Tuesday March 7th, 2006
so i finally got a flight in. i missed sunday at harris and it just ate away at me! monday looked really nice for h-port or mossy, but i thought it looked more like mossy so i didn't want to attempt that alone. couldn't get any takers. so yesterday i was feeling desperate. the fsl maps had been having server issues so i was flying blind so to speak all weekend and through the first part of the week. but i did get a peek early tuesday before they went down again. i actually thought it might be really light wind (but straight in) according to most of the forecasts.
despite the low temps- right at my cut-off- i headed out to meet doug (PG). he was on top first and reported that it was a west cross. didn't see any of that in the maps... hmmm. he met me at the church and when we got back on top- it was pretty straight in, and starting to blow quite a bit. he launched and just went stright up. i mean STRAIGHT UP. in fact, as i was stuffing battens rapidly, i looked around for him and thought maybe he sank out. i didn't think to look 1800 feet over my head!
i had a tough time navigating my way towards the slot. it was really blowing. doug was way out in front so i knew it was strong for him. i sort of ground handled it right off the launch- it was the only way to do it. i turned right, then left and was 300' over right away. after half an hour i still never got more than 700 over and i knew doug had been way up, so not to be out-done.... i kept trying to find the big one... and i guess i did- i had 500fpm on my 30 second averager for over a minute. at 1900' i look down and in front and doug is climbing just as fast! goin up! he opted to land then and that was probably wise- i was hanging on pretty tight. it did start to get better- more glued together after that- and i never got below 1200' over. but then i began to get cold fingers. funny how it wasn't a problem at 600' over... i took one more climb to 2200' and then tried to find some sink to go land. i had been in the air almost an hour so that was enough. only there wasn't much sink. i had to core the tiny pieces i found and follow them just like a thermal in reverse to get down. i shorted my landing at the church by overestimating my glide. but other than that the landing was great. doug was down to pick me up just about when i was done packing up.
nice day- nice flight! much needed!
so i finally got a flight in. i missed sunday at harris and it just ate away at me! monday looked really nice for h-port or mossy, but i thought it looked more like mossy so i didn't want to attempt that alone. couldn't get any takers. so yesterday i was feeling desperate. the fsl maps had been having server issues so i was flying blind so to speak all weekend and through the first part of the week. but i did get a peek early tuesday before they went down again. i actually thought it might be really light wind (but straight in) according to most of the forecasts.
despite the low temps- right at my cut-off- i headed out to meet doug (PG). he was on top first and reported that it was a west cross. didn't see any of that in the maps... hmmm. he met me at the church and when we got back on top- it was pretty straight in, and starting to blow quite a bit. he launched and just went stright up. i mean STRAIGHT UP. in fact, as i was stuffing battens rapidly, i looked around for him and thought maybe he sank out. i didn't think to look 1800 feet over my head!
i had a tough time navigating my way towards the slot. it was really blowing. doug was way out in front so i knew it was strong for him. i sort of ground handled it right off the launch- it was the only way to do it. i turned right, then left and was 300' over right away. after half an hour i still never got more than 700 over and i knew doug had been way up, so not to be out-done.... i kept trying to find the big one... and i guess i did- i had 500fpm on my 30 second averager for over a minute. at 1900' i look down and in front and doug is climbing just as fast! goin up! he opted to land then and that was probably wise- i was hanging on pretty tight. it did start to get better- more glued together after that- and i never got below 1200' over. but then i began to get cold fingers. funny how it wasn't a problem at 600' over... i took one more climb to 2200' and then tried to find some sink to go land. i had been in the air almost an hour so that was enough. only there wasn't much sink. i had to core the tiny pieces i found and follow them just like a thermal in reverse to get down. i shorted my landing at the church by overestimating my glide. but other than that the landing was great. doug was down to pick me up just about when i was done packing up.
nice day- nice flight! much needed!
posted by Linda Salamone at
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
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