Thermal Camp

This year's Mount Washington wave camp (October 8 - 20) was a lot of fun despite the disappointing absence of wave conditions on the second (PMSC) weekend.

For the record, the highest any PMSC member got was 20,000 feet, on the first (GBSC) weekend. Congratulations to Thomas!

Other early fliers were rewarded by some decent wave conditions, most notably Skip, Pete, and Tim. Persistence (or stubbornness) does pay off, eventually. Skip set the record for the most miles driven during a wave camp, followed closely by Thomas, who had to go home to get his battery.

When our Blanik flew in on Friday afternoon, it brought the total to 22 gliders on the field. Four New England clubs were represented. We had three towplanes and something like nine towpilots on the second weekend. We made about thirty flights on Saturday, and the total number of flights for the encampment was over 100. I think it's safe to say that the Mount Washington Soaring Association has reached a critical mass. The founders of the modern wave camps can take pride in this accomplishment (you know who you are).

On the way to dinner on Friday, the Budget Brothers (Pete, Sonny, and Rick) secured a good price for three rooms at the Mt. Madison Motel (not quite as good a price as the one secured by The Master of Negotiation last year). Later, Andy and Thomas were able to get in on the same deal.

The forecast for Saturday was not encouraging, but we decided to put on a dawn patrol anyway. Sure enough, the sun came up and the wind did not blow, both exactly as forecast. Here's a picture of the three finalists in the "Old Man of the Mountain Beauty Pageant", wondering why they got up so early.

The day was by no means a bust, however. It turned out to be one of the best thermal soaring days of the season, with lift starting before 11:00 am, cloudbases eventually reaching 7000 feet, and good streeting. Jon and David G each had flights of over an hour in the Blanik; Pete, Tom, and Doug shared the 1-23; and Mike, Tim and Andy flew PM. Several decent cross-country flights took place, with the best of them a trip by John Good to Mt. Ascutney and back. Andy also had an hour flight in the PW-6 (I1) with Walter Striedieck. It was nice to see Nancy and Gordon, who showed up during the busy part of the day and didn't get a chance to fly. At the very end of the day a weak wave appeared - just enough lift to call it a wave day.

Sunday was another calm beautiful day, perfect for sightseeing. Convection was limited to weak upslope winds on the sunny sides of the mountains. Tim, Pete, Kevin, and Tom tried their hand at "rock polishing" on Mts. Adams and Madison, with limited success. Pete took this picture of Tom returning. Note that 3J's dive brakes match the Gorham foliage.

Midway through Sunday we started packing up. By some miracle, we were able to get all the people, planes and trailers home in one go. Special thanks to Tim, Pete, Andy, Charlie, and Tom for moving the club equipment back and forth.

All in all, we had a great time. The wave will be there next year.