Saturday October 10, Sunday October 11 -Harris Hill in Big Flats, New York

Saturday was windy, but it was supposed to get calmer later. I took both the Litespeed and the XT145 and when I got to H-port and saw everyone watching it blow hard and slightly west cross, it took like 2 seconds to talk everyone into heading to Harris. Katrin and Karl had left their gliders up top when they went down to get Jorge, but wanted to join us so I threw their BUNCH of gliders on top of mine and off we went.
No locals were at Harris so we called the airport and reluctantly began settingup. It was 3pm and still pretty rowdy. My dog can be free to roam a bit here and the launch and landing are so much less stressful that H-port, so I set up my Litespeed. I kited the Arcus for a bit and watched a scary Jordan flight that ended okay but aged us all a bit. Bill launched and showed us how nice (but still strong) it was and after a bit, I got ready. My launch was funny in a way- I transitioned both hand simultaneously and hitched head down right away. The air was so solid and smooth but still, a really weird thing to do in any case.
It was easy to get up, 100 meters or so was about it, but it was easy and smooth and SO SWEET to be flying MY glider again!!!! What a great handling glider. It felt so solid and right. After a while the ridge got a little crowded and even though I was above the peanut gallery, I left to have no approach issues in the LZ. It was shutting down and I knew they would all be joining me. I had a great landing in no wind and as I was carrying my glider to break it down, I just started bawling. Bill was there and asked me what hurt- but nothing did- it was just such a relief to be back... totally back... It was pretty overwhelming. The Rochester contingent (besides Todd) headed to Bin Bin and shot the shit for a while before heading home.

Jorge looks pissed... bad Moo shoo?


Sunday, for some reason I drove back down to Harris Hill even though I saw some serious wind in the forecast. Not all models looked blown out and I wanted another go with the Litespeed- it had felt so good! Got 5 gliders on my car (in the pic one has already been unloaded) and brought Ed, Katrin and Karl on up from the LZ.

Blowing blowing blowing... but the streets! Holy crap! Ed and Dan were talking about flying to Binghampton! XC is out for me just yet, but I was jealous til I realized they were kidding.

Bill launched first again and Ed followed after a bit. Then Dan got ready.

Readier....

Still too rough looking for me, but Katrin launched really nicely into the strong air. Karl got into the slot after I noted the change in the cloud type on its way into the valley. I told him that something was about to change- big time. I didn't know if it would be for the better or for the worse, but the clouds were a huge change in the way the sky looked. 5 minutes after Katrin launched, it started HOWLING into the slot. Finally, Karl backed out. We watched it rip roar through and then Katrin was parked and heading out to land.



Katrin and Ed with the different clouds.

She hit some crap on the way to final approach and wound up harvesting a little corn. Rotor from the west hill was affecting the LZ and so I decided to pack it up. Karl did also and I high tailed it home.



My unflown glider at launch.....

Just under 500 miles of driving for 30 minutes of airtime! But it was really important airtime (not to mention the landing) and I feel like my injury is even more behind me now. I get new Xrays on Thursday so we'll see just how far behind me it all is. I also got some productive kiting on the PG so another plus... And...It was great to see Dan and Bill and Ed and Matt and Jorge and Karl and Katrin and Jordan and Todd...

getting back into it!!!