Day of the Black Swallowtail

The weather has been all over the map as of late.  Upon checking yesterday morning, things did not look great for hang-gliding no matter where you went. I spoke with Tom, he was heading to West Rutland, I wasn't buying it after being disappointed there 2 weeks prior.

A little background on West Rutland: this site is a great site to fly but, by far one of our clubs worst flying sites to get to. The road to the summit is 4 wheel drive only, full of switch backs, steep rocking inclines, and precariously situated on the side of cliffs at times.  It is a daunting feat to get to the top after driving 3.5 hours to get to the site.

The road usually wreaks havoc on a vehicles suspension system, brakes, and transmission.  Many an automobile has needed serious repairs after trekking up and down that mountain. If you don't have a ride back up when you land, you have to hike around the mountain, 30 minutes.  Then up to the summit, another 35 minutes, to get your vehicle. Occasionally one has to pick corn or huck hay to pay the land owners for using their fields as an LZ. Once you commit to flying this site, it is difficult to back out and go to an alternative site with better conditions.

Needless to say - not having a vehicle that can make that climb, and having a poor experience there 2 weeks prior, I was in no hurry to go back without some assurance it was going to be soarable.  So I chose to go to Morningside in NH, and do a few Aerotows.  Knowing I could log 1 to 1.5 hours in sled runs at least, versus sitting on top of Rutland twiddling my thumbs all day.

Rebecca, Cooper, and Joanna joined me for the day.  Once we hit Morningside Tom sent me a text saying that Rutland was soarable, and he was looking at a good day of flying.  DRAT!  About this time, Pete W. drove in from Maine, looking to fly West Rutland.  I quickly asked him for a ride, said to Rebecca and Joanna that I would meet up with them later.  They were off to hike Mt. Ascutney for the day.

Pete and I arrived at launch around 3:20pm.  There were 4 or 5 hang-gliders in the air, and 3 para-gliders as well.  Pete and I wasted no time setting up, and he raced to the launch to jump off. Ryan helped us launch before taking off to chase Dennis, Tom, Greg, etc. who had left the mountain attempting to go X-C. Thanks Ryan!

I took off a bit after 4pm, soon after my pre-flight was completed.  I quickly ascended to 2500', which seemed to be the height of the ridge lift that day.  I soared the ridge for hours, working on dialing into my glider as I still had a relatively low amount of airtime since returning to the sport.  I spent a good portion of my flight, training in various techniques/tactics.  Occasionally I ventured out from the ridge seeing how far I could go without sinking.

After a few hours the sun was beginning to get lower on the horizon but there was still another hour or two of sunlight.  I could here my phone beeping, I pulled it from my harness and saw that  Rebecca and Joanna had arrived in Rutland, and could not find the LZ.  I called Rebecca and told her I was still flying and could not talk because I had my helmet on.  I told her "other pilots had landed and are heading out through town, see if they can flag one of them down as they pass through".

We were all supposed to meet back up and head to the Old Home Day fireworks in Bellow's Falls, VT.  Bellow's Falls has the best fireworks display I have seen in my entire life.  I have wanted to go back for years but missed it time and again.  Tom and Amy were going to try and meet us there. 

Time was getting short if we were going to make it.  It was now 7pm and I still had to land, breakdown, pack up, and then drive almost an hour to Bellow's Falls.  I decided I better head out and get on the ground.  As I left the mountain, I climbed over the valley below, gaining altitude as I moved further and further from launch.  I travelled roughly 7 miles to the W in sheer joy.  The valley had begun to 'wonder' - a rare event where the valley gives off heat at the end of the day and you can fly without thermals or ridge lift.  It is an amazing experience.  Which made it all the more difficult to go in and land.

There were still two para-gliders in the air, and I decided I was going to be last on the ground.  Kathleen was in her PG, lingering and not making a commitment to go in.  I waited and waited and she finally spiraled down and went in, unable to hold off the call of mother nature any longer.

As I was breaking down, Rebecca, Joanna, and Cooper strolled in and watched me pack up.  Bianca, Kathleen, and John S. hung out in the LZ for a bit while we tore off for the fireworks.  We made it with 20 minutes to spare, but unfortunately, due to the crowds, we were unable to meet up with Tom, Amy, and company.  A great end to a bang of a day.

Flight Time: 3 hours and 16 minutes