The Wednesday afternoon slackers showed their respect for our chief towpilot and were ready to go right on time at noon. Andy towed everybody and went back home to finish his workday. Other than a brief pause when we thought we had lost the towrope (false alarm), Andy made nine tows without shutting down.
It was indeed the best weather of the week, as Tim predicted. However, it wasn't all that straightforward. And it was hot and humid. There were clouds over the mountains, with a westerly wind aloft. Some of the clouds got out of hand, causing rainshowers and blowoff. The wind down low was from the south, which put us square in the middle of weak valley conditions, with the cloudfields to the east and west, just out of reach.
The trick was to leave town early, and Greg (JD), Tom (2W) and Tim (BU) did just that. They made it to the clouds on the Vermont side and followed them all the way to Island Pond, returning via the clouds on the New Hampshire side. You could not have done any better than that.
Evan (T8) and Rick (LEL) struggled to get away, with Evan making at least three desperate returns to Post Mills before climbing back up. At least he didn't land. Rick needed a relight. They both headed for home when the lightning started.
The day ended early with a ten mile diameter shadow due to blowoff. Luckily everyone saw it coming and we made long smooth glides into the darkness to land by about 1600. Evan managed to stay up the longest of all. After that the sun came back out. Typical.
Keith (BA), Dennis (DC), and David (505) were all trapped at Post Mills by the big shadow. Dennis set a record for circling, and David got his first flight of the season in the 1-26.
Showing posts with label 505. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 505. Show all posts
Thursday, May 28, 2020
Tuesday, May 26, 2020
Weekend report May 22 - 25
PMSC finally got underway at Post Mills this weekend, thanks to all the work on the towplane performed by our chief towpilot and chief mechanic. It's never obvious how much work the two Andys do in order to keep us flying. It's a lot.
We did a pretty good job of observing our amended COVID operational rules.
Under our new (hopefully temporary) rules, every day is a Slacker Day. This isn't great for our primary students, but it makes it easier for our instructors and towpilots to fly on the weekends. Don't let them tell you that they aren't enjoying this.
Another consequence is that our first weekend of the season was also our first 4-day weekend.
Friday
The conditions were blue with light west winds. The day started with thermals to 5000 feet, rising to 7000 feet by late afternoon. Evan, Tim, Dennis, and Eric flew out of Post Mills, and Rick launched at Franconia. Tim and Evan flew nice round trips to the White Mountains. Eric did that as well, but was a bit more ambitious. He wound up landing at Claremont after rounding his final turnpoint at Springfield. Rick also landed out, conveniently, at Post Mills.
Dennis was the hero of the day, driving down to Claremont to pick up NT, bringing Eric back to Post Mills, then turning around again and driving home (not that far from Claremont). He walked into his house at about midnight - and was back in Post Mills the next morning.
Saturday
Technically, Saturday can be called Assembly Day, since the 2-33 and 1-26 went together, thanks to the efforts of David, Peter, Karl, Andy, Don, and Karl's buddy Dave from Florida. That leaves the Blanik, which suffers from lack of pilots so far this season.
The weather was strange. It wasn't blue, but it might as well have been. High bands of stratus and a few altocu didn't help at all. Thermals were sparse and difficult to center, but with patience, they could be worked up to 6000 feet. The wind was southeasterly, which was disorienting.
All flights were local. Kari probably had the longest flight, with Evan and Peter not far behind. Dennis had a short one, and Rick couldn't even stay up. David flew the 2-33 twice and is back on track to get his license early this year.
Sunday
The day dawned clear, but a thin overcast moved in just before launch time and hung around for the rest of the day. From the appearance of the sky, you wouldn't have thought there was any lift at all.
But this is May. The airmass is so good that it doesn't take all that much sunshine to get things going. Tim (BU), Peter (505), and Greg (JD) all had local flights. Peter's total time in the 1-26 this season is 5 hours already. He got to 4800 feet and was the last to land.
Monday
Nobody flew. But before you deny that this was a 4-day weekend, thank Tim for standing by to be the towpilot all day Monday. The overcast was solid, and the slackers gave up early, as they always do.
There are 12 trailers on the field now (including HK, which just arrived from Florida).
We did a pretty good job of observing our amended COVID operational rules.
Under our new (hopefully temporary) rules, every day is a Slacker Day. This isn't great for our primary students, but it makes it easier for our instructors and towpilots to fly on the weekends. Don't let them tell you that they aren't enjoying this.
Another consequence is that our first weekend of the season was also our first 4-day weekend.
Friday
The conditions were blue with light west winds. The day started with thermals to 5000 feet, rising to 7000 feet by late afternoon. Evan, Tim, Dennis, and Eric flew out of Post Mills, and Rick launched at Franconia. Tim and Evan flew nice round trips to the White Mountains. Eric did that as well, but was a bit more ambitious. He wound up landing at Claremont after rounding his final turnpoint at Springfield. Rick also landed out, conveniently, at Post Mills.
Dennis was the hero of the day, driving down to Claremont to pick up NT, bringing Eric back to Post Mills, then turning around again and driving home (not that far from Claremont). He walked into his house at about midnight - and was back in Post Mills the next morning.
Saturday
Technically, Saturday can be called Assembly Day, since the 2-33 and 1-26 went together, thanks to the efforts of David, Peter, Karl, Andy, Don, and Karl's buddy Dave from Florida. That leaves the Blanik, which suffers from lack of pilots so far this season.
The weather was strange. It wasn't blue, but it might as well have been. High bands of stratus and a few altocu didn't help at all. Thermals were sparse and difficult to center, but with patience, they could be worked up to 6000 feet. The wind was southeasterly, which was disorienting.
All flights were local. Kari probably had the longest flight, with Evan and Peter not far behind. Dennis had a short one, and Rick couldn't even stay up. David flew the 2-33 twice and is back on track to get his license early this year.
Sunday
The day dawned clear, but a thin overcast moved in just before launch time and hung around for the rest of the day. From the appearance of the sky, you wouldn't have thought there was any lift at all.
But this is May. The airmass is so good that it doesn't take all that much sunshine to get things going. Tim (BU), Peter (505), and Greg (JD) all had local flights. Peter's total time in the 1-26 this season is 5 hours already. He got to 4800 feet and was the last to land.
Monday
Nobody flew. But before you deny that this was a 4-day weekend, thank Tim for standing by to be the towpilot all day Monday. The overcast was solid, and the slackers gave up early, as they always do.
There are 12 trailers on the field now (including HK, which just arrived from Florida).
Saturday, August 11, 2018
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
