rottydaddy
En-Route
Made two solo flights in the 2-seater today; been a while as I have spent the last couple of glider club days taking friends up for rides and getting a feel for flying from the back seat.
Conditions were pretty good at first, with scattered flat clouds starting to puff up a bit after noon. Got suckered by some killer lift on the first tow, banged off at 2000, and ended up scurrying back to the airport... the whole sky seemed suddenly to be sinking at 600 fpm. Bummer.
By my second flight, the winds aloft weakened and started to change up. A big gray cloud had settled over the vicinity, and rather than shutting down the lift, it seemed to be sucking up the heat from the ground. Got off at 3000 and there was just lift everywhere. It was crazy. Got to 5500, trying to make cloud base... it seemed to be petering out, so I headed a few miles west to the edge of the cloud, and found some more energy there. A little rough air here and there, but it seemed impossible to fly out of the lift, although some areas were stronger.
Meanwhile, Andy had launched in the 1-26, and came over to gaggle with me. He disappeared after climbing above me (off to another big flat-bottom cloud to the SW and eventually Princeton), I got bored circling in 200 fpm lift, so I continued west, still encountering modest lift in the sunshine. Made it all the way out past the Raritan, a few miles south of Solberg airport, and decided to turn around.
Got back under that big cloud and finally made it within spitting distance of cloud base, around 6400 before I checked the climb to stay in the clear.
Andy reappeared, and we gaggled some more, near the edge of the cloud again. My feet actually started to feel a little cold... been a long time since I felt that in the glider.
Nobody was calling for the trainer, and I probably could have managed another hour or so, but I was satisfied with myself, so I just had some fun playing with it, gradually making it down to the pattern.
Launch to touchdown was just over 2 hrs... not bad for $40!
Conditions were pretty good at first, with scattered flat clouds starting to puff up a bit after noon. Got suckered by some killer lift on the first tow, banged off at 2000, and ended up scurrying back to the airport... the whole sky seemed suddenly to be sinking at 600 fpm. Bummer.
By my second flight, the winds aloft weakened and started to change up. A big gray cloud had settled over the vicinity, and rather than shutting down the lift, it seemed to be sucking up the heat from the ground. Got off at 3000 and there was just lift everywhere. It was crazy. Got to 5500, trying to make cloud base... it seemed to be petering out, so I headed a few miles west to the edge of the cloud, and found some more energy there. A little rough air here and there, but it seemed impossible to fly out of the lift, although some areas were stronger.
Meanwhile, Andy had launched in the 1-26, and came over to gaggle with me. He disappeared after climbing above me (off to another big flat-bottom cloud to the SW and eventually Princeton), I got bored circling in 200 fpm lift, so I continued west, still encountering modest lift in the sunshine. Made it all the way out past the Raritan, a few miles south of Solberg airport, and decided to turn around.
Got back under that big cloud and finally made it within spitting distance of cloud base, around 6400 before I checked the climb to stay in the clear.
Andy reappeared, and we gaggled some more, near the edge of the cloud again. My feet actually started to feel a little cold... been a long time since I felt that in the glider.
Nobody was calling for the trainer, and I probably could have managed another hour or so, but I was satisfied with myself, so I just had some fun playing with it, gradually making it down to the pattern.
Launch to touchdown was just over 2 hrs... not bad for $40!
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