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

Double Header Weekend - November 8 & 9

What a fantastic weekend. It was one of those rare flying weekends that came out of nowhere. No one was even really expecting fly on Saturday but Friday night, a pilot posted that he was thinking about it. That got everyone interested and we ended up with 6 or 7 pilots coming out to High Rock. I launched second and immediately got up above the rock. It was Tony's first time out there and I showed him a good example. Anyhow, the flight was great. I shared the air with a bunch of friends and a sailplane. Again, I got good practice thermalling and I am gaining confidence in that skill. But the coolest part about the flight was that I finally broke the 2 hour mark. I'd been looking to hit that for awhile now and as soon I did, I headed out to land. My hands were freezing! Time to order some barmits! I did some high speed stuff to burn up altitude, then I dive bombed launch and headed out. My approach and landing were great and I touched down with 2:05 in the air. Woohoo! Altitude gain was nice at 1,200'. So the next morning I got up and got some coffee when John M called. He had read about my flight the day before on the forum and then told me he was going to head out to Woodstock. Alrighy then! Still packed up from the previous flight, I left the house and met him and Tony in the LZ. I launched about 2:30 into smooth air. Lift was abundant and I was soon looking down on launch and the other gilders and pilots getting ready to go. The thermals were a bit more punchy than Saturday but it was good to get some practice in a variety of thermic conditions. We were pretty decked in with cloud cover so gains weren't as high. I only got to 800' over but staying up was no problem. Eventually I got tired and it seemed like everyone else did too. Every time I would think about heading out to land, someone else would peel off the mountain and head out first. Not wanting to interfere with anyone's flight plans, I would stay in the lift and cruise around for a few more minutes. Finally, when there were only a few of us left, I went to land. My approach and landing were great and earned compliments from other pilots. Alright! Total flight time was 1:55. So, in two days, I racked up 4 hours of air time. Can't ask for much more than that. I talked to John for a little while afterwards about my next wing. He thinks a Sport2 is well within my skill level but suggested that I wait a few more months, fly the hell out of my Falcon, and then think about getting a U2. Plus, Shawn says I'm ready for my Hang 3 test! Well, all of that sits with me quite nicely and sounds like a plan.
High Rock Saturday - http://www.vimeo.com/2191705
Woodstock Sunday - http://www.vimeo.com/2207089

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

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.