FormerFF's blog
May 23 -A Friend of Ours (Re)takes to the Skies
Mon May 24, 2010 7:46 pm
[  Mood: Embarrased ][  Currently: Listening to Frank Sinatra ]
I'd last blogged about my first flying day of the year, back at the end of February. I'd gone back up the week after with the hope of getting a soaring flight, but wound up getting a sledder as the conditions didn't pan out. I'd also been up one other time in April, on a northwesterly day that was a bit on the strong side for the most part. To make a long story short, a combination of a major attitude problem on my part and a minor equipment issue kept me out of the air, missing a glassoff. Since then, my daughters' schedule has been incredibly busy, and the weekend weather has been less than wonderful, with the exception of Mother's Day, which as you can imagine, wasn't spent on the mountain. Sunday was looking sunny with light & variable winds. Whether or not it was going to be soarable or not, I didn't know or care, I just wanted some airtime and a couple of sledders would be enough to make me happy.
As expected, it was sunny and hot on Sunday, with temperatures getting into the low 90's I arrived at the mountain launch around 12:30, and found a few gliders set up, but none in the air. The wind on the ramp varied from none at all to the occasional light northerly-northeasterly cross. Figuring that the LZ is going to get to be H3 or worse later in the afternoon, I make plans to set up. But before I do that, who should be standing on the ramp but curly_cue! She's healed from her knee surgery, had flown on the training hills the day before, and was getting ready for a tandem later that day. Her husband John was there as well. He had his Sport 2 set up, but was waiting for the day to develop before launching.
I get set up, get onto the ramp, and wait for a cycle. John calls the winds for me, and after a minute or so, we get a slack wind cycle, and I go. The launch goes well, and as soon as I get a decent distance from the mountain, I start working on slow flight and turns. The air's fairly buoyant, and the trees are a safe distance below, so I start trying 360's, reversing 180's, and 90's, all at or below trim speed. I see a few likely thermal triggers and head in their direction, but I only get one beep from my vario, and don't manage to find it a second time.
I float over the LZ, and still have a good bit of altitude left, so I poke around the west side of the field for a while. The tandem operation is not open, and no one else had launched, so I had the air to myself. The south end of the LZ is especially buoyant, and I almost think of trying some circling, but figure that would be a bad idea as I'm getting kind of low and I'd be in the way if anyone else were making an approach. I wind up extending my downwind and base legs, but I'm still a little high. I pull in a bunch and start to go down, but am going to land a little farther down than I'd like, so I get the bar back as far possible, which has the desired effect. I stay that way all the way to ground effect, so I'm going a ton, at least for a Falcon. I let the bar out a bit and climb back up a couple of feet - oops, too much. I pull in a bit to get back into ground skim, and bleed off some more speed. As the bar approaches trim I get my hands on the downtubes, then slide 'em up, and flare. It's not the strongest flare I've ever made, but it's good enough to get me slowed to jogging speed, and it takes about three steps to get stopped. Not too bad.
It's hot and sunny, and the Lookout LZ tends to get turbulent in those conditions, so I plan on flying at around 6 PM. I get a ride up the hill, get my glider bagged and back to the mountain launch, and head off for some errands. When I get back, most of the pilots who had been waiting for stronger conditions are in the LZ. Among them are curly_cue's husband, who had been up for about a 30 minute flight. He also said that he'd shared a thermal with her tandem glider.
When I get up to the mountain launch there's a decent collection of pilots getting ready to go, including PJwings and BrandonRussell73. I get the glider done and into position, and am waiting for the pilot in front of me. After what seems like a 15 minute wait for a headwind that doesn't appear, he settles for a no wind launch. I get on the ramp, find a no wind cycle, and head off. Now, I start off with a grapevine grip and rotate my hands to a bottle grip. I've been wanting to switch to what Dennis Pagan refers to as the "eternal grapevine" grip, but haven't been comfortable with trying to make the change on the mountain launch. Well, this time I wind up switching hands too early, which creates a big nose pop. Ugh. After a quick "OH CRAP" I pull in a bunch, probably overcorrecting a little. Now I'm a bit nose low, but with good airspeed. I do get a little better look at the trees below the launch than ever before, but that's about the extent of it.
Awright, put that behind me and fly the glider. This flight's plan is pretty much the same as the previous one's but the air is butter smooth but has no lift. I work on steepening the turns and quickening my entry into them. With no lift, the flight is short, and soon I'm on approach. With the calm air, this approach is easy. I've got the target cone in sight, get close to ground effect, reach my left hand from the basetube to the downtube, and wind up grabbing the wire instead. OK, try again. This time, I get the downtube, but put myself in very slight turn. I get that straightened up, get my hands up, flare, and land on both feet about 25 feet from the cone. Nice. There are a number of pilots in the LZ, including Sky_walker and LittleWing, who had flown earlier in the day. PJWings and BrandonRussell73 drop in as well, as does a pilot who is making his mountain solo. He makes a fine approach and a nice landing, and comes in with that ear to ear grin that a first mountain solo provides.
So, that was probably the worst launch I've ever made, and probably the best landing. Does that make the flight average? The first chance I get I'm going to get to the training hills to practice launching in the grapevine grip. That will be at least four weeks away, as I've got a camping trip in two weeks, and my wife and older daughter are going to cheer a friend who is in a triathalon the one after that, so the next three weekends are shot.
After I get packed up, I head up to the mountain launch, where PJWings and BrandonRussell73 are setting up to go again. The wind is swinging between slack and crossing, but as the first pilot is ready to fly, the wind starts tailing. Unfortunately for all the pilots on the ramp, the tailwind sets up, and the flying day ends a little before sunset.
Y'know, if a really good northwesterly day happens this weekend, maybe I can sneak up for an evening flight after all...
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pjwings
3 thumbs up
Joined: 20 Aug 2009
Posts: 2000
Location: Tennessee
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 Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 6:03 pm Post subject: |
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It was a really fun day for smooth flying. Actually, after trying to fly thermals all spring it was really pleasant to fly in nice smooth conditions for a change, even if it was a sledder.
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curly_cue
3 thumbs up
Joined: 10 Jun 2007
Posts: 768
Location: Atlanta, GA
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Posted: Fri May 28, 2010 3:23 pm Post subject: |
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It was great seeing you again FFF!! Yes, I'm back. I took a 1.5 year break, but I just can't stay away. 
My tandem went pretty good. A little sketchy coming out of the field, but good follow on the tug, decent approach, and decent landing. A little longer than I liked, but still well within the bounds of the field. I'm back this weekend. More tandems, and maybe a mtn launch! Hope to see you!!
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