Indecision

Friends keep reminding me that I missed several flights late last year.  Sorry.  The details about those flights are quickly fading away, but I do have flight logs and video to jolt my memory.

The forecast for August 27 looked almost too good for a day so late in the season.  I also remember nearly passing on the day due to family issues.  Somehow I ended up at Ascutney with Greg, Peter, Randy, and Ryan.  I launched first and started climbing. The others followed and we bounced around the mountain until Randy marked a stout climb over the towers.  I arrived at base first and quickly skirted the edge of clouds to the east.

Greg, who was a behind me, pointed out the blue sky further to the east and strongly suggested heading south along the Connecticut river instead.  I wanted to keep cruising at base but he did have a good point.  I aborted my joy ride and dove south into the blue.

I marked a broken climb as Greg and Randy came in underneath.  I lead out again to another area of broken lift south of the Claremont airport.  Greg arrived high enough to catch the tail-end of my climb, but Randy was served up the broken remnants.

Since I was higher, I offered to plow upwind to a small cloud to the west.  If I didn't find anything, we could meet up further south which would save them the detour and probably put us all at the same altitude.

I didn't find much under the dissipating cloud so I turned around and flew back downwind and to the south.  I didn't immediately see Greg or Randy, but headed for a section of the river that was shimmering with thermal-induced swirls and gusts.

I wrestled with a rough climb and waited for the rest of the team to show up.  Instead they were rapidly drifting away in a slow climb over Morningside, almost due east of where we split up.  Sigh.  I was at least two climbs away and unjustly upset that we didn't stick together.  I reversed course and flew back upwind to re-group.

I did join up with Greg, but Randy flew further and further into "dinosaur" country.  (Notice it isn't spelled "dino-soar".  There are few LZs and we generally avoid the area after landing back there once or twice.  I guess it was Randy's time to check it out.  ;-) )

Given my unusual state of mind, I finally told the group I was not "feeling it" and would land at Morningside after I had enough airtime.  I later watched Greg fight to get his glider onto the deck in very active conditions and watched Randy make close calculated glides to useable fields.  I bounced around from base to base over the high ground downwind of Morningside until I had enough and then took a long glide around the valley before landing at Morningside.

I remember this flight as one of only a handful of flights where my mood interfered with flying.  Luckily I have good friends that tolerate my foolishness quite well.

Flights: 1, Duration: 2:18, Distance: 25.3