Thursday, May 20, 2010

Re-Thinking Past Flights

Here's my track log from last years Owens Valley trip


It was memorable for many reasons, one of them being the unconventional crossing (or so I think). Prior to reaching the Wall where many crossings are made directly to black mountain, I found myself drifting out into the valley while climbing in a thermal. My drift rate was 10-15 mph, and it was turbulent. I knew the westerlies had kicked in and knew sticking close to the Sierra's was no longer an option unless I wanted to get upside down. So I took the thermal to the middle of the valley.

I cross where the east side of the valley get's low as the Inyo's stop and the White's begin. These low hills didn't look like a good place to cross too, so I worked whatever lift I could find. What I found was light but consistent lift in the center of the valley between 10,000 and 12,000'. I worked this lift, spending about 20 miles flying up the center of the valley, slowly drifting east towards Black. At the time I thought I was lucky to find thermals in the middle of the valley. Now I have a new thought.

Peter L gave a talk on flying the Owen's at this weeks WOR meetings. He has a theory that when the westerlies come through, they push down the back side of the Sierra's and into the valley. This creates a convergence and a line of rising air in the valley. This makes a lot of sense with my flight. I think as the west winds continue to push through, that convergence line will move east, just as my flight did.

It's interesting to re-think an old flight and understand it in a different way. This seems like a good one to keep in the play book and remember that you may want to look for lift in the center of the valley if the westerlies have arrived.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Funston Fun

This last week I've flown Funston a couple times. One day on my Pulse and today on the T2C. The last couple years I have not flown Funston too much. It's fun to get out there and hit touch and go's and just play around.

Flights: 11
Air Time: 2:00

Friday, May 7, 2010

Race & Rally Day 7


The last day of the comp called a 120km task North to Americus, Georgia. Once again we woke up to a less than promising sky. The clouds were low and were moving fast. Oh well, off to the airport to give it a go.

At the airport we milled around until the task was called. We then headed over to the setup area to get ready. I was nervous due to the winds, but had forced myself to relax and give a try. The airport was huge and I could always just land here if I didn’t like the air.

As we setup in a wet field, the wind continued to build with some powerful gusts coming through. My confidence began to falter and no one was rushing to launch. The task was delayed one hour, but conditions did not improve. When the launch window opened conditions were as strong as ever and cloudbase was still low.
Davis got in the launch line and started the waiting game as the rest of the field continued to drag their heals and not get suited up. The strategy was to wait as long as possible before one of the start times and then launch. With the strong winds there was going to be no way to stay in the start cylinder and with so many pilots not ready to go, someone in the front of the line could get the last clock while others were still on the ground.
Personally, I was wondering where the safety committee was and why the task had not been cancelled.

Eventually Derek Turner launched and had a wild ride. He flies a small-ish glider for his hook in weight and has high wing loading. Even with that he was getting batted around right off tow. The wind was so strong I think the tug never turned during the tow and they only ended up ¼ mile upwind. He was soon landing and it sounded like he was scared during the flight. I don’t blame him.

Jeff Obrien launched and his tow looked scary as well. The tug hit a gust and was 20 feet in the air before Jeff even came off the cart. Davis launched and seemed to have a fairly smooth tow.

After hearing Derek’s account of the tow and flying conditions the safety committee finally stepped in and stopped the day. A good call and unlike earlier in the week, no one complained about it. In fact, many pilots, including myself, had already decided not to fly.

OB's Launch

We headed to a nearby restaurant for the awards ceremony, food and goodbyes. Johnny D took first place by only 9 points (7 for 7 this year), then Dustin and Zippy. It was a good time. After dinner we packed up the van and decided to make an evening run back to Quest. It was a 6 hour drive and I took the time to book a flight relax, and talk about the adventures of the last week.

Race & Rally Day 6

Day 5 had taken us to Williston airport. Day 6 was originally set as a 230km task to Moultrie, GA. The day started off wet, and cloudbase was low again. The task was shortened to LiveOak, about 118km.
Day 6 Task

While we were setting up the sky was dark with large rain cells on course. The start times were pushed back an hour and by the time the launch window opened, it was slightly better with some blue sky.
Dark Clouds On Course

I towed up early, maybe 2nd or 3rd in line. I figured the day was as good as it was going to get. The tow was easy and the lift was light, but smooth. I climbed slowly with Derrick Turner, then Ben Dunn, then JD. Again, we weren’t getting high. Not more than 2,000 – 2,500’. I was having a little bit of trouble dealing with the gaggles today. I don’t know if they were particularly chaotic, or if I just wasn’t in sync with them. It seemed that people were coming in all directions, I was getting waked steadily, and kept getting pushed out of the thermal when someone would cut inside me and then fly straight. I did manage to get the camera out and take a little video:

Link

Aside from the gaggle, the air was very pleasant. I was however a little concerned about making low crossings over forests, as well as the fact that I couldn’t see far due to the haze and was therefore unsure what weather was rolling towards us. I decided that I didn’t feel like going on course unless things changed. I flew around for a while longer, trying to get higher, but eventually fell out of the lift and headed back to the air field. Landing was smooth and I packed up and headed out with Bob to retrieve the rest of our crew and then drive to Moultrie. Ben and JD landed inside the start cylinder. John Simon made it a number of miles. No one made goal.
Gaggle In the Start Cylinder
Ace Comp Pilot Ben Dunn Climbing Up