I haven't had time to mention the wonderwind that Mark, Karl and I got at Bristol last Sunday. So here's the mention: 600' over and smooth as glass for 90 minutes. The highlight was planting myself atop Mark's kingpost, out of his view, for like 15 minutes. Very fun.
The other thing I didn't mention was how great my harness fits. No, I didn't lose my extra baggage- Marilyn Nichols gave me an extra inch or two- so zipping up is effortless. Betty Pfeiffer had replaced the zipper and added some space last month, just not quite enough. So I am really enjoying the fit now and staying more relaxed in the air as a result of not pushing to keep myself in it correctly.
So today- very nice flight at Hammondsport. I wasn't sure I led my small pack to the right place, but I figured it would be too windy to do Mossy or the Cliffs early so a stab at H-port seemed logical. It was already a little cross from the north when we arrived, but we set up anyhow. Dan, Jack, Bob, Rick, Karl and Katrin joined Mark, Ron and me. I got in the slot first- very nervous about my last launch there. But after waiting a long time, a nice cycle came in and I had a decent launch for a change. My first pass I pulled a 360 and started gaining. I saw Jack launch and then Dan, but it wasn't easy to stay up and we all spread out. I finally found a little something on my way to the airport and had some instant friends and climbed out. Dan got really low and I thought he landed (he saved it at 300' and flew to Harris Hill) and Jack left the valley. At around 5K over, I left too and went on a long sinky glide. Pretty soon the only company I had was Mark and Bob on the radio as I made my way down Rte 17. When I got to Rte 15 I thought about heading south, but with 4 hours showing on my 5030, and no clue about airspace down there, I fought cross wind to stay in the 17 valley. I had good climbs, great climbs, shitty climbs and some I just absentmindedly waffled around with. Not too stressful, I could see Harris Hill and no one was flying at the Cliffs, so I tried to make Blue Swan. I did get low in front of Dan's, but the last climb that got me to my goal was right over his ridge and then I couldn't get down at Blue Swan. I saw a glider on the ground, figured it had to be Jack, and came in screaming across the road- Peggy stopped traffic while I belly landed 15 feet from his glider. A thermal was mixing it up good in the whole area and it felt like being sucked along the ground, not really downwind, but weird nonetheless. I has dirt down my pants but it was a safe landing. Thank God for wheels- I never could have run that out. I was beat- 3 hours in the air- shivering at 5900' over H-port launch. I saw 46 degrees on my instrument up there. I think it was just 45 miles or so, but really fun. Mark and Ron landed near Corning- I'll let them tell their story. It was a blast to listen to Mark as he dragged Ron along.
Okay so I am beat, tomorrow is going to be sweet, so I'm packing it in.