Moshe (RU) disentombed his glider on Saturday and took his first flight of the year on Sunday. Here's his report:
The forecast changed completely, but the winds were still light when I took off at noon. It turns out I should have taken off even earlier (I was ready at least 30 minutes earlier).
I concentrated on trying to reach the potential wave, as there were wavy looking clouds here and there. To my surprise, winds aloft (within the thermal layer) were weaker than forecast, 8-11 knots according to Tophat. Most good thermals got strongest (5 knots) above 5000 MSL but died before 6000, probably hitting the forecast inversion. Some may have been wave-enhanced.
In one area I managed to climb to 7000 in wider lift patches that may have been wave, but I couldn't seem to stay in that lift, nor get any higher. By then the wind reported on the ground was up to 15G20, luckily from the WNW rather than the forecast NNW. And the thermals got difficult to find and work.
I hit some turbulence in the lee of Hawks Mountain, enough that my head hit the canopy pretty hard, so I decided maybe it's time to land, even though I've only flown a bit more than 2 hours. Remembering the sink on the approach to runway 29, I came in close and high, planning to land halfway down that runway. Once on final I pulled full spoilers - and in a few seconds I was staring at "the numbers" at the approach end. Wow. Kept the nose down and closed spoilers and all was well.
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