Almost Home

Good cross country flying is usually only a memory by mid-August, but occasionally a shot of cold Canadian air spilling over the still-warm ground gives us one last fling.  Like hungary kids without money in a candy store, we were unexpectedly given a bag full of treats three weeks ago today, August 23.

Peter picked me up at home and tossed JJ and Randy onto the truck in Leominster before continuing along Route 2 to the Mohawk Trail in western Massachusetts.  There was some grumbling about going to the "trail" due to the large number of "sled rides" doled out this season.  I wasn't worried; the forecast looked good.

I was also on a mission to lay-down a late summer flight to beat the embarrassingly short flight winning the local annual XC competition.  I know the season has been pathetic, but surely we could do better.  John Z had the same thought and was driving to aero-tow at Morningside to see if he could fix that.

We pulled off Route 2 into the parking area and met Amy and Keith getting ready to hike into launch.  We were rigging a bit later when PK and Brooks showed up.  No one was eager to launch since the occasional light to calm cycles triggered fears of impending sledders.  The sky looked too good to wait any longer, so I suited up.  Since Randy's glider was between me and launch, he offered to go first.  Randy waited for wind to blow in, while I had to wait for the wind to calm down.  Go figure.  Keith captured our launches on video.

I never got low but didn't beam out either.  Randy and I flew south to the steeper and taller part of the ridge.  The rest of the crew launched and were hanging on close to launch.  Amy eventually flew south to us as we started climbing above the ridge.

Mount Greylock viewed from Mohawk Trail

I was due east of Mount Greylock about 2 miles (3.2 km) south of launch when I noticed Peter getting higher than us.  I started flowing north and shifted into high gear when I noticed PK climbing quickly in front of launch.  I came in way below both of them and snagged the last rowdy bits of the thermal.  I drifted back as far as I dared but luckily (?) stumbled into a rowdy screaming banshee that threw me upwards when I pushed upwind.  Whew, I was finally at base with Peter and PK as I watched Matt creep onto launch far below.

Cloud base was under 5000 feet (1500 m) but still high enough to go exploring.  Peter decided to join me as I carefully ventured east along Route 2.

I played at cloud base as we flew over scenic hills and valleys.  We were heading to the LZs near the ski area in the upper right of the next and previous pictures.  (The lake on the top of the mountain is a storage facility).

Looking east, LZs near ski area at upper right

Peter missed a strong climb that kept me at base, but still had plenty of altitude to make the inviting fields in the valley ahead.

Peter in lower left corner

Looking back to the west

Peter got low as we entered the valley so I moved on.  I had to stop for several weak thermals as I got low at the other end of the valley over the Deerfield River.

Since one of the pilots back at the ridge had a microphone stuck "on", I couldn't communicate with Peter.  I was getting ready to move on when lo-and-behold he came flying in a few hundred feet below me.  Sweet!  We searched without luck for a climb to cloud base.  Peter flew to the southwest along a sunlit ridge while I pushed back upwind to a good looking cloud.  I was rewarded with a trip to base while Peter glided to a large field at the end of the ridge.  Bummer, but still a very nice flight.

I continued on along Route 2 over the ridge towards Greenfield and an easy cruise under a short street to the other side of the Connecticut River valley.

I now had to rely on my flight computer, coordinates I programmed years ago, and my gliding ability.  I plotted a course hopping from airfield to airfield along Route 2.  Each airfield was reachable from the previous airfield, but years ago I planned on a 7000 to 8000 foot (2100 - 2400 meter) cloud base, not the 4500 to 6000 foot (1300 - 1800 meter) cloud base I had.  Oh, I have to rely on the airfields since useable LZs are scarce in that part of the state.

I reached the airfield at Turners Falls without any drama, but the next three required tactical flying.

First up was the forest around the Quabbin Reservoir.  The best clouds were south of course line so I had to work hard to keep within reach of a useable LZ.

Quabbin Reservoir

The day was changing as I reached the airfield in Orange.  A large mass of overdevelopment was creeping towards me from the northwest, smothering everything in its path.  I left prematurely trying to outrun its grasp.

I arrived at the next airfield in Gardner but was running out of options.  There were good looking clouds to the southwest over Mount Wachusett but no LZs.  Everything along my course line to the east was shaded.  I decided to carefully venture over the trees towards the mountain looking for a climb while still keeping within glide of the airfield.  I found a broken climb that got me high enough to barely reach the Fitchburg airport or the airfield at Sterling.  I couldn't see either but quickly needed to make a choice.  I could probably fly further heading southwest to Sterling, but the deal with the crew was to land along Route 2 AND home was only one more climb away to the east.  It looked hopeless, but maybe, just maybe, I'd find one more climb.

I started the long nail-biting glide towards the Fitchburg airport.  The landing options along the way were not enticing and neither was the sky overhead.  I knew my day was done, now the only question was would I make it to the airport?  I had a neutral glide and arrived with enough of altitude to enter a left-hand pattern half-way down the runway.  A pilot taxied out and took off as I was turning onto final, so I shifted my approach to the north, flew along the taxi-way, and landed next to the wind sock.

I chatted with several pilots and airport personnel as I leisurely packed up, thrilled with afternoon I just had.  I watched students practicing touch-and-gos, including someone in a Stearman.

I waited in front of the terminal building while JJ fetched the truck (after landing with Amy, Brooks, Keith, and PK in the valley below Mount Greylock), picked up Randy and Peter along the Deerfield river, and then came to get me.

I talked with John Z as I waited.  He had a nice flight from Morningside to the fairgrounds in Deerfield NH and was also grounded by overdevelopment.

This flight was a real treat.  Its getting difficult for me to find unexplored places in New England to fly over, but aside from the launch, every part of this flight was new to me.  It's also sweet flying directly back along the way we drove to launch, dramatically shortening my usual multi-hour drive home.  The only bitter-sweet aspect of this flight is that I landed 11 miles (18 km) from home; one more climb and I could have landed in my back yard.

Flights: 1, Duration: 3:45, Distance: 67.7 miles

Social Sledder

The valley was smothered in fog as I looked beyond the cliff edge when I woke up in my tent at Morningside Saturday morning two weeks ago.  I wasn't too upset; it gave me an excuse to sleep a little longer after hiking into Ascutney and drinking a few beers around the camp fire the previous night.  A check of the weather on my phone later didn't motivate either; stable with light winds.

After a leisurely shower, a few rambling conversations with student pilots, a long breakfast with Peter and Rodger at Dusty's, I was finally forced to decide what I wanted to do for the day.  Rodger decided to race home and take his daughter for a flight in an ultralight.  I decided to drive further away from home to West Rutland so I could socialize with the paraglider pilots heading there.  I told Peter and PK I was going for a "social sledder".

As expected a good crowd had gathered on launch.  It was good catching up with everyone as we waited for someone to "dive off" and convince us we were wrong about the day.  Dan was the first to launch and fought a slow, but losing, battle to the LZ below.  The fact he maintained over the LZ for awhile was encouraging.  Keith didn't want to wait and was the second to launch.

A few minutes later, Keith was climbing above launch from far below.  Yahoo!

Launch was busy for the next half-hour as hang glider and paraglider pilots ran off into the air.  Surprisingly, at least to me, everyone was staying up.  My turn came and I ran off into a nice easy climb along, and then over, the ridge to the west.

I had a good time flying with everyone; weaving around, above, below, and between my fellow pilots.  PK and I talked about going XC, but the uninspiring sky and a lack of drivers kept us local.  (Remember, I was counting on a sledder.)  Since we were not going anywhere far, I had to find something challenging to do.  I decided to fly upwind into and beyond the upper bowl across the valley.  (The bowl is beyond the peak behind and to the right of glider in the picture above.)

I followed John in his ATOS but stopped for a rowdy lee-side thermal before pushing on.  The view of peaks to the south was refreshingly unfamiliar.

I played in the surprisingly rough air but still managed to snap a picture of the south facing cliff of the tallest peak and of the view across the valley towards launch before returning to the ridge.

Looking towards launch

I zoomed around the ridge with a "late" crew and made another trip across the valley to verify it was indeed still rowdy over there.  ;-)  PK and I flew awhile with Dan (on his second flight) and George before they headed to the LZ.

Dying thermals gave way to a pleasant wonder-wind which West Rutland is well known for.  Finally there were only three of us in the air, soaking up what the lazy evening was offering.

All three of us left a still-soarable ridge and headed to the LZ satisfied, at least for the day.

I started breaking down while PK snagged a ride to launch with Bo to fetch his truck.  I chatted with Amy, Dan, and George while I packed my glider and then started working on PK's when he didn't return.   He was late getting back down since he helped several pilots launch into soarable air at 7PM!  Hardly a day for a "social sledder".

Flights: 1, Duration: 3:40

Too Much of a Good Thing

A couple weeks ago, I tossed the camping gear into the Subaru for a weekend of flying in northern New England.  The first stop was Mount Ascutney.  The weather looked good, but not great.  You have to expect that in mid-August.  The regulars Jake, JJ, Peter, PK, Rodger, and Ryan were there as well as Greg, who wanted to check-out the launch on his way home from vacationing in Maine.

The wind was light and clouds anemic as we rigged.  I finally decided to go when the clouds starting filling in and birds started soaring a bit.  JJ decided to go at the same time and launched first despite recommendations from other pilots to "wait awhile".  He slowly floated above launch height much to everyone's surprise and delight.  Soon we were bobbing around enjoying the extremely smooth weak lift.

From right, Peter, Jake, and the next pilot to launch

Peter

Although the clouds continued to build and the air was buoyant, everyone except PK wondered at some point if their flight was ending.

Rodger pulled off a nice save while the rest of us continued circling like sharks around the top looking for our ride out.

Rodger is the little white dot in the lower left

I finally found the escape hatch behind launch.  I spun up in a tight little core that PK couldn't sink his teeth into, even though in came in over me.  I climbed to cloud base where I found smooth weak widespread lift.  I could fly just about anywhere I wanted.

I kept flying back upwind waiting for my buddies to climb up and join me before heading south along the Connecticut river.

My buddies are the dots near the lower center of the picture

After 3 or 4 return trips I started "pressuring" PK and others to take off even though they were not as high as me because it was quickly overdeveloping.  PK finally cut loose and we started heading south.

We had a buoyant glide south, but it was apparent that the clouds had overdeveloped and no sun was reaching the ground.  Although we were not sinking much, we couldn't find any climbs.

We both did our best to stay airborne hoping the clouds would dissipate allowing the sun to restart our thermal engine.  I found one pathetic climb south of Claremont NH, but despite our best efforts we very slowly settled onto the airstrip at Morningside.

PK banked up over the airstrip to the left

The rest of the pilots landed at the mountain roughly at the same time we did.  Although I didn't fly far or for very long I will remember this flight for the exceptionally smooth and gentle air.

We shared flying stories over dinner in town and later around the camp fire at Morningside.  I pitched my tent on a rock outcropping near the lower launch and watched the stars twinkle overhead as I wondered what tomorrow would bring.

Flights: 1, Duration: 1:40, Distance, 9.8 miles

Morningside Lives On

Morningside is open again!  The new owners, Kitty Hawk Kites, finalized the purchase on Friday and opened for business on Saturday.  (Impressive!)  Many local pilots, myself included, showed up to meet and welcome the new owners.

The website for Morningside, A Kitty Hawk Kites Flight Park, describes the services they offer.  They also posted a news blurb about opening day with many pictures.  Most of us were impressed with the new crew and I personally look forward to a long and rewarding relationship with my old new "home flight park".

After a lot of socializing, I decided to aero-tow given the total lack of wind and signs of lift.  Rodger started the parade of soaring pilots around 2pm.  Rhett towed PK, Al, and Nick up before dragging me into a weak climb to the north of the field.  I spent the rest of the afternoon soaring in abundant but weak blue thermals that dissipated around 3400 feet (1036m).

Morningside

All types of gliders from single surface floaters, to blade wings, to rigids, to sailplanes played around in the mellow air.  We watched a couple A-10s fly far below us as well as numerous small planes headed for the Claremont airport.

Randy with Rhett towing in the background

Nick

Sailplane and Claremont airport at the top of the picture

PK

Rhett

Meanwhile Greg and Jeff launched from Mount Ascutney and were flying at cloud base around 6500 feet (1900 m) further to the west over the higher terrain.  PK and I unsuccessfully tried several times to get into the better thermals, but never had enough altitude to cross over the ridge line on the other side of the river valley.  I would return each time with just enough altitude to snag another thermal from the tree tops and start the slow climb again.

Clouds out of reach

On one return trip, I soared over the 450 foot (137 m) launch at Morningside with Randy and Rodger before Randy and I dug into a good climb that finally took us over 4500 feet (1370 m).  I momentarily thought about gliding south to see how far I could get, but decided to float off my altitude and land at the bullseye and socialize more.

Randy, Rodger, and I stopped for Thai food and ice cream in Keene NH on the way home.  The world seemed a little more "normal" now that gliders were flying at Morningside once again.

Flights: 1, Duration: 2:45

Around the Mountain

Jake, Peter J, Rodger, and I started the weekend early with flights from Mount Ascutney on Friday afternoon.  Conflicting weather forecasts and the possibility of sled rides or not launching at all probably kept everyone else away.  The forecasts ranged from very little lift to serious overdevelopment and from light northwest winds to strong north winds.  The wind forecast concerned me most since the launch on Mount Ascutney faces northwest and a strong north wind makes launching a challenge.  Ryan volunteered to pick us up if we could escape from the mountain.

After surviving the hike into launch we were greeted with a promising, but unusual sky.  There were cumulus clouds but instead forming the usual round tops they were spreading out over large areas after hitting an inversion around 10000 feet (3050 m).  This produced a sky filled with widely scattered "cloud platters on cumulus pedestals".

Jake volunteered to go first.  He waited for a break in the north cross and punched into the air with his usual great launch.  I scrambled up the rock to quickly join him but the wind was blowing directly across launch.  While I waited for my opening, Jake flew down across the northwest face to the ski area that faces north.  He searched for lift getting quite low before finding a weak climb.  I lost track of him while I waited for my invitation from the launch gods.  I asked where Jake was when the wind appeared to be switching in my favor and was told he was over the LZ.  What?  Crap.

I finally got a light northwest cycle and ran into the air.  Like Jake before me, I flew down across the northwest face encountering mechanical turbulence, but nothing worth turning in.  I continued on across the north facing ski area.  Again, nothing.  With my LZ getting dangerously far away, I pushed on around into the northeast bowl.  I decided to ignore the useable but unfriendly fields below as I kept going.  I finally stumbled into a stream of warm air rising up the far side of the northeast face and started a slow climb.  I radioed I was climbing, but Peter and Rodger were not impressed and stayed put.

I was very happy when I could see the top of the ski lift and then the top of the mountain.  I relayed my climb rate and position to Peter, who was waiting for his own invitation from the wind gods on launch.  I slowly playing in thermals flowing up the northeast bowl.  I watched Peter launch and find a climb on the northwest side before hopping over the top of the ski area to the northeast bowl.

We watched Rodger sit on launch as we climbed to base as one of the large cloud complexes formed overhead.

While Rodger, and later Dan, sledded, we had a sweet joy ride at or above cloud base on our way south to Springfield.

I flew out ahead to mark a climb near the Springfield airport.  (My glider has a much better glide than Peter's so I took the risks hunting for climbs).

I had a tough decision to make after topping out with Peter near Springfield.  The best clouds were further to the west where the LZs were further apart and Peter would be at a disadvantage with his glider.  Instead of diving over the higher ground, we shifted east towards the wispy clouds along the Connecticut River valley and its plentiful LZs.  We found a couple thermal-wanna-bes but nothing substantial.  I pushed on towards Bellows Falls towards an aging complex that offered up one more climb.  Peter was too low to reach my climb and landed along the river in a huge mowed hay field.  I climbed to around 5000 feet and started a long smooth glide to Putney.

Aside from the small helicopter that was crossing the southern end of my chosen LZ, I had a landing fit for a Vermont travel brochure.  I banked over the Connecticut River, flew along the edge of a verdant corn field, flew a long final beside a railroad track and landed in still air at the entrance to a recently mowed alfalfa field across from a red barn with a white silo.

I had pleasant conversations with several neighbors and admired the wild flowers while I waited for Ryan.

Jake, Peter, Rodger, Ryan, and I enjoyed dinner at a typically atypical Vermont eatery.  A Mexican - clam shack combo that featured live contemporary acoustic music on a summer evening.

Pilots remember flights for the quantity, (height, distance, or time), some outstanding event, or for the quality.  This flight definitely fits into the last category.  Going "all in" to snag the first climb and avoiding the ground, being rewarded with a dreamy flight along cloud base, a long smooth glide over towns and farms, a near perfect landing in a post card setting, and a fun funky dinner filled with flying stories makes this flight a "keeper".

Flights: 1, Duration: 1:55, Distance: 29.8 miles