Great flight today

tonycondon

Gastons CRO (Chief Dinner Reservation Officer)
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Mar 9, 2005
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Wichita, KS
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Tony
As posted on rec.aviation.soaring. Pictures should be coming to me tomorrow, will post them when I get them. One of the things I was really looking forward to today was getting all of the wood gliders on the field up at once. I have the Cherokee II, Matt Michael has his Woodstock, Sawhill has the Polish built Foka 4, and there is a Ka-6, similar to Petes, as well.

The Ka-6 got out on the first tow of the day and spent the day flying
circles (big circles) around the airport. The Foka 4 was the next out
followed by me in the Cherokee and Matt Michael in the Woodstock.
Matt and I team flew to the west northwest towards the Boone airport
and were joined by the Ka-6 for much of the 11 mile trip. Then he
headed off to the southeast while we explored a nice looking cloud
street. We were rewarded with 10 miles, directly into the wind, and
about a 1000 foot altitude gain, without turning! Finally over the
town of Boxholm we decided to go a little northeast to the next
street. We contacted the Foka, who had been up to Fort Dodge, 42
miles away from Ames, and he came over and flew with us back home. I
was easily above final glide so just worked the street with a slight
tailwind. For a 20 mile trip I lost only 1500-2000 feet of altitude.
Not too shabby! Matt had headed back to the northwest as the street
was still looking good while i turned over the airport and decided to
head to the north. By this time the Ka6 was already about 10 miles to
the north at a fair altitude and headed home. The foka had gotten
above me and was headed that direction. I set out to the north hoping
to grab another turnpoint and make it home in time for supper. As I
left the airport I found a little bit of lift and worked it for a
while, but then pressed on to the north. I was greeted with constant
400-600 fpm down. This was about 5:30 PM and many of the gliders in
the air were creeping back towards the airport as the day started to
wind down. It was obvious that alot of us were going to be landing
soon. I felt I was in a good position but finally when I was a few
miles north of the airport and down to 2000 AGL I decided to turn
back. I had been in pretty much the same position last week when I
got home so I wasnt too concerned. However I was unable to get out of
the sinking air into any workable lift. I started to circumvent the
city to keep landable options open as i had gotten below glideslope
for the airport. Finally I was down to 1000 AGL and was soon to give
up even staying aloft.

Ames has gotten about 8 inches of rain in the last week and flooding
is rampant everywhere. All of the fields in my immediate vicinity
were visibly muddy. Perfectly landable but not preferred if I had the
choice. I had a very nice concrete road immediately under me and I
had the chance to really scope it out as far as obstructions to
flight. I saw no wires, signs, and as I came in for the landing, no
traffic. So I took it. Heavy braking got me stopped quick and I was
well off on the shoulder before any cars got near. Soon a county
sheriffs deputy was there keeping me company and after a while the Ka6
and Foka pilots were there to help derig. and I still made it home in
time for supper.

Turns out that Matt Michael in the Woodstock got to cloudbase after
turning back from me, and worked out to about 20 miles north of the
airport and 8500 AGL!! Highest out of anyone for the day. He flew
right over top of me on his way to the airport and didnt even know it.

all in all a great day, with 9 individual gliders taking 12 tows.
Hopefully we can have many more like it for the rest of the season.
 
Sounds like a hoot, Tony! I'm gonna have to get Chris Uhl or someone to take me up in Da Vinci when there is actual lift to be found. This stuff sounds waaay too addicting. :)
 
it is chris. Uhl is checked out in the back seat of da vinci now. Or we could go in the Blanik, if you'll fit. Its back on line now after an extensive annual. I practically live at the airport now so call out sometime and see if we can find a towpilot.
 
it is chris. Uhl is checked out in the back seat of da vinci now.

What's "Da Vinci"? Nickname for one of the gliders, or an actual type?

Or we could go in the Blanik, if you'll fit.

I guarantee he'll fit if you chop off the top three inches of his head so he's the same height as me. ;) Probably gotta go in the back seat and slouch. :yes:

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da vinci is our nickname for the clubs schweizer 2-22, because that old bird is a piece of art.
 
Hah Sounds like you guys had a great day out in IA. I got in a few flights out in Hartford trying to polish up maneuvers to get ready for the checkride.

Coolest thing yesterday was thermallling with another glider (LS-1f) in a pretty good (5-6kt) thermal. Unfortunately I forgot the #$%#$@ camera.

Here are some shots from the ground.

The Mighty 2-33 (with a Luscombe taking off in the background)
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Blanik on Tow
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Ted Landing his Centrair Pegase (he subsequently rolled out to within 20 feet of his trailer)
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nice shots Pete, still havent gotten my pictures of the cherokee and the police cruiser.
 
I need to start gliding. Maybe that'll be next semester if I can come up with the money. Sounds like you had a nice long flight - lucky you for finding a road with little enough traffic to land.
 
yes you do tabrina. traffic was a non issue, although i was monitoring it closely for the few minutes that i orbited over the road before entering my pattern. as i turned final to the west a car came around the curve in the road about a mile ahead of me. I gave full airbrakes and an aggressive slip (not only for the steep approach but also to help them see me) and got it down and stopped quick. I was immediately out and had the glider off the side of the road well before they got to me. First car by rolled down the window and said "nice landing!" I said "do you normally drive on runways??" :D
 
Heres the picture from my landing on the road. as you can see it would make a perfect runway. Id post the big picture in the message but cant figure out how to do it on Jesse Mac...
 

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