East Coast Championships (Day 1)

I woke this morning to sound of distant thunder.  I thought about breaking down my glider, but decided it was probably already too late.  Luckily the storm only produced a weak gust front and moderate rain.  Several of us early risers drove out for breakfast and were greeted with sunshine when we stepped outside about an hour later.

We were given a short task since cloud base was predicted to be low, lift weak, and the wind blowing a bit.  I wanted to launch early to avoid the possibility of a sea breeze washing away any weak lift the soggy ground was producing.  I never really got a chance to sample the air since I was abnormally high on the tug immediately after launch.  I tried to get down, but just could not.  I released because I was afraid of pulling the tug's tail off the ground and forcing its nose into the ground.  (I later talked to the tug pilot and he thought he was towing too fast.)

After relaxing a bit and watching most other pilots sink out I suited up for another go.  I was dropped off near Davis and we slowly started climbing.  A small gaggle formed as we drifted away from the field.  We were got low near the start circle after our first glide.  We lost two pilots and I almost landed getting down to 550 feet (167 m).  However, I found a slow climb and made it all the way to 2700 feet (822 m); the high point of the flight.  Davis, Larry, and Paris left me behind, but I soon noticed all three struggling and then watched Davis and Larry land.  Paris had a slow climb drifting to the east away from course line.  I decided to stick to the course line even if it meant flying into the blue.  I had a another weak climb, drifted a bit, then had a rowdy landing at a nice farm with a huge corn field.

Paris managed to get back on course line and won the day.  Rodger won the sport class for the day.  The scores are available online.

Flights: 2, Time: 1:41, Distance: 13 miles

East Coast Championships (Day 0)

I had a quick and easy drive from Massachusetts to Highland Aerosports in Ridgely Maryland.  I left around 6:15, shot through New York City like a greased pig, dodged patrolmen, stopped to load up on groceries and still managed to arrive before 12:00.

Brian, Charlie, John C, Steve, and Rodger greeted me as I threw up my tent.  Although I was late, Charlie and Paris suggested I join in on the informal crosswind task for the day.  Pilots were already towing by the time I started rigging.  My paced slowed as I noticed everyone was essentially towing and then quickly landing.  A few pilots finally managed to hang on in the increasing wind but when several pilots in a row snapped weak links down low, I decided it just wasn't worth it.  A short time later I got a call from Rodger requesting a pick-up.  Brian, John, and I hopped into Rodger's car for a 15 mile joy ride across state lines.  Everyone else landed back at the field.

Most of the usual culprits are here, including Linda who looks quite well and is using her arm much more than I was at this point after my break.

Looks like I'll be riding with Charlie and Jack with David as our driver.

Rain is predicted for tomorrow morning, but it is supposed to dry out by afternoon.

Rough Trail

I decided not to fly on Monday mostly because I thought it was going to be blown out at Ascutney in central Vermont or a combination of too cross and strong at the Mohawk Trail in western Massachusetts.  So Amy and I biked into our small town for the annual Memorial Day parade while pilots headed for the Mohawk Trail.  After the parade I noticed there was little wind; which was much different than forecasted.  Once back home I saw the updated forecast was calling for less wind with a better direction at the Mohawk Trail.  A quick call to John B confirmed he was also having second thoughts so we decided to give it a shot despite our late start.

We arrived at a launch packed with gliders still on the ground despite the good looking conditions.  Apparently it was gusty earlier but improving.  Brooks suited up and took his new Sensor for its maiden flight.  I weaved my glider through the maze of Dacron to Brooks' former spot and started tossing battens into the sail.

The gusts were increasing as Peter J took off and cruised around launch.  He started climbing well as we spotted Brooks near cloud base heading across the valley.  Jeff C was up next and waited for a mellow cycle which showed up just as Peter was sinking.  Peter recommended that Jeff stay on the ground until the sinking air had passed.  Peter gave the word and Jeff launched.  Rodger stepped onto launch as we watched Jeff slowly sink out into the unforgiving bailout LZ below.  Jeff got worked over on approach and that put the brakes on everyone's desire to launch.  The building gust cycles and increasingly cross wind weren't helping either.  Eventually Rodger backed off launch, Gary drove down to fetch Jeff, and we watched Peter and Brooks get banged around on their approaches further down the valley much later.

We waited for the day to die back a bit which it seemed to do around 4:30 PM. Art launched and I followed.  Art joked earlier that I would be looking down on him but he was wrong.  He climbed and headed down the ridge even before I launched.  I chased after him along the ridge but gave up when a nasty thermal slapped my side wires and then threw me towards the ridge.  After some more thrashing I realized the moderately strong wind was blowing almost 90 degrees across the ridge, shredding the thermals into rolling parcels of "whoop ass".

It wasn't pleasant but there were tolerable spots such as circling up in thermals above the ridge.  I watched each pilot launch, make a few passes in front of launch, and then quickly dart down the ridge to avoid landing in the bailout LZ and suffer Jeff's fate!

John got on the radio and announced he wasn't having fun.  I wasn't either, but I surely didn't want to land in this stuff.  John decided he had enough and was going to land in the biggest field in the valley.  He was tossed about and got trashed on approach.  That was enough encouragement for me to stay airborne and hope an evening glass-off would smooth things out before I had to land.

The air did mellow enough for Brian, Doug, and I to explore the ridge line as we slowly plowed upwind between climbs.  Doug eventually headed out to the mini-golf course to land and Brian headed towards John's mega-field a short time later.  John commented that the tree tops were not shaking around as much but quickly appended amended his evaluation as Brian practiced full-body weight-shift control on final approach.  That was enough to convince me to take another climb!

I noticed the wind lines on the lakes were less pronounced as the valley fell into the shadow of Mount Greylock.  I also noticed widespread lift as the valley started to lift off as the katabatic flow on the shaded side pushed the warmer air up on the sunny side.  It was time to land.  I found some slightly sinking air on the shaded side of the valley and had an uneventful landing in the same field as Brian and John.

I had just moved my glider out of the hayfield when we spotted someone walking our way.  I greeted the person who identified himself as the owner.  I apologized for landing in the knee-high hayfield.  He stated it was going to "cost me" a hundred dollars.  I apologized again.  He said not to feel bad because he was going to get his money.  Gulp.  He then cracked a smile and asked if he had me worried.  Dang straight he did.  We all shared a good laugh at my expense.  John, the owner, talked with Gary, John B, and Brian as I packed up.  Rodger stopped by and said he and Art landed a few miles down the ridge.  The folks that farm the property also stopped by to check on everyone as I was finishing up.  We said goodbye and loaded up.  Gary was kind enough to shuttle us back to our vehicles before joining us for dinner at the pub in town.

Flights: 1, Duration: 2:20, Distance: 5 miles

Spring in New England

Although it was misty and cloudy at home in Massachusetts, the forecast for the mountains to the north and west was good enough to post a message to see if anyone else wanted to play.  The forecast for Mount Ascutney to the northwest was the best with moderate northwest winds and reasonable lift.  Since I am one of the few pilots entrusted with the keys to the park for off-season flying, access would not be a problem but getting my truck driven down would be.  The other options were the Mohawk Trail to the west with weaker lift and lower cloud bases or West Rutland with a challenging wind direction.  Most of the usual fliers and their drivers were staying home after flying in great conditions on Monday and Wednesday.  It was easy to convince Peter J to go no matter where we flew.  However John B was in only if we flew at Mount Ascutney.

Peter showed up even before I was packed to go!  John showed up a short time later assuming things would somehow work out.  After exhausting our complete list of possible drivers and beginning our drive to the Mohawk Trail, I got a call from Dan who needed access to Mount Ascutney.  He could get my truck driven back down if I could chaperon him, Ed and Doug.  No problem.  Its cool when things magically fall into place.

We got to the mountain later than usual but still took time to spot Dan's car on the other side of the mountain in case we didn't get up.  At the parking lot on top it was apparent the winds were not as forecasted.  The winds were southwest instead of northwest and a bit stronger.  We weighed our options and decided to hike our packs in and check the conditions on launch.  Yep, about 90 degrees cross but there were some launch-able cycles mixed in.  After more debate, hand wringing, and the prediction of northwesterly winds later in the day, we hiked 0.8 km (0.5) back out to get our gliders.

By the time we returned with our gliders the launch-able cycles were more frequent and longer lasting.  We made the right decision.  (If we had made the wrong decision it would have meant a long de-moralizing hike back out with our equipment.)  We rigged, thanked Jim N and Louie in advance for driving our vehicles back down, and settled on a launch order.  We decided to launch an advanced rated pilot first (Peter) and then the 3 intermediate pilots (Ed, Dan, and Doug), with the 2 remaining advanced pilots (John and I) assisting the intermediates on launch and then launching last.

Peter had a good launch and immediately started climbing.  He was soon climbing away at 5 m/s (1000 fpm) and telling everyone to dress warmly.  I was eager to go before a large blanket of thick cirrus would return and put out the newly ignited thermals.  Ed, Doug, and Dan launched and quickly climbed above launch.  John graciously allowed me to go next.  (I wanted an experience pilot on my upwind wing since this was my first foot launch for the season and the first time I launched my T2C with its larger control frame.)  Launch went well and I was soon climbing away at 2 m/s (400 fpm) over the shaded mountain.  Although I didn't have the express ride Peter had, I did climb to over 2400 m (8100 feet).  I watched Dan and Doug glide away on their first XC flights from Ascutney to Morningside.  (All 3 landed at Morningside and got their ceremonial dunking in the pond to commemorate their achievement. Congratulations!)

Since I launching late (4:00 PM), the sky was being smothered by cirrus, and I didn't have a driver I was initially hesitant to fly east, but its hard to stay put when you're that high.  I floated around Claremont until John caught up and we headed out.

We found abundant weak lift under dying clouds but nothing solid.  I flew southeast and got a great view of the wind turbines in Lempster.  Instead of diving into the ridge south of Mount Sunapee, we took a conservative route east of Newport.  Of course, we ended up back at Mount Sunapee lower than if we had just dove across in the first place!  However, it was fun playing in the weak 0.5 m/s (100 fpm) lift.  I pointed out suitable LZs south of Mount Sunapee to John as I stumbled into a nice lee-side climb to over 1800 m (6000 ft).

I went on a long glide over the trees south of Bradford.  I wasn't sure I had Henniker on glide but saw a cleared hill top that would do for LZ if I encountered sink.  Instead of sink, I got another lazy climb over the cleared hill top and easily glided into Henniker at 1500 m (5000 ft).  At that point it was almost 7:00 PM, the thick cirrus made it seem even later, and John had radioed he was landing back at Bradford.  Instead of gliding on towards Concord, I whipped out the camera and did some sightseeing.  I flew over the ski area and over the covered bridge in town.

I watched two tractors plowing and disking a field as two kayakers floating down the nearby river.  (You can see both in the picture).  After playing around some more I flew along the river on my downwind leg and called out to the kayakers below.  I could see them looking around for "the voice" but wonder if they eventually saw me as I flew beyond them.

I landed at a nice airfield with a paved runway facing directly into the wind.  I don't usually land on pavement, but the orientation of the runway and the sloping field on either side made it the reasonable choice.  I was immediately greeted by three children and their dog.  I chatted with them as I walked back to the mowed yard around the hanger and continued answering a thousand questions as I broke down.  I showed them airborne pictures of their town and neighborhood, let them poke around the glider, and play with my heat packs.

Peter, who landed at Morningside, was gathering up downed pilots on the way home in my truck.  He and John got to me just as it was getting dark.  We stopped at a brew-pub in Nashua for some good food and drink and caught a couple tunes from live band.  It wasn't a typical day or an epic day but a very enjoyable and rewarding day just the same.  It was good to be back home.

Flights: 1, Time: 2:41, Distance: 38.7 miles

Flytec Rally (Day 7)

It took a few extra minutes to limber up when I crawled out of the tent on the last day of the Flytec Rally.  Two weeks of flying was starting to show with stiff muscles and harness blisters.  After a leisurely breakfast in the shade with Bill and Patrick I walked over to help with a photo-shoot.  Dustin, Jeff S, Jeff O, and Johnny were going to do some formation flying with Bobby running the helmet cam.  I wound up Rhett as he towed Jeff S and Johnny up at the same time.  I made sure I ran to the outside as Bobby was following right behind them as they rolled (ran) out.

The task for the day was a 87 mile (140 km) out-and-back to a turn point called "Shady" to the northwest just south of Ocala.  Although many pilots worried about the lack of clouds, I was more worried about the sea breeze blowing through.  Clouds started popping as the launch window opened so I jumped in as soon as pilots started drifting to their gliders.

Bobby dropped me in a good climb and I played at base for 30 minutes by myself.  Almost the entire field gathered in a climb to the northwest and we formed the first massive gaggle of the meet.  I didn't like the pseudo-in-control bobbing around so I headed back towards the field to find a saner place to wait.  It didn't take long for the gaggle to also head back so I just had to put up with the chaos until the second start time rolled over.

I knew it was going to be a long day so I wasn't upset to see the gaggle jump ahead without me.  I settled into a comfortable pace with Charlie and Patrick.  We caught the lead gaggle when we skipped a climb south of Leesburg.  After a couple good climbs we glided out into the blue south of Ocala.  Patrick and Charlie hit hard times as I continued pressing on with a smaller and smaller group.  Mike and I rounded the turn point together but Mike missed a climb I found a few miles later.  Kevin joined in for a climb before we started a long glide south.  Kevin had a better line to the east as I tried to stay on or upwind (west) of the course line.  I found a little climb that allowed me enough altitude to join Kevin, Jeff S, Glen, and Zak at Leesburg.  The climbs in the sea breeze were now weak and topping out around 3000 feet (900 m).  I found most of the climbs but the group help everyone get the most of the weak thermals.

I got a jump on the group and headed out towards goal needing another 500 - 600 feet (150 - 180 m).  I decided I didn't want to cross the town of Groveland low in a sea breeze so I back tracked about 1/2 mile (0.8 km) to Zak when he started turning.  I came in too low to get his climb and landed in a pasture alongside a lake.  I was surprised to find the field was lined with sprinkler pipes spaced just far enough apart to allow me to land between them.  It was a bit more drama than I needed.

After some more quality time with cows and a very inquisitive Black Angus bull the land owner showed up.  She was a bit unhappy to see me but was friendly and allowed Bill and Patrick to pull the van up to the gate.  I was 3.7 miles (6 km) short.  Kevin landed about the same distance out as I did, Zak was 1 km short while Jeff and Glen got a climb over my head and made it in.

We had drinks and dinner at Quest Air while the scores were tabulated.  The awards ceremony was informal but fun.  Ollie won the rigid class and Glen narrowly beat Zak for the flex wing class.  All the scores are available online.  The partying lasted well into the night and even included cross dressing.  ;-)

I hit the road around 6:30 the next morning.  The driving was uneventful except for a traffic jam around Fredericksburg Virginia that nixed any plans of driving the entire distance in one day.  I grabbed some sleep north of Baltimore Maryland, took some pictures of the New York City skyline, and was home in time to chat with Jeff B in the air as he was flying from Mount Ascutney to somewhere near the New Hampshire coast line.

I had many good flights during my "spring training" in Florida.  I racked up 26 flights, 70.5 hours of air time, and 922.6 miles.  Now I turn my attention to work and flying the green hills and mountains of New England.

Flights: 1, Time: 5:33, Distance: 83 miles