Locked in Combat - Day 6 of East Coast Championships

I was orbiting at 5300' in the start circle under the big BLUE sky, floating in and out of the top of a thermal without a cloud in sight.  I was closely watching all the gliders struggling below; some landing back at the airport, one in a field under me a mile or two from base, and many more scratching and clawing for any lift they could find.

It was now day 6 of the East Coast Championships at Highland Aerosports in Ridgely, MD.  Blue skies were predicted for the day along significant wind speeds.  I was doing better as the week progressed, but I had still only made goal 1 time.  In the grand scheme of things I was doing well for my first Open Class comp, but I wanted to do better.

Twenty-Five minutes prior, I was in the line-up waiting for my turn to launch.  Bruce and Steve pushed me out onto the runway after going through the safety checks, I thanked them for their help and Bruce hooked me up to the tow plane being piloted by Zach.  I gave the go sign and the tug roared to life.  As I sped down the runway my glider became airborne and I eased the base bar out of the cart and rose into the air.  

The tow was smooth and a good speed, some minor turbulence but relaxing compared to some of the other days that week.  We turned 90' to the runway and hit some turbulence coming out.  Still, nothing substantial.  I already had grim hopes for the day after seeing the forecast, a smooth tow was not a good sign.

We continued on and soon hit some bumps in the air.  I was looking around the sky as we were towing, noticing all the pilots that were airborne, stuck in the same place at the same relatively low altitude, and not climbing fast (if at all).  Another bad sign.

As we were heading downwind of the runway Zach flew through something that I knew was good.  NOTE: I can't see my instruments when I'm towing, so all I have is the audio to go by which is tough because the plane is towing you up, and the audio on the variometer is saying you are climbing all the time anyway.  Zach and I don't recall what altitude we were at when he waved me off, but we certainly weren't close to the 2500' that the tug pilots normally release us at.

He gave the signal and I pulled my release.  I turned into the lift and began sniffing for a climb.  I was getting 20fpm to 50 fpm up, but nothing substantial.  Then, I felt the surge that is usually followed by the nice core of a thermal waiting on the other side.  Sure enough, I hit the wall of ascending air and cranked the glider up on the tip, not daring to turn too flat - a mistake I made the first day this week in similar conditions.  I was climbing over 800fpm and rocketing away from the earth.

Within seconds I was at the same altitude as the hovering pilots I had seen moments before.  I passed them with the blink of an eye as I raced skyward three more turns.  Then I saw them darting toward me in hopes to join in the fun.  It would not be.  They came in under me searching, scouring, all in vain, but could not link up with it.  Paris later told me he had found that "small ratty thing" below, but couldn't bank up inside with all the other gliders around.  I had hoped everyone would connect with it, but part of me was grinning in satisfaction to be at the top of the stack.

I climbed out to 4500' and then the climbs slowed to 50fpm.  I kept drifting with it and worked it up to 5300' where it topped out.  I then sat in orbit watching the start circle show.  Some clouds began to appear and then disappear, but this was a good sign since even short lived clouds would help mark the thermals on course.  I saw a cloud 4 miles out but kept my position to be safe while I edged closer to the start circle border.

Roughly 10 minutes had gone by and I noticed a gaggle eastward, at my altitude, nearing the border of the start circle!  A group to fly with!  This was a good thing.  Unfortunately they were 4 miles away approaching that cloud I had seen earlier.  I cranked the VG and the CG and went gliding off to join them.  I came in under them by 500 feet and started searching for the thermal core so I could climb quickly to meet them.

As I approached the gaggle (Paris Williams, Mitch Shipley, Greg Dinauer, John Simon, and Rich Cizauskus), they all left and headed back toward the runway.  What!?!?  Where was everyone going?  I looked at my instruments and saw that I was now 'outside' the start circle, and the next clock was about to go off.  I could go back with everyone else and tag the next start clock, or I could get to cloudbase and just go.  I made the decision to ignore the clocks (as I had been all week) and to keep my position and use it to get a good jump.  My goal was to stay with the lead pack again today.

Earlier in the week, I had become separated from the pack, and spent the rest of the flight on my own trying to complete a 50 mile triangle.  I made goal, but it took me almost 5 hours to do it.  Everyone else was there in 2 to 3 hours.  I knew if I went back to get the clock, I'd be behind everyone trying to catch up.  I came here to fly with the big boys so I could learn and that was what I was going to do, clock or no clock.

I stayed where I was and finished my ascent.  I pulled on the cords and went on glide to a nice cloud to the east leading out.   Three quarters of the way there I looked over my shoulder and saw Paris in pursuit.  I sped up and as I neared the cloud, I noticed a large Osprey circling in a thermal.  I quickly joined him and used him to center on the most excellent core that awaited us.  As I took a full turn, I noticed another Osprey, the two of them started screaming at me...stingy birds.

Paris came in under me and the two of us cranked up our Combats and screamed upward at 800fpm +.  I watched Paris as he was 25 feet below me, locked in tight, as we whirred and spun round one another in an amazing sight.  We got to base...errrr....I should say, I got to base (6200ft.), and Paris had already left.  I quickly chased after him and started what was to be an exciting journey down the first leg of our course.  I had NEVER flown as fast as we were flying.  I was amazed at how far I was pulled in, and how tired my arms were getting after a few long glides like this.  We were flying speeds up to 57mph at times, never getting below 4000'.

As we approached the first turnpoint jumping from cloud to cloud, Paris skipped a climb and shot for the turnpoint.  Mitch shot past me chasing after Paris.  I stopped for the climb and to tank up, unsure of what lied ahead.  As I took a few turns, Rich, Greg, and John all passed over my head, I continued to work on my own. 

Mitch got low at the turnpoint and I ended up racing with he and Greg for the first 1/3 of the 2nd leg.  The same thing ended up happening again, I stopped for a climb that no one else wanted, and was again on my own.  I remained as such for the rest of the flight.

I carried on working toward the second turnpoint, and ended up getting low (for the day).  There were no clouds here and I was out in the blue and on my own.  I scraped around looking for climbs down around 2000' and under where things were a lot tougher.  I worked and worked and finally found a decent enough climb 2 miles from the turnpoint.  I was drifting away from it (still with no idea where it was since it was only a GPS point in the middle of a road somewhere) but scraped together enough altitude to get there.

I arrived at the turnpoint and found a thermal waiting for me there.  Nothing special but a climb was a climb in my situation.  I gained enough altitude to see that I had goal by 300ft.  I wasn't comfortable with 'going for it' on those tight margins, and really wanted one more climb to get me an 1100ft. window.  I flew toward a cloud line that was setup all the way to the southeast coast, but I found my climb in the blue before getting there.  I turned and turned and quickly gained enough altitude to have goal by 1600ft.

I cranked on the cords and went on glide toward goal...which was somewhere out there, but I had no idea where or what I was looking for.  Normally I look up these things on google earth before the flight, but with the Landing Clinics in the mornings, making breakfast/lunch, setup, pilots meeting, etc., I had little time for that.  No matter, I'd find it.  I didn't fly fast, only 33mph (best glide) in case I needed altitude to find goal once I got closer.

As I flew the courseline, I hit climb, after climb, after climb...I started speeding up.  I pulled in, and started flying 43mph and was still climbing at 400fpm.  I was unknowingly in another convergence.  I was within 2 miles of goal and still couldn't see it, it was supposed to be a small airfield. Where was it?!?!  I was now within 1 mile, still no luck.  I swore the other pilots would have made goal.  Did I pass over their heads on the ground?  Did they hit goal and fly to the beach in Ocean City?  BEEEEEEP!!!!  My vario made that beautiful sound it makes when you arrive at goal.

I smiled, still a bit confused.  I looked everywhere for gliders on the ground and found nothing.  I then looked straight down and what did I see?  4 gliders parked next to one another next to a grass strip.  HA!  I looked at my altimeter - 3300'.  OOPS!!  Damn, I did it again - arrived a goal with way too much altitude.  Better than the opposite I suppose.

I burned off my altitude and landed with a perfect no stepper on the runway.  Rich, who had been helping me in the landing clinics, was full of cheer.  Everyone was happy to see me and quite welcoming, offering up much congratulations.  I was the 5th pilot in goal.  Mitch got held up down low near the second turn point and landed a short while later.  I was feeling pretty special until a total of 9 gliders ended up in goal for the day.  Ah well, I made it, and I got to race with the big boys.  FUN STUFF!!!

I set a new personal distance record, and my driver was waiting for me when I landed.  Thanks Cindy!!! Oh, and that start clock business...that cost me 4th place for the day and put me in 6th instead.

Highlights of the day:  Orbiting alone at the top of the stack in the start circle.  Racing on the first leg under amazing clouds with strong lift.  FAST!!!  Thermaling with 2 Ospreys and Paris Williams (National Champion).  Racing with Paris, Greg, and Mitch.  Making Goal! 

Course:  Ridgely to Georgetown to RD 49 to BUNTI.  Double Dog Leg.

Flight Time:  3hrs 3min
Distance: 64 miles
Max Alt. - 7300'

NOTE:  I was very busy on this flight and did not have time to take pictures.  I should have taken some while burning off altitude at goal but I completely spaced it in my excitement. 

Grinding the Triangle - Day 4 of the East Coast Championships

Day 4 of the East Coast Championships and I was on tow behind the Dragon Fly Tug climbing up under the cloud filled sky.  Gliders were climbing in the start circle, and some were orbiting at cloudbase.   At 1600 feet, I pinned off early thinking I was in a good climb, wrong.  I was kicking myself for getting off and sinking out instead of staying on tow to 2500' and getting in under the other gliders that were in a much better position than I.

The day's task was a 50 mile Triangle task, I had never done a triangle, and my longest flight to date was 55 miles.  This was going to be a challenge.

I scanned around looking for the lift, only finding scraps here and there.  As I searched in vain, I thought to myself - 'this is one way to kill time till the start clock goes off and the race starts'.  Around 700' I connected with a weak climb over the farm fields across the street from the runway.  I stuck with it, not wanting to land and relight.  As I circled and circled, hanging and waiting, the thermal started to slowly grow.

It took forever to get back to where I pinned off tow, but when I did, things turned on.  I snagged the strong core and hooked in.  I spun up on the wingtip and climbed fast.  As I peered out from beneath my wing, I saw a bunch of gliders rushing over to come in on top of me and share in the prize.  We climbed out and hit cloudbase, racing to the next cloud to join the lead gaggle.  Phew!

Allen doing some practice tows.

As I came in under the leaders of the pack, they left and headed to the next cloud.  The race was on.  I joined in the pursuit.  I was flying Best Glide speed (33mph) trying to keep up but everyone was leaving me in the dust.  I came into the climb behind and below everyone as they were circling up and getting ready to leave again.  I took a few turns in very good lift and then chased off after them again.

This went on for the next 3 clouds and I got further behind.  On the next glide, I decided to change course and go for a closer cloud than the lead gaggle.  Arriving under the cloud I found nothing and had to change 90 degrees from course-line to get to the cloud the gaggle was under.  They topped out and left before I was half way there.  Finding only weak climbs, it was taking me forever to get to base.  I watched as pilots were passing me by on course, and the lead gaggle was long gone toward the first turn point.  Currently only half way to the first TP, and in a head wind, I was on my own.

Allen leaving the cart into the sunset.

As I reached an altitude high enough to make another jump, I looked downwind toward the TP, a long glide in the blue to get to the next cloud was what awaited me; I didn't want to get low again.  It was there that I made a decision that may have saved the flight, but took me in the opposite direction from where I needed to go.

Back toward Ridgely I flew, for two miles to get under a big cloud line that was setting up on a course line toward the turn point.  The clouds were getting big here, shadowing out the ground underneath, but they were the best option I had.  I glided in under the clouds and hit some weak climbs taking me backwards from where I had to go, no strong climbs like I had been getting earlier in the flight.

Highland Aerosports Ridgely, MD

The lift was scattered, and I had trouble connecting with the climbs, in retrospect it was likely due to not being aware that the thermals were drifting the opposite direction than I thought.  After all, the first leg was supposed to be downwind today.  Once I reached base, I began running the clouds toward Massey, my first turn point.  Long glides and light climbs, but I was keeping decent altitude on the way there.  Four miles out from Massey, I found a good climb under the clouds that were now filling in, and rising up.

Drifting away from the turn point again, I climbed while watching a news chopper sit on the runway at the turn point, (Massey is an airstrip) at idle.  I was about to make a glide for the turn point, out into the blue, but I didn't know if I would get back up.  Having reached cloud base, but drifting a half mile or so further away, I left on glide.

As I approached Massey, I flew two and a half miles with no climb, or any indication of lift.  Landing at Massey was no longer an option because of that helicopter, so I surveyed the surrounding fields just in case I had to land.  Little did I know at the time, but the news helicopter was there asking about hang-gliders; another pilot had tried to land in a field of tall wheat, and his glider was sucked in and he crashed needing emergency services to the hospital. 

I had now been in the air for what seemed like forever.  I was tired, hungry, thirsty, and had to pee, BAD!  3/4 of a mile from the airfield my vario started chirping - LIFT!  I banked up the glider and hooked into a nice thermal.  Taking two full turns I marked the thermal and took off to tag the turn point.  The GPS squawked as I came in over the field, made it!

Turning back toward the last climb I found, I was staring straight down at another hang-glider on the ground, and a rotor system whirring round and round.   I quickly returned to the thermal I just took two turns in not moments before.  No luck, it was gone.

Looking at the track log from the flight, I now see that I didn't go far enough to account for the drift of the thermal in the opposite direction.  The objective now was to get as close to the second turn point as I could before decking it.  This turn point was 16 miles away.

The face of making goal.

Less than two miles into the glide, I found some scattered bits of lift over some farm fields below.  I scanned around searching for the core and finally snagged it.  A bald eagle joined me from below, and we climbed and climbed higher and higher.  I grinned from ear to ear, as I watched him, and he watched me. 

We gained a thousand feet and he left, continuing on his journey wherever that may have been.  I continued to climb, soaking every bit of lift I could from this thermal, and eventually reaching cloud base once more.  Making the 1st turn point, and watching this majestic bird, erased the hunger and fatigue I had been feeling, but I still had to relieve myself, or else.

The harness I now use, makes it quite difficult to do this while flying.  I fumbled with my pants, and position, for what seemed like an eternity.  I tried staying under the cloud as I did this to keep the glider in lift, but that turned out to be a fruitless endeavor.  The glider careened all over the sky as I flew with one hand, and attempted to relieve myself with the other.

Almost ending up in a roll at one point, and a spin at another, I finally gave up and left the turbulent lifty area and flew out into the sink.  It was there that I gained satisfaction!  Someone watching this whole thing from afar, probably thought I was drunk, or a really bad aerobatics pilot.

I returned to the cloud and took a few turns to regain my lost altitude.  Now feeling quite releaved, and having substantial altitude, I headed off on glide once more.

Passing Millington and gliding toward Sudlersville, I found a few strong climbs that I could take a few turns in, and be on my way.  This, in conjunction with some good glides, meant I was not losing altitude too quickly. 

Ten miles into the second leg, I found a strong and well connected thermal.  Between this, and one more that I found near Church Hill, I was well positioned for the second turn point and well into the third.  I tagged TP 2 and began jumping from cloud to cloud on the third and final leg.

Chesapeake Bay

My mind lit up as I peered at my instruments and saw that I was only 12 miles from goal!!!  I needed one more climb on the way and I had this.  I began to get excited and nervous at the same time.  I could do this!

Four and a half miles into my glide toward goal, I was passing under clouds and not finding any lift, but I wasn't sinking fast and I had a tail wind to boot.  I had goal by 300 feet according to my instruments, but this was too close for my comfort.

I was beginning to wonder if I was going to make it after all.  I really needed to get a little higher to be comfortable just going for it.  Reaching the 5 mile mark, I came in under a working cloud slightly off course to the west.  LIFT!  Plenty of it.  Just what I needed.

I climbed up with elation, watching my altitude grow and my glide to goal get more and more secure.  I didn't want to arrive at goal with too much altitude as it was a waste, so I got enough to give me a 1600' margin and went on my seven mile glide. 

I ended up porpoising my way along climbing under small clouds forming all the way home.  It turns out, I was now in a convergence and had no idea.  I rode the line closer and closer to Ridgely Airport, watching my altitude go up the entire way.

I was ecstatic!  Since I had so much altitude, I took some pictures as I made the final 3 mile stretch to home base.  Soon after, I arrived at goal with 5300'.  My FIRST GOAL in the Open Class, and FIRST TRIANGLE!  A 50 mile Triangle to boot!  My second longest flight (the longest being 53 miles).

My wing back at goal!

I boated around over the airport watching the sunset and soaking in the moment.  I then noticed a news chopper flying around but not getting too close.  It would stop and hover a mile or two from the airport in different positions.  I still had no idea what that was about, but I decided to give them a show of sorts.

I had yet to really practice wing overs in my Combat, now was a good time; especially since I wanted to get on the ground after slogging my way through the course all afternoon, why not burn off some altitude...

After playing around for 20 minutes, watching the news chopper move around, and a couple of tandems get pulled up, I was now coring sink to get down.  Low enough, I took a long downwind, base.  The base leg of my approach was over the tree line running parallel to the runway.  I came in low along the trees, turned on final, came in hot, bled off my speed, reached for one down tube - check.  Reached for the next downtube - MISS!!  Oh no!  I was not going to pound in, not now, not here!  A bunch of pilots had come out and were cheering as they saw me glide in.  I had an audience.

I wiffed a second time, gave up, with my right hand on the down tube, I started my flare, reached back with my left hand and grabbed the only thing I could find - the rear wires.  So I flared with one down tube and one rear wire managing to salvage my landing.  The crowd erupted.

I climbed out of my glider and looked up to see Sunny (the flight park owner) running toward me with a huge smile.  He grabbed me and latched on to me giving me huge congrats and praise.  I was in shock that I had made it, and full of good cheer.

We talked for a few moments, and I dispelled his misconception that I made it in just over the trees. ;-)  I told him I arrived with 5300' and he told me the sea breeze was just arriving and that I was in the convergence along my last leg.

I put my glider back in line for the next days flying (a great feeling to not have to break down), and ran in to turn in my track log.  I was the last pilot to finish, but met with gracious praise for making it after such a long day.

Flight Time: 4 hours and 42 minutes.
Distance: 50 mile Triangle.
Max Altitude: 5610'

Dogfighting Hawks & Spanking Vultures

Thurday night the buzz started.  Weather forecasts were still changing so making a fixed decision on where we were going was not going to happen, but West Rutland, VT seemed to be the place.  Many pilots were planning to be there the next day.  I loaded my car and put all the equipment on chargers.  Tom was interested, Kip was in a holding pattern in Peterborough (from Maine) waiting to hear where we were going in the morning, and Jeff said he was interested as well.

The issue with West Rutland is the need for a 4WD vehicle to get to the top.  Since most of the people who have said vehicles, want to meet early at the base, those with long drives have to leave super early in order to get a ride up, this puts some pressure to get out the door at a reasonable hour in the morning - by 8am at the latest.

7am came quick and the cat herding began.  By 7:19am, Tom said he was going but no one else had sent word.  He couldn't reach Jeff and I couldn't reach Kip.  By 7:37am I asked Tom if he was committed to going, or if he was still talking to everyone else about why THEY didn't want to go.  He sent word back that HE should be 'committed'.  To what institution I'm not sure.  :-)

3 Minutes later he was trying to load his glider to meet me but everyone kept interrupting him, making the job difficult.  I stuck to text messages to keep things simpler.  Tom asked me to call Jeff -  No answer.  "We got to go" I said.

John Sillero

Tom responded and said Peter Judge wanted to go but he was still at home close to Boston.  He didn't want to hold us up.  I offered to meet them enroute in Keene but Tom opted to meet me off Route 2 and ride up together.  We met at 8am and hit the road.  About an hour into our trek, Jeff finally woke up and called us as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.  He overslept thinking he was going to be towing closer to home.  Jeff said he would meet us there.  Kip got in touch and said he was enroute to Rutland.

Tom and I spent the ride talking about our plans to fly XC that day, and try to get to the Canadian border.  We noted the lack of clouds in the forecast and talked about flying on Blue Days.  He drove and I looked at google maps to scout out the route he wanted to go.  We had a lengthy discussion about Lake Dunmore and having to pass that spot which would come in handy later in the day.

The Sport 2 Squadron

We arrived at the pit to find everyone loaded up and ready to go.  We threw on with Kip and headed up the mountain.  After setting up the wings and cramming down lunch, things seemed pretty good.  John Sillero jumped into the air along with a couple other pilots soon to follow.  We watched from launch noticing how slow John was flying in order to milk the lift.  Things didn't look good.  John managed to squeeze out an hour or more from his flight as the other pilots ended up on the ground. I felt like waiting so I closed my eyes and rested a bit from the short night's sleep and early rise. 

As the valley heated up, and 3:00pm was fast approaching, I decided to suit up and go.  I climbed in my glider and went out to launch.  I waited, watched, and waited, for some sign of lift.  There were no birds, no trees moving in the valley, nothing.  The sock was blowing in but it was light and insubstantial.

Suddenly the wind picked up and the air started to move with purpose.  I picked up the wing, setting it back down a few times before finally getting the wings level.  Once level, I charged forth and leapt into the air.  My left wing started to drop on my run so I had to do a little zig zag on the ramp to try and keep under it.  All worked out well but when I went into the air I had a heading I didn't want.  I shifted around to the right correcting course, and headed toward the higher ground.  I wasn't losing a ton of altitude, but I certainly was gaining.

I passed by launch about 50' below and felt my wing lift and heard my vaio chirp.  I cranked it around and banked up in a nice thermal taking me up and over launch to 3000'.  Tom had launched quickly after me and started to climb, and then Jeff, and Kip.  I saw people struggling as I climbed but Tom made it to the bowl and seemed to be well established.  My thermal topped out at an inversion layer at 3000' and I was looking for something else.

I cranked on the VG and started heading for Tom, who was doing the best of everyone else.  I passed through a ton of sink and by the time I reached the bowl, I was below the ridge again.  I scoured the hillside looking for lift but didn't find anything.  I went back toward launch where I could see trees rustling in the hopes there was another climb there.  No luck.

I turned back along the ridge and proceeded to the bowl.  As I entered, I had small amounts of lift, nothing major, but certainly better than sink.  I looked ahead and saw a Red Tail Hawk coming toward me, head on and at the same altitude.  I expected her to veer off, but we kept drawing closer and closer.  I continued forward in the lift band and she still did not waiver.  She was just about to collide with the nose of my wing when she suddenly, cast open her wings, and beat the air into submission, climbing above my airship.  For a brief moment, I thought she was going to land on me.

As I continued on, she rose up above me and started to dive at my glider.  Now I was concerned.  Normally we fly with hawks and they actually enjoy it and get close to us, but sometimes people have irritated them on purpose and I have heard stories of them diving down and shredding their sails with their talons.  I wanted no part of that, and figured if she wanted the lift that bad, she could have it.  I turned around further up the ridge and she was gone, the air was clear.  Of course, by this time, Tom, Kip, and Jeff were all on their death glides to the LZ.

I turned again and decided to head across the first gap in the ridge.  As soon as I passed over and started to turn back, I hit a climb that took me through the first inversion (3000'), then the second at 4500'.  As I was climbing, PK launched and climbed out as well.  I kept getting stuck at 4500' and PK caught up to me.  Minutes later, we rose up through the inversion and eventually merged into the same climb to 5700'.

Launch Ramp

I thought PK wanted to go XC, as that was the plan earlier and he mentioned he had found us a driver.  He headed off North along the ridge and I went after him thinking we were going.  We barely left Hanley Mtn. before I passed by him and kept on going.  I saw him take a turn, thinking he just wanted to top off before we went, nope, he left me by myself and watched me fly off into the blue all alone, to what he thought was my imminent doom.  Bastard!  ;-)

I made it to the end of the ridgeline in Pittsford and needed a climb.  The terrain dropped off ahead of me and I was in a position where I was going to have to cross the valley, but didn't have the altitude to do it on one glide.  I was not doing well, now back down to 3000' and losing.  I looked for landing options in the valley as I scoured the hillside for lift.  Suddenly I felt a bite.  A lee-side thermal that was a broken and gnarly, but I was able to stay flat and milk it for a few hundred feet while slowly drifting out into the valley.  This brought me close enough and high enough to get me the glide I needed.

Lake Dunmore - where I came from.

Pulling on the VG and the CG, I left the lift I had and shot for a small ridge at the foot of the greens on the east side of the valley.  My path was taking me right over the field Tom landed in on our flight from Equinox, so I had a huge bailout field if things didn't go my way.

As I reached the foothills, I found no lift where I expected it.  I looked for fields to the north and went on glide to try and get further north before landing.  As I passed along the ridge, I felt another burble and picked up a decent enough climb.  It didn't take me very high, but it gave me enough altitude that I could work a little further north on the ridge.  I stumbled into another weak thermal close by and took that for all it had as well.

The Greens

Gliding crosswind, and moving north along the hillside, I tried to conserve as much altitude as I could on glide.  Roughly every 1 mile, I would find a climb and take it up in it's WSW drift.  After doing this 3x, I finally found a more substantial climb and took that up a little further into the greens east of Brandon.  This climb brought me to 4800'!  I now had Middlebury Airport on glide by 300'.  I wasn't too happy about that small margin, especially given that what lied between myself and my destination, was two lakes and a HUGE amount of trees.

Again I reached for the VG and CG and took off on my glide right between Goshen and Leicester, keeping ample room to bail into fields if needed.  As I approached Lake Dunmore, I recalled the conversation I had with Tom on the ride up.  He had talked about passing the lake on the east side and how it was a bit of a nail biter.  I still wanted one more climb to get me to the airport, my goal for the day.

Sugarbush to the North

I crossed the gap south of Fern Lake flying through a small burble of lift.  It was barely enough to register on my instruments and I decided to pass it up.  As I glided away, something in my entire body screamed at me to go back.  I fought the notion, not wanting to give up my precious altitude taking a turn in crap.  Intuition eventually won out and I cranked around to go back to the burble of lift, resigning myself to the fact that I wasn't going to make the airport now; since I would lose precious altitude in the maneuver.

I approached the burble I had so eagerly left behind and, BOOM!!! up I went like smoke in a chimney.  I took one turn and then spied a hawk slightly below me in the climb.  One turn later and it was gone.  I grinned from ear to ear as I climbed back out to 4200', giving me ample altitude to make the airport (now 1300' after glide according to instruments).  I cranked on the VG/CG and headed north toward my destination, my course taking me behind Lake Dunmore and directly over the cliffs above the lake.  

Bristol to the north.

Gliding over the cliffs, with mountains and trees, a small lake, and more mountains and trees on my right, and trees and a large lake on my left, I was very much aware of the 2.5 mile glide I had to my nearest LZ's.  I cruised over the cliffs and hit some ridge lift, but nothing substantial enough to make me want to give up my glide.  I took one 360 in something on the north end of the lake, but carried on after insubstantial gains.

A mile north of the lake, and 3.6 miles south of my goal, I found a nice climb that brought me back up to 4400'.  Topping out the climb I passed over the gap in East Middlebury, and right south of the airport on the high ground I found another late day thermal.  A group of vultures were flying in this thermal, but they are rather dumb birds.  I was climbing like a rocket compared to them, while watching them struggle in meager lift.  In a phrase - 'I spanked em!'  :-)

This climb gave me enough lift to take some pictures and boat around, something I had little luxury for the whole flight.  I snapped some shots and scouted out the airport, planning my approach.

Adirondacks in the distance.  Lake George, Lake Champlain.

After some consideration on heading further north to Bristol, I decided to park it at the airport where I knew they had some services if I had a lengthy wait for my ride.  On my approach, I had a long final set into mid field but hit a ton of lift on the north end of the runway.  I had to take a couple 360s in sink to bleed off the extra altitude.  I finished out the final and landed with a nice flare at the close end of the runway.

The post flight workout began, with hauling my gear across the field to a spot I could break down.  I climbed out of my harness, looked around taking in the scenery, and then retrieved my cell phone from my storage pocket.

Goal!!!  Middlebury Airport.

Knowing Tom would not be too enthused to hear how great my flight was after he landed shortly after take-off, I sent a text saying - "Middlebury Airport." "I promise not to talk about my flight on the way home if you buy me an ice cream and give me a ride...not in that order."  He was a good sport and congratulated me on a great flight.

He arrived 25 minutes later and we loaded up the glider and talked about what happened to everyone else on the mountain.  As we passed through Brandon, we found a cool little ice cream place and I treated to a pre-meal dessert.  This place is definitely worth stopping at if you are going through Brandon, VT - The Inside Scoop.

We managed to get back home at a decent hour after stopping for some dinner in Keene, NH.  All told, an extremely challenging flight but rewarding and highly educational in the end.

Total Distance: 33.7 miles (26 miles straight line)
Total Airtime: 2hrs 22min
Max Altitude: 5700'

Thanks Tom for chasing after me! 

The Guantlet

Unwelcome weather forecasts that included high winds, scattered T-Storms, and high cirrus clouds moving back in (block the sun from heating the ground), along with many pilots not being around for Mother's Day, kept me from wanting to invest my day in any of our New England flying sites except one - Hang-Glide New England (which is a little over an hour from my house).  If it didn't work out, it was easy to recover the rest of the day for other activities.

Kip and Matt setting up.

I need towing practice on my new wing for the comps this summer and the conditions were predicted to be a little rowdy on the runway so I thought it would be good practice.  My friend Kip was coming down from Maine to fly, and my friend Allen wanted to go along to get some much needed aviation exposure after a week in Florida having a series of extensive root canals...for fun.

Worcester

Allen and I met up in Leominster at 11:30am and headed south to Tanner-Hiller Airport sharing stories and catching up.  We met up with Kip at the local sandwich shop and arrived at the airport to be greeted by the friendly airport manager (Bob), who was excited to see us return again this weekend.  Kip and I unloaded gliders with Allen's help and we started to set up for Rhett's 2pm arrival.

Mount Wachusett

As we setup the gliders, some heavy thermals started lighting off as the afternoon heating started to really kick in.  I was conscientious of the wind conditions and a little hesitant that I wanted to be launching in such.  The only thing that convinced me to keep setting up, was the large lulls in the wind that would take place for 10 or 15 minutes in between.

Clouds were starting to form everywhere and the sky was opening up to allow the beams of sun rays to roast the ground.  The airfield was HOT and definitely did not feel like May in New England.  After finishing my pre-flight, Matt Carr and Tom Lanning pulled in.  Tom quickly started rigging his glider as I prepped for launch.  I looked at Tom at one point, and looked at the fleece pullover in my hand, and asked - "Think I need this?"  Tom's classic answer was - "if you don't, it will be because you'll be back on the ground with the rest of us."  I decided to wear it and was glad I did!

Louie (tandem pilot/instructor) helped me get set in the cart and Rhett came over to go through our pre-flight checks on the cart.  We finished up and Rhett fired up the plane and tightened up the tow rope to prepare for take-off.  3/4 up the runway I saw a bird circling about 50 feet up and climbing, I was concerned the next thermal was coming through so we waited a couple minutes to see what he did.  I did NOT want to be taking off in some of the thermals I had seen come through.

Quabbin Reservoir from Wachusetts

As I surveyed the field and the trees, I didn't see anything lighting off that would cause me to get rocked everywhere on the initial climb out down the runway.  I gave the go command and Rhett cranked up the engine and we rolled down the strip.  Everything was going smooth until we flew over the trees to the southwest end of the runway...that was why the airfield was calm.  There was a thermal kicking off over there and things got a bit rowdy for a few minutes.  I stayed on the bar and tried to relax.

Merrimack River and Nashua Airport in the distance

After 1500' Rhett circled in the lift and we started to really climb.  After one full circle I pulled my release and disconnected from the tow plane.  I turned into the thermal and started to try and center on it.  I cranked it up and found the thermal core, immediately ascending at a rapid pace - 800 feet per minute. 

At 6000' as I worked my way toward cloudbase, I noticed Rhett was back down but no one was coming out to launch.  I called Allen on the radio and said - "Hey Allen, tell everyone the lift sucks and they should just stay on the ground."  He passed the message along laughing heartily as Rhett added to the sarcasm and told everyone that it wasn't soarable yet. 

Steck Farm Airport

I hit base at 7700' and was already heading downwind from the airfield.  I didn't want to get too far ahead of Kip and Tom so I shot upwind to the next cloud and hovered under there waiting.

Tom was next up.  He pinned off in a climb and started to ascend toward me.  I noticed him struggling and couldn't figure out why but tried to offer help to better lift.  Little did I know that he was in the midst of dealing with a harness malfunction and trying not to turn his hang-gliding adventure into a skydiving disaster. Tom's blog post: http://skyout.blogspot.com/2012/05/slipping-out.html?spref=fb

I continued to cruise around watching for Kip to get in the air and waiting for Tom, I was drifting downwind again, and my cloud started to fizzle out.  Tom was still having problems that I didn't comprehend, and there was no sign of Kip.  The day was calling and all these beautiful clouds lay there in the sky waiting like cotton candy.  I had to go.

I turned and headed downwind toward the next cloud over some rather 'forested' terrain.  I knew I had Gardner airport on glide if the next cloud didn't work out so I continued on.  As I came in under the next piece of candy, I immediately found a climb and started to regain my altitude.  I went to base, which was now 8300' and rode the cloud over Mt. Wachusset heading toward Fitchburg.  Right over Wachusett, a white sailplane with black tips passed under me by 2000' and headed off to the East. 

Shortly after that I noticed the cloud growing overhead and tried to get out from under it.  As I shot for the blue sky, the cloud grew in front of me as I started to get sucked up and in.  A few moments later I popped out the side of the cloud to an amazing view.  I looked up, and there was another layer of the cummie growing 300' over my head.  I turned the glider climbing up next to the cloud.  AMAZING!!! 

After that, I rode around the perimeter of the cloud to position myself for a glide toward Fitchburg Airport; I didn't want to pass under the cloud as the cummies were starting to tower.  The last thing I wanted was to get sucked up inside and pop out at 12 to 14,000 ft. 

Paul and Linda Steck

As I moved to position, I took note of the obvious lack of LZ's to put down in; Leominster/Fitchburg is nothing but a large sprawl of concrete, asphalt, and buildings, in the midst of a sea of trees.  Fields are non-existent or too small to land in.  At least that's how it looked from 8000'. 

I knew I could make Fitchburg Airport and started to head for a cloud over Leominster which was slightly away from the airport but still easy reach, and on my course line.  As I raced forward, the cloud behind me kept growing and growing, the shadow followed me across the earth below as if I were being chased by a giant leviathan in the sky.

Steck Farm Airport

I hit the next cloud and sure enough there was another climb.  I went back to base and looked down on Allen's car that we had left earlier in the day in Leominster.  With the lack of landing fields available, and still having tons of altitude, I headed back on course to Devens (Moore Army Airfield) where I took my first flight physical before entering the Army.

As I flew over Devens I found another climb in the blue.  I climbed for a bit as I surveyed possible landing fields in Ayer, Groton, Shirley, and then I looked down on my apartment.  I flew off course to a cloud that was nearby and positioned myself for the next climb even though I didn't need it.  I thought about landing in a bunch of places around here to make an easy retrieve; Allen last heard me say I was approaching Fitchburg Airport before we lost comms, I was on my own.

As I soared around Groton, I pulled up Tom's house on my waypoints...5 miles away.  I eyed Littleton looking for places to land.  From 7 to 8000' and 5 miles out, I didn't see too many that I liked but I remembered driving by fields day after day that I thought were big enough to land in.  I went for it. 

Clouds still winding down

As I came into Littleton I then thought of landing at Kimball's Farm in Westford where I could get an ice cream while I waited for my ride.  I was in another climb though, practically over Tom's house, and still getting 7000' and climbing.  I rode the thermal into Westford and right over Forge Pond.  I was looking for LZ's but having trouble finding any downwind if I wanted to keep going.  I looked at Lowell and Chelmsford and saw NOTHING!!!  I looked toward Nashua and again, saw nothing.  I then spotted a field 17 miles out that was in Pelham, NH - Steck Farm, I had my goal.  There was a large opening in Dunstable that I could land in if things didn't work out so I went for it.

As I approached Tyngsboro on glide, I wasn't losing any altitude to speak of.  I was following a good line and still climbing most of the time.  I snagged another thermal and circled in that as I drifted downwind over Route 3.  I looked down and noticed the backup field I had chosen in Dunstable was actually a landfill...that wouldn't have been good.  I didn't even come close to needing it.  I went on glide toward Steck Farm Airport in Pelham, NH and arrived with 6200' altitude and in the midst of another climb. 

As I surveyed the land further downwind, I was eyeing the coast and the Atlantic Ocean.  I saw it within my grasp, less than 30 miles away, but I didn't see much in the way of places to land on the way there.  I decided to give up the idea of going further as it was now 6pm and even though there was lift everywhere, the clouds were getting fewer and starting to fall apart.

Nate and Paul coming in for a landing

I boated around trying to get down but couldn't, everything was lighting off.  I'd find sink and fly through it, try to turn in it and the damn glider would go up; she wants to FLY!!!! :-)   I knew Jon Szarek lived near here and hoped he was around to see that I landed in his neighborhood and accomplished the flight he said HE wanted to do from Tanner-Hiller Airport a few days before. 

I set up my approach and enjoyed the sunset as I slowly descended to the earth.  As I approached 700' off the deck, I spied two shortwave radio towers in the trees east of the runway, and right in my approach pattern.  I decided to extend my glide out and around them and completed my downwind leg.  I turned on base and saw I was cutting it close over the tree tops.  I turned on final and came over the trees by about 10' and found that the beginning of the runway was actually a fairly steep downhill...Uh Oh!! 

I now thought I was going to take up the entire runway and hit the other downhill portion.  I popped out of the harness to create more drag and went from the prone position to upright.  I pulled the base bar in and flew fast into ground effect.  The air in the field was smooth as glass and blowing 5mph down the runway.  I smelled hay and flowers as I slipped through the air wisping toward the ground.  I transitioned to the uprights, let the glider go to trim, waited for the flare window, BAM!  Nailed it.  Best landing yet in the Combat - no stepper! 

I walked the glider off the grass runway as the owners noticed I was there and came out to greet me.  Paul and Linda Steck (brother and sister) that both own planes and fly, and their father John who was riding his vintage Harley Davidson three wheel golf cart.  They were extremely pleasant and full of questions.  We chatted for a while till their friend showed up to take Paul and himself up for a sunset flight.

I continued to pack up and wait for my ride.  I called Jon to let him know I was in his town, he thought I was at home on Google Earth looking up fields and pulling his leg.  He and his wife Toni and daughter Sienna showed up 30 minutes later to say hello on their way back from Mother's Day festivities and give their congratulations.  Thanks!  

Jon's daughter Sienna is quite the up and coming photographer...at 4 years old!

Allen, Tom, and Kip showed up after picking up Kip from Dunstable for his 38 mile flight.  Allen was our gracious driver for the day (THANKS!!!) but Tom was excited about how things turned out and decided to tag along too.  We loaded my glider and headed off to dinner in Nashua and shared stories as I soaked in the glorious day.  After dinner I drove Allen back to Leominster to pick up his car, then proceeded back to Tanner-Hiller Airport in New Braintree to get Kip back to his truck.

I finally made it to bed by 3:36am.  GREAT DAY!!!

Total Airtime:  3hrs and 15min.
Total Distance:  55.4 miles.  47miles dead reckoning.
Max Altitude:  8300'

The lowest I got the entire flight was 4100'.  It was a get high and stay high day where every cloud was working.

Tracklog Image courtesy of Tom Lanning