April 27 report

Another outstanding report from Andy Kozak: 

Gliding in New England usually starts with the Super Bowl. So far this year it has been true to form. Monday April 27^th started off with a very good omen. A bald eagle soaring over Post Mills airfield. His tail feathers were illuminated by the sun making them look brighter than any I had ever seen. I was third to be towed up after Greg Hanlon and Tim Chow. Rick Sheppe was the tow pilot. He fairly quickly found a thermal and turned tightly to bring me back into it. We entered the thermal a second time, so I released. Somehow, I felt that I immediately lost the thermal, but looking back at my flight trace I was in lift as I turned 180 degrees, had I just kept turning I would have likely still been in lift. Not sure what happened there.

I flew toward where Tim and Greg were climbing trying two circles on the way which gained me nothing, but I picked up enough altitude in between them to keep going. Finally the vario started to rise, as hoped for, and I could relax.

Greg (JR), Tim (BU), and I (2R) joined up across the Connecticut river in a thermal over Piermont Mountain. I was the lowest but at 6000 feet I decided to leave the weakening thermal because the clouds ahead looked very good. Prior to takeoff, Greg had suggested we make Sugarloaf in Maine our goal. I knew that was a long way and thought it might be difficult for me but that is the direction where I headed. Kinsman notch passed below us, then we flew over Cannon Mountain and Franconia notch. We skirted Mount Lafayette and passed over Twin Mountain. We skirted Mt Washington (see pic 9471) and flew over Mount Adams and Madison all the while searching for the darkest spots under the clouds.

Mount Lafayette

Mount Washington

We had not yet turned to gain altitude. Greg had pulled ahead and Tim had fallen behind. That is the pecking order of our gliders on glide with Greg’s JS1, my ASW 27 and Tim’s HpH 304CZ. Tim has 17.4m wings and he outclimbs me, but I have a better glide at higher speeds. Greg beats me at everything.

I focused on flying smoothly and at the correct speed to fly. We were at about 8000 feet as we approached a large blue hole over Gorham. Greg flew straight across and I followed. At 5500 feet. Near Berlin I found a strong thermal. The entire route to this point had airfields within easy reach. The first is Dean, then Twin, Mount Washington (Whitefield), Gorham and Berlin. Except for the blue hole over Gorham there was barely a break in the clouds. From here north, as far as I was concerned, the map said “Here be dragons.” To be fair, last fall I flew a bit past Old Speck Mountain (Maine) in wave, so I had a pretty good look toward Sugarloaf. I also would have Berlin airfield which was just toward the east and Bethel airfield just to the west behind me.

Greg had diverted a bit to stay over the Mahoosuc range. I took a straighter path. Somewhere before Grafton Notch, Greg had to take several thermals while I was able to continue straight. I passed him without knowing it. The area around Richardson Lakes seemed overdeveloped but still provided plenty of lift.

Richardson Lakes

I only needed to stop for one more thermal before reaching Sugarloaf Mountain. We had decided to try for Jay Peak next, so I turned and headed west.

We had been flying over the spine of the mountains, and Sugarloaf is essentially the end of those mountains. There is a short and very distinctive Bigelow range just to the north of Sugarloaf. But the nearly continuous cloud street was at an end.

Bigelow range in the distance

It took some time for me to find good lift but I was in range of the Rangeley airfield. Greg had continued further to Sugarloaf airfield. He seemed to find several 12 knot thermals, the best in his life. I was just trying to find a thermal. Tim was struggling a bit as well but we finally got going again.

Greg and Tim suggested airfields and a course line - making my life easier. I had to stop to refuel every 5 or 10 miles but the clouds mostly worked well. Flying parallel and close to the Canadian border I could look almost straight down at the Derby Line crossing. Not much traffic in either direction. Greg caught up to me near Lake Memphremagog.

Lake Memphremagog

I led the way across and then we turned over Jay Peak. I could see skiers getting off one of the lifts near the peak. There was still quite a bit of snow on select trails.

Looking back over the lake we could see the area had turned significantly bluer. Tim was behind us and turned south at about that point. Greg and I shared a last thermal just past Morrisville airport. At Sugarloaf Greg had flown approximately 15 miles further to turn at the airport. In addition he had closed the original 10 mile gap. 25 miles gained, probably over the course of 160+/- miles. In the end Greg would fly 423 miles at an average of 67 mph.

After our last thermal together he flew down the crest of the Greens past Okemo and back to Post Mills. I chose to turn over Ascutney. We live on the slopes there. Normally I would call my wife when passing overhead and she comes out to try to spot me. She has gotten good at that.  At 7000 feet there was no cell reception.

On final glide, between Lebanon and Post Mills, I flew under a cloud where I gained 500 feet in about a minute of straight flight. The clouds were beginning to thin but there was still some strong lift. By then all of us were on final glide. Tim ended the day with 337 miles. I flew 374 miles at an average speed of 61 mph. This was my first 600 km flight. The previous day was my first 500 km flight also at an average of 61 mph. Consistent.

I had intentionally not maxed out my climbs, but left while lift was strong. The clouds looked so good and lift was plentiful so that seemed to work well. It was much easier to do with a high cloudbase. The first long leg of my flight from Piermont Mountain to Sugarloaf covered 110 miles at a glide ratio of 213:1! I spent only 5.2% of my time in two thermals at an average climb rate of 632 fpm.! For the entire flight I thermaled 18.2% of the time. All amazing metrics, clearly spectacular conditions for New England.

One of the things I had noticed with my flights was that my average bank angle was lower and my velocity higher than what I would have liked. The saving grace was that everyone else seemed to be about the same. We seldom fly directly into the strongest lift and center the core for an entire thermal. We level out to move our circle, sometimes repeatedly, and I know I tend to relax as I climb. I am looking for the next cloud, checking traffic and not necessarily only focused on staying centered.

The table below shows Region 1 flights of 250 miles+, which were posted on WeGlide from 4/21 through 5/1. Twelve flights, seven pilots, three airfields, various gliders.

Click to enlarge

The second table has bank angle and velocity for the same flights. This data is taken from WGlide. I think it is representative of our actual bank angles while in a thermal.

Click to enlarge

The Max. bank angle / velocity is for a single segment. For Evan and myself this was one thermal. For Kari it was a long segment.

To come up with an average of average bank angle over 10 flights I eliminated the high and low. The result is 32.6 degrees, and a velocity of 55.8 knots. Someone with more statistics knowledge may want to dive deeper into this and then tell us what it means.

Conclusions:

The King of bank angle is clearly Kari. Only Evan comes close to Kari’s average for a day, but Evan’s was in only one thermal. Kari had an average bank angle of 43 degrees at 56.5 knots. This is about same velocity as the rest of us but with 10 degree less bank angle! They do not build gliders like they used to. However, this still only resulted in a somewhat below average climb. Kari was far from anyone else making a true comparison impossible.

Evan is clearly the King of climb with those 21 m wings. He had an average climb rate of 497 fpm over 3 flights. The nearest was Greg on one day at 440 fpm. I am amazed that Evan has an advantage of roughly 100 fpm over everyone else? How is that possible?

I can claim second runner up for a bank angle of 39 degrees. It was my first thermal, and it was a highly focused climb from 1000 feet above the local terrain.

Tim gets an honorable mention for descending over Post Mills at -372 fpm in a 45° bank, at 88.7 knots and in a 702 ft radius circle.

At an average bank angle of 32 degrees, we flew in circles at best more than 100 feet larger in radius than what Kari flew and what is theoretically possible.

I also looked at a few recent long flights in Europe and Mifflin. We are all actually turning tighter than just about everyone!

Are we all close to the sweet spot for our equipment and Region 1 thermal characteristics? Is there room for us to improve? Should we just claim victory and enjoy the experience? What did I miss?

April 26 report

 Andy Kozak writes:

Sunday the 26th did not start off well for me. Alasdair showed me that the NESA 2-33 was missing a cotter pin on one of the bolts holding the tailplane. The nut was spinning freely but still attached. It had been assembled after our safety meeting and then flown a week ago. I then pre-flighted it Saturday for my Flight Review, with Alasdair. I try to touch everything I am checking to make sure I do not just give it a cursory look, but apparently I had not done so this time.

Bob Iuliano was already climbing out over Hawks Ridge when I released just below him. Usually we would fly together as long as possible but Bob had to get back earlier that day. When he headed toward the Green mountains, I took a northerly track up the middle of the state. The clouds looked good everywhere. A slight detour to the Greens along with the arc formed by the mountain range would result in a longer path versus heading due north. One of my goals has been to fly to the Canadian border, and this seemed like a good day to give it a shot.

The initial clouds worked well. I hit a relatively low point of 4800 feet near Chelsea, but the cloud I had been aiming for looked good and I was within range of Post Mills, so no worries. Near Montpelier I made a pointless diversion east toward what I thought was the best cloud in the area. It offered weak lift but at least afforded me a bit more altitude. It also gave me time to look around, and I noticed wisps of clouds starting to develop in the blue area just to the west. I backtracked west and headed toward the cloud street above Barre. All of this time I was within spitting/gliding distance of the Barre/Montpelier airport, so again, no worries. Turning west turned out better than expected and I was able to turn north while still in the blue. From there I flew without the need for any major climbs, just thermaling enough to top off my altitude.

One of the things that I think has helped my soaring is that I have learned to focus on being smooth and being more selective when slowing down. Not every patch of lift needs a sharp pullup. The glider gains energy in the small pockets of lift that we traverse and every control input or change in flap setting costs something in terms of drag and therefore altitude. I try to pay attention to what my flight computer’s MacCready speed-to-fly is telling me but I do not react instantly to every change. I try to avoid slowing down in anticipation of lift. Not every cloud works and slowing too much leaves me with little energy when I find sink instead.

There are several metrics available in WeGlide that I track. One is glide ratio over segments of flights. The leg from my initial climb to the border was 109 miles. On that leg I achieved a glide ratio of 63/1, significantly better than my theoretical 48/1.

There was a cloud growing just on the Canadian border and there was a light wind from the north. I could see the border on my flight computer but from 5,000 ft I could not actually see the 20 ft border break on the ground. Several roads in the area made it somewhat confusing. I turned, just barely touching Canadian airspace and gaining some altitude in the thermal while enjoying the view.

Heading back south the lowest point of the flight at 4600 feet came when I was near Morrisville airport. There had been a larger than normal gap between clouds but again the clouds ahead looked very good so I was never worried. I had also started to notice that the clouds over the Greens were at two levels, indicating a convergence.

Flying south I experimented with the optimum distance from the convergence line and found it to be well to the east versus closer to the convergence. However, I never did get extremely close so perhaps it would have been even better at that point.

Between Sugarbush and Killington I was able to fly without turning. Near Killington I gained nearly 1000 feet in a thermal and then an additional 2000 feet in straight flight. I did not turn again until well past Bennington. At that point the clouds seemed to be a bit more spread out and there was smoke from a rather large fire. Two years ago I had come this far and then tried to return under an overdevelopment only having to land at Bennington. Not wanting to repeat that, and with plenty of altitude, I turned back. Retracing my recent path I maintained altitude and decided to head east and add a bit of a triangle to the flight. This had the added benefit of allowing me to stay within final glide of Hartness, minimizing the potential need for a retrieve.

In retrospect, I should have continued south into Massachusetts. At that time, I did not know it but two pilots from Post Mills were in the same area with me, just returning from their flights to western Connecticut, near where the three states of Massachusetts, New York and Connecticut meet. Evan Ludeman eventually flew 370 miles and Greg Hanlon flew 304 miles. I could not have flown to Connecticut but I think I could have gone well into Massachusetts, which for me is unexplored territory.

The leg of my flight from the border south covered 139 miles at a glide ratio of 111!  Another WeGlide metric I look at is per cent of time circling. A very good number to aim for is 20%. For this flight it was 16.3%! Needless to say, my flight of 349 miles (560 km) was the longest of my life.

Clearly a great day to fly cross country in Vermont. Hopefully my skills and decision making have actually improved and it was not just the right time and the right place!

Soar Like an Eagle (2010)

 Click on the picture.

Wave Camp Report - October 15

 Andy Kozak writes another report:

After two days of overcast and rain it looked like there would be a more classic wave day, perhaps with the potential for Diamond climbs (over 5,000 meters). During our morning safety meeting and weather briefing, winds aloft were forecast to be a little more from the north than would be ideal. The moisture in the air resulted in clouds covering the tops of the Moriah-Carter range. We waited for the clouds to clear above the range so we could at least ridge soar. Some of us topped off our oxygen tanks.

There is a significant amount of organizing and coordinating that occurs before anyone can fly. Tow planes must to be flown to Gorham. Fuel tanks are staged and compressed oxygen tanks brought to fill our onboard systems. It is not much different from typical club activities, where there is much work done behind the scenes.

This morning, our flights had to stay below 9,000 MSL until F35 operations concluded. A call had to be placed to confirm that the airspace up to 18,000 feet was clear and then another call to allow us to fly to 25,000 feet.

 

Rick Roelke and Glen Kelley, two of the more experienced pilots, and wave camp organizers, took off first to get a better look at what the cloud cover behind Mt Washington might look like. Glen would also be towing later. Rick reported the area behind Mountt Washington was clear. I was second in line at that point, but the pilot ahead of me needed to take some more time, so suddenly it was my turn. Jerry Smith had driven up that morning to be one of the towpilots. I  agreed to his suggestion that he would tow me straight into the primary wave behind Mt Washington.

To save time when staging gliders, the pilots strap themselves into their gliders, while still off the side of the runway, allowing the towplanes to land short with their ropes attached. The gliders are then pushed backwards, down onto the runway and turned into position. I made my final control and radio checks while being rolled into position. My tail dolly and wing wheel were removed by the ground crew. I positioned myself as low as possible in the cockpit and pulled straps as tight as I could. I would tighten them again once on tow.

At Gorham, there are not many options in case of a low rope break. I always focus on anticipating the towplane's initial climb and keeping constant tension on the tow rope. I set the flap to position 4 for taking off and towing.  With a total weight of 750 pounds, and assuming a worst case 30/1 lift-to-drag ratio, there should be 25 pounds of force on the tow rope. The slightest impact load from a slack rope will double that load. It would be interesting to know the real statistics of rope breaks.

The tow took me past Pine Mountain, which overlooks the airfield and toward the western slopes of Mount Madison. Then over the notch between Madison and Adams. The air was rough, and I distinctly remember my glider making noises that I had never heard before. We flew out over the Great Gulf Wilderness and along the upwind side of a roll cloud, finally turning straight into the wind. The energy in the air near the rotor was impressive. My eyes were locked on the tail of the towplane, while trying to keep an eye on my surroundings with only peripheral vision. The 200-foot rope gives you just under two seconds to anticipate the air you will fly into.  I tried not to overcontrol, potentially leaving me in a poor position for the next upset. I was fairly certain we were in strong lift, but it was still very turbulent. It is always nice to wait for smooth air prior to release. Then the towplane danced in a way that convinced me to pull the release. I thanked Jerry and continued up at a spectacular rate.

The clouds below me were falling away, my variometer needle was pegged, suddenly everything seemed almost perfectly quiet and still. It was surreal. I had to check my air speed indicator to make sure I was flying. Jerry radioed that he was still climbing. My vario finally came off the peg and showed a climb of just under 10 knots. I think I can reset the range so next time it will show up to 20 knots of climb.

Tim Chow told me he likes to tow here because of the challenging conditions. Jerry was headed back down to do it all over again. I am obviously still getting used to flying in these conditions. I cannot express how impressed and grateful I am that the towplane pilots are willing to tow here. The wave appeared to be forming off the Jefferson-Adams-Madison ridgeline, which was in cloud. The wave window was open below me and toward the northeast. Mountt Washington's summit was obscured, though parts of the auto road and the Horn were occasionally visible.  The Horn is a major spur that is marked by a switchback in the auto road. Many years ago, when the road was much narrower, cars would sound their horns when approaching this sharp turn.

 

Downwind of me there was a large area of clear air so I had options for descending.

As the climb rate slowed, I shifted upwind to remain in the strongest lift.  The wind speed did not seem to increase appreciably with altitude, but it did not decrease. Rick Roelke in LT had motored over after trying to climb over Mount Hayes near Gorham. We made sure to communicate our altitude and position while keeping an eye out for each other.

Rick had a passenger with him, Terry Sweeney, a former hang glider pilot. Terry was the first person to hang glide off Mount Washington in the 70’s. He was also the first to land in a tree on Mount Washington, on that same flight. Terry flew in the days of building your own hang glider. Bamboo poles, plastic and duct tape. Now we have carbon fiber, Kevlar and electrical tape.  Rick and Terry flew back toward the Carter Moriah range looking for a better climb in the secondary wave, but had no luck and returned to the primary.

Prior to passing through 18,000 feet I heard we were cleared to 25,000 feet. Approaching 19,000 feet, I could see a lenticular cloud above and the promise of sunshine ahead. 

Although I wore every fleece layer I’d packed, the temperature kept dropping. Rick and I could also see an approaching cloud layer. It became a race, but as my canopy started to frost up on the inside, the cloud on the outside grew thicker. I topped out somewhere around 19,700 feet. The lift at that altitude was widespread so I think we were starting to connect to the lenticular cloud which looked like it would have allowed spectacular altitude gains. However, the reduced visibility due to the approaching cloud, the frosting canopy as well as the possibility of icing on the wings prompted me to announce my descent.  Rick replied that he was already descending as well. 

The wave window would open and close for the rest of the day. Some pilots never had an opportunity to climb above the clouds while at least one managed to reach 22,000 feet. I was fortunate to take off and climb through the window when I did. I flew east toward the Sunday River ski resort in Bethel, Maine. I tried to see if I could locate wave lift based on the shape of the clouds below. At times I could, but I did not stop to climb, since the cold and the limited wave windows were a concern. Turning back, I kept in range several options for descending through the cloud layers. I eventually returned to the area above the Presidential Range and then chose the window over the Wildcat ski area and the Glen House. This is at the intersection of Route 16 and the Mount Washington auto road and would allow an easy glide back to Gorham airfield.

 

The rest of the flight was as uneventful as landing under wave conditions with high winds could be. My approach was much improved over my previous flight, but turbulence seemed to follow me almost all the way to the ground. The next glider to land had the same experience. The winds had been forecast to increase over the day, which was worrisome - but shortly after we landed the winds seemed to moderate and follow up landings seemed almost sedate. It made me feel that perhaps I was not relaxed enough and was overcontrolling. I will work on that next season.

To top off the day, nine of us travelled to dinner at Cho Sun, an excellent Korean restaurant in nearby Bethel.

 

This year’s wave camp ran from October 10-18, and I believe there were only two non-flying days. Orographic wave was present on six of the days with many flights from 12,000 to over 22,000 feet. Strong winds ranging from Northwest to North produced wave and on one day, strong winds from the East also resulted in wave.  The easterly winds produced wave on the west side of the Moriah-Carter range as well as on the west side of Mount Washington.  On that day the wind grew weaker with altitude, eventually causing the Mount Washington primary wave to “break” resulting in severe turbulence and limiting any climb. Wave was also present on lighter wind days. One day had only thermal lift. \

The Mt Washington area is a special place to fly. The scenery is spectacular and the proximity of the Gorham airfield to several ranges provides many options for excellent soaring. A special thanks to all those who continue to make this possible!

Wave Camp report - October 12

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.

Erzo solos

 Last week, a bunch of us were on the field working on gliders and largely ignoring the flight operation.  Greg and Erzo flew the 2-33 a few times, including a flight that featured a simulated rope break.

At the end of the day, we looked up and saw the 2-33 in the air and Greg standing on the ground.

Congratulations to Erzo on his first solo!

His second solo was a few days later, and that one lasted an hour and a half!

Critical Assembly Check

There are many steps to assembling a glider and getting it and the pilot ready to fly.

Open the trailer.  Put the glider together, hook up the controls, close the hatch, install the battery, tape the wings, put in the food and water, program the instruments.  Don't forget your hat, sunglasses, cell phone, wallet, etc.  All of these things need to be taken care of before you even move the glider from the tiedown area to the runway.  Once you're in position for takeoff you need to remember to remove the tail dolly, put on your parachute, stow the canopy cap and finally, after all that, you get in and start your pre-takeoff checklist.  After you're in the air, you can relax and think about the things you forgot to do, like leaving your car keys in the car or hooking up the p-system.

It's a lot to remember.  Checklists help, of course, but we still rely on our memory for the lion's share of our preparation.  And this is the way it should be.  Too many checklists or one comprehensive checklist would be so cumbersome we would probably not give each item the attention it deserves.  Checklists should be reserved for the important stuff.

So what, exactly, is important?  Let's do a thought experiment.

Instead of listing all the things that should be done, let's make a list of only the things that must be done in order to assure a safe takeoff and landing.  A proper assembly with the controls hooked up and tested is essential, surely.  But that's about it.  The glider will fly just fine without wing tape, battery, or even  winglets.

So our thought experiment is to write an assembly checklist that is as short as possible and includes only the items that are critical to flight safety.  To be clear, we are not trying to be completely ready for a normal flight.  We are listing the items that are mandatory for getting back on the ground in one piece.  It's a survivability checklist.  Let's call it the "Critical Assembly Checklist (CAC)."  It should be so short that it can be easily memorized.

Note that this checklist is unique to each glider type.

The fact that the CAC is individual to the glider is important.  For example, for a glider with automatic control hookups, attaching the controls is not on the checklist.  Some gliders have safety pins, some don't.  The number of main wing pins could be zero, one, or two.  Big gliders have two or more wing panels on each side.  Some big gliders have more wing pins in the middle of the wing.  Some gliders have thumbwheels to hold things together, most don't.  The bolts holding the stabilizer on could be captive or removable.  Every glider is different.

The final step, after completion of the CAC, is to scribble your initials on the wing tape of the left wing near the leading edge.  This procedure (borrowed from contest flying) allows your fellow club members to confirm that your glider is safe to fly.

Unlike the other checklists we teach and use in our club, the design of the CAC is the responsibility of the owner/operator of every glider that is normally kept in a trailer.

The next time an instructor asks you for your Critical Assembly Checklist, will you be ready to recite it?

August 11 report from Springfield

 Andy Kozak writes:

As you all know, it has been difficult to find good flying days this season. My logbook shows a couple of wave flights early in May. Then two good flights at the end of May and one in June, all around 400 km. It has been a long wet spell since then.

The weekend of August 2-3 was smoke impacted but I still managed two good flights. This past weekend I again had two good flights, both just over 350 km, with a bonus day on Monday of 275 km making for 1500 km over five days, in August, in New England!

Monday August 11th, 6 pilots flew from Springfield: Greg, Bill Detrich, Alasdair, Lee, myself and Tim Chow from Post Mills. Bill Batesole was kind enough to tow. Tim and I have flown together in the past and we decided to do so again. Tim flies an HpH 304CZ. My ASW 27 and Tim’s 304 were both manufactured about 25 years ago but the HPH design goes back to the 80’s so his airfoil is an older design. However, Tim’s 17.43 m wingspan results in a slightly better climb rate. My 15 m wing has a more modern, thinner airfoil, resulting in better performance at higher speeds.

Tim’s OLC link to his flight is here: BU. You can overlay my flight (2R) on Tim’s by scrolling down and clicking on “Meeting Points”. (You have to log in to your OLC account to do the overlay.)

Tim climbed up to me at the north end of Hawks ridge and we decided to head south to Mount Greylock in northwest Massachusetts. Tim had mentioned a low stress flight before we took off and I seconded that. Heading south, the clouds were nicely spaced, and we could be selective in picking thermals, typically only stopping for 4+ knot climbs. Leaving the Springfield airfield area we came into glide range of Mount Snow airfield. Unfortunately, after Mount Snow itself, there were no more clouds to the south. The clouds to the east looked good so we turned in that direction. Further east into the Connecticut river valley the clouds began to thin but we always had a cloud to mark the way. In that part of southeastern Vermont there is a grass strip, Santas airfield, in Putney. After that is the Keene airfield in New Hampshire.

On many days we see a distinct line of clouds over the Green Mountains, with another line of  clouds over the central spine of southern New Hampshire.  GBSC glider pilots typically fly north/south up that central spine from Mount Monadnock, to Mount Sunapee, Mount Kearsarge, on up to the Whites. It was still a bit hazy up high so it took some time before we could faintly see Mount Monadnock. It took even longer until we could evaluate the clouds in that area. They were not as closely spaced as on our run south, so prior to reaching Mount Mondanock, we turned north.

It is always a welcome sight to see the glider ahead of you bank sharply and climb, allowing you to follow directly into the core. There was little wind and we were staying above 5000 feet so the thermal cores were easy to find. On only one occasion did one of us turn back when the trailing pilot located a strong core. My flight computer shows my flight path as a color coded line, with red indicating lift, so it is fairly easy to find a core should I turn in the wrong direction or choose to turn back for lift I flew through. When in a thermal, my flight computer screen displays a circle of dots on my screen showing the strength of lift throughout my previous 360 degrees of turn. This allows me to extend my circle toward what I hope is the strongest lift. I focus on making these adjustments as smoothly as possible. When centered in a thermal core I will try to relax and basically not touch my controls. I believe this allows the glider to fly itself the most efficiently possible. Doing that will also show you the correct position of your yaw string for that bank angle and speed.

As we flew north, the Connecticut River valley to our west was almost all blue, to the Green Mountains. Ahead, the clouds were now spaced further apart so we maximized our climbs to stretch our glides. Our lowest altitude, approximately 4400 feet, was just before Sunapee, but we were by then within glide of Parlin/Newport New Hampshire. We could have chanced an earlier crossing, west toward Springfield, but any significant stretch of sink, with no clouds to mark thermals, would have been risky. We flew north past Mount Sunapee turning northwest toward a wispy cloud near Grantham. It grew as we climbed under it. We had kept our eyes on a large cloud over the Croyden range but I was concerned it may be late in its life cycle. Spreading out under it we both found lift but Tim had the stronger core. I joined Tim and we climbed to over 7000 feet. This allowed us to leave on a long glide, crossing over the top of Lebanon’s Class D airspace (3100 feet). The clouds there were slightly overdeveloped offering no strong lift, so we turned south toward Springfield still within a long glide. Shortly after that it became relaxed sight seeing time. Clouds and lift were plentiful, and the airfield was easily reached.

I do not recall flying into any strong lift when not indicated by some degree of cloud development. I think we made the correct call in not taking a chance on a very long crossing in the blue. Flying together served us well. You can relax somewhat when following another glider and it is a lot of fun to climb closely together in a thermal. There are not many more beautiful sights than another glider just off your wing! The ideal position to join another glider in a thermal is on the opposite side of the circle, which allows both pilots to see each other. It also puts you out of harm’s way, should a glider stall and spin. For the most part we maintained that discipline but there were a few instances where one of us ended up on the others tail. Then it was just a matter of slowing up and widening your circle.

I also post my flights on WeGlide. The free version also has an additional statistics page which shows averages for L/D, climb rate, bank angle, speed in the thermal. It also shows % of time circling. I use these to evaluate my performance and decision making. My average bank angle was a little lower and circle diameter larger for this flight which is to be expected. You are not as free to steepen your bank angle or slow down when near another glider.

Lee Blair had the longest flight of the day by heading north to Montpelier.

Weekend report July 19 - 20

Seven flights on Saturday, including Shawn getting back into the 1-26 and two solo achievements.  Jeff flew the 1-26 for the first time, and Zach had his first solo.

Congratulations to Zach LaRochelle for his first solo!

And congratulations to CFI Moshe for the signoff and to Tim for the bucket work.

Seven by Five

Yesterday was a hot and hazy summer day with a maximum temperature of 90F, a dewpoint of 66F, and negligible wind.  The air was hot, but the ground was even hotter and thus we had a soaring day.  There were cumulus clouds, thankfully.

Five Slackers made seven remarkable flights yesterday in the heat.

With care, everyone took off safely out of Post Mills, despite the 3400 foot density altitude at the beginning of the launches.  Jeff was the first to go in the 2-33, and we joked about getting his 5 hours on his second solo.  He took off at 11:30 and found nothing but sink, the only short flight of the day.

Jeff getting ready to go

He was also the last to take off, at 12:21 (more about that later).

Greg (JR), Peter (HG), Dave (NT), and Kari (2C) took off in rapid succession.  One of these days Peter will learn how to record his flights.

Greg had the longest flight of the day, a tour of the White Mountain peaks (Moosilauke, Lafayette, Washington (twice), Speck, followed by an excursion out to Catamount airfield and a return via the Knox Mountains, for a total of 339 km.

Greg visits several peaks

And here's another picture of Greg's knees:

The other three had nice flights as well.  Peter tried to chase Greg into the Whites, but wound up making a perfect landing at Dean, his first sailplane landing away from Post Mills.

Dave had the longest flight of the day, over five and a half hours, with a high point of 6000 feet, where it must have been a little bit cooler.

Kari made a counterclockwise tour of our task area, visiting Dean, Montpelier, Sugarbush and Brandon before returning to Post Mills.  Then, at the end of the flight, he headed back out toward Wentworth and didn't find any climbs.  He turned around and made a slightly uncomfortable final glide home.

Meanwhile, Jeff vanished on his third solo.  Just when we were beginning to wonder where he might have gone, he showed up in the pattern and made a perfect landing shortly after 5pm, only 11 minutes short of his five hours!  If only he had stayed up on his first flight!

Andy did all the towing (thanks, Andy!)  Seven tows in total, including one at Dean.

Jeff Solos

It was a hot summer day yesterday - a perfect day for getting a bucket of water dumped on your head. 

Congratulations to Jeff Bernard on his first solo in a sailplane!

And congratulations to CFI Greg Hanlon for kicking Jeff out of the nest!

Memorable Day

 Wow.  Evan (T8) flew 750 OLC kilometers today.