Green

I took a break from paragliding lessons and made the short trip to Tanner-Hiller airport and Hang Glide New England in central Massachusetts.

A fun group showed up to soak-in the last days of summer.  The early birds had satisfying flights but the later group was having trouble staying airborne in spite of the great looking sky.

I followed Rhett in the green tug down the runway and into the air.

I soaked in the green all around me knowing that in a month it would red and yellow; and after that brown, grey, and then white.

I enjoy the tow behind Rhett and this was no exception.  We climbed under a welcoming sky with the Quabbin Reservoir as the backdrop.

It was soon time to release and find my own climb.

Thanks to the tall tow, I was circling in spotty lift soon after.  I jumped from cloud to cloud like a kid skipping through puddles.

It was all so easy until it wasn't.  I missed a couple climbs and then had to make a long glide back to the field.  I arrived as Rhett was bringing another pilot to the playground.

I dabbled around in broken lift but eventually wandered back to the field for the expected landing.

Luckily, I stumbled into a climb right over the runway and slowly climbed and drifted away to the southwest.

The thermal faded before I reached base.  I flew around the field looking for my next salvation but either it wasn't there or it was hiding quite well.

Rhett waited, ready to go, while I flew in over him to land mid-field.  I quickly jogged off the field and they took as I walked back to the staging area.

Summer is too short in these parts and I was glad to squeeze in another day before the stable cool air of autumn rolled in.

Flights: 1, Duration: 1:11

Overdone

A small crew gathered at Morningside for some afternoon aero-towing.  It looked promising until a short-wave passed over us and the sky bubbled and then shaded over with too much moisture.  Eric towed me into a safe, but quickly shading, sky.

I wasn't sure what I would find.  I locked into a weak, but steady, climb and settled into for slow ride up.

The entire area was shaded but I found weak widespread lift near cloud base.

Nothing but a big blue hole waited for me downwind to the south.

Shading loomed to the east and west.

So I glided back upwind to the north, passing through large areas of minimal sink.

I searched most of the valley, but was soon heading back to the airstrip when I crossed over Eric towing another pilot up.

I glided off my altitude around the field and chased my shadow to the ground.

I patched a few clips from the flight into a short video,

Flights: 1, Duration: 0:48

Traffic

A pleasant light easterly day on a Sunday ensured a crowd would amass at the top of Mount Greylock in western Massachusetts.  Although a retreating cloud deck retarded thermal development, I encouraged Max to launch early to avoid the growing throng of pilots that would soon run from the ground into the sky.  It was barely soarable, but any mistake or passing cloud put the early birds on the ground.  Even so, it was better to take chances with the weak lift than wait for the hoard.

I queued behind Steve on launch and then waited as Steve and another pilot barely kept afloat in front.  As Steve started climbing I ran into the air.  A few other paraglider pilots quickly launched and we climbed about a 1000 feet (300m) over in smooth weak thermals.

I got lazy and found myself tangled again in the growing fur-ball in front of launch before climbing up and away again into the open sky.

The sky in front looked good so I glided a long way into the valley before turning back empty-handed with my tail between my legs.  I arrived at the bottom of the pack and spent the rest of the flight dodging gliders.

I usually enjoy flying close to other pilots, but the density and lack of piloting experience was starting to get scarily dangerous at times.  I was continually going from one avoidance maneuver to the next.  I finally decided to leave the mountain even though I was low.  As feared, I slowly sank out and headed to the LZ.

The smarter pilots waited for all the novice pilots to launch and crowd themselves out of the air before launching into stronger, and less chaotic, conditions.   Those patient pilots enjoyed an afternoon at cloud base.  Meanwhile I helped shuttle cars and spent the afternoon catching up with friends.

Here is some video footage from the flight,

JJ wrote about the day on his blog "Another Fine Day in the Clever Sky".

Flights: 1, Duration: 0:53

Double Treat

Lee Minardi, Peter Judge, and I aero-towed at Morningside Flight Park today.

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

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