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Thermaling over the Ridgely Strawberry Festival

Stellar day at Ridgely. Me and my dog arrived just before noon to the largest number of gliders I've seen in quite a while. Awesome surprise to see Paul & Lauren's shining faces which was quite unexpected. Rushed to get the glider setup as I had seen a bunch of Cumi's starting to pop down South while I was driving over the Bay Bridge. It was a cloudless blue sky over Ridgely and remained that way for the rest of the day. I entered the launch line around 1:45 as many gliders were starting to rain from the sky. John M launched just before me and was already on the ground when I launched. Expecting to add to my long list of sled rides this year, I was surprised just how much thermal turbulance was out there on tow. At 2200 feet, I watched as the Tug rocketed up and my glider joined the space shuttle launch a few seconds later. I fell out of the thermal in a hard right turn and knew I had no chance to get back wings level. As I reached for my release, the weak link snapped (AS IT'S SUPPOSED TO) and suddenly I was off tow. I followed the ensuing hard right turn around 270 and entered the thermal that had just bucked me and continued by climb up to 5500 feet. I was joined by Paul and soon after Matthew, which was an awesome feeling as its been quite a few years since the 3 of us have been in the same thermal. Thermal drift was only about 4 mph so I just lazily drifted with it. Dan T joined me in another thermal a while later and I decided it was nice to share! Deciding to explore, I flew up near Greensboro, got down to about 3500 and caught another thermal taking back up to 5700. I headed south down by the golf course and then at about the 1:15 mark, I decided I was cold and was ready to head back. I parked myself over the Ridgely fairground and performed a few wingovers for the Strawberry Festival crowd, deciding at 2500 I would pull VG and head back to land. Caught a screamer over the town and took it up to 6200 and decided to fly a little while longer. Once Matthew radioed up that all of the above mentioned pilots were on the ground, I decided that my work here was done and I was not only freezing, but exhausted. Heading back to Ridgely, I corkscrewed down and enjoyed the warm air that rush up to meet me. Ended the flight with a good landing for 1:48 total flight time, longest flight in over 2 years. Hung around for the rest of the day enjoying all the friends and the good company at Ridgely. Did dinner en masse in Greensboro and got home at 11:15.

Return to the Mountains...

As of Sunday morning, August 21, 2004 was my last mountain flight. That was the day that High Rock claimed my Talon as a sacrifice and I received the dubious honors of making the front page full-color picture of the Sunday August 22 Hagerstown Herald as I hung from the kite-eating tree. I took the rest of 2004 off from flying and resumed my lofty dreams in 2005 as a full-time towhead. As you all know, the Bat-Wing U2 was born this past winter and I’ve really been enjoying the minor step-back in performance, but leaps ahead in enjoyment and controllability.

After two weekends of practice at Highland, I felt I was ready for a return to the mountains. Woodstock was the site of my first ever mountain flight as an H2 so I felt it was appropriate to return to the mountains from that launch site. Suzie had never seen Woodstock so with Joe Gregor and his Falcon, the three of us loaded up into the Jeep. Sunday looked like it would be a perfect day and off we headed out I-66. The butterflies were every bit as big as my first mountain flight and I told Joe that I wanted to stop by the LZ so I could get a visual (and maybe throw-up). In my minds eye, I remembered the LZ being rather small, but as we walked out into the field, I was amazed at how huge it looked. It was clearly twice the size of Highland’s LZ and sloped uphill to boot. With my confidence somewhat boosted, we climbed back into the Jeep and headed up to launch. A few gliders had just launched and everyone was sticking to the cloud filled with large cummies.
We arrived at launch around 1:30 and started to unload and setup. Lots of pilots were on launch & already in the air. Winds were much stronger than we expected for Woodstock but were blowing pretty straight in. I decided to treat today like an H2 day and decided on flying later in the day. There had already been one incident involving foliage & a glider and I was in no mood to add my new glider to that list. I already paid my dues in 2004. I helped wire off a few pilots to get back into the right mindset and watched the elevator ride as they cleared the slot. At this time I didn’t know if I wanted to fly or run screaming from the insanity of jumping off a mountain. Winds picked up considerably after another wave of pilots launched which diminished my resolve to suit up and fly anytime soon. At 4:30, Joe & I were talking about breaking down as the winds continued to blow like freight trains thru the trees. I wasn’t looking forward to a white knuckle flight and figured there were other days to make my return. I even went so far as to offer up my U2 to Joe if he wanted to fly something with a little more performance and I would meet him in the LZ giving me the easy way out. As the clock ticked to 5:00, the winds suddenly started dying down. Gusts evened out and the winds were cycling in around 10mph with the occasional peak around 14mph. Joe Brauch & Joe Gregor both decided to fly and it actually looked to sweet for me not to give it a shot. I wired off Joe B and saw that he had a very uneventful launch and decided it was now or never. I went to suit up while Joe G moved to launch. He had a picture perfect takeoff and radioed back that conditions were very doable. Now I really wanted to throw up.

I climbed into the harness and glider and moved down to launch. Taking my time, I picked up a few times feeling the winds around the glider and checked & rechecked my nose angle. Finally when I had replayed everything in my mind and settled into my old routine, I got the crew ready and picked up. Everything felt balanced and I yelled “Clear.” I pulled the nose low and ran like a bat out of hell and soon was airborne and riding my own elevator up. I had a very successful launch and joined the two Joe’s above the ridge. As reported the air was textured but flyable, typical springtime flying. Joe B reported that it was a bit grumpy above 500 and I agreed as I climbed thru, but it was still very controllable. I made a few passes over launch and soon was 1100 over. I was really enjoying the mountain view that I had missed for the past few years, but then noticed that I was parked in front of the ridge with little forward progress. I pulled on ¼ VG and still hovered comfortably out in front of the ridge but noticed that I was starting to climb at 400fpm. Joe radioed back to launch and Karen reported that winds had ramped up considerably and that it was now blowing like previous times in the day. Joe, in the Falcon, pointed towards the main LZ and I decided that with the sudden change in conditions that I wanted to head out in case strange things were afoot. I pulled on ½ VG then ¾ VG before I started making noticeable progress, but remained climbing at 400fpm. I arrived over the main LZ with 1500 over launch (~2800AGL) and decided that I would head towards the Bridge field to avoid the noticeably turbulent conditions that had been experienced in the main LZ earlier in the day. Climbing in wave, I peaked out at ~3600AGL over the Bridge field. Joe G had landed in the main LZ and his glider was not moving after a visually hard landing. We couldn’t raise him on radio which added to everyone’s stress level including mine knowing that I also had to land in the immediate future. I proceeded out into the valley and found the other side of the wave which allowed me to start losing altitude. I spent 10 minutes spiraling down and had a turbulent ride as I passed thru 1000’. Other pilots had reported wire slaps at that altitude, but I was thankful that I just got rocked around a bit. I rolled final and really had to manhandle the glider and ended up landing about 45 degrees out of the wind as it was pretty switchy at the moment. Thankful to be on the ground in one piece I cleared the field and waited for Joe B to follow. Sirens could be heard in the distance heading to the main LZ and we received initial reports on Joe G’s condition. Joe B landed about 15 minutes after I did with good results as I was able to give him better wind directions that I had received.

All in all, it was a good flight albeit a bit more stressful with the Joe G situation and the increasing winds. It was a beautiful day to be out in the mountains, and it was really nice get back to flying in them. I packed up the glider and Suzie & I joined the group to head to the hospital to check on Joe G. We finally got home around 10:30 which made for a late night and an even earlier morning.

And then there were two (plus a Shasta)

Saturday was the first weekend that actually felt like Spring this year. Temperatures were forecast to be in the upper 70's on Saturday and in the 80's on Sunday. Winds were forecast to be good as well. Suzie & I packed the Jeep, loaded Shasta (Hang Gliding Dog by Marriage) into the back, and headed to Ridgely hoping that the weather would hold. I wanted to get in to the air again and Suzie had her first lesson in 18 months scheduled for later in the afternoon.
We arrived Noonish to the most crowded I've seen Highland Aerosports in quite a while. Gliders were in various stages of setup and tandem flights were already in the air. Lots of people that I hadn't flown with in a while and everyone eager to get some much needed flight time. There was a cirrus layer that looked to be pushing back towards the East, but blue sky was abundant. Lots of blue sky with no puffies in sight to mark the lift. The Bat-Wing was setup and ready to go, but none of the first few pilots to launch stayed up. Tom McGowan & Bruce Engen launched for a second time and this time they both stuck. Joe Gregor, Steve Kinsley & Mark Cavanaugh quickly followed and they all decided to head XC.
I launched around 2:00 with undecided intentions. I really wanted to head XC as it was a beautiful day but without big puffy markers, I knew it was going to be a challenge. Off tow, I struggled to find workable lift, so I was in search mode most of the time. A few bird farts gave me moments of hope but soon I found myself low & down to 600'. I finally hooked a small thermal over the east edge of the LZ and drifted in it climbing back up to 1200. I was just east of the chicken coups and contemplating heading XC if I could just eek out another 1000' but then promptly lost the thermal dowsing my hopes. I tried to relocate but was crossing through 900' so I pulled on VG and headed back to land at homebase. If I was going to leave the field, I wanted something more than to be a lawn dart 5 miles from Ridgely. 25 minutes was all I could muster as I listened to the XC group working easterly towards the beach.
Suzie was getting ready to start her lesson soon after I landed so I put on my photographers hat to get pictures of her flight since she had been gracious to take pictures of mine. Her butterflies were being stowed and soon she was loading up with Sunny in the Tandem glider. SIDEBAR: Its really cool to have a wife and best friend to share the joy of flying with and she enjoys hang gliding almost as much as I do. What more could a man want? (Soon I'll be driving retrieve for her!) Now back to our story. After reassuring Shasta that Mommy would be back, Suzie was pushed out to the staging area and was soon in the air. Scheduled for one flight, she ended up taking 3 over the course of the next hour and knocked some of the rust off her quickly developing skills. Sunny said she was doing really good and we purchased another package of flights for her next lesson date.
I took one more late afternoon flight just for more practice in the new glider/harness combination. I had been having some problems with the new Viper harness and have been working to smooth out some of the issues I've had with getting upright. On Sunny's advice, doing a simple pushup off the bar seems to have worked out the bugs with getting my slider to budge ... well, that and a bottle of Silicone spray. Both attempts were 100% better than last years feats of stupidity and I ended up nailing both landings.
We broke down the glider and repacked the Jeep to head home to the other two furry beasts that had been left at home for the day. They are NOT as well-behaved as Shasta and would have been in Delaware if we had let them off leash. We blew off our planned stop at "On the Border" in Bowie and instead decided to crash Baja Fresh near our home for takeout. We devoured dinner and soon after poured ourselves into bed as we were both exhausted from the long day.

Current 2007 Flights: Chris - 3; Suzie - 3

First 2007 Flight - First 2007 Post

Its been a long break since last years flying season and a lot has happened. My flying season ended last year in Mid-August and since then I've gotten married in November, enjoyed the holidays and brought in the New Year. Its time to knock the rust off and rejoin my compadres in the air and what a better way to do it then with a new glider!

Last year was a frustrating flying season, as I was spending more time on the ground and less in the air. The weather was definately not cooperative and I had less free time available for flying due to wedding planning and demands at work & at home. The result was less proficiency with my Talon 150 which resulted in many less than stellar landings and 1 or 2 broken down tubes. I also realized that with less than stellar skills, my fun factor was diminishing as the flights were becoming more work and attention to detail than just enjoying the ride. My confidence was also lacking which kept me from flying the Talon in the mountains, where the LZ's aren't as plentiful. Suzie & I discussed the options and we decided that maybe it was time to step back in performance to get the fun back in my flying. The Talon was shelved and the quest began...

I demo'd the Discus and the U2 and immediately fell in love with the U2. As this would be the first glider I bought new from the factory, I decided that I wanted a custom designed U2. Working with Highland Aerosports and bouncing ideas nightly off of Suzie (I thank her for her patience), we finally settled on the Bat Symbol design. We submitted it to Wills Wing and months passed and finally my baby was waiting for me at Highland. Nature was being a Mother and the weekends were either blown out or rained out.

Finally, with the Nor'Easter looming within 12 hours, the Weather Gods held off the winds & rain and allowed a flight this past weekend. As I neared the Bay Bridge on Saturday, April 14th 2007, blue sky started to peak thru the clouds. As I pulled into Highland's parking lot, blue sky was abundant and pilots were already in the air. Setting up the glider and carrying it over to the flight line, it was quickly apparent how much lighter this glider is than my Talon. I hardly broke a sweat. It towed very easily, although it was a bumpy day and my towing skills were rusty from my long winters break. A short Extendo was all I could muster, but it landed with ease and I felt very confident and comfortable with the control.

All in all, it was a blessing that the weather held for as long as it did. Carlos & Mark got a couple of flights each and the rain didn't hit until the drive home. 2007 flying has started early for me and hopefully much will be accomplished this year!

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