Wave Camp report

Andy Kozak writes:

 

Wave camp began this past Friday (October 10) with some nice thermaling weather. This turned into light wave conditions and several pilots took advantage and had altitude gains of 12,000 feet over the fall foliage and stunning terrain of the Presidential Range. Saturday was a light thermal day with no wave. 

Sunday was forecast to have strong easterly winds but with decreasing wind speed with altitude. I drove up Sunday morning and arrived around 10:30. Several pilots had already taken off and more were getting ready to go. After assembling 2R, I joined a group of pilots, one of whom had recently landed. His report was that he had left wave lift to try and reach stronger lift but had experienced very strong sink, forcing him to head back to the airfield.

Reports via radio indicated good climbs and nobody else was returning to the airfield. Gorham airfield has limited staging area so when taking off toward the east only one or two gliders are towed to that end of the field. The towplane pilot came over to brief me on what he had been experiencing and where he had been finding wave. The airfield sits at 835 feet ASL. The first tows had only been to 4-5,000 feet and those pilots experienced severe turbulence in trying to climb into the wave. Among them was Bill Batesole who in recounting said it took him an hour and a half to feel his stomach settle down. Subsequent tows had been to 6,000 feet, between Route 16 and the Carter-Moriah range. Pilots would then climb to approximately 10,000 feet and head downwind to connect to the wave generated from Mount Washington - where there was stronger lift. 

I tightened my belts several times prior to taking off and then again on tow. My oxygen system was already on and would start to provide oxygen at around 10,000 feet. Most of the tow was uneventful. From Gorham the tow takes you south, up the Mount Washington valley. It becomes more spectacular the further you go. I could see roll clouds just to my right as we passed upwind. The last 1000 feet of tow became more dynamic with some major excursions up and down by the towplane. I have had more turbulent tows. I released around 6,000 feet in smooth lift of 500-600 fpm. The strong lift lasted only a short while and after that I climbed at 100-300 fpm. The beauty of being over the Carters is you are looking at the eastern slopes of Mount Washington. There is Tuckerman ravine (a steep skiing mecca), Huntington ravine for ice climbers, and the auto road for those proud to proclaim their car climbed Mount Washington. The sun was shining, it was warm. At 45 knots it is quiet and the air is silky smooth.

I could hear pilots report they were finding the Mount Washington wave just downwind of the peak, and others were climbing past 16,000 ft. I could also see the overcast of the tropical storm fringes moving up from the south. I was not in a rush and enjoying the view, so I slowly climbed to 13,000 feet before the lift quit. This decided my turn downwind and the downwind run over the peak. The sink was mild but slowly increased with a maximum of 600 fpm while flying at about 75 knots. As the sink decreased and turned to lift I started my 180 degree turn so as not to fly through the lift band. My initial climb was 600-700 fpm.  At just over 16,000 feet the air started to do some odd things.  there were strong areas of lift but almost immediately I would fly into an area of air where the air felt like it was falling but with the stick pushed forward the glider seemed not to want to drop its nose. After a few repeats of this I headed back east toward the weaker wave over the Carters.

I continued northeast past Gorham, then Berlin. I flew over Old Speck, a mountain in Maine and could see Sunday River ski area to the south. There was one particularly distinct cloud street running east/west, and I could find light wave behind some of the peaks below me.

Gorham was always within an easy glide. I could not see any more distinct peaks nearby that could offer wave lift but I know that the Post Mills pilots have regularly flown to Sugarloaf Ski area and back in wave. Retracing my flight path, and possibly improving on it, I was able to maintain altitude, and I decided to return to the Mount Washington wave.

Tim Chow had been towing but with most pilots already in the air he had an opportunity to jump into the Post Mills HPH 304, PM. As I flew over Mount Madison, I could hear Rick Roelke telling Tim to look for the wave just over the top of Mount Washington. Tim announced he was in wave at 9,000 feet. Shortly after that I announced I was in wave at 9,000 feet. I was expecting to see Tim somewhere above me. 

I could see the clouds spilling over the crest of the range and dissipating. There was clear air below me as had been the case for most of the flight when in wave. It is a spectacular sight to look down at Mount Washington in these conditions. By this time the high storm overcast had moved in and there were many more clouds below. Much of the area downwind of the mountains was clear so there was no danger of being stuck above the clouds.

The sun was starting to get lower on the horizon. It had become a white and light gray world. That's when I saw Tim pass just overhead and to my left. I thought we had 15 feet - the WeGlide analysis shows 27 feet. I saw PM for less than a second. I think Tim also only saw me briefly. I immediately radioed to Tim, and he turned onto my tail to keep me in sight.   

I have Flarm, PM does not. Tim's personal glider does. We have flown together before. We were converging at about 150 feet per second at maybe a 35-40 degree angle. At that angle peripheral vision only begins to come into play. Typical wave has you crabbing quite a bit more, giving you more time to see an approaching glider. The lower wind velocity as we flew higher made for a lower crab angle, and our approach more head on. 

We continued to climb together. Again at just over 16,000 feet the air began to do strange things. With the extensive cloud cover and the lower sun angle, it was getting cold. Tim headed north toward the airfield and I headed southwest to burn off altitude. I flew as far as Waterville Valley ski area. There were long stretches of wave lift and low sink areas. Springfield airport would have been an easy glide. I then turned back and flew toward Mount Washington Airport which is to the west of the mountains. Again lots of lift and little sink. The clear areas seemed to have a lot of lift. It was not easy to descend below the clouds and I was now on the edge of shivering cold. I carry an extra wool hat, gloves, blanket. Should have packed the electric socks, and I will buy an electric vest.

Circling upwind of the airfield my flight computer showed 29 knots of wind! I started my downwind leg and kept my eye on my aim point. Starting to turn base I still felt ok, but I quickly had to focus on the trees at the end of the runway. I had put in too much flap too early.  At least I kept my speed up. Not my best landing, to say the least.        

Post Flight: Neither Tim nor I saw each other until it was too late. I do not think I moved my control stick as he flew past.

The discussion at the next day's morning meeting seemed to indicate Flarm will be required on gliders at wave camp. There is some Flarm like product available at the $100 range but takes some tinkering. Probably a good idea for all of our trainers as well?

My biggest mistake was not communicating well. I should have confirmed Tim's altitude, location and heading. The area of strongest lift was not that large and we both would have been looking for it.  

I clearly need to improve my approaches and landings in high winds.