Mike Ash
2009-08-24 04:15:59 UTC
I went off to the gliderport today thinking it would be a fairly decent
day. The forecast was so-so, but I hadn't flown in two weeks and was
getting kind of antsy. I figured that at the very least I could get in a
couple of full-flap landings. (I've only started doing these in the past
month or two, and they're VERY fun. Literally about a 1:1 glideslope.)
When I showed up at about 10:30, two other people were already
assembling gliders, and I joined the fun. Assembled pretty quickly, then
started the waiting game. The first fellow to show up launched fairly
quickly, at about 12:20 or so, and didn't come back down. The rest of us
followed.
I released at 2,900ft (2,200ft above the airport) after seeing the tow
plane take a big jump upward, and feeling my glider follow along. It was
a boomer for this area and this time of year, giving me a steady 4kt
(400fpm) climb up to 4,200ft. Then I hit the cloud, so I left and
started to explore. The clouds were not completely reliable but they
were pretty good.
Not too long afterwards I was thermalling with the first fellow who
launched. He was a couple hundred feet above me, on the opposite side of
the circle. I got the turn worked out, started to relax, and began to
admire his glider. So pretty, and such a nice shape. I particularly
liked the curved underside where his landing gear goes when it comes
out....
Oh crap! I forgot to retract my gear!
Aside from that, things went well. Even when a cloud didn't work out, I
was high enough and could explore far enough to get to one that did. I
never got much below my original release altitude, and could always
climb back up.
I took this video about 90 minutes in:
By the time I got to two hours aloft, I was feeling pretty good about
this flight. Not that two hours is all that special to me anymore, but
it's a nice benchmark to reach. At that point I thought I'd see if I
could make it to three hours, which I've only done a few times.
Sometime around this point I took this picture:
Loading Image...
.html?g2_imageViewsIndex=1
Check the middle for the airliner, which looked a lot closer than it
looks in that picture. I guesstimate 1000ft above me and about two miles
away, but I could be way off. Looked like a 737 or A320. Pretty cool to
watch it fly by.
Made three hours. Started to think about beating my previous duration
record of 3 hours 40 minutes. Wouldn't take too much; from the 4-5000ft
altitudes I was achieving, I could get 20-30 minutes just descending to
the pattern.
The lift was disappearing, though. I hooked up with a friend flying a
club single-seater, and as we circled together, he asked, "How are you
doing, H3?" I replied, "Pretty good, but struggling, it looks like the
day is starting to die." He came back, "Yep, same here."
We circled together for a bit, then headed off on slightly different
paths. By this time I was down to about 3,000ft. Hit a bump, then more
than a bump, and started working a 2kt thermal out in the blue.
Meanwhile my friend started working something about a mile away, but it
wasn't very good because he dropped below my altitude fairly quickly.
Then he headed off further and I didn't see him again. As I climbed
through 4,000ft I heard from him, though, as he called in to enter the
pattern.
I had my record broken. 3 hours 40 minutes was mine, and then some. Next
thought was to 4 hours. That would be a pretty cool milestone to hit.
But that thermal quit at 4,200ft and signs weren't good. I headed off
toward a likely-looking cloud anyway, hopeful. Hit it, bump, up, good!
Saw 4-kts out of it, way more than I was expecting by this time of day.
On the way up, I saw that I had 4 hours made. Now, logically, I started
to think about the possibility of doing 5 hours. I was getting pretty
tired, but as I climbed I started to feel more alert and awake, like a
second wind. But would conditions allow it? It seemed unlikely.
A club two-seater took off on an instructional flight and I mentioned my
thermal, so they headed over on tow. I hit the top around 4,200ft again,
stuck around just long enough to mark it for them, then headed for some
better looking clouds. They weren't just better looking, they were
better, period! These gave me a 5-6kt climb to 5,900ft, my best altitude
of the day, and at 5pm!
Two questions remained: how long would this last, and how long would *I*
last?
Around this point I took this video:
I was actually just about defeated at that point, and was cruising
aimlessly, but blundered into nice lift and could not pass it up.
I started thinking about using this flight for my Silver Duration badge,
which requires a five-hour flight. One trick: it requires five hours
*after release from tow*. Practically speaking that would mean about
5:05, not a big difference, but I couldn't shave it too close. And I was
really thinking about shaving it. I was well over 4 hours in the air at
this point but wasn't sure I could make it to 5, much less 5 plus
anything.
Yet, somehow, the lift kept getting better. I was completely worn out
and was not up to any more aggressive flying. Glider pilots refer to
"working" lift, and for good reason: flying tight circles at a 45-degree
bank in a turbulent thermal at just above stall speed is hard work!
Tired as I was, I used shallow banks and didn't keep my speed low, but I
still had no trouble staying airborne. Soon I had 5 hours made, then 5
hours plus a bit of a pad.
Decided it was time. The lift was *still* working, but I had had enough.
No hurry to descend, but I just quit trying to stay up at all and just
cruised around. And yet still I found lift, sometimes two or three miles
of straight flying where I wouldn't descend, or would even gain 1-200ft.
But still, the overall was down, and I finally found myself running
through my landing checklist. No activity at the airport by this time,
and no wind, so the landing itself was a piece of cake. Came in with
full flaps and full spoilers (WHEE!) and I was down at 6:13PM. Total
time in the air: 5 hours 23 minutes.
This was a really great flight. I got to watch a whole day's operations
from the air. I got to test my skills and modify my strategy as the day
went from strong to weak and back to strong again. I got to circle with
red-tailed hawks and, no kidding, five party balloons.
And since I can't resist being insufferably smug to this audience of
mostly power pilots, I have to mention how this entire flight, all 5.4
hours of it, cost me a grand total of $28. Call it $40 if you want to
include the cost of driving to the airport.
Anyway, it was a wonderful time and I just had to share. Now all I have
to do is figure out how to get the flight off my flight recorder and
I'll have my Silver Duration badge.
day. The forecast was so-so, but I hadn't flown in two weeks and was
getting kind of antsy. I figured that at the very least I could get in a
couple of full-flap landings. (I've only started doing these in the past
month or two, and they're VERY fun. Literally about a 1:1 glideslope.)
When I showed up at about 10:30, two other people were already
assembling gliders, and I joined the fun. Assembled pretty quickly, then
started the waiting game. The first fellow to show up launched fairly
quickly, at about 12:20 or so, and didn't come back down. The rest of us
followed.
I released at 2,900ft (2,200ft above the airport) after seeing the tow
plane take a big jump upward, and feeling my glider follow along. It was
a boomer for this area and this time of year, giving me a steady 4kt
(400fpm) climb up to 4,200ft. Then I hit the cloud, so I left and
started to explore. The clouds were not completely reliable but they
were pretty good.
Not too long afterwards I was thermalling with the first fellow who
launched. He was a couple hundred feet above me, on the opposite side of
the circle. I got the turn worked out, started to relax, and began to
admire his glider. So pretty, and such a nice shape. I particularly
liked the curved underside where his landing gear goes when it comes
out....
Oh crap! I forgot to retract my gear!
Aside from that, things went well. Even when a cloud didn't work out, I
was high enough and could explore far enough to get to one that did. I
never got much below my original release altitude, and could always
climb back up.
I took this video about 90 minutes in:
By the time I got to two hours aloft, I was feeling pretty good about
this flight. Not that two hours is all that special to me anymore, but
it's a nice benchmark to reach. At that point I thought I'd see if I
could make it to three hours, which I've only done a few times.
Sometime around this point I took this picture:
Loading Image...
.html?g2_imageViewsIndex=1Check the middle for the airliner, which looked a lot closer than it
looks in that picture. I guesstimate 1000ft above me and about two miles
away, but I could be way off. Looked like a 737 or A320. Pretty cool to
watch it fly by.
Made three hours. Started to think about beating my previous duration
record of 3 hours 40 minutes. Wouldn't take too much; from the 4-5000ft
altitudes I was achieving, I could get 20-30 minutes just descending to
the pattern.
The lift was disappearing, though. I hooked up with a friend flying a
club single-seater, and as we circled together, he asked, "How are you
doing, H3?" I replied, "Pretty good, but struggling, it looks like the
day is starting to die." He came back, "Yep, same here."
We circled together for a bit, then headed off on slightly different
paths. By this time I was down to about 3,000ft. Hit a bump, then more
than a bump, and started working a 2kt thermal out in the blue.
Meanwhile my friend started working something about a mile away, but it
wasn't very good because he dropped below my altitude fairly quickly.
Then he headed off further and I didn't see him again. As I climbed
through 4,000ft I heard from him, though, as he called in to enter the
pattern.
I had my record broken. 3 hours 40 minutes was mine, and then some. Next
thought was to 4 hours. That would be a pretty cool milestone to hit.
But that thermal quit at 4,200ft and signs weren't good. I headed off
toward a likely-looking cloud anyway, hopeful. Hit it, bump, up, good!
Saw 4-kts out of it, way more than I was expecting by this time of day.
On the way up, I saw that I had 4 hours made. Now, logically, I started
to think about the possibility of doing 5 hours. I was getting pretty
tired, but as I climbed I started to feel more alert and awake, like a
second wind. But would conditions allow it? It seemed unlikely.
A club two-seater took off on an instructional flight and I mentioned my
thermal, so they headed over on tow. I hit the top around 4,200ft again,
stuck around just long enough to mark it for them, then headed for some
better looking clouds. They weren't just better looking, they were
better, period! These gave me a 5-6kt climb to 5,900ft, my best altitude
of the day, and at 5pm!
Two questions remained: how long would this last, and how long would *I*
last?
Around this point I took this video:
I was actually just about defeated at that point, and was cruising
aimlessly, but blundered into nice lift and could not pass it up.
I started thinking about using this flight for my Silver Duration badge,
which requires a five-hour flight. One trick: it requires five hours
*after release from tow*. Practically speaking that would mean about
5:05, not a big difference, but I couldn't shave it too close. And I was
really thinking about shaving it. I was well over 4 hours in the air at
this point but wasn't sure I could make it to 5, much less 5 plus
anything.
Yet, somehow, the lift kept getting better. I was completely worn out
and was not up to any more aggressive flying. Glider pilots refer to
"working" lift, and for good reason: flying tight circles at a 45-degree
bank in a turbulent thermal at just above stall speed is hard work!
Tired as I was, I used shallow banks and didn't keep my speed low, but I
still had no trouble staying airborne. Soon I had 5 hours made, then 5
hours plus a bit of a pad.
Decided it was time. The lift was *still* working, but I had had enough.
No hurry to descend, but I just quit trying to stay up at all and just
cruised around. And yet still I found lift, sometimes two or three miles
of straight flying where I wouldn't descend, or would even gain 1-200ft.
But still, the overall was down, and I finally found myself running
through my landing checklist. No activity at the airport by this time,
and no wind, so the landing itself was a piece of cake. Came in with
full flaps and full spoilers (WHEE!) and I was down at 6:13PM. Total
time in the air: 5 hours 23 minutes.
This was a really great flight. I got to watch a whole day's operations
from the air. I got to test my skills and modify my strategy as the day
went from strong to weak and back to strong again. I got to circle with
red-tailed hawks and, no kidding, five party balloons.
And since I can't resist being insufferably smug to this audience of
mostly power pilots, I have to mention how this entire flight, all 5.4
hours of it, cost me a grand total of $28. Call it $40 if you want to
include the cost of driving to the airport.
Anyway, it was a wonderful time and I just had to share. Now all I have
to do is figure out how to get the flight off my flight recorder and
I'll have my Silver Duration badge.
--
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