Today was another great fly-day. Conditions were strong later in the afternoon, gusting to 30mph at times. However, before that a lot of pilots were able to get safely in the air and enjoy as much ridge soaring as they could tolerate. I say tolerate because, it was a day for the polar-bears ! Below cloud base 500-1000', it was approx. 34 degrees. The airtime ranged from 1 hour to over 3 1/2 hours. There was also reports of the thermal strength of over 1,000 fpm with the same amount of sink. I know 2 pilots, Rich & Paul, flew all the way to Rising Fawn & back. I didn't get a chance to talk with Carl, I'm sure he went somewhere.
All of the weather sites that I consult( and my friends in Huntsville), ADDS, Intellicast, Launch Code, and the local Covenant College website, showed alot of west components in it. Nothing could have been further than what actually happened today. There was actually more of a northerly direction during most of the day, until very late in the day on the surface, which turned WNW. This switch at the end of the day was the saving grace for alot of the pilots still in the air. Rich even made the comment of how switchy that it was in the mid-afternoon conditions. He said that he was getting a bit chilled, and had almost decided to land. He then said he saw what the windsock was doing, and headed back to the ridge for another hour to let it all calm down in the LZ. As anyone that has flown here on a Northerly day can attest to, the rotor over the foothills will keep you frosty on your approaches ! Putting it mildly of course, for the weak at heart, hehe.
It was great to look up at 5 o'clock and see about 20 gliders in the air.
My flying gear got stolen when I was in a hotel in Dallas, TX, on a business trip. I had to buy all new gear, and was able to do it thanks to my homeowners insurance. My new harness was ready, and Matt Tabor tweaked it for me yesterday. Jerry, the sail, harness, parachute master, had it ready with all the small fixes today at 3:30/ 3:45. As you know from reading above,,,it was Honkin' at that time. My first flight in it wasn't going to be in that rodeo/ rowdy air ! So, I just helped John Stokes, and Jeff wire alot of pilots off. I had no doubts about launching or flying in it, it was the landing for the first time, that I wanted to nail. I wasn't 100% sure or unsure about it, so I chose to fly another day. As any safe, conservative, COLD pilot would do. So, I drove down to the LZ to give some body rides afterwards, and watch the entertainment of the landings. Fortunately,,,I was pleasantly disappointed by not seeing one terrible or exhilarating landing out of all of them. I was told I was too late, the winds had calmed down and had a steady direction, unlike earlier. Thanks Dale !
Ian has promised me some pics from the day, and I will post them as soon as I get them.