Tuesday, May 12, 2009

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

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