A one-glide-wonder

In spite of the downpours the night before, I was surprised by the lack of postings on our local mailing list Saturday morning.  Although some pilots were going to Morningside (Mike, Jeff C, and Randy), I ruled that out when the forecast predicted fog in the river valley until noon.  Peter J was also hoping to tow at Morningside, but after his recent experiences he decided to push on to West Rutland if there was fog at Keene or in the river when he drove through.

Amy and I were driving north, primarily to watch the fireworks that evening in Bellows Falls and Rockingham Vermont.  We stopped at the Vermont Country Store while the sun warmed up the sauna.  Al, John S, and Peter were waiting in the soggy parking area when we arrived.  I showed Amy the flooded LZ and then splashed our way up the stream that was also our road to launch.  I was perplexed by the standing water on top of the mountain and even more so by the wet grass.  It was already noon and the grass had not even dried.  Sigh.  At least it was blowing in nicely and would probably be ridge soar-able.

I was about rigged when I mentioned my surprise that us four were the only pilots here on a soar-able Saturday afternoon.  About that time Randy sent a text message asking if it was soar-able since it definitely wasn't at Morningside.  After a brief exchange, he decided to drive over.  Then the pilots started pouring in.  Barry, Bianca, Bob, Dennis, Greg, Jeff, Kathleen, Keith, Ryan, and others.  Now, it seemed like a weekend!

Getting ready to launch.  Photo by Amy.

Photo by Amy.

Photo by Amy.

Al launched first and I followed.  It was soar-able, but not a give-me yet.  Peter launched after I did and got  surprisingly low, so I shifted into conservative mode as more and more pilots jumped into the air.  The area in front of launch was working nicely, but I parked near the west end of the bowl to keep the crowding minimal.  Bianca, Greg, and Jeff climbed above the rest of the pack about the same time I climbed out to the west.  I joined them as Bianca flew upwind and marked a nice climb that topped out a bit higher.  We continued flying upwind and topping out higher in sweet smooth climbs hoping Dennis might join us and to give us a chance to start our journey with more altitude.

I played around with a hawk that was comfortable sitting a few meters off my left wing.  We climbed in the broken lift to my highest point in the flight at 1345m (4400 feet).  I was ready to leave when I noticed it was after 3:00 PM and I needed to be on the ground by 5:00.  Greg, Jeff, and I left along a small ridge behind the main ridge we were just soaring.  We glided under a series of small wisps that didn't produce more than a few bumps.  I turned back once when I heard Greg's vario beeping over the radio, but the only thing I got was lower!  I got a wake-up call when I checked for LZs; most of the usual fields were flooded.  Not wet, full-on lakes.  Yuck.  I wanted to keep pushing north over higher ground but as Jeff turned towards the "valley of a thousand lakes" the lemming in me took over and I followed.  We spotted a nice field on the top of a hill that looked dry.  We continued our long glide until I watched Greg and Jeff land as I circled in an anemic thermal overhead.  It was obvious that a thermal coming off the flooded valley was never going to turn on so I left the climb and dove in to join them.  A short time later Dennis joined us.

Greg and Jeff

Amy showed up quickly since we only managed 12 km (7.5 m) on our "one-glide-wonder".  Greg and Jeff were happy they got to fly.  Its tough to be upbeat about this season!

Amy and I stopped by Morningside on the way to the fireworks.  We said "happy birthday" to Steve and got to see the happy afterglow from a successful marriage proposal that involved a tandem flight.  (Update: It wasn't Steve doing the proposing; that was done by a student!)

Peter met us for the fireworks display.  Randy and his family were late to the fireworks since he flew for over 3 hours along with many other pilots.  I heard Kathleen was stranded up high all afternoon.  ;-)

Flights: 1, Duration: 1:17, Distance: 12 km (7.5 miles)