Memorial Day Weekend - Hyner View, PA

Having a true gem like Hyner View, PA within 4 hours from me in VA was such a treat. The club has 5 fly-ins each year on the holiday long-weekends and last year I attended 3 of them. Everyone camps in the LZ and flys all day long. It's an absolute blast and there's plenty of other things to do when it's not flyable including river rafting, swimming, kayaking, biking, hiking, and fossil hunting on the cliff faces. Gazillion year old teeth are commonly found. Accordingly, I joined the club and Olivia and I plan to attend all of the fly-ins this year. The only problem is that I'm in Charlotte, NC for the time being and that's over 9 hours from Hyner. Not to mention she's in New York City for now.... Long story short, we ended up with something else to do in VA so I split the trip over two days, 6 and 4 hours. We got there Thursday afternoon and it was too South to fly so we just set up camp and got dinner. Nice evening around the campfire with the early Hyner crew. Friday morning was light and clear and I got a short flight in nice smooth air. We decided to head back up for another quick flight before lunch. After I was set up, a couple pilots launched, found a thermal and got up around 3K over pretty quickly, and of course the scramble for launch followed. Unfortunately the pilots who launched right after them struggled and sank out due to a nasty looking cell that shut everything down. The first two pilots came down and landed to avoid it and we had to wait for the cloud to pass through. Fortunately it didn't rain or anything and the sun came back out. We waited for it to heat back up (I was on the ramp since before the clouds moved in) but it was already after 4 at that point. After awhile I just chose a decent cycle because I felt bad making everyone wait around for possible heating and I had another short flight. Saturday was decked over and South but later in the day there were some very short windows. If you wanted to launch, you had to take a lull but they were only lasting 10 seconds at most. So lots of us set up but the later it got, the shorter the lulls got. Eventually I broke down up top. We had a real nice evening relaxing around the campfire with good friends. Sunday morning brought the first possibility for a cloud dive and I was up top by 7:15am so as not to miss it. It was the first time I had witnessed what seemed to be the mountain breathing. It was trickling over the back at a couple mph but then it would start to come in straight at a couple mph. And whenever the wind would come in, the clouds would slosh up on launch and wash out the set up area. Then the winds would switch again and clear out the set up area. It was very cool. When the clouds finally began to break up, the wind was light out of the North and we all got off. Olivia's friend got to do her first tandem, a semi-cloud dive, and had a blast. Unfortunately, they had to drive back to Manhattan and I had to drive back to Charlotte so we ran out of time and Olivia did not get to fly. But we all had a lot of fun. Hyner is well worth it even if you don't sky out. I was not disappointed. I'll see yous on July 4th.
http://www.vimeo.com/4837582

Mother's Day at Woodstock

I had just made it home Saturday night from New York and I checked the CHGPA forum out of habit. Woodstock was the call for Sunday and it looked good, real good. So I decided, what the hey, and got up early Sunday, planning to meet John M in the LZ around 1:00. I arrived to find Tony already there with new H-2 Greg arriving shortly afterward. Hugh also made it to the LZ and was looking for a ride up. Greg was meeting Matthew so John, Hugh, Tony, and I all drove up in John's truck. I set up and watched a few benign launches though the conditions were strong and gusty. However, there were very nice cycles to launch in and no gusts were too strong. I decided to launch in a lull because the strong lift cycles were plentiful and there would still likely be the elevator waiting at the edge of the slot. I had a nice launch and, just as I thought, hit the elevator just when I cleared the trees. I turned right which, in hindsight, was probably wrong. The reason I turned right is that the LZ is off and down to the right so if I get hammered by sink, I'm on the way to safety. But given the wind being quite cross from the West (left), I probably should have turned left. The reason is that the fingers of the mountain, which extend perpendicular to the NW facing ridge (and particularly the finger that is just off to the left of launch), can create rotors on strong Westerly days. It's best to get up and well over the ridge before you get caught in one of these rotors. I got a little bit knocked around when I was low and I think it was due to the rotor off the finger. I almost sank out right away, I was down to 300' below launch. I was turning to head out and land when my vario started beeping. So I kept turning and kept going up. I got a little closer to the ridge and the lift got stronger. Pretty soon I was 1,800' over launch, flying in very active air. It was strong lift, strong sink, turbulence, smooth air, it was all over the place. But overall, still a fun flight. It wasn't scary at any point. The wind velocity at altitude was just about all my glider could take, and still go forward. I'm really starting to itch for some more performance. I flew around for a little over an hour before deciding to land. On the way out from the ridge, I hit lift and more lift. But then when I got over the field, I started getting drilled. Granted, I was 1,500' over the LZ so it was no big deal but it was serious sink. I made it through it and flew up wind for a bit. I started my downwind from far away and very high. When I got to the edge of the field I felt like I was still too high so I made a couple turns and bled off a little more altitude. I entered my pattern and nailed it for a nice, no-step landing. It was a great ending to a great flight. I'm happy that I got fly in some more challenging conditions. It's the best way to really expand my flying envelope. Video -
http://www.vimeo.com/4602024

The Pulpit - 4-18-09

What a fun day at the Pulpit on Saturday. There were only four of us there early and I launched first at about 11:30 I think. It was coming in nice and there were thermals popping off already. As usual it was strong on launch because of a venturi off to the right and much lighter down the ridge. That's the downside of a Falcon at the Pulpit. You've got to get off before it's too strong but it's likely to be very light as soon as you get away from the ramps. The forecast wasn't very strong and we knew it would be a thermal day anyway but this site can get blown out very easily so I took the chance. Down the ridge a little, over a rock pile, I managed to get about 300' over in a light, disorganized thermal. I lost it, couldn't find another, and ended up landing in the secondary after 20 minutes. A very good pilot had launched when I was still doing okay but he was scratching low when I landed. I was thinking that I've really got to stop sucking at this when he sank out and landed also. Then I didn't feel so bad. I noticed that no one else had launched after that second pilot and that was because it had really turned off. Shawn came and picked me up and took me up for a re-light. I didn't set up again right away and helped crew for people for awhile. I waited until about 3:30 to launch again and found lots of thermal lift on the ridge but they were small and difficult to stay in. It was kind of hard to get up and I spent 30 minutes between 200' and 600' over the ridge. There was a variety of thermals out there. Some were small, some big, some mellow, some with pretty sharp edges. Finally I found a huge one that I took up to 2,300' over launch. It was drifting over the back and I really considered going with it. See, earlier I had been looking at a relief map belonging to a pilot planning to go XC. So after talking with him and another XC god, I had 2K'-over floating around in my mind along with Mountain View Elementary and Buchanan High, if I could make it. I had the altitude but being up there and looking East I really didn't know much of what I was looking at. At this point I was kicking myself for not scoping out the valley on google maps. So I tried to look for some landmarks I might recognize to get my bearings. I found the fish hatchery which I know is on 75, same as the Elementary School. And from there I know where the High School is. So far so good. But then I noticed another fish hatchery not far to the South and I realized that I didn't know which was the one on 75. I tried to follow the roads from the mountain but I wasn't that high to get a real good perspective. Hmmmm. On top of that I'd forgotten my radio at home and my cell battery was low. The final straw was that I would have been alone, no one to follow, or follow me, for my first XC so I decided not to go. Ah well, soon enough, soon enough. I landed after 1:15 in the secondary again. And once again Shawn, who made this entire day possible for a lot of us, picked me up and took me back up to my car. You are the man, thank you. Fantastic day!
Video - http://www.vimeo.com/4231812

Spring Flying at Woodstock, 4-11-09

I got up early Saturday morning and got back on the road (I know, what can I say, I'm a junkie) arriving in the LZ around 2:30 to weird, switchy winds in the field. With the solid overcast, it didn't look too promising but then it began to break up and I saw one of the two HG's on launch take off and get up which was encouraging. On the way up top the second one launched and got up also. Once up top it was coming in pretty nice, mostly cross from the right but still way better than Thursday. I launched fourth into 7 or 8 mph STFI and got up right away. It was definitely spring out there. I encountered very smooth air at times but then quite turbulent stuff at other times. There were lots of large birds out, I saw one bald eagle way down low. It was a nice flight until finally a turbulent and very strong sink cycle came through and flushed me from 700' over. My little vario was giving me some very strange tones and was reading 600-700 fpm down. There had been nothing like that all day so I scooted on out to the LZ. I set up a nice approach and stuck the landing. All told I got 1:25 and 1,300' over. It was a great day and it was really nice to get back up to Woodstock. I love that mountain. Enjoy the video. http://www.vimeo.com/4125732

Woodstock, finally

This whole living in Charlotte thing has really been getting in the way of my flying but finally, after 7 weeks bound to the earth, I made my escape. Thursday actually looked pretty good and my H1 & 2 instructor posted that he was taking a couple of fresh new mounatin pilots out for their first ones. One of them I trained with and the other I'd met from going out to the training hill recently. I wanted to be there to share their experience and get it on tape for them, so I played hooky and made the 5 hour trek north. The forecast was a little cross but the strength was good and there was to be plenty of sun and thermal activity. But if you know Woodstock, you've probably heard of the Woodstock Effect. Because of the surrounding topography, the wind on top of the mountain is often much lighter than in the valley. And Thursday was no exception with maybe 2-5 mph coming in on launch and all of the cummies were drying up too for some reason. It was good for the new pilots because they didn't have to wait around for the evening but it meant sleds for the rest of us also. Having been 7 weeks since my last flight, I wasn't too upset with the benign conditions. We took our sleds like men and then one of the first timers and I did a second one. Both of the new pilots did very well, congrats guys! It was good to knock the dust off and get ready for Saturday, which had a nicer forecast. It would have been really nice to just grab a hotel room and relax on Friday, save all that driving, but I had to work so I hit the road. Here's video of their first launches: http://www.vimeo.com/4125128

Pulpit - Feb 15

It was pretty much perfect when we got to the Pulpit. STFI @ 15 mph. We set up and the usual "how are we going to get everyone off?" conversation ensued. With six pilots and no extras, that meant four would go and two would stay and wait. So Shawn and I let the others go since they have topless gliders/ATOS and it was midday. We were happy to get a radio report that it was not too strong, cross or punchy. By the time I launched at about 3:00, it had backed off a lot but with decent, straight in cycles still coming through. I stepped onto the ramp as a good cycle was blowing right in my face at 8-10. I cleared Shawn from my nose and had a nice smooth launch. And then my vario said Boooooooo! I launched right into the backside of the thermal that was coming through. That was dumb! I know better than that and should have been a little more patient. Ah well, still had a nice tight approach into the secondary, landed on my feet. Nice to get another flight at the Pulpit. Forgot my camera, no video.

January 28, 2009 - Hang 3!!!

Yahoooooooo! I passed my test today and I am officially a Hang-3 pilot! My training began July 1, 2007. I got my Hang-1 on October 11, 2007. I got my Hang-2 March 8, 2008. And now, finally, as of January 28, 2009, I have my Hang-3. No more trying to find an Observer to watch me when I fly and now I can fly a lot more sites. Huge thanks to Shawn Ray for helping me get there safely. Hells yeah!

Hangin' 2 2008

So here is my video of my first season of flying. I had fun making it and I have fun watching it! Oh and USHPA has it on their website in the learning to fly section. They have 8 HG videos to encourage people to take up hang gliding and mine is one of them. Pretty cool!
http://www.vimeo.com/2645931

January 3 - Winter Soaring at the Pulpit

One of the bad things about having our main 3 sites all face NW is that it makes it difficult for everyone to agree on which site will be best. Will it be Woodstock? High Rock? Pulpit? For Saturday, most pilots wanted to go to High Rock but the forecast at the Pulpit was 10-15 WNW which is perfect for that site. HR was showing 8-10 NW which is okay but not as good. So Shawn and I talked and decided that soon enough everyone would change their minds and come up to the Pulpit. We met there at 11:00 and set up. Steady 13-14 coming straight in! It doesn't get much better than that. Not too much later the phone rang and we were told that HR was pretty dead and they were headed our way. We waited. And waited. We called to see where they were at. Voicemail. WTF. Gregory showed up with his Exxtacy so we came up with a plan so we could all fly. Gregory and Shawn wired me off first, I had a great launch and up I went. Soon after Gregory and his friend wired Shawn off and we played on the ridge for nearly an hour. The idea was to land after not too long and go back and help Gregory off. Gains were in the 1,000' range in textured air. I practiced some light wingovers and high speed stuff. I think I even got a little taste of some wave action. When I got around 900 over, I started really gaining altitude fast and the wind speed picked up noticeably. I got back down and headed out to the valley to land in the secondary. I set up my approach and due to the orientation of the field, when I turned onto base, I had a quartering tailwind, then I hit the gradient from the tree line. Wow did I lose airspeed fast! I always shoot very fast approaches so I was prepared to handle it. Turned onto final and couldn't quite get level so I had to run out the landing. Ah, well, they can't all be no-steppers. All in all, a great day, even though the temp never crested 30F. It was my first soaring flight at the Pulpit and also my first time with the Canon Vixia in flight. Turned out okay - http://www.vimeo.com/2719908