Mike Ash
2010-05-10 16:12:35 UTC
Yesterday's forecast looked great, so I headed out to the airport and
took two flights.
Conditions were very windy, about 15G25 on the ground, out of the
northwest. This meant that it was very bumpy as well, since that's right
across the mountains, and so we got a lot of rotor. A frontal passage
made for good thermals, and on my first flight I took a tow, released at
3,000ft, and started climbing. I was able to get strong but inconsistent
climbs to over 5,000ft, but after a while of this the turbulence really
started to wear on me and I decided to head back home.
After lunch, I decided to give it another shot. With the wind speed and
direction I figured the local ridge had to be working well, so I took a
tow over there and gave it a shot. And indeed it was working well. I ran
south to the ski resort at the end of the ridge, about 45 miles, at
between 70 and 80 knots, and about 1,000ft off the ridgetop. Beautiful
day, incredible visibility, I could see my destination from the
beginning of the flight.
Saw a friend of mine coming up the ridge the other way from the next
gliderport to the south early on in the flight. We had a nice chat over
the radio as we passed. It's always fun to see and chat with somebody
you know in the air.
I got to the ski resort with no trouble and turned for home. For the
return leg I decided to see how fast I could go. Most of the time I was
able to go between 100 and 120kts and still stay above the ridgetop. For
reasons unknown to me, I had to slow down to 70-80 in a couple of spots
as the lift suddenly became soft, but it didn't last long. Pounding down
the ridge at 120kts in strong conditions is an incredible experience!
More than once I had stuff bouncing around in the cockpit as I hit a
sudden bump. I was able to keep enough distance from the hard stuff to
stay comfortable, though.
All in all, about 100 miles in a little over an hour, according to the
flight trace, and tons of fun.
You can see the trace here:
http://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-2.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?flightId=213
7026136
Use the KML link at the top for a nifty 3D view in Google Earth.
took two flights.
Conditions were very windy, about 15G25 on the ground, out of the
northwest. This meant that it was very bumpy as well, since that's right
across the mountains, and so we got a lot of rotor. A frontal passage
made for good thermals, and on my first flight I took a tow, released at
3,000ft, and started climbing. I was able to get strong but inconsistent
climbs to over 5,000ft, but after a while of this the turbulence really
started to wear on me and I decided to head back home.
After lunch, I decided to give it another shot. With the wind speed and
direction I figured the local ridge had to be working well, so I took a
tow over there and gave it a shot. And indeed it was working well. I ran
south to the ski resort at the end of the ridge, about 45 miles, at
between 70 and 80 knots, and about 1,000ft off the ridgetop. Beautiful
day, incredible visibility, I could see my destination from the
beginning of the flight.
Saw a friend of mine coming up the ridge the other way from the next
gliderport to the south early on in the flight. We had a nice chat over
the radio as we passed. It's always fun to see and chat with somebody
you know in the air.
I got to the ski resort with no trouble and turned for home. For the
return leg I decided to see how fast I could go. Most of the time I was
able to go between 100 and 120kts and still stay above the ridgetop. For
reasons unknown to me, I had to slow down to 70-80 in a couple of spots
as the lift suddenly became soft, but it didn't last long. Pounding down
the ridge at 120kts in strong conditions is an incredible experience!
More than once I had stuff bouncing around in the cockpit as I hit a
sudden bump. I was able to keep enough distance from the hard stuff to
stay comfortable, though.
All in all, about 100 miles in a little over an hour, according to the
flight trace, and tons of fun.
You can see the trace here:
http://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-2.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?flightId=213
7026136
Use the KML link at the top for a nifty 3D view in Google Earth.
--
Mike Ash
Radio Free Earth
Broadcasting from our climate-controlled studios deep inside the Moon
Mike Ash
Radio Free Earth
Broadcasting from our climate-controlled studios deep inside the Moon