Weekend report May 16 - 17

Ballooning and gliding were both rained out on Saturday morning.  The flying weather didn't improve much during the day, and neither did the pandemonium associated with the balloon festival, so we never got off the ground.

On Sunday, the weather was mostly blue, with decent lift to 6000 feet. We had ten flights, all towed by Susan. We operated from the south end of the field, so there was no conflict with the leftover ballooning crowd.

2W, JD, EA, and T8 all flew together, up to Morrisville and over to Franconia.  It looked something like this:

When they were in the Franconia area, they might have seen Tom Hopper (TH), out in his LS1.

The local flying at Post Mills was relaxed, with Willy, Dakai, and Bill enjoying flights of respectable duration in the trainers. Karl test flew the newly rebuilt mechanical vario in 3J.

Both golf carts are running!

Franconia Report July 3 - 8

Sometimes it's fun to review our history. I'll explain why it's fun in a moment.

Every year, the Post Mills Soaring Club pulls up stakes on the 4th of July weekend and heads to another gliderport for a visit.  It's nice to get out of town for a change, and it is always nice to go fly in the mountains. These encampments have been going on since before Andy started this blog.

For the first few years, we went to Stowe, but starting about 10 years ago, we seem to have settled on Franconia, and beginning in 2007, we wrote stories about our experiences.  We had fun-filled weekends at Franconia in 2008, 2009, 2010, but not in 2011. And for some reason, I failed to write the 2012 report. All we got last year was a brief story about a young punk in a Blanik.

So why is it fun to review all this?  It's fun because last weekend, Lane told me that he enjoys reading this blog, and that he always clicks on all the links. Have at it, Lane. That was fun.

In 2013, it went like this:

WEDNESDAY
As usual, we faced the logistical challenge of getting all the gliders and trailers to Franconia in time for the first  scheduled flying opportunity, which was Thursday morning. After work on Wednesday, Andy and Andrew drove PM to Franconia, parked it at the airport, and checked in at the Gale River Motel. Paul and Marsha also checked in and wondered what was behind that closet door (petri dishes, perhaps?). Sonny and Pete dropped off the golf cart and returned home.

THURSDAY

For the first time in several years, we did not have a Blanik at our disposal on the 4th of July.  The Franconia Soaring Association was kind enough to allow us to use PI (the one we flew last year) for our advanced training, but we decided to cover our bases and bring our 2-33 as well.  Tim and Rick dodged the low clouds Thursday morning and delivered the glider to Franconia.

It turned out that, other than a couple of guest rides, most of the Thursday flying was solo.  Most notably, Dan had his first flight in Papa Mike.  Congratulations, Dan!

I'd rather be flying EA

The ridge wasn't working, and Tim had the best flight of the day, about an hour and a half in PM.  A few of us celebrated our arrival by going out to dinner at the local downtown restaurant.  Don't go there if you're in a hurry.

FRIDAY
Despite the low clouds and lack of obvious ridge winds, we assembled ourselves and our gliders by noon.  We stood around for a while and eventually made 13 flights, all but one of which were solo.  Dan and Tim shared PM, and, thanks to Andy Gelston (who wasn't able to join us), Tom was able to make a nice rollout in TH following a brief local flight. Skip (JS) also flew locally.  The best flight was turned in by Greg (JD) who traversed the Lafayette ridge twice and wandered down to Mount Moosilauke twice.  Both visits to Moosilauke were disappointing, altitudewise, and he made his final glide in light rain.

The rest of us did a poor job of flight recording.  Pete, Sam, and Bob flew 3J without taking any data, and likewise for Dennis, who made his first solo flight at Franconia.  Paul (S1) probably recorded his flight, but he never turned anything in.

We had dinner at a Mexican joint in Littleton, where the food and music were both excellent (your opinion may vary).

SATURDAY
Saturday started out with a solid overcast, drizzle, and widespread pessimism. While we were still drinking our morning coffee, one of the FSA pilots damaged the left wing of PI by rolling out into a Christmas tree following a normal landing.  It was sad to see such a valuable glider taken out of service in what appears to be a really avoidable accident.  We were planning to use it this day, and we were lucky we had brought our 2-33.

At about noon the weather started to improve, and it never looked back.  We had gangbuster thermal, ridge and wave conditions till sunset.  Tom, Dan, Tim, Skip, Greg, and Andy (Lawrence) posted some extended flights.  Greg visited the usual peaks: Lafayette, Garfield, and Moosilauke, rarely getting very far above the ground.

 And he took some nice pictures:

As did Skip:

Pete taped a video camera to the nose of the 1-23 and recorded a 40-minute movie that turned out to be really ...um... boring.  Here's the first frame of the movie.  Note the liberal use of duct tape.

The flying part of the day ended with Dennis's first flight in 3J (without the duct tape).  Congratulations, Dennis!

I'd rather be flying DC

After flying, we adjourned to the motel for our annual extravagant barbecue and club summer meeting (if you didn't know that we had an annual summer meeting, well, we used to have one.  We're trying to bring it back).  The turnout was 30+ hungry party-goers, and I can't believe we don't have any pictures from the party, other than this crooked one that Skip took with his cell phone before most of the aviators arrived.  If you're holding back any party pictures, c'mon, let's have them!

The party was a big success, which is no surprise, since Judy and Marsha were in charge of it.  They shopped and prepared all afternoon while the rest of us were out enjoying ourselves.  Someone should make a point of thanking them.  And while you're at it, make sure Judy gets your $10 contribution, if you haven't done that already.

After the party we had a lively meeting in which we approved the improved Bylaws, and in which Paul gave us the update on our efforts to buy a glider.  There should be more news about this soon.

SUNDAY
The last day of the encampment was pure denouement.  We flew a little, congratulated ourselves a lot, packed up, went home, and dozed off in our own beds.

Weekend report April 27 - 28

The season got off to a roaring start this weekend.  (Actually, last season never ended; our club members flew during every month since last April. This must be some kind of record!)

We had two excellent weather days, with a few clouds on Saturday and even fewer on Sunday. Light south winds and good lift to 7000 feet, with some climbs to 9000. Just as an indication of how good the weather was, on both days Skip came home after several hours of flying and found a 10-knot climb to 7000 feet right over the end of the runway.

On Saturday Paul (S1), Skip (JS), Tom (TH), Dan (3J), Greg (JD), and Moshe (RU) flew cross-country flights or "extended local" flights, but only four of them were recorded.

The rest of us did annual field checks and ground school, the latter performed while we were waiting for Sam to come back with the 2-33.  We also had time to swap stories and learn something about the life of an air traffic controller from our newest member, Toby Bucsescu.

Our cookout Saturday night was well attended, and as is usual this time of year, we ran out of food, but not beer.

Sunday was a banner day. We were fairly efficient, having learned from all the operational mistakes we made the day before. We wore out four towpilots. The golf cart died a couple of times, but we dealt with it. The hotshots flew a total of eleven hundred miles, including Evan's record setting flight of 575 km, and Tim's 137 km flight which began at 5pm.

For the weekend: 19 glider pilots, 4 towpilots, 35 flights.

Let's take Friday off

The Slackers set some sort of record today with ten sorties, including a rare weekday instructional flight. The conditions were slightly better than yesterday, with weak climbs near home and good lift in the high ground across the river. Paul (S1) and Moshe (RU) headed up to Mt. Moosilauke, while Kevin (PM) chased them partway.

It was a bit frustrating for the local flyers around Post Mills. The sky was seriously blue with no clouds, and winds from all different directions. The thermals were far enough apart that staying in the air was just a coin toss. Tom (TH), Greg (PI) and Andy (PI) fell down early in the day, but as the day wore on, Dennis (67) and Greg (PI, again) were able to make some good climbs.

Here's a picture of Moshe taking off. He flew for over four hours, landing at 6:40pm.

Altogether, ten club members went flying today, a Friday. Doesn't anyone work for a living any more?

Weekend report May 26 - 28

For the third week in a row, the bad weather moved in just AFTER the weekend. May the trend continue into June.

Bill and Mike made local flights before the weekend, but the lift just wasn't there. Tony, on the other hand, pulled off a nice 260 km flight in which he visited one of his neighbors to the north, but decided not to drop in.

By Saturday our weekend airmass was established. The thermals were not well organized and difficult to identify, but they were everywhere. It was often the case that circling didn't work very well below a certain height. The clouds were short-lived and mostly not worth chasing. Despite all this, a few members got to 7000 feet. Tom, Greg, Sonny, Tim, and Tony posted flights on OLC. Tony's was his last flight of the season in Florida, and he has packed up for his summer trip out west.

It was nice to see Evan, who towed all 16 flights on Saturday, and it was nice to see Elizabeth who spent the day on the golf cart under the hot sun. At the cookout that evening Evan provided the beer and Mary provided the ointments for Elizabeth's sunburn.

The weather held through Sunday. The light turnout allowed Nancy, Tom, Greg, and Steve to make extended flights. The weather must have been a bit weaker at Morrisville, where Moshe (RU) made a 2-hour local flight.

By Monday, the prefrontal haze had moved in, but that didn't stop Kevin and Steve from practicing their low altitude thermaling skills in the Blanik and the 1-23.

NOTES:

1. We are trying to organize some ground school classes (probably at Lebanon airport in the evenings during the week). Stay tuned.

2. There are signs posted around the north end of the airport. Watch out for them. There will be dinosaur repairs going on this week. Watch out for nails and other hazards.

3. Kevin has discovered that the back of the front seat in the Blanik is adjustable. This should help with the left-knee-spoiler-handle problem.

4. Rick assumes that all the BFRs are completed.

THE NAG LIST:

1. We have developed a few maintenance items that need attention. Don't forget to volunteer to help with the 304 trailer, the Blanik instrumentation and canopy, the 1-23 instrumentation, new towropes, and the golf cart radio. Always be on the lookout for things to fix.

2. Try to keep the golf cart moving. We have been doing an inefficient job of moving gliders around on the ground.

3. We will move trailers and do some mowing next weekend.

4. It's OK to throw trash into the golf cart during the day, but don't forget to clean it out before going home. Also, don't forget to claim your water bottles, lunch boxes, flip-flops, and toys at the end of each day.

Tour

Here's where Tim went today:


It took him a while to get off the plateau north of Post Mills and into the high ground. He then elected to head to Franconia, then Littleton, and eventually back home. All the good climbs were out in the flats, and in fact, the Franconia ridge was no help at all. It just goes to show you that you can't trust conventional wisdom when it comes to soaring. Another 168 km for our team. Good flying, Tim!

Pete (3J and PM) and Tom (TH) flew locally, but were unable to get connected to the clouds, which stayed frustatingly out of reach for most of the day.

Meanwhile, back at Morrisville, Moshe (RU) flew 103 km, not quite enough to get back home.

An old joke

Q: What do you call the day after two days of rain in Vermont?

A: Monday. Ha Ha.

Sure enough, the work week started off with a terrific soaring day. Fortunately, the Weekday Slackers rose to the occasion. Tim flew a clockwise triangle of 183 km out of Post Mills, and Moshe traveled counterclockwise out of Morrisville for 149 km. Interestingly, they both went to the Catamount turnpoint. If Tim had gone counterclockwise, they might have seen each other.

Tom flew locally in TH, and Rick, Rich, and Andy flew airplanes on a flyby mission in Randolph.

Our soaring season started out as a joke, but now we can finally laugh about it.

Weekend report June 18 - 19

Our string of unflyable days ended with the passage of a weak cold front Friday evening.

It was still drizzly and foggy Saturday morning and we almost called the day off after breakfast. That would have been disappointing for our towpilot, Bob, who drove all the way down from St. Johnsbury (Thanks, Bob). The day turned out to be surprisingly good, with weak lift under every single cloud. The bases were low, however, and you had to spend most of your time circling. Tim and Steve (both in PM) earned some OLC points in the local area. Mike S and Sam both had good flights in the 2-33. Sam impressed his instructor with how little his year-long layoff has affected his stick-and-rudder skills.

In the afternoon, the sky to the northwest turned black, and we started to hear thunder. Everyone landed, and we hustled to put everything away. We were running for cover by 4:30 pm. This allowed an early start to the cookout, which was well supplied and enjoyable, as usual.

Sunday was the kind of day we dream about. The lift started early and cloudbase eventually reached 6500 feet. Almost everyone had a long flight. Mike S kept the 2-33 in the air for 1.7 hours, and got to 6300 feet, both personal records. He flew with Tim (PM) for a while, on Tim's jaunt to the northwest, a flight that was not recorded, alas. Tom (TH) got stuck at low altitude over West Fairlee and was forced to creep home early. Skip (JS) headed for the White Mountains but was unable to get past Mount Lafayette, where he turned around, completing a nice 121 km flight. The best flight of the day was made either by Evan (T8) or Thomas (ZP). They both were gone for over five hours, but only one of them turned in a flight log.

Andy towed all day and finally got to do a ride flight in the 2-33 at the end of the day (Thanks, Andy).

Weekend report June 4 - 5

We had a decent flying day on Saturday. The conditions were variable all day, and, for the cross-country fliers, the strategy of running away from the stratus clouds worked.

Evan (T8) made it to the Mount Washington Observatory by a non-standard route: via Mount Madison. He reported no prevailing wind at the summit, with convergence winds on all sides. We'll have to take his word for it; Evan seems to have forsaken OLC.

The rest of us enjoyed local and semi-local flights at Post Mills. Paul (S1) flew for two hours without his landing gear doors, which were not quite reinstalled after servicing the hinges. Skip (JS), Tom (TH), and Steve (3J) had nice flights. Bill (PM) had a good flight, but he left his Flight Recorder in the cockpit, and we weren't able to download it till Wednesday (after the OLC deadline). There was a rumor that Moshe (RU) would visit Post Mills this weekend, but that turned out to be a hoax.

The Saturday night cookout was as pleasant as ever, and we owe our thanks to the usual contributors. Let's keep this tradition going!

On Sunday our weather was dead flat calm with a solid overcast - perfect for flight instruction. We were able to congratulate our newest member, Mike, for making his first complete flight as sole manipulator of the controls. The rest of us stood around and watched Paul install his gear doors.

Some good weather at last

With only five days left, the month of May made a belated attempt to redeem its reputation today.

We had 5 knots to 6000 feet, and at one point Andy (PM) saw 7 knots on the averager during his 150 km flight. Tom (TH) had a similar report when he landed after his 2.5 hour flight. Bill disappeared in 3J, landed when nobody was looking, and disappeared in his truck, so I guess we'll get his story later. Moshe (RU) got a late start at Morrisville, but had a nice flight.

But the best flight of the day was Tim's (67). He found a climb above cloudbase, cruised up to Bradford, then back to the Elizabeth mine, and basically raced around the local area, getting the most mileage possible from a 2-33.

Here's hoping that June's weather will be true to May's reputation.

Good flying, mediocre reporting

PMSC operations in Vermont got off to a great start today, according to my source (whose identity is withheld to protect his reputation as a reporter).

Steve, Evan, Thomas, Skip, Rich, Andy, Tom, Christopher, Bill, Skip and Lane (yes, that Lane) put on an old fashioned flying show at Post Mills, while the southern auxilliary squadron (Sonny, Doug, Paul K) chose to fly at Springfield.

That's all I know since my source neglected to say anything about the weather, the runway conditions, the nature and strength of the thermals, the number of flights, or where the gliders went.

My source did send me this picture, and I gather from it that there weren't many cumulus clouds today:


(This photo almost qualifies as a "Name that sailplane" blog entry, but I'll give it away by telling you it's an ASW-24).

The quality of the reporting is forecast to improve.

PMSC in Soaring Magazine

If you haven't noticed on page 36 of the March issue of Soaring is Pete Dodd's photo of Tom Hopper returning from his Diamond Altitude flight.

Weekend report September 11 - 12

Another one-day weekend.

Saturday was clear with 6000 foot cloudbases. The clouds dried up early, but the lift continued right up till sunset.

On Saturday Andy took an "early" flight in PM, and landed early by choice (something to do with fatherly duties). His flight was long enough to beat Tom (TH) by less than a kilometer on the OLC. It's a good thing he didn't know it at the time.

Mike (PM), Rich (3J) and Christopher (3J) all flew locally. Paul K and Rick had a nice long flight in the 2-33, but they spoiled Bill's plan to take a guest up for a ride. Someone suggested that a radio would have been useful in that situation.

The best flight of the day was a tossup between Evan's long distance flight (T8) and Sonny's long duration flight (KX). You decide.

The Saturday cookout was cooked outside, but we moved indoors for dining purposes. It's getting to be that time of year.

Sunday was cool and overcast. Nobody showed up!

Avoiding depression

One way to avoid a tropical depression is to go flying before it arrives.


On Thursday, Tim (PM) and Tom (TH) took one look at the forecast and decided to go flying before it was too late. It was a very hot day (95°F) with weak lift to 4300 feet.

Thermal centering was complicated by wind shear, but Tim was able to figure it out:

After they landed, we tied down all the trailers. Here's the forecast for the start of the weekend:

Now that's depressing.

Weekend report August 28 - 29

Yes, I realize that two weekends have gone by without a report. I have no excuse.

Yesterday, we made 17 flights, with Andy and Tim sharing the towing. Once again, Thomas did the instructing. The best flight was probably Evan's 1.5 hour flight, which hasn't yet showed up on OLC. But we do have flight logs from Steve and Tim, who reports that it isn't all that hard to keep up with Evan on the glides.

Today (Sunday) was a typical August day - sunny, hot, and stable. Despite the weak lift, Steve flew for2 hours in PM, and Thomas and Paul K managed to keep the 2-33 in the air for over an hour. Tom made his second flight of the weekend in TH. We had 11 flights in all. Evan towed most of the day, while Elisabeth got checked out on the golf cart.

Half a dozen slackers

It was a nice day today, with cloudbases reaching almost 7000 feet before it was over.

Tony (7H) took off first and flew to Cabot, then over to Dean, then...nowhere. It was another one of those missed photo opportunities. If his crew had remembered to bring a camera, we would have had another picture of a glider on the ground with a fantastic looking sky as the backdrop.

Despite his landout, Tony beat Tim (PM) on the OLC by a couple of kilometers. Tim did a double out-and-return to Cookeville and Mount Moosilauke.

Tom (TH) and Matt (89) flew locally, and Evan (T8) limped home after almost landing out at Twin Mountain (288 km, not bad).

Thomas (ZP) had a nice flight (as usual), made a textbook approach and landing (as usual), and, as usual, refused to publish his flight log. What a spoilsport.

Meanwhile, Christopher made a fuel run, endured a fuel transfer, ran wings, and generally helped out on the ground (Thanks, Christopher!)

Weekend report June 18 - 20

Well, it wasn't an official long weekend, but the Slackers made it into one.

On Friday we divided our forces and flew at Sugarbush and Post Mills. It was the first time in memory that PMSC members talked to each other in the air while flying from two different places. Tim (PM), Evan (T8), Matt (89), and Kevin (6Q) took off at Post Mills and enjoyed some nice flights in variable conditions. Evan made it to Mount Washington and announced that he expected trouble getting back. His crew didn't get too excited, and sure enough, Evan got home in time to do some towing.

Meanwhile, Tom (TH), Rick (S2), Thomas (ZP), and Tony (7H) got three tows for the price of four at Sugarbush. We ran up and down the Mad River valley, which seems to be the thing you do there.

On Saturday, back at Post Mills, we found the summerlike conditions were sufficient for local flying and lessons, but not quite good enough to go anywhere. Evan and Bill (3J) gave it a shot but elected to stay local. Our new students - Chris, Paul K, Alexander - got two flights each and all made good progress. All 14 flights were made possible by our new towpilot, Kent (Thanks, Kent).

Saturday ended with a great cookout, attended by

Andrew, Andy, Anne, Bill, Creighton, Dirk, Ella, Elinor, Evan, Gretta, Ian, Jill, Jill, Judy, Kent, Kevin, Marsha, Mary, Mike, Nathan, Olivia, Paul, Paul, Peter, Petey, Sonny, Sue, Sue, Thomas, Tom, Rich, Rick

and the food and beverage providers deserve special emphasis.

The three-day warming trend continued through Sunday. We made seven flights on a pleasant but windy day. Thanks to Thomas and Doug for instructing and towing.

Rumors

There has been a fair amount of news recently, but none of it has been published. A possible explanation is that your PMSC News editor has been out of town, and nobody has volunteered to write it up (that's a hint).

Consequently, the following can be considered rumor, not news:

1. Tony had a good flight in 7H at Sugarbush at the end of May. We look forward to seeing him back at Post Mills.

2. Tom has been busy practicing in TH, and is getting more comfortable in his new plane.

3. In an effort to avoid this weekend's weather, Kevin, Tim, Christopher, and Evan flew on Friday. Kevin had the best results, but you know how he can tell stories.

4. A sculpture is underway on the field.

5. Rick is dodging thunderstorms in South Carolina

1H becomes TH

Tom finally got around to putting a permanent contest ID on his sailplane and trailer. From now on he'll be known as TH, which is a lot easier to remember than 1H.

Here's a picture of him getting in some practice at Springfield this weekend.

First flight

Congratulations to Tom Hopper on his first flight in his new LS-1. Here's a picture of his first touchdown:

and here's a nice picture of Tom explaining how he did it:

The only thing he forgot was to turn on his flight recorder, so we don't have the first flight log from TH yet.