You can see the accomodations in previous posts in Oct 2013; very nice cabins in a PA State Park. Very restful - easy with no cell coverage or internet (by design). It is interesting to see young folks wandering around trying to get a signal!
The day after I arrived, Tom came in an said there was a Tornado warning, and asked for help securing the glider trailers. We did, and the sky became ominous; lots of wind, hail, and thunder/lightning, but no tornadoes.
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| Fast moving cold front - Tornado warning... |
When it is raining, you take the time to get to know pilots from around the world who travel to Ridge Soaring; Australia, Japan, Germany, UK, Canada (big group from Quebec City, and other QC clubs)... and plan flights, learn the complex ridge systems in the area. Tom Knauff, owner with Doris Grove (one heckuva pilot too), is a 6-time US Champion, multiple world record setter, and an amazing instructor with a great emphasis on safety. He was the stunt pilot in "The Thomas Crown Affair". In the Bunkhouse, there is a vast 3-D chart of the ridge from PA, MD, WVA, VA, to Tennessee (past where the Championship was) - some 1,000 miles/1,600 km). You can "what-if" long flights of different types. Here's a typical session on the 22nd of April:
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| Tom explaining a specific section of ridge and suggesting what to do (and not to). We sit at the feet of the Master! |
I had arrived a few days earlier than planned - TN mud had got the better of me - see http://sailplaneracing.com/pagc/ for details (Canada won the Team Cup, and Jerzy won the 15m Championship of an FAI Level One event - equal to a World Championship!!!). It rained, but the trend was better. Wakeup weather on the 23rd:
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| Like the car says... not what I was looking for! |
On the day I switched from a lesser cabin to the one I had booked for 10 days, the weather looked outstanding - figures, I had to be out of one cabin by 10 and the new one wasn't available until 3 pm - and I had pre-prepared routes for all possible winds. If it is North-Westerly, you do a short leg on the main ridge - the Bald Eagle Ridge - and cross a short gap at Altoona, PA, then follow the ridge to Bedford, PA, where a wider (8 mile) gap must be crossed with a thermal. Then, fly back to the start point. Not difficult with the right conditions, and this is what the forecast suggested the day before. If it is northerly, you can just do a 3 turn point polygon following the main ridge, from Williamsport, PA, to Altoona, PA, and fit it in. The winds were forcast to be NNW at about 15-20.
On the day, the winds were stronger and gustier than forecast, and more northerly, so I changed my task just before launch in my encrypted flight recording computer. Jean-Guy Hélie from Club de Vol a Voile de Quebec would be the Official Observer, making sure that the evidence from the recorders would be acceptable for the FAI (Diamond Badges are internationally reviewed and registered; I believe the last Canadian to get his was Yves Bastien from Montreal Soaring in 2013 - #7342 - list is at http://www.fai.org/igc-our-sport/badges-and-diplomas ). Info on the badges is at http://www.sac.ca/website/index.php/en/achievements/fai-badges/fai-badges .
The tow was quite violent - perhaps the most interesting of my flying career, and the turbulence was so strong that full control deflection didn't allow me to follow the towplane (planned release at 2,000 feet above ground), who vanished below my nose, and I pulled the release and turned away while uttering an unkind word at the lift gods (there are 3 mandatory release conditions on an air tow - the towplane goes inverted, you go inverted, or you lose sight of the towplane). The lift close to the Ridge was very good, and I climbed away to a height of about 3,500' (1,500' above the Ridge), where the lift was good and I could maintain 70 knots without undue discomfort - any faster, and the turbulence was unpleasant - head banging on canopy with the straps fully tight. You choose your cruising level by your tolerance for turbulence on a strong ridge day. Recall, to fly 500 km, you will probably be flying for five or more hours, and it does wear you down after a while. You can make the 'ride' better by ballasting with water, but I was flying 'dry'.
After a while, I settled down to flying, looking for other gliders, etc, eating lunch, drinking water; just making a lot of ground while I was doing this.
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| Passing Howard Dam north-east bound; first leg. Nice Cu... 4600', 60 knots airspeed, 80 knots groundspeed (downwind) |
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| Panel; anti-collision system (upper left). Speed/altitude, rate of climb, nav computer, radio, and moving map display. Red LED is stall warning system. |
Well, the paperwork needs to be blessed, but I believe I finally accomplished my goal of the Diamond Distance in my SZD-55 (49' wingspan, no flaps; built in 1990 and still going strong):
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| Flight 2-D and vertical trace. Declared 511.3 km triangle, 572 km distance. 6 hours and one minute. 97.5 kph average speed (slow for the Ridge but I got increasingly conservative in height as the day went on) |
Too bad Jacques Asselin (YW, DG202/17m) arrived a day or so later. He's flown a lot of cross-country, but few badges. He wanted to finish his Silver Badge (1000m/3281' height gain; 50 km (32 mile) flight; and the five hour duration (aka "The Big Sit"). Nice to have a buddy from the club there; I have also shared the cabin with Roger Hildesheim (AT, SZD55) and Norm Fortin (IN, Discus 2B) who actually was the one who convinced me to try ridge flying. Work kept them away this spring - pity. At this point, the club was just beginning to fly for the year. I was too sore the next day to fly, but it was a good feeling!
If I'm successful, why was that? I have visited the ridge and flown, slowly increasing my comfort level with ridge flying. I had the tasks I need prepared on the day; I know how to insert them into the computers; I was well rested (but not particularly current - this was my first flight of the year); and, most important, I had 'flown' the flights in a very good gliding simulator (Condor - http://www.condorsoaring.com/ ) over the winter, and knew what to do. You don't need to be a particularly experienced pilot to 'fly' Condor - highly recommended!
You don't just show up and fly a significant flight at the ridge. On the 24th of April, on the Ridges of eastern PA, I wasn't even close to the longest flight of the day - 21st longest, in fact; there were six in excess of 1,000 km, longest of 1,333 km; but I think, none meant more to their pilots than this one for me! (you can see the other flights at http://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-2.0/gliding/daily.html?df=2015-04-24&sp=2015&rt=olc&st=olc&c=US&sc=2 ).
Teaser - Will YW make his Silver Badge? What will 2D do next? Stay tuned...
