Not Going Down Without a Fight

I planned to meet Allen and Randy at 8am for a trip to Mount Equinox.  However, a quick check of the weather around 6am showed the winds were going to be SW instead of the required SE.  After a telephone conversation with Peter, I decided to join him and Jeff for a trip to our club's launch in West Rutland, Vermont instead.  Allen and Randy also decided to skip Mount Equinox and go practice take-offs and landings at Morningside.  JJ decided to fly at West Rutland but skipped the car pool for the ~3 hour drive.

We caught up with Allen, JJ, and Randy on Route 12 north of Keene, New Hampshire.  We knew Allen and Randy changed their minds when Allen turned to cross the Connecticut River south of Walpole, NH instead of continuing north to Morningside.

It was blowing straight in when we arrived at launch and continued to come in nicely as we rigged.  More and more of the regulars walked in as we prepared for a pleasant day of spring flying.

Calef launched with his paraglider first and got above launch but slowly sank out.  No big deal I thought, the day just wasn't ripe yet.  However the day started changing, and not for the better.

Photo by Krassi

No one wanted to launch.  Why not?

Photo by Krassi

Look at the windsock!  The wind shifted to the SE, which was mostly over-the-back.  PK, shown above, finally got into the air with an invigorating and gasp-inducing launch.  He was losing his battle with gravity until he found a climb near the LZ.  The next act on the roster was Randy.  His launch was good, but still exciting.  Even more exciting was his climb-out after following John's time-tested advice to dash around the southern edge of the ridge line.  Pilots cheered as he circled over our heads, vario beeping loudly.  Krassi was next.  He had a solid launch but slowly sank to the LZ.

I was next.  I had reasonably good launch conditions and was airborne without any drama.  Like Randy, I dove around the spine to the left of launch.  Unlike Randy, I was unceremoniously thrown towards the mountain when I flew into mechanical turbulence.  I avoided the outstretched limbs of the trees below me but lost precious altitude recovering and turning back for more.  There was nothing but sink left for me there, so I turned tail and ran toward the foothills.

I found weak broken bits of lift that would allow me to climb a couple hundred feet (60m) at a time before disappearing.  I keep finding bits of lift that I was sure would take me up and away.

Launch is at opposite end of the ridge line

I marked a thermal for PK, who climbed out 500 feet (150m) above me while I floundered below.  I chased a circling bird into the valley that immediately left on glide when I got there.

Bird is near center of the plowed field

It was soon obvious that I was destined for a short flight.  I briefly enjoyed the green leaves sprouting in the valley.

I chased my shadow to the ground.  It ended in a tie!

Peter and JJ landed a short time later.  The soar masters, Randy, John, and finally PK, joined us short-timers.

Peter, JJ, Randy, myself, Krassi; photo by Krassi

Jeff and a couple other sledding pilots landed in the LZ at the other end of the valley.  George and another PG pilot had short flights down the valley.  The rest of the pilots decided to pack up and drive down.  (Thanks Allen for driving Peter's vehicle down).

It is frustrating that after all these years of trying to predict weather, a large number of us ended up at the wrong launch.  At least we didn't go down without a fight.

Flights: 1, Duration: 0:20