Mike Ash
2010-07-12 20:01:12 UTC
I flew my longest flight ever yesterday, both in duration and distance,
and had to share.
I hadn't even planned to go out to fly. I was the club duty officer on
Saturday (soaring requires enough manpower on the ground that we have a
designated duty crew on weekends) and don't usually like to go out to
the airport twice in a weekend, as it's a 90-minute drive each way, and
keeps me away from home. However, conditions got really nice on Saturday
afternoon and I had every expectation that they would persist through
Sunday.
When I got to the airport on Sunday morning it looked like practically
every privately-owned glider at the airport was already being rigged. I
figured it would be a very long wait for a launch, but went ahead and
assembled anyway. Assembly went easy, as always, and the winds were
light enough that I could use my one-man wing holder so didn't even need
any help.
By the time I finished and got towed to the ramp, a few people had
already launched. Some had fallen out and landed, so I was a bit wary.
The club got the second tow plane out to push through the rush, and some
of the other pilots who had assembled before me weren't quite ready to
fly yet, so I got a tow slot just a little after noon.
On tow it was clear that there was a lot of thermal activity. I wasn't
sure how organized it was or how well marked, so I hung on until 2,500ft
above the airport and then released into a thermal. Quickly climbed up
to 5,000ft or so, and immediately turned to the south.
The soaring forecast showed conditions getting better to the south so
that was my direction of choice. My goal was the airport at Waynesboro,
home of another local soaring club, about 70 miles down the valley.
As forecast, conditions got better as I went south. At about the halfway
mark, I was able to climb to over 7,000ft, and I was doing 60-70kts
between thermals and never getting low.
Upon reaching Waynesboro, I gave a quick radio call to the club there
and said hello, and also heard from my friend Jim who was flying his
glider out of there. Checking my flight computer, I saw that I had only
been flying for 90 minutes! Since there was plenty of day left, I
pressed on. On the way I chatted with Jim and some other members of my
club who were also out flying XC.
I figured that being aloft for 5 hours was reasonable, so I set 2:30 in
the air as my turnaround time. As it happened, that coincided with 100
miles from my departure airport. I turned around and started running for
my home field. Jim was maybe 15 miles ahead of me, also headed there.
About halfway there he radioed me to say that conditions were great, so
I followed along eagerly. Another 15 miles or so and he radiod to say
that things had suddenly changed and conditions were extremely weak. He
eventually turned around early. I, wanting to get home, had to press
on....
It did indeed get very weak. I started out 500ft below final glide,
thinking it would be a piece of cake since there was lift everywhere.
After that radio call I got cautious. I finally squeaked up to 200ft
above final glide, but it was still very tense. Finally, just a few
miles out, I hit a thermal, and managed to climb a thousand feet or so
and have some certainty in making the field.
I was about 4:30 in the air at that point. With some altitude to spare,
I decided to explore around the local area. Lift was weak, but I
patiently worked it up to 8,000ft and then gradually drifted down.
Finally deployed spoilers because the crew on the ground was starting to
pack up. Landed after 6:04 in the air. Total XC distance was 375km, or
about 230 miles.
Link to view the flight here:
http://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-2.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?flightId=-99
8280270
I finally feel like I really understand this whole XC glider flying
business and really able to take advantage of what a day has to offer.
What fun!
and had to share.
I hadn't even planned to go out to fly. I was the club duty officer on
Saturday (soaring requires enough manpower on the ground that we have a
designated duty crew on weekends) and don't usually like to go out to
the airport twice in a weekend, as it's a 90-minute drive each way, and
keeps me away from home. However, conditions got really nice on Saturday
afternoon and I had every expectation that they would persist through
Sunday.
When I got to the airport on Sunday morning it looked like practically
every privately-owned glider at the airport was already being rigged. I
figured it would be a very long wait for a launch, but went ahead and
assembled anyway. Assembly went easy, as always, and the winds were
light enough that I could use my one-man wing holder so didn't even need
any help.
By the time I finished and got towed to the ramp, a few people had
already launched. Some had fallen out and landed, so I was a bit wary.
The club got the second tow plane out to push through the rush, and some
of the other pilots who had assembled before me weren't quite ready to
fly yet, so I got a tow slot just a little after noon.
On tow it was clear that there was a lot of thermal activity. I wasn't
sure how organized it was or how well marked, so I hung on until 2,500ft
above the airport and then released into a thermal. Quickly climbed up
to 5,000ft or so, and immediately turned to the south.
The soaring forecast showed conditions getting better to the south so
that was my direction of choice. My goal was the airport at Waynesboro,
home of another local soaring club, about 70 miles down the valley.
As forecast, conditions got better as I went south. At about the halfway
mark, I was able to climb to over 7,000ft, and I was doing 60-70kts
between thermals and never getting low.
Upon reaching Waynesboro, I gave a quick radio call to the club there
and said hello, and also heard from my friend Jim who was flying his
glider out of there. Checking my flight computer, I saw that I had only
been flying for 90 minutes! Since there was plenty of day left, I
pressed on. On the way I chatted with Jim and some other members of my
club who were also out flying XC.
I figured that being aloft for 5 hours was reasonable, so I set 2:30 in
the air as my turnaround time. As it happened, that coincided with 100
miles from my departure airport. I turned around and started running for
my home field. Jim was maybe 15 miles ahead of me, also headed there.
About halfway there he radioed me to say that conditions were great, so
I followed along eagerly. Another 15 miles or so and he radiod to say
that things had suddenly changed and conditions were extremely weak. He
eventually turned around early. I, wanting to get home, had to press
on....
It did indeed get very weak. I started out 500ft below final glide,
thinking it would be a piece of cake since there was lift everywhere.
After that radio call I got cautious. I finally squeaked up to 200ft
above final glide, but it was still very tense. Finally, just a few
miles out, I hit a thermal, and managed to climb a thousand feet or so
and have some certainty in making the field.
I was about 4:30 in the air at that point. With some altitude to spare,
I decided to explore around the local area. Lift was weak, but I
patiently worked it up to 8,000ft and then gradually drifted down.
Finally deployed spoilers because the crew on the ground was starting to
pack up. Landed after 6:04 in the air. Total XC distance was 375km, or
about 230 miles.
Link to view the flight here:
http://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-2.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?flightId=-99
8280270
I finally feel like I really understand this whole XC glider flying
business and really able to take advantage of what a day has to offer.
What fun!
--
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