the base of the mountain and retrieved Rodger's car. He then picked up Nick and Rodger before the crew picked me up at sunset. We joined Randy and Rebecca for dinner in Concord NH before heading home. Finally my first decent day of XC weather in New England this year. About time.
Flights: 1, Duration: 2:50, Distance: 75.6 km (47 miles)
1 comment:
Nice flying. I had fun despite my shorter than hoped for airtime. It was my first time driving retrieve.
Next time I'll remember to pimp off the other pilots in the air and to NOT LEAVE LIFT.
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