Hanging On

By the time I got going this morning, flying with Hang Glide New England at Tanner-Hiller Airport was the only reasonable choice.  I was also, thankfully, waiting on Jeff Curtis and John Beckley.  John's car broke down yesterday and Jeff graciously picked up John even though it was out-of-his-way.

A gaggle of gliders were ready for flight when we arrived and we watched pilots take extended sledders while we rigged and suited up.  I stayed on tow behind Rhett Radford longer than usual trying to ensure I had every opportunity to stay aloft.  I waved goodbye, released, and settled into a weak, but consistent and pleasant, climb.

I went round and round long enough for Rhett to tow Jeff up and then over me.  That's cheating!  ;-)

Too bad the climb was fading away.  I moved northeast to where Peter Judge was slowing climbing.  Jeff joined us and we all topped out.

My glider has the best glide of the three so I zipped off to the northwest to a cloud that was surely working.

Except it wasn't.  The three of us dabbled in broken lift with mixed results, but it was soon time for Peter and Jeff to return to the field.

The two of them scratched around the field before landing while I stumbled into a weak climb where a sailplane pilot joined me.

After climbing back to the top floor the sailplane pilot headed northeast, presumably towards the gliderport at Sterling, and I lazily headed back to Tanner-Hiller.  I stopped several times for weak short-lived climbs but didn't find anything productive.

I found choppy and buoyant air over a mulch-making operation that I thought was my ticket out.  However, after a lot of searching I concluded either I wasn't good enough to find the main core or that the rising air was just strong enough to keep me from descending.  (John had the same experience during his flight).

I half-heartedly continued the search for another climb as I cruised over the homes and businesses to the west of the field.  I watched Rhett tow another pilot up, crossed paths with Dana Harris when he returned from the south, and then took a long downwind-base-final approach into the field.

Rhett towing (lower center)

Dana

I hurried when I realized Dana and I would be landing at the same time.  Dana flew overhead moments after I landed.  (Listen for his greeting at the end of the video below).

We socialized before heading out to get ice cream and then back to my place.  From there Jeff headed out while I gave John a lift home.

It wasn't an epic day of flying, but it was still fun and challenging trying to "hang on".

Flights: 1, Duration: 1:20