Although the sky looked promising, the pilots launching before us were surprisingly limited to "extended sledders".
The sky overhead dried out as we waited for conditions to improve. I noticed a line of clouds leading to the northwest forming across the river. I asked Eric Meibos for a tow in that direction.
The tow was depressingly smooth. I released east of the river and continued gliding towards the line of clouds to the northwest.
I soon reached a decision point; 1) press on and maybe find a climb or land out or 2) retreat and slink back to Morningside for another tow. I chose to retreat. On the way back I diverted just enough to make a single pass over some factory buildings.
I found a tiny thermal that was almost big enough to circle in and allowed me to climb at an bone-crushing speed of 10 fpm (0.05 m/s). I had to use the altimeter to verify I was climbing. If that wasn't sad enough, Peter was dropped off above me and sank down to my level before joining the slowing growing thermal.
After topping out I headed west while he headed southeast. I found nothing and soon turned around to join him in an area of weak broken lift on the ridge east of Morningside.
We extended our flights but were soon on the ground.
I was ready to pack up after watching other pilots continue to take extended sledders. Dean Funk managed to keep his feet off the ground with a slow climb overhead and then Bertrand dialed into a real climb near the still-present line of clouds. Although it was after 4:00 pm, I suited up for another go.
This time I was determined to discover if that line of clouds had climbs to match their good looks, even if it meant landing out. I released and immediately headed west across the river and over the ridge line on the other side. I was beyond the reach of Morningside when I found a solid climb that started at 300 fpm (1.5 m/s) and steadily increased to 500 fpm (2.5 m/s) right to cloud base.
I was almost to Charlestown when I started flying northwest at base under the line of clouds that tempted me all day. There were solid, but a little weaker, climbs under each cloud.
I flew northwest to Little Ascutney before lazily gliding back to the airfield under a drying sky. Although the wind aloft was west-northwest, the wind at Morningside was steadily blowing from the southeast. I used the opportunity to make a rare southeast approach over the road into the bullseye. Yahoo!
After packing up, I hiked the glider across the road and rejoined Lee and Peter. We said farewell, drove to Waxy O'Connors Irish Pub in Keene for drinks and dinner before returning home.
Although not epic, it was a fun and varied day. I had a "claw my way up" flight followed by a "beam me up" flight across the river. A double treat.
Flights: 2, Duration: 0:55, 0:56
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