Quick Trip

Amy and I drove north to Mount Ascutney after spending part of the Independence Day holiday weekend around home.  Pilots were gathering at the base of the mountain when we arrived.  Since Amy could drive a vehicle back down, we loaded our car and headed up.  The hike out didn't get any shorter over the winter, but I arrived first and got my choice of setup spots.

We rigged, talked, explored the old southwest launch, and Jake held a short "introduction to the mountain" class for pilots with little or no experience flying Ascutney.

It made sense to wait until the thermals were robust and well formed.  However there was a counter push to launch early since the winds were forecasted to become westerly and a west wind is not desirable for launching.

Time to launch?

Nick moved to launch first but backed down after Jake convinced him he might end up with a sledder.  About an hour later Nick moved back to launch.  Jon followed and both got up.  I was next in line.  Although soaring, both had dipped their wings to the west on their way off launch.  Since this was my first foot launch of the year, I wanted a breeze that was mostly blowing in, not the strong cross being offered.  After 10 minutes I backed down.  Mike went up and launched a few minutes later.  Jake and Jeff quickly launched after him.  I moved back to launch, found good conditions and ran off into a climb with a good clean launch.  I was glad I waited.

I had one short climb over the mountain and followed Jeff and Jake to the west under a line of clouds.  We gave up after finding nothing and returned to the mountain.

I found a reasonable climb and was joined by Dave and Jon for awhile.  They returned to the front as I continued to climb to a newly forming wispy.  I thought about re-joining the gang out front, but when I saw them all banging around ridge height, I decided to leave and search elsewhere.

They hazy sky didn't look good and guess what?  It wasn't!  I found bits and pieces of lift but nothing that would entice me to head off for a long XC.  I quickly decided to head to Morningside and show the gang my new glider that included a Morningside logo.

I had a mostly smooth glide over and a sweet spot landing on the runway.

Photo by Amy Lanning

About an hour later Jake came cruising in, followed by Ilya, Jeff B, Jon A, Peter C, and probably a couple more.  The hero of the day was Dave P who had his first XC from Ascutney to Morningside.  Congratulations!

Ilya, Dave P, and Dave B

I wish the flight was much longer, both in distance and time, but it was still nice foot launching and flying at a green mountain again.

Here is a short video of the flight,

Max wrote about his flight on his blog.  Here is another perspective on the day,

Flights: 1, Duration: 0:35, Distance: 9.6 miles