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The Scott Wise
Report
On 5/31/2012 12:54
PM, S C Wise wrote:
Right now in Bath -
Valley winds make me
think it's blowing swiftly up top at H-Port. The flag up at Mossy (line
of sight from my back yard) is blowing mainly NNW - N, but predominantly
NNW. The flag is not whipping around as it would be if it was blowing
25 mph. It looks more like it's around 15 mph). Sky is at or above 50%
overcast with some "darker" bottomed (but I wouldn't say threatening)
clouds here and there. I'm still going to head up soon, but I'm not
rushing at this point. The best time for a flight may be in the later
afternoon.
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The Flight
Got an interesting
flight in at H-Port today.
It seemed a little
strong this morning, along with some clouds with dark under surfaces, so
I took care of some other business until it looked like it was
moderating some - and not ODing. Somewhere around 3:30 it started to
look nice and I headed to launch. When I arrived Linda S's car was
there, but I think she was up at the upper launch. The sock at the
lower launch was showing some WNW cross cycles (unexpected) so while
observing how often this occurred I trimmed some tall weeds and sumac
over growth at the top of the lower launch. I was also keeping an eye
on the wind streamer
that I've put up on the top of the hill behind the launches. It (being
in somewhat "cleaner" air) seemed to show a balance of NW - NNW winds.
Linda finally appeared and we
both made our way
with our gliders to the upper launch. Just about as I was finishing up
my set up Herb Horning showed up. The question arose as to who would
wind dummy (launch first). Vacillation took place until I was suited up
and ready to go - so I became the default "wind technician". : - )
I launched at 5:04
(how'd it get that late?) in a nice cycle, shortly
after watching a red
tail circle up, out in front of launch. After a
couple passes I found
some consistent lift to the north of the upper
launch and began to
circle. I began to go up and up. Nice. I kept
going up. : - ) The
lift got stronger as I climbed and oddly seemed to drift around a bit.
Generally, the air was going up a little north of the area behind the
north launch. Now and then I noticed my GPS registering 450 - 500 fpm
up. Things were beginning to look small. I could just about see up
Keuka Lake to Penn Yan. This occurred as I reached 4,631 ft MSL (3,531
over the valley and 2,858 ft over launch).
The lift was very
pleasant for the most part and felt real nice and
surprisingly smooth.
But, in an untypical way, the lift began to get a little choppier up
high. After a 5 - 10 minute wait Linda launched. It wasn't easy to see
how
good her progress was
but it seemed to me like she was climbing out in a similar manner as to
what I experienced. I was figuring that she'd catch up with me. I
noticed, however, that after gaining out some, she began to head north
along the ridge. She had talked about preferring a tension free landing
at the grass strip just south of Hammondsport (the church LZ, with the
bordering dark brown ploughed field could easily have presented some low
level thermal turbulence) and it ended up that was
where she was
headed. I ended up following her for a mile or so to the north before
realizing her intention. Still being at around 4K MSL, I decided to
head back to the ridge top (and maybe back to above launch) to relocate
some nice lift.
Well, lift became a
little scarce and at a grand over launch I looked
down and saw the wind
flag on the hill behind launch blowing out of the NE! Hmmmmmm. I
looked at the south launch and the wind sock was pointing the wrong
direction - down hill. Herb had his PG laid out on the upper launch and
the sock there was (at that moment) still blowing up. What the heck? I
looked over to the wind markers in the (new) alternate top LZ and they
were also blowing out of the NE. At one point I saw them turn to the
ENE. Yikes!
I think this fairly
quick (as far as I'd noticed) wind switch psyched me out some and
convinced me that the direction change had also shut down the other wise
nice lift cycle. I lost a couple hundred more feet hoping to locate new
lift, while, at the same time, heading to the air above the (new)
alternate top LZ.
I chose to be nice
and safe and set up an extended length set up to drop into this alt. LZ
(only my second landing there). By the time I was at final approach
altitude, the wind had aligned with the long dimension of the field
(parallel with Mt Wash. Rd.). This is not unusual and one of the things
I like about this field - i.e., lots of nice straight final approach
distance - with a very gentle up slope on the first part of the field,
ending with a generally flat (ideal target) touch down area.
As I came in I did
hit a minor burble of air but noticeably less then I usually encounter
over the regular top LZ. I came up a little short of the flat section
and had a not bad landing 100 yards back on the gentle up slope. I
ended my flare a little high and gently plopped down. It felt like I
got a stronger puff of air just as I flared for what, otherwise, would
have been a perfect touch down. All things considered, this was another
nice touch down in this less experienced field. My touch down time was
5:31 pm for a total air time of 27 minutes. I'm sure I would have had
more time had I gotten to launch an hour or more sooner, but I enjoyed
the flight and loved the great climb out. Too bad the wind rotated
close to 90° to the NE. I didn't expect that, and Herb got screwed out
a flight for the second day in a row. He should have jumped (pardon the
pun) at the chance of being the wind dummy.
Scott W |
S
