soaring!

[tonycondon]

got my first glider flights in today. had to do the spring checkout for the club, a good idea anyway as i have not flown a glider in 6 months now. first two flights there wasn't much lift, but the air was starting to get bouyant. we did our stalls and did abbreviated approaches to landing, all the other airwork stuff.
third flight was amazing. launched at 100, took a high tow to 3000 agl and caught thermals up there. there was a lot of wind shear and turbulence below that that made the lift unworkable. steadily started climbing, about 3-400 fpm. we stayed within glide range of the airport today, unfortunately my instructors daughters birthday is today and we both were expected to be at the party tonight, not derigging the glider in a field somewhere. about 330 or 400 we hit our highest altitude, 8000 msl, 7000 agl. it was great. at 430 we decided we should land to make sure we were not late for festivities. to kill altitude we did three one turn spins. made a high speed run. 100 knots with negative flaps and we still were gliding at 20 to 1! then some wingovers and a spiralling descent put us a little over pattern altitude. flew a power plane sized patter with lots of airbrakes and had it on the ground around 440. my longest flight to date and highest altitude above ground!
in other news, i likely will sign my life away tonight and become an aircraft owner

woohoo!

 

[Let'sgoflying!]

very nice Tony, they are going nuts with the gliders in marfa these days too.

 

[TangoWhiskey]

very nice Tony, they are going nuts with the gliders in marfa these days too.

Yeah, that's what I heard at Southwest Soaring in Caddo Mills. Spurred by the book you sent me and Spike's recent post about his surprise flight for his son, my wife and I took the day (the kids are with Grandma for the weekend!) and drove out to the glider training facility. They had several nice Grobs on the field, and said that 4 of their other gliders are... you guessed it... out at Marfa this month for the annual mountain wave training.

Coming across Lake Ray Roberts, we thought we saw some people parasailing on the edge of the Lake, so we took a quick last-minute exit into the park, and found instead they were kite-boarding! The "Best RV Tour" was at the park, and we met a very fit and friendly South African named Clinton who just spent last month touring Australia promoting their sport. He highly recommended trying it, and they give lessons at the lake every weekend.

www.bestkiteboarding.com

I was surprised to learn how affordable the equipment and kite are... this guy was HAULING BUTT across the water with his kite, with the way the winds were today, and it looked like a lot of fun.

I'll post a video and some pictures later on my blog.

As far as the glider stuff goes, I need to lose about 20 pounds... there's a front seat limit of 242 pounds in the gliders. That's okay, I was working on losing the weight anyway for health reasons and so I can get checked out in the Decathlon. I'm a tall / big-boned guy anyway, and people tell me I don't look "fat", but it's still an eye-opener to have your weight prevent you from participating in an activity.

Got to get back to the pre-marriage weight!!

 

[gismo]

Coming across Lake Ray Roberts, we thought we saw some people parasailing on the edge of the Lake, so we took a quick last-minute exit into the park, and found instead they were kite-boarding! The "Best RV Tour" was at the park, and we met a very fit and friendly South African named Clinton who just spent last month touring Australia promoting their sport. He highly recommended trying it, and they give lessons at the lake every weekend.

I was surprised to learn how affordable the equipment and kite are... this guy was HAULING BUTT across the water with his kite, with the way the winds were today, and it looked like a lot of fun.

I'll post a video and some pictures later on my blog.

As far as the glider stuff goes, I need to lose about 20 pounds... there's a front seat limit of 242 pounds in the gliders.

Got to get back to the pre-marriage weight!!

Well, Kiteboarding ought to trim you down! I've got a traction kite that's meant for dryland use (the water versions are bigger and less efficient but have an inflated leading edge to make them float and easy to get off the water). The one I have can lift me right off the ground in a moderate wind!

 

[ScottM]

That sounds really fun. Was that in your new glider??

 

[tonycondon]

no, this was in my instructors two seater. its an IS28-B2 "Lark" I believe its built by the same company in romania that builds the IAR. very fast, good performing glider. its a nice step up from the schweizers and blaniks. my glider will be in the air next weekend i hope. wrote the check for it tonight, have to get the registration in and get insurance on it. otherwise it is pretty much ready to go.

weird, its starting to set in that i actually own an aircraft now. ill have to change my signature or something...

 

[tonycondon]

very nice Tony, they are going nuts with the gliders in marfa these days too.

ah yes it is that time of year down there. last year i was there the week before the wave camp and our highest altitude was about 12,700 msl or so. climbing in 4-500 fpm lift. those kinds of rates are about the best we ever get up here in the midwest, so it was pretty exciting. i seem to remember a picture on www.flygliders.com of you climbing at over 1000 fpm? must be rough, and do you stay current in gliders anymore? oh, in case you hadnt heard, Burts dad Fritz passed away last week i believe. quite a loss for the soaring community, he was a legend.

 

[Let'sgoflying!]

there was a pic of me but I really just dabble, Ive been too busy to keep anything near current...
Burt sent me the eulogy on Fritz, what a legend.