Friday, October 31, 2008

High Rock October 30, 2008

High Rock was awesome yesterday. I got hung up at work and didn't get out there until about 2:00. I saw Carlos above the ridge as I was driving up and Matthew, Karen and Steve ready to go when I arrived. They all launched and then Eddie and I set up. After they flew for a while, Karen, Carlos and Steve landed and came back up to help launch Eddie and me. I stepped onto the block and launched last into smooth air at about 4:00. The colors were beautiful, I shared a thermal with Matthew and Eddie and got a lot of practice thermalling. Most of them I would lose at about 700' over but I did catch one that got me to 1,100' over. I played around over the rock and waved back to the spectators when they waved. After just over 1:20 in the air I touched down with a nice flare for a no-stepper. We packed it in and headed to the brew pub for a good dinner and some microbrews. I got lots of pictures and some video - hope you enjoy!
The video: http://www.vimeo.com/2115264

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Backlogging - October 19, 2008 - The Sac

I had my first flight at the Sac in Sacramento, PA today. I drove out about 3 hours to get there with very good soaring potential in the forecast. It was blowing straight in at about 10 when I got there and met Bacil but by the time I launched it had backed down to 2-5, maybe. The falls colors were quite nice. My launch was good and I flew clean out of the slot. I hit some very small bumps and immediately starting to sink out so I made my turn for the LZ. The LZ at the Sac is very small and technical. It is very wide but very short lengthwise. It's also set on the middle of a pretty steep uphill slope. The slope actually helps deal with the lack of length but it makes judging your altitude on the different phases of approach very difficult. When I was headed out from the ridge I ran right into a strong thermal. I could have turned in it and tried to climb but I didn't feel comfortable. Joe Gorrie had told me that a thermal he had caught earlier had scared him a little because it was quite strong. So I decided to stick to my flight plan and just go on out to the LZ. When I got out over the orchards I encountered some pretty serious sink. It was pretty steady down at 200fpm with pops of 3-400 fpm down. With that happening and the uphill slope of the LZ and surrounding land, it appeared that I was sinking very fast! So I turned onto my downwind leg, rolled out of it and right into my turn onto final. Because of the slope, there is also a significant wind gradient near the ground so I pulled in for speed, rounded out and nailed my flare for a no-step landing. There is nothing like a sweet landing!
I'm kind of bummed that I didn't get to soar, again. But fall is here and we should be getting a lot more NW days.
http://www.vimeo.com/2015339

Backlogging - September 9, 2008 - First Flight at The Pulpit

I got my first flight at the Pulpit yesterday. I had to go by work for a couple hours in the morning so I was late on the clean-up effort but it looks great! It was my 25th mountain launch and the fifth site that I've flown now and I only got a sledder but it was still a milestone for me. When I started training last year this was the first mountain launch that John M showed me. So the Pulpit became my goal and while I've flown 4 other mountains a bunch of times, this one was special. Now I've finally flown all of the "big three" mountain sites in our area - Woodstock, the Pulpit, and High Rock. The wind was actually quite light when I launched. It was crossing a little bit from the left and I waited for a straight in cycle but it was only a few mph. When I got up to launch and it was light, I decided that unless I went straight up, I was going to head right out to land. So I ran all the way down the ramp for a good launch, didn't really try to work the tiny bumps that I was feeling, and headed out to the secondary. I did run into a few bumps on the way out that a better pilot could have probably worked but I'll have plenty of opportunities to soar there and wanted to have lots of altitude to set up my approach.When I got over the LZ, Bacil gave me the signal on which approach to make. I had it all visualized in my head and did my best to make it happen. Well, I think it worked out pretty good. I'm extremely happy to have finally flown there. Like I said, it was just a sled ride but it was big for me. Thank you sooo much Shawn and Cragin for walking the fields with me a perfectly describing the approach patterns and also Bacil for the LZ signal. I couldn't have asked for more. I was especially happy to get my first one there before the fly-in.Of course, Cragin taught us that patience is a virtue. He waited, conditions improved big time, and he had a nice soaring flight later in the day. Here's the short video of my flight - http://www.vimeo.com/1687348

Backlogging - September 2, 2008 - Labor Day Weekend at Hyner View

Hyner was lots of fun as usual and if you haven't given yourself a half an hour sometime after dark on a clear night to stargaze from launch, you are really missing out. The air is so clean, the stars are simply incredible. Cragin and I were even treated to a shooting star just before we left after retreiving his truck. Well, I was one of the lucky 7 to do the cloud dive one Monday and also one of 4 the morning before. Cloud dives 2 days in a row. Sweet! I only got video of the first one though but I got 4 flights in altogether. I'm satisfied. It was great to see so many familiar faces up there - John M, Cragin, Shawn, Bacil, Bob, David C, Brian VH, many more, great flying with you guys - and it was a great turnout overall. Shoulda been there!http://www.vimeo.com/1648480

Backlogging - August 17, 2008 - Evening Magic at High Rock

Yesterday was such a nice day. I talked to Kelvin in the morning and headed out to High Rock arriving around 12:30. There were 5 or 6 gliders already set up when I got there, including Kelvin so I set up quick. But conditions were light so there was actually no rush necessary. I watched Bob launch and stay up, at least for a little while and conditions were getting better which was encouraging. Finally, when things were looking good, I wire crewed for a few pilots and then went and got ready. I got up onto launch and waited a few minutes for a decent cycle. Well, I didn't wait long enough because the cycle that I picked was weak and I sank fast. My launch, approach and landing were fine and I had the breakdown area to myself as the sky was filled with gliders. We hadn't brought any vehicles down to the LZ so we would be hiking up. And I took my time breaking down my glider. I must say, it's no fun when your neck is sore after your first flight because you sled and spend the next 2 hours alone in the LZ with your head craned back watching everyone play with the clouds. I watched Janni share a thermal with a sailplane (Danny B). I watched Mark go on his upwind task. Kelvin and Carlos even teased me by coming out to the LZ and pretending like they were going to come give me some company only to hook a thermal and sky out once again. I think I even heard them laughing as they went up. Eventually a few pilots did land only because they were tired and cold. After much ado about how difficult it was to get down (what are you talking about?! It was easy!) it was time to set out on our trek up the mountain. Kelvin, Carlos, Pete and I hiked up, got our cars and went back down to the LZ. Not too long after we got down there we all realized that it had gone magic and if I could get up, then everyone would have soared. I had honestly already accepted defeat for the day - Kelvin had offered to throw me off again a little earlier and I had declined - but I changed my mind because of the prime conditions and I didn't really want to end the day on that note. When Cragin got back down he agreed to go back up and throw me off so Mark, Carlos, Cragin and I went back up. Daylight was running short and the guys helped me get set up in a flash- thank you! It had backed off a little by the time I was up there but I still found a good cycle to launch into. I turned LEFT and up I went. The beeping from my vario was so steady I could have used it as a metronome. I played around at 3-400' over for about 30 minutes in the smoothest air I've been in yet. About mid flight I was flying with a gaggle of 6 vultures. They were about 200' below and off to the right a little but I thought it was really cool that our speeds and direction were identical. We paralleled each other until I turned back up the ridge. When the sun began to fall below the horizon I headed out to the LZ and did a few big 360's. Cragin signaled to me from the LZ that it was calm in the field. I began my approach when the sun was three quaters gone which was good and I touched down as the last sliver of sun slipped away. I broke down as fast as I could but it was dark as we loaded my glider onto the rack. Man, what a day. After dinner at Cozy I got home and crashed but not before I put the video together. Thank you Kelvin and Cragin for throwing me off!!
The video : http://www.vimeo.com/1544488

Backlogging - July 25, 2008 - Playing Hookey to go Flying

Fun day at Woodstock yesterday. Despite the light conditions my observer graciously offered to take the day off and head out with me so we met in the LZ at 1:45 or so. Launched about 3:00 and kind of struggled to stay up but eventually got to about a grand over. That flight was about 35 minutes and I got to fly with lots of vultures and a few red tailed hawks, even caught one on film. I had a good approach and my landing was on my feet and I was happy. It wasn't that late so we headed back up for another. Launch conditions were nicer the second go 'round but after I launched, things really lightened up. The highest I could get was only a couple hundred over but I managed to stay up for about 45 minutes. Better approach the second flight and another foot landing. Total airtime: 1:20. I've now got over 5 hrs and I'm halfway to H3 airtime! Here's the video du jour: http://www.vimeo.com/1404420

Backlogging - July 7, 2008 - 4th of July Weekend at Hyner View

I considered not going because of the forecast but Hyner definitely makes its own weather. Lesson learned (the easy way). Olivia and I got up there around 4pm on Friday and stopped by the LZ just in time to see a couple pilots launch. We hung around for a few minutes to get an idea of what was going on down there and then we went straight up to launch. I got a nice evening sled ride - my first at Hyner. What a site! The fireworks that evening were very nice under a starry sky which was quite encouraging. However, the downpour that began at 3am and lasted until 8am was not encouraging at all. On top of that the forecast for the day was 5mph from the East. But given the fact that I flew the evening prior and the forecast was the same, we decided to go up to launch after breakfast. Despite the forecast, it was trickling in at 1-4 all day long, many pilots flew, and I got three more flights in - the last one being my first ramp launch. I am so glad I decided to go up there. Awesome people, awesome site. I was only able to stay a little more than 24 hours so I'll definitley be back soon. Thanks Brian for helping me out Friday, Shawn and the rest of the Hyner crew, and of course John M.Here's some video from the weekend: http://www.vimeo.com/1299376

Backlogging - June 17, 2008 - Soaring Woodstock

I hadn't even wiped the smile off my face from my first soaring flight on Sunday when my H-0 to H-2 instructor, also an observer, called last night. He asked if I wanted to play hookie and go to Woodstock today because it was lookin' real good. Actually, a bunch of pilots were heading out as long as the forecast held in the morning. Even though my shoulders and neck muscles were still sore from my flight on Sunday (I'm just not used to any flights over 10 minutes! Wish I was still surfing. ) how could I resist two soarable days so close together! This ain't SoCal! Well, the forecast held today and I was out of work by 12:00, and on the highway by 12:30. On the way out, the wind was gusting hard and blowing my car around. My usual thought of, 'nope, not flying today' came into my head. I swear I'm not a pessimist, I just like to be plesantly surprised. I met up with my observer and another even newer Hang2 in the LZ around 2:00. This was to be his second mountain launch and he would soar. Big congrats to him for getting an hour and 40 minutes and at least 2K over today. The wind was pretty strong up top while I was getting set up but there were nice, easier cycles that were very launchable so as soon as I was set up and preflighted, I hooked in and walked up to launch. I had 2 wire guys, the cycle was nice and Clear! I had a strong launch and cleared the slot quickly. Ding! Elevator up! Boy, was my vario singing. In no time, I was 500' over and climbing. In about 10 minutes I was 1,400' over and then the wind really picked up. I was in 400fpm lift and going up fast when I looked down. I was pointed straight out from the ridge and going backwards. Well, I didn't like that so I sped up and I was still going backwards though not as fast. Okay...I sped up more and this really only allowed me to stay put but I still wasn't going forward. Gotta admit, that's a little unnerving. But I was still out front and I remembered to try to get under the stronger lift band. I dove down a little bit and found very easily penetrable lift. This exact scenario was one of the essays I had to write for my Hang 2 and I was totally prepared for it! I thought for a second about landing after that but after flying in the good stuff for a few more minutes, I thought better of it. But I did decide to stay way out front and if I sank out, so be it. That turned out just fine for me because there was tons of lift well in front of the ridge. That's one thing about Woodstock - the lift band is huge. There was definitely a lot of thermal lift out there also, cummies everywhere. And lucky for me I was still able to get high. I spent most of the time boating around about 1,500' over and way out front. I flew with a very large raptor at 2,000' over launch. It wasn't a vulture, but I'm not sure what it was. There were lots of birds out today. The highest I got was 2,150' over and when I hit an hour in the air, I debated landing. See, there was 4 of us up and I didn't want to be the first to land and I was having fun but I was really sore still, I was in a pretty strong headwind, and it was certainly more active flying than it was on Sunday. I also saw some pretty developed clouds with pretty dark bases beginning their path across the valley. Add it all up and I decided I'd had enough. As I left the ridge and headed out to the valley, I was still climbing. God I wish it was this easy every day. I made it to the LZ at 1,500'AGL and got to have some fun burning altitude. Woohoo! My approach was fast, and I had another no-stepper right on the crest of the LZ. Sweet. I got 1 hour 11 minutes and 2,150' over today. I'm sure I could have done better but I really was sore. I think I need to work out...or fly more.

Backlogging - June 15, 2008 - The Flight I've Been Dreaming Of

Today, I flew. I mean I really flew. Pretty much every Thursday I start paying close attention to my local club's forum. There's not much activity during the week and that's when people start posting where they might be heading out to on Saturday and/or Sunday. It's also when I start calling observers. So when I saw that the Pulpit was the site choice I was excited and also disappointed. I've never flown the Pulpit and it's not the easiest Hang-2 site but I've got 8 mountain flights under my belt now. However, it's a ramp launch which I've never done. The primary LZ is not within a zero wind glide from launch and has very tall grass. The secondary LZ is an easy glide but the field is small and it has power lines, I would need an RLF sign off to land there. To slim my chances further, I had not yet really soared. Sure, I had stayed even with launch for a little while on a few flights but I had never gained above launch. Nevertheless, the forecast was very nice and it looked like it would be brain-dead soarable so there was a possibility that I could fly but I was not letting myself get too excited because I knew there was a large chance I wouldn't get to fly. I left NoVA around 11:00, weaved my way through the ever-present traffic (it's Father's Day fer cryin' out loud!) and got there about 1:00, just in time to see 6 or 7 seven gliders all set up and 6 or 7 pilots standing on the ramp, arms folded, scowly faced. I joined them on the ramp and saw that it was coming in 80 to 90 degress right cross. This was not what the forecast said! How could it ever be wrong?!?!?! There's no way I'm flying today. We stood there for a good 15 minutes and the right side of my face was actually starting to get cold. Damn, even the real pilots aren't gonna fly today. We all convened and the decision was made (like I had anything to do with it) to break down and go to High Rock, which is about 1.5 hrs away, I think. I wasn't really paying attention, just following. High Rock is another site that I had never flown and it happens to be a cliff launch, which I had never done. Still, the LZ is an easy glide from launch and had been freshly mowed so my chances of flying were certainly increased. The launch is about 1,000' above the LZ. When we got out there, my observer and I went down to the LZ, did the paperwork and walked the field. The field is a huge rectangle and wide open. The only trick today was that all of the freshly mowed hay was in large 4 foot tall bails all over the field. But there were definitely lanes all over the place that one could use and it wasn't unsafe. Besides, I've learned that coming in really fast is not only fun, but I also have much better control over where exactly I'm going to put my glider down. So, back on up to launch and I was starting to get excited. Like always, I set up my glider nice and easy, taking my time but not lollygagging. After I was set up and preflighted, I wire crewed for 3 pilots with my observer so that I could get a better idea of how exactly to launch there. It all made sense to me so after those 3 launched I went and got ready. As I walked up to launch, I was excited but confident and made the decision to head out and land if I didn't start gaining altitude immeadiately. After all, it wasn't that late and I could probably get another flight in. I set my glider down about one and a half steps away from the edge of the cliff and waited for a good cycle to come through. I had two pilots on my wires and we waited through real light stuff and then real strong stuff but at least it was all straight in. Wow, I thought, I might not fly today because there's no way I'm doing my first cliff launch in anything but very nice conditions. But as fate would have it, I would fly today. Things eased up a bit and a real nice cycle came through. I picked up, looked to my observer and said, Yeah? He said, Yeah! I said, Alright, CLEAR! And off I went. I had a nice clean launch and I turned left. Beep, Beep, beepbeepbeepbeepbeep! Yes!!!!! I was going up and up and up. By the time I turned and came back, I was at least 100' over launch. I worked good ridge lift and also the thermals that came through. I actually did consecutive 360's and kept going up! Before I knew it, I was 600' over launch and flying around with the biggest grin on my face. Lift was everywhere and I just kept climbing. Eventually I made it up to 1,200' over launch and then I started to sink. I was back down to just 500' over and then I went back up! Back up to 1,500' over launch! Yes!!!! I can't believe I'm actually flying my hang glider 1,500' over launch. Just then, I noticed a beautiful bald eagle less than 100 feet off of my left wing. When I looked over at him, he pulled his wings in and did a diving right turn under me and out of view. Absolutely amazing! I sank after that quite a bit again, down to about 500' over but wouldn't ya know it.....I went up again! This time I just kept going up and up and up. I maxed out at 2,630' over launch. I got to practice diving turns, diving 360's, big 360's, tight 360's, high speeds, stalls, you name it. I learned so much today. After quite some time in the air I was starting to get pretty tired. So, at an altitude of 1,400' over launch, I decided to come down. I headed out and played around over the LZ and lost altitude for awhile until it was time to start my DBF. I had already picked my lane from the air based on the wind direction and width between bails. Yeehaw!!, nice fast downwind, nice diving base leg/turn onto final, right into the lane that I chose. I pulled in more, came down with good speed and set it down with a no-stepper to top it all off. Here's the facts:
Total airtime: 1 hr 53 mins
Max Altitude: 2,630' over launch
First time at High Rock
First Cliff Launch
First Soaring Flight
First 360
First time thermalling
First time looking down on someone's glider
First time looking down on hawks and vultures (and lots of them!!)
First time flying with a bald eagle
Man, today was awesome. It truly was the flight I've been dreaming of.

Backlogging - March 9, 2008 - I Did It!!!!!!!!

I woke up this morning encouraged to hear that conditions were still hopeful for today so we decided to meet at the Woodstock, VA LZ at 3:30. The drive out was beautiful as always and I got there about a half hour early. The LZ is right at the foot of the mountain so there is a nice view of the launch. There was no one flying when I got there but I could see at least a half dozen gliders set up at launch. As I waited, I watched someone launch. Sweet! Not a minute later, another launched. Yes! Next I watched a pilot with an ATOS launch. Then a PG! Hell yes! There's no way a PG can launch and I can't! Almost on cue, a sailplane came cruising by. Then another pilot launched. Within 10 minutes, there were 5 HG's and 1 PG in the air. Around then my instructor got there so we walked the LZ and talked about the desired approach and other local knowledge. The LZ is surrounded by trees and is on somewhat of an uphill slope. That can help but there is also a significant gradient effect because of it. I loaded my glider on to his truck and we headed up the mountain to launch. We talked over the flight plan on the ride up to launch and everything felt great. I noticed on the ride up that I wasn't nervous at all, excited yes, but very confident in what I was about to do. When got to the top we got our gear out and got set up. I watched a few people launch, all great launches in pretty smooth, a little cross from the left, relatively light winds. When my instructor saw that I was set up and pre-flighted he came right over and said, Alright, get your helmet on, let's go! I was ready. Honestly, no butterflies. I hooked in, and walked over to launch. Woodstock is a slot launch with the running area being pretty-much-flat rocks that stick out of the ground on a steep slope. The tree line below is way down there, but it is there. The gods were smiling on me today. A smooth 10 mph wind blew right in, right up the slope. This was all me. My instructor, on my left wire said, Looks good, run hard, have fun! I took a deep breath, yelled Clear! I ran, leaned forward, and didn't worry about the slightly uneven terrain below my feet. I launched nicely and climbed a bit right out of the slot. I watched as the trees below fell farther away and turned left up the ridge. I had a b**** of a time getting my feet into my pod because I was really not used to having my glider bag, and harness bag and all that packed away. But after a few tries I found it and got tucked away. I flew for a bit and then turned back and flew past launch. I could see that I had lost some altitude and took note of that. I flew up the ridge in the other direction for a little bit and then came back. This time I was lower still. So while all the local skygods are soaring hundreds and thousands of feet above lanch in very nice conditions I was having what was turning out to be an extended sled ride. I noticed that my instructor hadn't said anything to me over the radio so I figured I must be doing okay. After 5 or 6 passes I could see that I was getting pretty low and about then I heard my instructor on radio saying something. But what?!?! I couldn't hear anything he was saying!! I had no idea what he was saying but I decided that it was possible, if not likely, that he was telling me to go to the LZ. I was thinking the same thing so I headed out. As I began gliding away from the mountain, I realized that I should have began this process with more altitude. I knew I could make the LZ, but I wasn't going to have much set-up time. So I was still flying up wind toward the LZ, about 200 yards from the downwind tree line. I had plenty of altitude to clear the trees but I was seriously considering skipping my downwind and making a right onto my base leg. The problem with that was that there was another pilot landing right then. He was on his downwind about to turn on his base leg. If I went straight to the base leg I would have been too close for his comfort, IMO. So I decided to fly a little more upwind right where my downwind leg would be (should be). This gave the other pilot time to land and get clear. I didn't have much altitude left so I hit a sharp 180 and did a short downwind. I turned onto base, and then turned onto final. Both were good turns but when I came onto final I got hit with the severe wind gradient. I dropped pretty fast and didn't have enough energy to pull a nice flare. I got one foot down and then fell to my knees. Damn! But still, that was awesome!!!!!! The flight was about nine minutes and those are nine minutes that I will remember for the rest of my life. When my instructor landed I told him that I couldn't hear him and he said that I was doing what he was telling me to do anyway! Cool! I've trained for 8 months for this and every moment of it was worth it. I can't say enought good things about my instructor, John Middleton of Silver Wings. He is the one who got me here and prepared me for this day. Through his patience and expertise, I was able to walk out to a rocky, mountain slot launch, without an ounce of nerves or self-doubt and launch, fly, and land safely today. I will forever be in debt to him, for he has taught me to fly.

Backlogging - March 8, 2008 - I Haven't Been This Excited Since I Was a Little Kid!!!

Class was a no-go today so I was sitting around this morning hoping for better luck tomorrow. The phone rang and it was my instructor. For a moment I thought, hey, maybe we are having class today after all. I picked up and he explained that he didn't think tomorrow was going to be a good training day either. Bummer! But then he asked if I wanted to come take my Hang 2 written test at his place. Then he said that while tomorrow will probably not be good for training, it will probably be good for me to take my first mountain launch! I almost fell out of my chair. Holy schnykees!! So I just got back from his place and it is official - I am finally a Hang 2 pilot. Woohoo!!!!!My fingers are crossed for tomorrow and so far the forecast looks great at Woodstock, VA, one of the most beautiful sites in the Shenandoah. With any cooperation from the wind gods, I will accomplish a major goal that I set for myself last summer. I'm sure you can all remember the day before your first mountain flight and the excitement that you felt. What a feeling! So my camera has new batteries, the memory card is cleared and I am more excited than I have been since I was a little kid. I'll update you guys tomorrow and hopefully with pictures and not curses toward the wind gods. Man, this feeling is awesome! I can't wait!