Glider on the loose.

[tonycondon]

Well folks it is looking like tommorow is going to be *the* Day. All forecasts point towards killer soaring conditions and I am hoping to make a good downwind dash to somewhere. Wind is supposed to be straight out of the north so I will hopefully land in Missouri somewhere, I hope. Going to try to get a shakedown flight in this afternoon, soaring is looking decent. Havent flown my glider since August 31 when I went 91 miles. Ill have to figure out how much cold weather gear I can wear and be warm and comfy. Now that Matt Michael has his power license, I am hoping he will join me in his glider, otherwise I hope he will chase me with the trailer.

Diana - Where is your farm? And is it marked on the sectional? Now that I have gotten a KC sectional, it would be good to know.

God only knows where Ill end up. I sure hope its a long ways away from Ames. Look forward to the report.

 

[SCCutler]

Tony:

Maybe you'll get all teh way to Texas! If you do, you have a guatanteed bed at Casa de Cutler.

BTW, Diana and Tom's megaport is at:

http://www.airnav.com/airport/08MO

Good luck!

 

[tonycondon]

yea spike, i just looked up Diana and Toms place on Airnav. 277 NM, straight downwind. That would be a hell of a flight, if I could make it half that far I would be thrilled. Who knows.

 

[SCCutler]

yea spike, i just looked up Diana and Toms place on Airnav. 277 NM, straight downwind. That would be a hell of a flight, if I could make it half that far I would be thrilled. Who knows.

Don't forget, there's Bill Suffa in San Antonio...

 

[Diana]

yea spike, i just looked up Diana and Toms place on Airnav. 277 NM, straight downwind. That would be a hell of a flight, if I could make it half that far I would be thrilled. Who knows.

You're always welcome to stay if you make it down here this far.

 

[tonycondon]

Flight was a success. Conditions were challenging as there was a lot of overcast development where the cumulus clouds would create big shadows and shut down all the lift. I had to tread carefully in order to stay aloft. made it 104 miles in 4 hoursish, just about made it to missouri, landed in an amish farmers hay field 4 miles north of the border. had a ball. max altitude was 6,500. full report with pictures to come. Matt Michael crewed and got some great shots of the landout field.

 

[gprellwitz]

Flight was a success. Conditions were challenging as there was a lot of overcast development where the cumulus clouds would create big shadows and shut down all the lift. I had to tread carefully in order to stay aloft. made it 104 miles in 4 hoursish, just about made it to missouri, landed in an amish farmers hay field 4 miles north of the border. had a ball. max altitude was 6,500. full report with pictures to come. Matt Michael crewed and got some great shots of the landout field.

Heck, an Amish farmer must have loved that you were flying without power! Congrats on a great flight!

 

[tonycondon]

Thanks Grant. I think they definitely did appreciate the workmanship, construction method, and history of the glider. The watched me land as one of the kids had seen me but could figure out why there was no engine! So the whole family (30 or so) stood out in the driveway to watch me land. It was quite weird to look off to the side while on final and see them all in blue jeans, suspenders, and blue shirts with straw hats.

 

[Bill]

had a ball.

Tony, you have so much fun with that glider of yours. I'm really happy you're having a blast.


I wonder if we could ever get a flyin going at your home gliderport, and get PoA'ers up for some dual in the two place training gliders. I think that would be a blast.

 

[tonycondon]

Yes! We should! Excellent Idea! I will look more into it, perhaps set something up for the spring.

 

[Lance F]

Great flight Tony. Downwind dashes are so rare now. Used to be a time that all the distance badges were done that way. I'm looking forward to the pictures.

 

[wby0nder]

What a great flight! The conditions were very challenging indeed. On "good" soaring days there are thermals more or less uniformly distributed but on Thursday the mushroom tops of the cumulus clouds merged and persisted causing vast shadows and seperating the lift areas by huge voids of sinking air. Several times as I followed his progress I thought, "well it's going to be a trick to stay up in this area" or, "It will be a miracle if he can make it to those next clouds". At one point he was getting pretty low and I'd managed to catch up with him. I pulled off the road next to a recently mowed hay pasture and hopped up onto a row of big bales to watch the action and survey the field. Tony was hanging on in a little scrap of lift at about pattern altitude and as I watched him orbit a flock of gulls suddenly flew over headed in his direction. They all banked into lift at about 200 feet and within seconds were climbing through 500. I radioed Tony that he had company and when he spotted them he adjusted his circle towards the gulls. The Cherokee marked the thermal for the gulls and they showed Tony where the strongest part was. Landing was no longer imminent and soon Tony was out of sight and on his way to greener pastures. I didn't see him again until I took these pictures.

 

[tonycondon]

Great flight Tony. Downwind dashes are so rare now.

Yea its too bad too Lance. Downwind is my preffered method of XC flying. I suppose if I had something that actually could penetrate into the wind I would be more tempted to try out and returns or triangles, but with a low performance glider, im all about maximizing number of miles travelled. Came out to 190 kilometers for today. I cant wait for a good day so I can get Gold Distance! Here are my pictures.

 

[jason]

That last picture that Matt posted is a classic! I'm so jealous!

 

[ScottM]

That last picture that Matt posted is a classic! I'm so jealous!

They are all really great pictures.

Tony it seems the farm people were very interested n the glider, did anyone want to go flying?

 

[tonycondon]

well,
i think the kids would have been interested in sitting in the glider, their eyes seemed to light up when we suggested it, but the parents werent really jumping all over the idea so i didnt push it much further. I was tempted to mention to the oldest boy that you only have to be 14 to solo a glider, but had the impression that it wouldnt be a welcome comment.

 

[gismo]

well,
i think the kids would have been interested in sitting in the glider, their eyes seemed to light up when we suggested it, but the parents werent really jumping all over the idea so i didnt push it much further. I was tempted to mention to the oldest boy that you only have to be 14 to solo a glider, but had the impression that it wouldnt be a welcome comment.

Perhaps a bungee launch with the rubber band pulled tight by horses would work for them?

I'm sure glad I wasn't born into an Amish family. As much as I love my gadgets and technology, I'd have made a lousy Amish farmer for sure. Still, given their curiosity about the glider, you've gotta wonder how the parents explained that flying is something their kids would never be able to do.

 

[CJones]

That sounds like an AWESOME trip, Tony. I had planned on hopping in the RV and turn downwind and see if I could find ya'll still in the air, but I wasn't able to leave work early enough. I bet some in-air video of 'searching, finding, using' of thermals would be pretty cool -- especially when the gulls came in to show you the way to the 'promised land'. We'll have to put that on the agenda. Hard part will be finding a camera good enough to get 'safe distance' shots and still be quality video.

Great story and GREAT pics!!

-Chris

 

[tonycondon]

Here is the flight report, enjoy.

 

[Lance F]

What a perfect field to pick to land in. Better runway than Gaston's!

 

[Steve]

What a fun adventure!

I'm surprised they let their pictures be taken.

Here is the flight report, enjoy.

 

[tonycondon]

Ha it was a little rougher than Gastons Lance, but wasnt too bad.

Steve, it was a great adventure, and they actually werent too hip with us taking their pictures. They did get caught in a few before they let us know of their feelings. Which is why the picture I chose to distribute in the report basically has none of them in it.

 

[MauleSkinner]

Well, I guess all I can add is

COOL!!!!

Fly safe!

David

 

[etsisk]

Tony, I went up in the Blanik again yesterday - um, once we were up, it was pretty great - instructor said, well, I'm here if you need me, just go do what you want to! First time I've gotten to just go fly around in the sailplane. Exceptionally cool!!!!

Take off and tow, well, I've just got to learn to control less. Next week I hope to fly again, and I'll just do a bunch of pattern work. Learning how to use the dive brake is fun too.

 

[tonycondon]

Tom,

Excellent! Flying the tow is something most people struggle with, especially if it is bumpy and/or they dont have any formation experience. less is definitely more with respect to control movements. the airbrakes on the Blaniks are wonderful, very powerful so you can control your glide angle very accurately. Jesse and Lance saw this firsthand today as we were flying in strong winds and doing steep approaches with full airbrakes into a 15-20 knot headwind. It was like riding an elevator down.

keep it up and keep us updated!

 

[wesleyj]

Dont kid yourselves, the Amish are just as interested and curious about technology as you and I are, the attendance at our annual airshow it a testimony to that,

I have taught quite a few Amish to fly and have given rides to hundreds of them at the airshow, they really liked the Twin Beech that the museum gave rides in, they line up 10 deep to ride in a helicopter, all of the Airshow pilots are amazed to see 80 or 90 buggies tied to the perimeter fence during the airshow,

 

[tonycondon]

There is a guy over by Cedar Rapids who gives rides in his 1929 Travel Air at the Amish Colonies over there. Keeps pretty busy when the weather is nice.

 

[harish]

Has anyone ever minded it when you landed on their property?

 

[tonycondon]

no. Stories of angry farmers are few and far between. Of course, if I damage anything, i am prepared to have to pay for it. But with the availability of open pastures and now harvested corn and bean fields abundant in the midwest, it is more likely i will damage the glider by ripping fabric on corn stalks.