The Soaring Diary
This Soaring Diary begins in November 2000
and ends in April 2001The Soaring Diary was started in the mid-1990's Click here to see a selection of dates of previous volumes (they go back in time at least two years). (The link will also tell you what this diary is all about).++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Editor and publisher - Peter Kelly
(Click here to jump to the bottom of this page - to see links to other pages)Reports are provided by soaring enthusiasts from all over the world
(In reverse chronological order)
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Begin entry for Tue, 3 Apr, 10 AM, 2001I just received some extremely sad news. We have lost Alex Burnette. Eveyone in the soaring community will feel the grief. For those of you who never had the enjoyment of interacting with Alex, let me just say that it is too difficult to express in words, but you should know that we all loved him. Apparently his death was peaceful. Here is the note I received from Carl this morning....
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From: Carl D. Herold [mailto:cdherold@gbis.com]
Sent: Tuesday, April 03, 2001 7:30 AM
Subject: Alex Burnette Passed Away early this morningAlex Burnette passed away quietly in his sleep this morning between 4:30 and 6:00 A.M. Laurie and I visited the family last night and had dinner together. Alex has been very quiet and in a constant sleep for the past few days. A blessing was he passed on with no pain. Laurie talked with Norma this morning. Norma asked me to send this note. I will never forget Alex returning me a salute this last Friday when I visited him as I was departing.
Regards, Carl Herold
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Begin entry for Tue, 3 Apr, 8 AM, 2001Only received one email about this past weekend, and I'm short of time as usual, but I'll share the time that I have, and the email. I think others would enjoy reading any reports you want to email to me. Just state what you did, and I'll paste it into the soaring diary.
The breifings on Sun am were excellent. Ray showed slides of his soaring trip in Africa, and Peter D got into our heads and opened our minds to learning about the process of decision making while in the glider. Sergio is to be congratulated on putting together this very enjoyable and productive safety seminar weekend. and thanks to Williams for hosting the event.
Soaring was excellent again on Sunday I had said this on Saturday nite:
I'm sticking with the following plan- - a tow at 11:30 local - expecting good lift over both walker and goat immediately off-tow, and good thermal lift with pockets of wave all afternoon. I plan to turn around at Anthony peak at about 11,000 ft, and back south to Rumsey for a nice 175 mile flight. That's my forecast - I'll debrief you here tomorrow nite.What I really did was--
Took a dual tow w/Key, and we got off at 3 Sisters (we both agreed to get off tow). We ended up over Cooks at 1,500 ft and worked for 30 minutes, got up to Sites at 5,000 ft, over to Century at 1,500 AGL, and finally got up to 8 or 9,000 over Stonyford, and headed north. We turned Eagle Pk and returned via Rumsey. Gimmey and others turned the Ridge at or near T-15. Probably about about 5 or 10 others flew 150 mile plus flights. I heard lots of activity at Montague, Minden, and Crazy Creek. Nathan got up to over 13,000 on the Mendicinos in his new LAK-17. That was about his sixth flight in it. I think I covered the 175 miles that I had forecasted. The wave developed in the early evening.Here's a report from Chuck
-------------------------------------------------Chuck, thanks for the report, and you ought to contact 7V if you want him to write a note.
Flight report for CCS 3/31/016 pilots flew including EJ Indrebo in DR. 99, 7B, HV, 3W, 5F.
The agreed task of Ukia and return was not possible with the conditions.Thermals on the south side of the lake were about 5 to 6 max and there
was quite a bit of wave influence with lots of high sink up to -6 on the
netto on the glide. I knew the day was not promising as I went from 6 K to almost landing at Larry's field in less than 10 minutes. EJ had the best distance, finding a nice crest to ride out to Konocti. He did have to slope soar for a while to get enough altitude to make a glide back. The only way out appeared to be a climb at the gold mines and a run for your cu at Indian. EJ and I tried on three separate occasions and it was not to be.I enjoyed hearing the WSC folks having a great day on the mendicinos.
You may want to ask 7V to write a short note on his impressions of his LS 8 18 as he appeared to be making some comparison glides with one of the 15 meter ships.It was very warm on the ground and afternoon winds were 8 to 10 from the west
Chuck Griffin (99)
-----------------------------------------------------It would be good if we agreed on a task when we fly out of Williams, but no one seems to have the confidence to make the call - actually, I would be glad to make the call, if anyone would agree to try to fly it.
I'd like to see the flight recorder playbacks for the many flights that we have along the mendicinos on any given day. Trouble is, we need to all use the same turnpoints so the computer will play us back on the same track.
Jim Darke made a beautiful map of the turnpoints. I think the map may available from the office at WSC. Rex is going to contract Jim to manufacture some. At least that is what I think I overheard.
End entry for Tue, 3 Apr, 8 AM, 2001
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Begin entry for Mon, 2 Apr, 11PM, 2001Lots to tell you. We had a good weekend - I'll try to write about it here, but I'll try to do it tomorrow. Just had a call from Milt, he's considering trying for a long x-c tomorrow (Tuesday)out of Williams - so most of this entry is an open letter to Milt and Rex. I just looked at the wx for the past 15 minutes - Low pressure north of us, slanting nnw from the surface upward, and stronger at the upper levels. Very high level of vorticity at 18000 ft over Red Bluff tomorrow, probably create a few large T-Storms up there. Wind will be from 10 to 20 kts in the valley, from the west or northwest. it won't get very warm tomorrow, but it won't take much to create thermals,since it will be in the high 20's at 5,000 ft over most of northern california. If I had the day available, I'd go soaring just to see what it would be like, but I don't have the day available. If you look at the 5 am and compare that to the 5 pm, you can see things are changing rapidly. - but the wind continues to be a large input and it's very cold air from the NW. With that wind, I don't know if 1,000 k is possible- days are still short in early April, and true airspeed will be low because you are not operating up above 12,000 ft, but it ought to be a good 500 k day - I'd have to look at it again in the AM.
I'll give all of you more info about this past weekend in tomorrow's report - including some info about razy creek. Had a long day today at work, so I'm going to bed.
End entry for Mon, 2 Apr, 11PM, 2001
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Begin entry for 7:30 PM Sat, 3/31/01Same old story for today's flying - "You shoulda been there!" It was fantastic. Besides the flying, the safety seminars went very well. I did the 9 am presentation - that didn't start until 9:30 ish, because every one was putting their ships togetner. Then Richard Pearl did a very well put together presentation on "having it all together" in order to fly a safe flight. It was well presented and the audience got a lot out of it, I'm sure - at least I did.
As for the flying, Rex was lining up the launches, we had one tow plane rigged for dual tows (with two ropes hanginf from the tail of the pawnee). Peter Deane and Jim Darke took the fist double, can't remember who took the second, Ray and Paul took the third, and Guy and I took the fourth. There were lots of single tows in between, since two other tow planes were working the whole time. I would guess ther were about 30 tows all together - a good crowd. The radio usage was somwehat disciplined, and the lift was great. There were only two landout that I know about- and one of those was a motorglider restart. I was puton the spot after all of the safety talks, and Mark handed me the soundings, and everyone asked me how high the lift would be today. I explained my method of reading the charts, called the lift at 8,500 over goat, and I was right! Do you think I'd be telling this story if I was wrong? There were about 15 ships that went north up to Eagle Peak and four that I know about tha mde it to the last ridge past Yolla (T-16 and T-15 ridge). Like I said, it was a great day. I was sad to miss the BBQ tonight, but I had other commitments. se la vie. or however you spell it - that's life (in French).
As for tomorrow - I had predicted an awsome wave. HOWEVER, I just finished looking at the pressure charts from 300 down to 850mb. The main part of that tight pressure gradient will be further north than they had forecsted a couple of days ago. It still be a west wind, and it will be a cold wind, but the wind strength willl not be there. Not having seen the soundnig yet for tomorrow at 5 AM (daylight savings time starts tonight), but I anticipate that the sounding will be at least as good as today, but since the air mass will be colder, I am predicitng that the thermals on the big hills will go over 9,000 (over goat) but the wind will definitely be a factor, and I expect to see pockets of wave clouds all along the Mendicinos. Today we could work a convergence along the east side of the hills, but I think that tomorrow will be influenced more by the west wind at 10,000 and above - the wind at 5,000 is still nnw, and the NWS (nationl wx service) is saying there will be a south wind in the Central Sacramento valley. All very confusing. I'm sticking with the following plan- - a tow at 11:30 local - expecting good lift over both walker and goat immediately off-tow, and good thermal lift with pockets of wave all afternoon. I plan to turn around at Anthony peak at about 11,000 ft, and back south to Rumsey for a nice 175 mile flight. That's my forecast - I'll debrief you here tomorrow nite.
End entry for 7:30 PM Sat, 3/31/01
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Begin entry for Noon, Fri 30 Apr 2001We received a couple of reports - one for Williams, and one for Minden, and one announcment. Before I have you read those, I need to tell you about the awesome wave that will be here on Sunday in the afternoon. The lower level chart (5,000 ft) is contrary, but from10,000 up, it is a stong wind, 90 degrees to the Mendicinos - it's gotta be good - and it'll be cold! That air is coming at us from the west, but 200 miles out it is coming from the cold cold north. Bundle up if you are going to be in that wave. Willliams will probably have the wave window open, so if you have the oxygen, you can set some new records for altitude over Williams. I think it'll be easy to get above 25,000 ft - based on those pressure charts.
One more thing - before the PIREPS. This weekend is the Safety Seminar Weekend at Williams. I'll have my talk available on disk for anyone who is in attendance. OK, NOW here are the reports...
This first one is from Milt Hare (he wrote this report last night at 7 PM)......
--------------------------------------If you want to receive the Thermal Index Predictor (TIP),automated email report for Williams, just drop me a note.
Here's a report on actual conditions at Williams today (Thursday) according to Kenny, Noelle and Ray Gimmey. After that I explain the values from the TIP subject line for today based on what I've learned from Dr. Jack - MiltSurface wind 320 at 15-20 knots, gusts up to 32 knots and one to 35!
TIP forecast was NW 11 to 14 knots on the surface with stronger winds up higher - 20 knots or so.Surface temp max 80 degrees F. (TIP forecast was also 80)
Lift was weak below 1,000ft and got stronger as it went up. From 2,000 to 4,300 it was averaging 5-6 knots (according to Ray - mere mortals should deduct at least 2 knots for comparison).
The max climb in the valley was 4,300 with no clouds. Winds were high in the mixing layer - Kenny estimated 30-40 knots at least.
There were clouds over the mountains higher up - maybe 7,000 to 8,000 feet. Kenny guessed that they were the result of some type of convergence.
---------------------------------------This second report is from Jim Herd.....
-----------------------------------------And finally, here is the announcement from Dale Thompson....
I just returned from a few days at Minden. Extremely pleasant soaring - light lift and light winds each day, up to around 12K.In particular, it is interesting to note the conditions yesterday - because it may add something to yesterday's email traffic analyzing Williams TIP and actual conditions yesterday. Minden had light thermals to 11,300 with light winds - never above 15 knots and mostly 3 or 4, even at altitude! Steve Eddy and I launched near 4 p.m. and flew till sunset in sweet thermals. As they say, go figure!
Maybe you will be throwing some light on all this in your presentation tomorrow. If it looks good I will be highly motivated! (Hollister has put out a "Thermal Alert" for an excellent weekend.)
Jim Herd
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Hi,Here is a special invitation to come to Air Sailing's Spring Clean-Up (21 April 2001) and the Short-Winged Gathering.
Come, and bring your friends!!
Dale Thompson
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Begin entry for 7 PM, Mon. 19 Mar 2001Read my email after I posted the diary for today
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Chuck sent us a good debrief about flying from Crazy Creek on Saturday - Thanks Chuck.You all remember Saturday? - 1B and 5H picked the wrong place to fly, and weren't going again, and I showed up late, and didn't want to fly by myself? Well for those of us on the ground at Williams, looking up at those clouds, we should have turned our radios over 123.3 We would have then know there were a flock of gliders enjoying the lift to 18K. In fact, it would have been possible to go well above that since the clouds were over Walker Ridge, and that is within the wave window at Williams. All we had to do was tow to south west of the walker ridge area and climb, call for the wave window to be opened, and up we could go.
We really ought to use 123.3 rather than 123.5 - I am sick and tired of listening to pilots from Japan Air Napa check in and out of their practice areas all day long. Whatever happened to the initiative that Karol was working on to get more frequencies for gliders, or at least get those other people off the frequency. We can police ourselves, but we have no right to tell those Japanese pilots to shut up, since the FCC says it's ok for them to use the frequency. I think we might do better on 123.3 on some days - of course the Travis Aero club thinks they are allowed to use it for a UNICOM frequency, so that frequency is not clear either.
Two other items, before I show you Chuck's report.
Jim Darke has made up some very nifty Special Use Airspace files for use on the pocket nav/ GPS system. On the file Jim demonstrated to me, these SUA files depict I-5 and I-20, Indian valley Reservoir, the class c airspace around sacramento, and Beale AFB, and lots of other things. Stay tuned for a release of that info in the very near future. I'll announce here when I post it to a web page for you to copy. It's good to have wizards like Jim as part of the team, making it better for all of us.
Another development area is internet resources that you can use to keep you informed about gliding activities, and something that will help you figure out when the soaring is supposed to be decent. Doug Armstrong developed that great Soaring Program before he retired from the NWS, Reno office. We need something like that for Williams, Crazy Creek, Hollister, Byron, Avenal, etc.
Milt Hare is working on maybe having a web site - other than this crude set-up, that will be somewhat automated. Maybe where we can post our flight reports, put up notices of soaring outings, and group flying endeavors, etc. Milt is working closely with Jack Glendening, trying to develop an automated Thermal Index Predictor. More to come on all of these exciting developments, standby...
Meanwhile, here is the report from Chuck, of what you missed over clear lake on Saturday....
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PeterIt turned out to be a very nice day at Crazy Creek on Sat.
PO's (private owners) flying: Chuck Griffin (99), Pete Alexander (98), and Dan Dunkle(4S), Hiro from Japan (5F)The winds on the ground in the morning were about 10 to 12 knots. The tow conditions showed mild to mod turbulance but not unpleasant. A 4000 foot msl tow south of Boggs got you about 2 knots in wave. The wave became better as the altitude increased peaking at about 3 to 4 kts ave. All ships with O2 got to 18k. The conditions were extremely variable and would seem to change every 20 to 30 minutes. On one occasion it was possible to fly to Lampson and return losing only 4000 feet and one part of the afternoon
the wave set up so that you could fly directly west and continue a climb
all of the way past cloverdale. 4S discovered this little trick and 99 and 98 were quick to follow. All pilots returned to CCS happy and
with very cold feet! The pattern in the afternoon was very B9 for a
wave day. After we got the ships boxed, the sun came out and the wind died making a fantastic end to a great spring soaring day.Chuck Griffin
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Begin entry for noon, Mon. 19 Mar 2001I was glad that I reevaluated the wx and decided to go soaring yesterday. I arrived at 10 AM and planned to launch at Noon. The inversion was obvious as some rice fields were being burned, and the smoke capped out at about 1200 ft AGL, but otherwise visby was over 25 miles. Before launch there were small lennies on the north end of the mendicinos, and a few grouping of them over the valley towards Redding.
Before takeoff, I activated my $375 feature of my new pocket nav - I had been using the free version from the cambridge web site, but after I paid them money for the license, they supplied me with a password. I put it in, and two seconds later I was in business. My pocket nav was capable of putting info into the datalogger - before the licensed feature, it was receiving info from the gps-nav, but it wouldn't upload points to it. I'm still unsure if I really needed that feature.
I took the first launch, and released at Walker. If I had been 30 minutes earlier, I don't think the lift would have been there. This first image shows the flight trace approaching Walker from the right, and leaving to the North (off tow at 12:20). This second image shows the altitude (gps-on top, and pressure altitude) versus time on the x-axis (bottom horizontal legend) my recorder already thinks it daylight savings time- if you noticed the 13:20 for tow release.
I made it up to T-15 in good time, but made a tactical error on the return by not getting on the west side of the hills. I called for an aero retrieve from Stonyford. I sure hope I get my motor back soon. The inversion never broke in the valley, and the lower hills never had any lift on them.
There were several others flying. Bob and Mark, Cindy, Guy, Bob T., Sumner, and some others, all had good flights. Guy reported over "the beautiful Konocti Resort" , and later, as he was landing at Williams, I asked him if there was any lift in the valley. He said ..."not a bump, all the way back from Konocti!"
Five of us were treated to a nice slide show by Bob Trumbly's using his laptop while we had Mexican food in Arbuckle before driving back south. It was just like the old times, but with all new people. It was another fine day. You shoulda been there.
End entry for noon, Mon. 19 Mar 2001
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Begin entry for 7:30 AM Sun 18 Mar 2001What a beautiful day. I was so bummed yesterday it affected my thinking last night. I just had to look at the charts this morning. The sounding is better than I had anticipated, and they are forecasting temps into the low to mid-70's at Williams. Using a temp in the high 60's over the 3 sisters at 3,000 ft (900mb), we could easily see lift up to 5,000 today. The forecast 850 mb chart shows more of a west flow by this afternoon, so that's good for triggering off the thermals on the tops of the west facing ravines. I had told Bob that it would be a good run down to Bessa Twr, over to Crazy Creek, then Walker and home, but think we can also go north along the hills, as long as you are comfortable with not cruising above 9,000 ft. Maybe I'll revise my plans for the day, and go soaring.
End entry for 7:30 AM Sun 18 Mar 2001
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Begin entry for 6 PM Sat 17 Mar 2001What kind of day was it. I was rigged, but didn't bother to launch - if that gives you any clue. Jim D and Bob K launched 45 min and 15 min prior to my arrival, respectively. I finally showed up about noon-30. Jim was on the ground at Cooks within 15 minutes of my arrival, Bob made it back to WSC. Conditions were "changeable". The lennies looked good downwind of Goat, but of course no one did a preflight and checked the wx first, so off they all towed to the Stonyford area. That's tough country with a NNW wind. But, Rick and Kathryn launched in the Duo about two hours after the first two weather reconnaissance pilots, and they stayed in the same area for over two hours. Good job Rick - of course he had Kathryn telling him where to go to find lift - that's sort of like cheating. I kind of regret ( a little bit) not having taken a tow, but that was $50 I didn't think was worth spending, considering I wasn't going to go anywhere - but it would have been fun I'm sure.
To me it was all so predictable after a while. The morning sounding showed the air was not appreciably dry, so I expected to see clouds in evidence. The winds were just as they were depicted on the 850 mb charts. All I had to do was take a 6,000 tow over Walker ridge, and I would have been in the weak wave downwind of goat. I could easily have transitioned to the wave over clear lake, downwind of that E-W ridge that starts just NW of Indian Vly Reservoir. But that's all the further I could go. But, I would have been up there by myself. Darke had already shot is wad on two tows for the day (getting back from Cook's), and Korves wasn't about to launch again. I didn't want to fly by myself - I knew Rick and Diana wouldn't go where I wanted to go to.
Maybe I should not check the wx charts before I go out to fly, and just try to figure it out like everyone else does - it puts the challenge back into the sport. I'm looking fwd to a decent thermal day.Other debriefs on today. Luke, Diana, lots of other all towed off, most came back promptly. Rick wins the prize for the day in the Duo, that 's for sure. Pat is anxious to get his bird in the air next week. His 20 has been getting refinished. Pat's one of those hang-glider retreads. He's both smart and gutsy. If he was flying, he would have followed me, and I would have launched. I hear Jim H is coming back from Australia a bit early. That'll add to the mix - another one of those hang-glider types.
Tomorrow, Sunday? It doesn't look good. I'm not even going to bother to show up at the gliderport, or even check the wx. The wave will be gone for sure, as will the cirrus, so the temps will come up to the low 70's. But looking at the fcst temps at 5,000 (on the 850 mb chart) we'll need a temp up in the high 70's to get to 5,000. We will have fresh air coming in with a west wind aloft over the big hills (Snow Mtn, Goat, etc.,) but I doubt the air mass will support any lift over the big hills more than 1,000 ft AGL above the 6,000 level of hills, and probably little lift will exist above 7,000 in any case. But that's more of a guess. I don't have the sunday morning sounding yet! Hold it! ..... Have you ever seen anybody give/ publish a thermal forecast this far in advance? Gimme a break!..
Maybe Bob K won't read this (he left the Duo, 5H, rigged in hopes of lift tomorrow). Maybe Bob'll take a tow to Goat tomorrow and give us a contrary report.
We'll see. I will publish all reports received!End entry for 6 PM Sat 17 Mar 2001
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Begin entry for 7 AM Sat 17 Mar 2001Yesterday I went to the gliderport to fly - as I said on Thursday, I had committed myself to fly on Friday. I didn't check the wx charts until 11:30 AM, just before launch. It told me I'd have 4 to 5,000 on the foothills south to Vacaville, and nothing sustainable above 6,000 on the big hills.
Gary was just getting off tow as I finished doing the analysis, and he reported 4 kts to 5,000 just south of 3 sisters - so with new hope, I jumped in and launched to the same spot. Good tow by Mark - he's so reliable.
I almost got to 5,000, and just headed south. I made two turns over Rumsey - mostly just to relocate the turnpoint -I do that every time I fly, and as I looked south and west, I could see that was all the day was good for - so I proceeded to go cross-country mostly just to check the turnpoints. It wasn't going to be a fast day, but the lift seemed predictable and it went to 4 or 5,000 just as forecast.
After Bessa towers, it was then Bessa dam, then vaca towers, which I deleted and I added the vaca pond in place of the towers, the moskowite, then pope - which I had to realign, then angwin, the mt st helena, then hoberg, which I had to realign, then I was going to walmart near pearce, but I saw a much better reference point, and it is more in the area of know lift, so I deleted walmart and added storage buildings, then to indian valley reservoir dam, which I had to realign again, then walker, made a minor realignment there, the brim road intersection - another realignment, and was also done at Antelope ranch, charters, and caldwells. I landed with a 6 to 8 knot north wind..
Today ?? I wouldn't bother to go except, one- Jim says he will fly today and Key might show up, and two, my bird is still rigged and parked in front of the Duo, so I need to at least go up and put it away- but since I'm going, I may as well take a flight. It'll be just slightly worse than yesterday. Thermal Lift to 4,000 above the ridge down to Bessa towers - try crazy creek area and get low, struggle back by way of walker, leave plenty of altitude to get back to WSC. No chance of lift on the big hills - at least not sustainable above 6,000.
End entry for 7 AM Sat 17 Mar 2001
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Begin entry for 10 PM Thurs 15 Mar 2001
It never did rain here in Vacaville, and the sun came out around 2 PM, just about as forecast. I saw several lennies to the south - one over Mt Diablo area, and several others. No lennies over or norht of Vacaville - our hills prefer a west or southwest wind. There was weak lift indicated over the vaca ridge up to about 5,000. Alto Cu were seen up towards Winters - downwind of the Bessa dam.Tomorrow will not be as strong as it initially appeared, but it still ought to be good, with temps at 5,000 about 43 F, if the surface temps get up into the high 60's I should do ok. I'll be at Williams in any case. I'm committed.
We received two excellent email reports - one from Crazy Creek and one from Williams. First, here is Chuck's report - apparently one of his first good flights for the season, and a good update on the runway and operation at Crazy Creek.......
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PeteI flew at CCS this last Sat 3/10. I got off low and had to struggle for
quite a while until I could finally get a climb over the barn marked by 3
hawks. The lift seemed to be wave influenced thermals. I finally was able to reach 7000 but was never able to break into real wave and I did "round up the usual suspects" by trying all of the typical locations that I have found it in the past including southwest of St Helena. Very nice to finally get a flight after all of this winter weather.The runwas is usable however one should land on the right of the
pavement to avoid a prominant hole that can be seen from the air. EJ has
equipment coming in to regrade the runway and is considering repaving. I will keep you informed. The road is dry. There is some small amount of standing water at the trailers.Chuck Griffin
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Received a flying report from Rick about flying today (Mar 15) at Williams-----------------------------------------------------------End entry for 10 PM Thurs15 Mar 2001
Hi Peter,Here’s a quick report about today’s (Thurs, March 15) soaring at Williams.
Despite a dismal morning, the day turned out to be very good. Took off at 1130 under an overcast sky and headed west where there was some clearing. There was no wind on the ground, but the clouds above were moving east to west. Almost all the ingredients were there for wave in the hills. The tow was very turbulent, but encouraging. I released at 2,500 just before 3 sisters in what I thought was significant lift. 10 minutes later I was on the ground at Charter. Kenny and Carl B. drove out to harass me and run my wing. (I was flying the Duo) By this time it started to rain, but Kenny encouraged me to go for the blue patch of sky in the hills anyway. I’m happy he did. I did encounter wave, although it was rather weak and spotty. Winds aloft were now out of the northwest. I spent most of the time between the southern and western end of Indian Valley Res. Max alt. Was 9,000 ft. The sky was a mixed bag of wave clouds and cumulus. Later, the wave clouds gave way to Cu’s…very strong 8-10 kt thermals to 7,000 ft cloud base on Walker Ridge. There I met the only other glider flying that day, Kenny with his student Ted Whitmore in the front seat. I’m willing to bet that Ted’s still beaming about that flight. I know I am. Depleted of water and feeling a little tired, I called it quits for the day.
On final glide back to Williams, a cloud street formed from Walker Ridge all the way to Vacaville. Once, again Kenny encouraged me (on the radio) to go for it. This time I passed. I was very happy and satisfied with my flight just the way it was.
Duration: 3.4 hrs. –Rick Ogden
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Begin entry for 7 AM Thurs15 Mar 2001Up early today just to check the wx. If I had the time I would go to Williams, and be ready to fly today, just in case it gets good, but I can't make it, besides, this may not be the day. I think the wx is 12 hours out of sinc. It may be good just before sunset today. I am putting my efforts into going out tomorrow, on Friday. The upper charts show strong flow from the NW, and the 850mb shows the cold air is still with us at 5,000 ft, and the low is predicted to be well past our area, so I think tomorrow is good. Saturday may also be good, so all of you that are chained to the desk, don't dispair. This saturday will be better than the previous few saturdays.
End entry for 7 AM Thurs15 Mar 2001
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Begin entry for 1 PM Wed 14 Mar 2001No flight reports received.
Milt has received a few addresses for use with the proposed automated soaring weather email called the TIP's message (Thermal Index Predictor). If you want to receive such a product, send me you email address and tell me you want to be included in the TIPS message.I looked at the wx for today - not suitable for going to the mountains at Williams, and the valley doesn't look too good. Looking forward to Thursday, and Friday, I think I will put my ship in the air on Friday. There is definitely some cold air headed our way, with a cold nwesterly flow, and by late saturday the warm air will be coming back in. It's hard to tell for sure about the weekend more than two days out, but it certainly looks better than it has been. If I go on Friday, I plan to leave the bird assembled, and fly again on sat.
End entry for Wed 14 Mar 2001
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Begin entry for 2 PM Tue 13 Mar 2001Gave a fleeting thought to going out to fly this AM, after hearing the am wx on the tv- they said it was going to be a beautiful day. I turned on the computer, and looked at one product - the oakland sounding. It told me everything I needed to know. Even if it hit 70 degrees it wouldn't be any good for soaring, and as I looked to the right of the chart and saw that the flow was from the ne, that explained why the air mass was so warm. I guess the tv wx definition of a beautiful day is vastly different than mine!
I just took a minute to look at the rest of the week. Tomorrow - about the same as today. Thursday on the 5 PM charts it looks good, but by the time it gets good it may be late afternoon. Looking at Friday, the 3 day forecast charts, lots of cold air coming down from the north towards us. Temp at 5,000 ft will be -6 or so at Williams, with lots more cold air behind that. The pressure gradient at both 700 and 500mb is tight (isobars close together), so there will be high winds aloft, and with all of that change, we'll probably have to contend with cirrus. Low pressure will be sliding se towards ne nevada. I'll look at it again tomorrow for friday and saturdays flying.
All these charts I refer to are one click away using my weather page- check them out.
End entry for 2 PM Tue 13 Mar 2001
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Begin entry for 8 AM Mon. 12 Mar 2001Post Analysis for yesterday- Wind was about 5 to 10 out of the north, bumpy air through 2,000 ft, smooth above 2,500. No one could stay up. There were at least 6 or 8 tows - Valley tows only. Undoubtedly the mountains were not working.
Reviewing backwards....., that was a nice flight that Gary had on Friday. Note to gary- Dear Gary, you mention a cold front. I have to ask you, What cold front? Did you see one on a wx chart or a forecast? Was it forecasted the night before?
I captured the pressure charts,upper air soundings, and sat photo for the 9th, so we can review them all at the safety wx talk at Williams on 31 March at 9 AM.Observation-- When I look ahead at wx charts, I tend to focus on days that I plan to go flying, and don't always see some of the obvious good days. As I look back on those wx charts, I was put off by the low approaching us from the nw, and I didn't consider that it had no feeder bands coming in from the west - with the high pushing towards us from the west. With just a little more attention, I could have called that good day on Friday - but I didn't. Thinks we could have done. But thn again,i couldn't go flying on Friday. Last week, on Wednesday, I did focus on Sunday (yesterday), because I was planning to meet Key and Jim and go flying if it was at all soarable. Here is what I said, four full days in advance, last wed about yesterday (sunday) .....
....... The weekend looks dismal, as I look at the 9 panel MRF file at 850 mb - the low pressure will be clearing out by saturday, but the pressure patterns will leave us with ne wind, becoing e sunday, then ne, then ....So the charts were in fact accurate! Yesterday was poor, and was not soarable.There is a possibility there may be an automated soaring forecast for Williams available soon. I heard about it yesterday. Apparently it wll be just an email that you can subscribe to, and it will tell you the soaring wx for that day in the Williams area. Sounds too good to be true, but I've seen some of the prototype and it looks good. Stay tuned. If you want to receive that automated product, send your email address to me. I am creating a folder with all the email addresses of people that I think are interested in receiveing such an automated daily soaring forecast for Williams. More to follow.
End entry for 8 AM Mon. 12 Mar 2001
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Begin entry for 8 AM Sun 11 Mar 2001It looks cloudy, but warm, with no surface wind - here in Vacaville. Wx charts seem to indicate it will be a warm sunny day in the central valley - some convergence from the sfc up- on the east side of the vly across from aveal, but up north I see no convergence areas, and little convection. It will be an interesting day launcing out of williams. Possibility of wave just southwest of chico? or anywhere we have a sheer drop down the sierras, as the wind comes at us from the north east in mid afternoon. We'll see.End entry for 8 AM Sun 11 Mar 2001I imagine we could do some good wave flying in Round Valley, or over Pillsbury Lake - Anybody up for that?
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Begin entry for 10 PM Sat 10 Mar 2001We received this report on Friday, 9 Mar at 8 PM.........
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Hey Peter, what follows a cold front??? A good day soaring. took off at
10:35, good lift a just West of Williams (1000 feet per minute), held on to
3000 feet, about 5 miles out. Climbed up, flew to Crazy Creek, Mt. St.
Helena, then to Nut Tree airport, back to Hoberg near Crazy Creek, turned North to Eagle Mountain, Red Bluff and return to Williams (barely). 8300 feet, most of the time between 6000-7000 feet, Final glide from just south of Red bluff (60 miles from 6000 feet).....2500 feet at Willows (25 miles out), 1100 feet at Maxwell, 8 miles out, finished with about 500 feet. 5.7 hrs, 313 miles. No water.Gary
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End entry for 10 PM Sat 10 Mar 2001
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Begin entry for 8AM Fri, 9 Mar 2001
Looking at the sunrise it looks like a beautiful day. It prompted me to review a few pressure charts. Sunday looks like it will be an interesting day at Williams, with flow from the north, but relatively unstable air aloft, and probably lots of sunshine. We do still have to contend with the compression/ warming of the katabatic flow of the lower air as it comes down the sierras from the NE. Gary K always says that it can be good on a north wind day, and I think these are the conditions that cause it to be soarable. It doesn't usually work (be soarable) because the low normally passes south of us from west to east, with the airmass then coming up from the east side of the low and then coming at us from the north east, but in this case, the flow might not be prewarmed air. This low will not pass south of us, but is passing north and east of us. We'll see.I will update the wsc database today, with the notes that I mentioined yesterday.
End entry for 8AM Fri, 9 Mar 2001
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Begin entry for 7 PM on Thurs, 8 Mar 2001
Today started out as forcasted, but then it became nice. I saw big cu north of bereyessa. I looked at the sat photo, and saw the cu went north to T-15 on the Mendicinos. No reports received. Maybe tomorrow I'll receive some about today's flying.The pressure patterns are changing from the forecast - it doesn't look as dismal for the weekend, but it will still be a north wind - but it'll be a cold wind- with the freezing level at 5,000 ft, so maybe it will only take a little heat to get somethermals going - it looks like it ought to be sunny. And the wind could slack off.
End entry for 7 PM on Thurs, 8 Mar 2001
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Begin entry for Thurs, 8 Mar 2001
Yesterday was generaly as forcaseted. Lift in the valley never developed, but was good over the Mendicinos. Gary went about 250 statute miles. Here is Gary's flight path. Here is a photo he took yesterday of Snow Mtn. Here is a photo he took of me in the valley at 5 PM. Some of the others that enjoyed the day, flying around in the mountains, were Mark, Rick, Bill and Pat, and of course Kenny was up and down all day.Another note - that was the first time I used the PocketNav GPS system - I loved it. Absolutely no guessing on where you are inrelation to laninding areas and TP's, easy to set up and change a task. Absolutely no doubt as to when youare near or over a TP. I adjusted some of them last night by a few hundred meters - just to make them exact. Also #154 Eagle ranch was a mound of trees, so I deletedit, and put a new landing area in place of it called "Farms".
End entry for Thurs, 8 Mar 2001
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Begin entry for Wed, 7 Mar 2001It's 7:15 AM, I decided that maybe I could fly today. I was on the computer by 6:30AM, and have checked the wx. I need to get some source material for the lecture I am preparing for you all at Williams on 31 March, so why not use real info. I am planning to give a one hour lecture at Williams, at Sergio's invitation - the subject is safety aspect of weather as it relates to soaring. To me it is a safety issue that you learn to forecast the weather. Anyhow, I saved all the gif files that I looked at today, and will show them to you on the 31st, so take notes on the wx over the next few days. I have a rough forecast for the next 10 days based on that 30 minute review. Here is the forecast:
Today is the best of the next ten days - tomorrow has a chance of being better, especially since the winds will shift around to the nw by late PM today, except there is a high probability that the low from the nw will intrude bringing high clouds, and even precip at lower levels. The weekend looks dismal, as I look at the 9 panel MRF file at 850 mb - the low pressure will be clearing out by saturday, but the pressure patterns will leave us with ne wind, becoing e sunday, then ne, then n by tuesday pm next week- which is as far away as that 9 panel is looking. So, that brings me back to today.All of this indicates that the first of the March weekend xc's at hollister is off to a inauspicious start, but hang in there. There will be some good weekends coming up. Did you see the latest plan for their xc's at hollister - it is a great idea!Looking at the various levels (sfc - 30k) at 5 am and at 5 pm today, and looking at the oak sounding from 5 am, I see thermals throughout the valley, lift will be best late in the day, with the wind coing fom the south and then the west at williams by late afternoon. Big inversion now at 3,000 ft but with the shift in the flow that will not be a factor in 6 or 8 hours, and the upper air will become more unstable than it already is as the cooler air moves in from the n and nw. I am expecting to have good thermals in the valley- especially after 1 pm, not much moisture, so many may be blue. but I ought to get some distance in today. I'll have to borrow a gps, so I can record the filght. I better run, but first, one more comment-
We received this email from hollister (not signed, but it's probably either from Drew, or Russel, or Lee) on Monday the 5th.........
------------------------------------------------End entry for Wed, 7 Mar 2001
The HGC x-c group has decided to plan x-c flight
events out of Hollister every weekend during March and
April, weather permitting.HOW WILL IT WORK?
1) We will send out "e-vites" to all those interested
at the beginning of each week. You should respond to
the "e-vite" letting us know which days for the up
coming weekend you will be able to participate. You
will indicate if you will be flying or are willing to
crew for someone. If you have already made
arrangements for a crew or to crew for someone please
let us know who they are so we do not double up crews.
If you will not be able to make it for a weekend
please let us know.2) During the week we will watch the weather and try
to determine which day to have the x-c flight on. If
the weather looks good for both days and there is
enough interest we will plan one for both days. We
will contact everyone via "HGC weather alert" e-mails
during the week as we get a better idea as to what the
weather will be like on the weekend.3) On the day we select, everyone participating will
meet in the HGC main office at 9 a.m. for a briefing.
During the briefing we will cover the weather, our
goal and route for the day, pair up pilots and crews,
and go over landing sites on the route.4) We will end the briefing by 10:30 a.m. so the
pilots and crews will have time to organize and get
ready for the flight. We will have a check list made
up to help all pilots and crews accomplish this.5) We will plan to begin launching participants at
noon. Crews will leave as soon as they know their
pilots have started the task. The crews will stay in
radio contact and follow their pilots along the route.6) The crews will meet their pilots at the goal
airport (we hope) or where ever they land. After
putting the glider in the box, the pilot and crew will
drive to a predetermined restaurant to meet with the
other pilots for dinner and to share stories. As is
custom, the pilot will buy their crew's dinner.7) After dinner everyone will return to Hollister to
drop off their crew.Our goal is to have experienced x-c pilots as well as
novice pilots participating in the flight. We will
encourage all pilots to help each other end up at the
goal airport. This can be done on the ground before
the launch and in the air once on course. The morning
briefings are intended to be instructional as well as
informative.Pilots should realize that most of the crews are
student or novice glider pilots that want to learn
about x-c flying. Please help them learn by setting a
good and safe example. One of the reasons we have
decided on straight out flights is so the crews
definitely have a purpose and have the ability to meet
and socialize with all the pilots and crews. We will
be calling relatively short task, to Avenal or King
City, so that everyone can return to Hollister by a
some what reasonable hour. If you think the day will
be "the one" and you want to try for a longer flight
please let us know during the morning briefing and we
will try to find you a crew that is willing to chase
you.WE HAVE ALREADY SENT OUT AN E-VITE FOR THIS COMING WEEKEND, MARCH 10-11. IF YOU DID NOT RECEIVE ONE AND WISH TO, PLEASE CONTACT DREW_PEARCE@yahoo.com. WE SET UP A NEW E-VITE ACCOUNT AND NOT EVERYONE THAT WAS ON
THE OLD ONE MADE IT ON TO THE NEW ONE. SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE BUT JUST DROP ME AN E-MAIL AND I WILL ADD YOU BACK TO THE LIST.
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Begin entry for Friday, Mar 2, 2001Good lift throughout the Sacramento and San Jouquin Valley today, but lots of overdevelopment. You probably had to be in the right place at the right time. I received two wx soaring forecast emails, which I will repeat here in case you did not receive them. First from Doug, second from Hollister/ Russell...
From Doug....
-----------------------------------------From Hollister....
Dated Fri 8:40 AMGood morning,
Feedback...Soar Minden reports wave this mrng to 12,500 ft ASL leaving 8 kts and giving public rides...good job...great soaring forecast from NWS Reno. A small narrow wave window in the MEV area...rest of soaring sites clouds and showers with a mix of rain and snow here at 5 thsd ft. Cur visual sat pic shows wave window narrowing...back edge of cold front near Alturas to near Crazy Creek may bring wider wave window after it passes. PLEASE SOAR WITH XTRM CAUTION TDA. Otlk...strong jetstream spliting along the coast of CA has been favoring srn branch... gradient tight enuf with next short wave impulse tmrw for psbl wave wrn NV soaring sites. MRF picks up on solution with srn branch cutoff low dvlpg during wknd and moving it slowly into srn CA thru first part of next week...you guessed it...lots more pcpn for them. Take care. Doug
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Dated Fri 2:35 PMHollister Gliding Club Weather Forecast
Finally, it looks like some good weather for the
weekend! A cold front moved through the area late
Thursday night/Friday morning. We should have good
soaring conditions on Saturday. On Sunday, a warm
front may move in from the south, bringing some rain.Good Flying!
Russell
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If you know someone who would like to sign up to
receive these updates, or if you would like to be
removed from our e-mail list, visit the HGC web site
at www.soarhollister.com and click on the "HGC Alert
and News Update" button.
---------------------
send feedback to rholtz@pacbell.net
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Begin entry for Sunday, Feb 25, 2001Email from Jim Darke received this week. He flew his "new" asw-20. No other reports received as of Sunday nite. Here are Jim's comments.....
------------------------------------------------End entry for Sunday, Feb 25, 2001
Peter -As you know, Williams Soaring Center recently completed a rebuild and refinish of my favorite ASW20, 1B. It was a fairly sizeable project even for an experienced repair facility like WSC. I would like to take this opportunity to let you and the soaring community know how satisfied I am with both the quality of the work and the manner in which WSC handled the business end of the project. It was Dean's project start to finish, but as you might imagine, there was plenty of help and advice for me from Rex and Steve. The bottom line is simple - the work was done on time, on budget and the quality is impeccable. That is no small accomplishment for a project spanning several months and involving major structural repairs as well as a complete refinish. I can't imagine that she was so bright and shiny when she left the factory in 1979.
The first flight in the (virtually) new bird was exciting. A couple of people
asked me if I wasn't going to ask someone from WSC to make the first flight since the repairs were so extensive. The thought never entered my mind. If I trusted these guys enough to do the work, why wouldn't I be willing to demonstrate that by making the first flight? I followed a fairly conservative flight profile profile, increasing speeds & loads in small increments. By the time I reached 140Kts she was still quiet, solid and hands off straight ahead. The biggest surprise was that the punch list was so short. On the ground, she had a tendency to turn left and the rear drag pin required shims. That was it in total. Dean fixed both these items in short order and the only thing remaining is for 1B's pilot to polish his own rough edges. I am looking forward to that.Regards,
Jim
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Begin entry for Friday Feb 23, 2001Hasn't the weather been magnificient the last few days? I just have to take a minute to write here in the diary.
Did you hear about the Altitude Chamber Ride that was available?
We received this message from Ty - last week.......
( Be sure to note that this is being coordinaed by Sergio, so send all info and all questions to Sergio at his email address as shown in the message....---------------------------------------------The cross-country seminar is coming up. Here is an email from Carl that all of you may have received....
Saturday, February 10, 2001 3:22 PM
We have received openings for high altitude chamber training. This training is highly recommended to learn what your symptoms of hypoxia are. Everybody has a different reaction and different symptoms, and it is necessary to train in a controlled environment to get to know them, before finding yourself in the real situation. The training takes place at Beale Air Force Base, 10 miles west of Marysville, and it takes an entire day.But you have to be quick: the seatings go away very fast, and it is on first
come, first served basis. It is question of days. We waited several months
for these trainings to be announced.Please forward immediately the following information:
Pilot certificate # or SSN #:
Last name:
First name :
Middle initial:
Date of birth:
Mailing address:
(Business address is OK)
Date of last FAA Medical exam:
Class of last FAA Medical exam the date of issue:
Prefered date of training: ** Available dates: March 13; May 1; June 26.
You need a FAA medical certificate. Be advised that a normal medical check up is not enough. You need a FAA medical certificate class 1, class 2 or class 3. You will probably go for a class 3, the simplest. To locate a doctor near you that can do the FAA medical examination, go to
the following web site: http://ame.cami.jccbi.govBe quick. Answer to this e-mail: sergio@unlimited.net
or by phone; day time: 916-274-5874, home : 916-967-5710
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end of message - received from Ty White.-------------------------------------------------------We received a nice flight report from Lee. It's interesting to read- especially if you know where Lee is coming from. You probably know that Lee has tens of thousands of hours in jets, and was an airline Captain for Eastern Airlines, right? And he worked at Turf for awhile as a tow pilot and CFIG and is now at Hollister and just this week did his 5 hour duration flight. My point is, that you have to appreciate what it is you are accomplishing evertime you launch in a glider. Don't take anything for granted. If you fly a fun three or four hour flight, then you actually get to see things that others will never experience. Even with all of the aviation experience that Lee has, the act of soaring, flying a glider, typifies the essence of human flight. Here is Lee's report, sent to me on Tuesday, Feb 20th.....
Wednesday, February 21, 2001 2:15 PM
I received the following from Tom Bolton at the University this morning.
An issue of concern is that a basketball game Saturday evening will cause
some parking lots to be closed to the public starting at 4:30 p.m.. Cars
remaining in those controlled lots without special basketball passes will
be cited. I spoke with the special events parking coordinator about this
and she recommends that the Soaring Conference participants park in the
following locations that will NOT be affected by basketball parking
restrictions:1. Upper Hearst Parking Structure (garage at NW corner of Hearst and Gayley)
2. Foothill Parking Lot (up Hearst Ave, staying right on Cyclotron Rd. past Foothill dorms)
3. Bowles Hall Lot (between Bowles Hall and Hearst Greek Theatre, enter from Gayley)Fortunately, these are the lots most convenient to LeConte Hall anyways,
and by arriving early in the day, participants should have no trouble
finding a spot. I believe that all of these lots will require the purchase
of a daily permit for $5.Regards, Carl Herold
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi,
This is the soaring season for Hollister, CA, and as a glider instructor, I'm lucky enough to fly more often than most mortals. Friday was a day off, but Drew (the boss) was sick, so I came in to fly an acro ride in an ASK-21. My Mother was leaving town after a two day visit and the sky was looking promising so I warned GayLynn that I may try a 5 hour flight.It was one of those days that had a good thermal index, but I didn't launch in the DG-300 (a single seat racing glider with 40 to 1 L/D) until after 1230 and took a tow southeast into the edge of the Diablo Range. The wind had been calm at Hollister but was very strong out of the south in the Diablos. I had Byron level off the Pawnee at 3,000 agl (3,200 msl) and we flew into the wind for a few minutes while it got very turbulent. I made up my mind that this probably wasn't the day--took a great negative jolt from mother nature--and released so I could run the 8 miles back to Hollister if there was heavy sink.
There was a choppy thermal near Santa Ana Peak, but soon I was gear down and ready to enter the landing pattern back at Hollister. I hit a weak thermal at 1,400 agl just east of the airport and found that I could work it. After another 10 or 20 minutes I had enough altitude to put the landing gear back up and soon the thermal really started cooking and I had 6 to 9 knots of lift to 4,000. Then it took me over 5,000. Some pilots were on the ground watching and when they saw my sudden climb, it didn't take long until there were quite a few gliders (for a Friday) in the sky.
The bane of a glider pilot trying for a duration flight is boredom with the current thermal. Once you've topped out and aren't climbing anymore, you start thinking about where else you can go, then you may get too low and start thinking you've blown it and will have to land. Then you aren't bored anymore because you're working your rear off trying to stay in the sky. This flight followed that pattern. There was a tantalizing, stationary cumulus about 12 miles west that I could never reach (once I got under the eastern edge). I tried a couple of runs for it but always had to turn back when I got too low.
After about three hours I was 10 miles north at 5,700 over the foothills east of Gilroy. I finally had an area, under black cloud bottoms, where I could make gentle turns and remain in lift easily. The first part of the flight had been in blue thermals (no clouds), so it was a relief to have clouds to guide me to the lift. Sometimes I'd munch a Nutri-Grain bar, drink some Gatorade, and query the bladder if it was up to a 5 hour flight (the answer was always, "Maybe"). The other gliders soaring with me in this lift area were the Duo Discus (Milt), an ASK-21 (Scott and Haven), and a Grob 103 (?). That Duo is such a pretty sailplane! It was great fun seeing it so close in the air. A Pegasus was in lift over the Diablos, and we were all talking on 123.5 MHz. With about 45 minutes remaining, the clouds started to thin and I had to work my way down the hills toward Hollister. Once I turned over a circling flock of hundreds of gulls. With the McReady set at Zero, I was fighting to stay in the sky. I could see the sun getting lower in the clouds over Monterey Bay.
Luckily there was lift in the hills just southwest of Casa de Fruta. It kept me going between 3,200 and 4,000. Sometimes it would hide, but I'd search around and it find it again. I'd have stayed up longer, but the sun was going down, so I landed 5 hours and 5 minutes after releasing from tow.
When getting out of the DG, I noticed that the water bottle I'd placed in the holder behind my right arm was in the left side of the baggage space. It had flown over there when I hit the negative Gs on tow! It was not reachable in flight. I never missed it because my Gatorade had remained perched on the oxygen bottle (under my arm)!
The DG-300 is a blast to fly!
Could things get any better? You bet! Saturday, Franklin Woolfson took me to 12,500 in mountain wave. We were in ASK-21 9KS. Miguel Flores had sniffed out the location in a BASA Pegasus and told us there was wave south of Hollister Hills. You could say we were surfing off Big Sur! Once we were south of Fremont Peak and just a little east of Salinas. We had a great view of King City!
Bring on that next weather front,
Lee Edling, CFIG
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end of msg from Lee - (Thanks Lee, Peter)
End entry for Friday Feb 23, 2001
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Begin entry for Sunday Feb 18, 2001My apologies, and my thanks to the four or five of you that noticed, and took the time to inform me of the problem. There was some kind of SNAFU after I thought I had loaded the last series of web pages. Somehow, they reverted to older versions. I updated them today.We received an advertisement about gliders made in Poland - Since I thought that some of you might be interested, I've posted it. Here is the message--Dear Sirs,We received a debrief for flying last friday, the 16th, from Mark - thank you Mark for sharing this report - the soaring season is most certainly just around the corner.This is to draw your attention to the offer for sale of MDM-1 “FOX” full-aerobatic 2-seat glider, available now directly at producer.
“FOX” originally designed for primary- and advanced-training in glider aerobatics, within a few years on a market proved to be top model in unlimited glider aerobatics. At the same time, it has won a monotype position in every serious aerobatic contest all over the Europe. All this due to its outstanding manoeuvrability and perfect flying characteristics realised in robust GFRP composite structure allowing for 3000 flying hours life time.
Certified to JAR-22 standards in Austria, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, Poland (original Type Certificate) and Switzerland.
Further details – see our home page at: www.marganski.com.pl - mdm1Fox page
With 37 planes in total operated already in Europe, Japan and US, production of this distinguishable model is continued and glider is available within 2-3 months from order – for further details contact us:
mail:
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ul. Cieszynska 321
43-300 Bielsko-Biala
POLANDe-mail: e.marganski@pro.onet.pl
phone/fax: +48 (0)33 815 01 10Due to actual exchange rate between US$ and European currencies, offer seems specially interesting for US market:
price of standard configuration quoted still in
1998 at 63 000 US$
is now: 60 000 US$With kind regards
Edward Marganski
PS:
Please excuse us if you did not wish receiving this information.------------------------------------------------End entry for Sunday Feb 18, 2001
From: "Mark Weitkamp" <mweitkamp@home.com>
To: <pjkelly@community.net>
Subject: soaring diary entry about flights at Williams Friday
Date: Fri, 16 FebHi Peter...
I thought you might be interested to hear that we actually had a day of soaring at Williams today. I have tried to be consistent about going flying one or two days every week, regardless of conditions. That has gotten me a lot of gliding time, but today was the first actual soaring day in months (at least for me). Rick Ogden stayed aloft in the Junior (SZD - 50) for over two hours, Bob Ireland was flying the ASW - 20, and I was in the Duo Discus and we all had a great time.
There were predictions of wave lift -- that did not come true, but the local thermals right around the airport were quite active, even with a pretty low cloud base. Kenny was up with an aerobatics student, and they claimed to be thermalling in inverted flight...I didn't actually see that, but the claims were made right there on the runway in front of everybody.
So lets all celebrate the end of winter, the coming of spring, and more great days ahead.
Regards,
Mark
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Begin entry for Tuesday, Feb 6I've been yearning to make a diary entry, but was waiting for an input - and now I have one - thank you Rick for your flight report. I will place Rick's report at the end of this entry, as soon as I make a few other comments.End entry for Tuesday, Feb 6I've been working on the database for Williams and for Montague. Gary has revised some of the turnpoints, and especially the start gate area at Montague. I'll get those posted to the web site soon and John Leibacher at SSA will pick them up. I've revised the database that I use at Williams. I now have a functional "pocket nav". That's the Cambridge GPS system that is run, and displayed on a "palm" type of handheld computer. I bought the Compaq 1520 model - less than 300 bucks, and have mounted the holder (another 300 bucks) into the ship, and play with the screen and computer at home. I already know how to use it, and am eagerly looking forward to my first flight with it. I think it will be very effective. Did you see the article that Bud Mears Wrote in the WindSock? If you aren't a member of PASCO then you don't get the WindSock. If you aren't a member of PASCO, then you probably complain about not having good streets to drive on but don't like to pay taxes - same thing. you ought to belong to PASCO if you are a glider pilot - period.
Bud wrote an article about "Utilization of Cambridge GPS-Nav and L-Nav to round FAI turnpoints"- January issue. The first entire page discussed how to read, interpret, and adjust the digital readout of Tracking Error- the adjustment for the winds, as you near the turnpoint. The second full page talks about practical application of the theory, and how to practice doing the turnpoints, and how he would review the practice flights at the end of the day, etc..
With the moving map display on the pocket nav. You just fly to the TP, see that you made the turn correctly and fly on to the next TP. There is nothing to it! You just witnessed what the recorder recorded. You made the turn, and didn't stay on the far side of the turnpoint any longer than was necessary. Piece of cake. No interpretation of digital readout! I'm looking forward to racing with mine. Jim Herd was sitting next to me at the PASCO safety seminars in Nov- 2000, and made the comment that he used his Cambridge pocket nav all last year and never had any confusion about when he was in the correct quadrant as he rounded a turnpoint, and never stayed in it any longer than necessary. We were listening to Bob Seamans tell us about the importance of calculating the turn, and how it is often the difference on whether or not you set a new record.
Before I show you Rick's article, did you see that lift today? There were cu over Vacaville - good, strong lift! Then a long cloud developed, north to south, that wasn't a cloud street at all but an entire area of upward moving air. Late afternoon, as it began to rain in Sacramento, from all the the air that had ascended, there were long lenticulars the entire length of the vaca ridge at about 8,000 feet. It was a good day to be out there flying. Of course, I had chores and couldn't be there. Besides, with Rex and Kenny back east, are tows even available at Williams this week? They must be if Rick took a flight yesterday.
Here is Rick's flight report from his flight yesterday - Monday the 5th of Feb - flying at Williams. Thank you again Rick for telling us the details of your flight, Peter.
---------------------------------------------
Monday the 5th was a glorious day. The soaring wasn't too bad either! Bill Carrington launched at around 12:30 and took a tow to Walker Ridge in the Duo. Nothing was working and he retreated back to Williams. Feeling that something was about to kick-off out there he took another tow at about 1:30. Sure enough, there were thermals to 5,000+ all along Walker. Although there were no clouds, Bill had no trouble locating thermals… a couple of golden eagles were more than happy to show him the way!I took a tow to KP ridge. (I have learned that after a few years of flying in the same area, certain CFIG’s have a tendency to become territorial.) KP is the ridge that runs East/West and runs into Goat Mtn. Its the ridge with “tree farm” and “crossroads”. Anyway, KP’s was indeed working, weak thermals to 5,500 or so. I then pushed toward the Goat Mtn ridge, south of Goat Mtn. Thermals were a little stronger there (3-4 kt avg) highest altitude reached was 6,200 ft. Heavy pockets of sink, lack of confidence and experience prevented me from pushing northward towards the peak of Goat. (Although I really wanted to.) I then tried Walker Ridge. By the time I arrived Bill was long gone and so were the thermals.
All in all it was a wonderful soaring day, considering the time of year. Visibility was excellent; Shasta and Lassen in plain view. No winds on the ground, light westerly aloft. Bill was aloft 2 hours; I was up for 1.5.
--------------------------------------------------------
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Begin entry for Sunday Jan 28, 2001 at 11PMI was ill and couldn't fly today, but noted that the charts were correct - there was some convection at mid-afternoon. Peter D, Steve, and Bill J all took flights, as did several in the WSC ships.End entry for Sunday Jan 28, 2001 at 11PM
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Begin entry for Sunday Jan 28, 2001Just for the record, I looked at the charts from my wx page this am at 8 am.... It looks to be soarable up to 3,500 ft in the valley around Williams, if the pressure changes come in on, or ahead of schedule. I can't make it, but I look forward to a report.End entry for Sunday Jan 28, 2001I revised the Williams Turnpoint Data base. That database is now smaller, and suited for the new Cambridge pocket nav system. I'll talk more about using that palm nav display and learning how to use it, but it is bordering on simple - and it is ten times more effective for presenting info to the pilot. Best of all, it seems to be very straight forward. If you have questions or comments, then write to me.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Begin entry for Wednesday Jan 17I've made a commitment to Gary to get the contest web pages up to speed for the National contests that are to be held at Siskiyou/Montague this coming Summer. I'd better get on it. I bought a new computer in November, and tried changing to other software. Total chaos! I have made the transition from Eudora to Outlook, and although I still like Eudora better, I'll keep trying to use outlook. I've lost all of my address lists - Outlook hasn't imported them for me as of yet. I've given up on using MS Word to edit the web pages - it creates just too big of a file. I've switched back to Netscape Communicator. I find it much easier.End entry forWednesday Jan 17There will be a weekend Safety Seminar at Williams on Saturday and Sunday March 31 and April 1.
Sergio is the PASCO safety committee chairman and he is organizing the seminar. All I know so far is that it will be a similar format to last year. Two one hour presentations each morning (maybe 9 to 11 AM on Saturday, and 9 to 11 on Sunday morning). Then flying beginning at noon. I think the idea is to have structured presentations, that convey practical information, and then enjoy a good day of soaring. The presentations last year were held in the hangar at Williams - they were small and informal. It served as a prototype. It was a good format. The concept is good. It would be wonderful to see a good soaring day coming up on the weekend, and knowing there were safety seminars planned, just arrive early to get started on rigging the ship, then attend/ participate in, seminars for two hours max., then after a quick lunch you take a tow, and are off on an enjoyable day of soaring. The PASCO seminars that are held on saturday in November (the day of the PASCO Banquet) are excellent, but they have the disadvantages of being being removed from the gliderport, too much sitting in a motel conference room, and for too many hours all at one time, etc.. That's part of what this diary is here for - foster glider safety. You just take a little dose of it at a time. I plan to contribute to Sergio's efforts by presenting a briefing to you at the seminar on saturday march 31st, on meteorology, as it relates to a safe soaring flight. I have until the 31st of March to get it together.I received an email from Jim Herd. He took a couple of photos of me with his digital camera. And Jennifer sent me a couple of the shots. I use this one as my "wallpaper" on my desktop. File size is small (about 35k). Use it if you like it. Here it is: Photo of glider just west of Williams. See the the canals, orchards and farms below.
On another note - I've ordered my "pocket computer" - that's what they call the family of palm pilot computers, palm computers, etc.. Each company has their own marketing name. The GPS navigation system that I use in the glider is the Cambridge brand, and I maintain the data bases for each flying area of all turnpoints and landing sites for myself so they are compatible with that system. Once I get the palm nav - or pocket nav GPS, up to speed, I will post the latest versions of the data bases that I am using on my web sites that reflect compatibility with that system. John Leibacher then takes that data base and translates it to various other formats such as garmin, etc., for everyone else to use. Just to answer some questions in advance - here is more info on what I am getting..
Send in your flight reports, your stats from last season, or other email relating to soaring.
- The pocket computer is the Compaq 1520 or 1550 model - I had to get that because it has on operating system of Windows CE, which is required for the Cambridge system to work. Also, I got that older model - it is not ic color, because it
- fits into the holder the Rex sells at Williams
- it has the best resolution and contrast
- has a reasonable fast processor in it.
- I also purchased a compact flash memory card, so that when the batteries run out, I can just reload the program and the files, etc.
- I plan to purchase the holder to mount in the glider from Rex.
- I have downloaded the software free from cambridge
- I'll have to pay for the license to operate certain features.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Begin entry for Sunday 14 January 2000Well folks, it's been a while. I'll try here to catch up.Hollister (Drew Pearce) has been busy recruiting membership. I received this message, as you probably did also...(I included only the first few and the last few paragraphs)....There were a few good flying days in January already, and surprisingly enough, there were several good days in December. Sergio mentioned he had a good thermal day on the shortest day of the year (December 21st or 22nd). I was up at Williams yesterday - he didn't have the same luck. There was wave, Sergio took off first-right after the fog lifted, and then Rick and Mark, flying the ASW20 and the Duo respectively, each had good flights in wave at about 6,000 over Walker ridge. On landing the second time (about one hour before dark) Mark said he saw Sergio in a field just east of Charters. Previously he had been on the ridge at Walker, while the other guys were up above him. Sergio probably logged about four hours, before he ran out of lift. I'd better not get too cocky, my motorglider no longer has a motor, the factory had strongly suggested that I send the engine back to Germany to install a larger front bearing, due to some reported engine failure problems. So no engine for the next six months. That's why I was at WSC yesterday - to put some lead weights in place of the engine, so the CG will be ok while I'll be flying my motorless motorglider. I look forward to the experience. Jim D almost has his bird completed. I look forward to kicking his butt, as well as C2, and PS, etc... Key had a potential buyer at the field looking over the old "PS". Whoever buys it will be getting a really good ship for only $21,000 or so. That's the price these things were selling for some 10 or more years ago.
Gary Kemp has some good flying last year. Here are his stats for the year 2000. (If you have your stats, please send them into me. I don't put them here in the Diary without your permission. I post them to the pilot experience page, and all names are removed, before I publish them on that page. The purpose of the exercise is for pilots to see how much and how little some pilots are actually flying each year).
---------------------------I also received this note - a flight report from Hollister. I shows there was lift in the first part of December....
Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2000 00:55:53 -0800 (PST)
From: HGC Alert <hgc_alert@yahoo.com>
Subject: NEW X-C membership changes
To: hgc@soarhollister.comNew 2 Year X-C Membership offer!
10 members needed by the end of the year!We have decided to change the "5 year x-c
(cross-country) membership" offer to a "2 year x-c
membership offer". This is after talking with many of
the HGC members that were interested in the x-c
membership but that felt a 5 year commitment was to
long for them to make. The 2 year x-c membership will
still allow us to meet our goal of raising capitol,
just not as quickly, and also provide the HGC members
with high performance single seat gliders for x-c
soaring.We have the complete details of the "2 year x-c
membership" offer posted on our website.
http://www.soarhollister.com/2year.htm
We hope to have pictures of both the DG-300 and the
Grob 102 on that page soon for those of you who are
not familiar with what they look like.Those of you that are considering the x-c membership
should also consider the Bay Area Soaring Associates
club that also flys out of the Hollister Airport. Both
memberships have their pros and cons. Based on your
needs and desires one may be better than the other for
you. BASA's web site is http://www.flybasa.org. If you
would like to discuss the details of the two you can
contact HGC's Drew Pearce at (831)630-3913 or BASA's
Stan Davies at (408) 238-2880.
--------------------------------------------------We received a report from Rick about flying at Williams on Decemeber 22nd. ........
Quick note: The soaring today, Tuesday (Dec 12th), was good. The
cloud bases were only about 3,500' but the lift was
easy to work with lift in the 2 to 4 knot range. For
those of you that want to get out and practice some of
your thermalling skills, Wednesday has promise to
bring more of the same; maybe even a little higher
cloud bases. Safe Soaring!
-----------------------On Friday, December 22nd there was some pretty good soaring at Williams. Mark Weitkamp (Duo Discus) and Carl Brummet (ASW-20) encountered “spotty” wave in the morning then retreated to a shear line that was working just south of the gliderport. Each had a flight of about 2 hours. After Mark’s flight, I took the Duo to the mountains to search for wave but was unable to find it. Instead, I found a line of clouds that almost ran the entire length of Bear Valley and leisurely cruised underneath them. Lift was about 150-200 FPM, cloud base 5,000 ft. Sergio was there and of course, had the record for the day--staying aloft for 3 hours, St John’s and return. He never encountered wave either. Later, Nick Runk took the ASW-20 to 3 sisters and had a good flight as well. Although no records were set, the day was indeed soarable. Not bad for the shortest day of the year! From the way it sounds, year 2000 was a banner year for WSC. Kenny had over 900 hours of instruction time. I’m willing to bet aero tows were at a near record number. Happy Holidays to everyone!That's a nice report from Rick. Thank you Rick. All soaring pilots are invited to send me an email with that type of flight report - it names names, talks about places, and in general tells the other pilots what is going on in the soaring world.
Rick Ogden
-------------------------We has a good report from Chuck, flying at Crazy Creek.....
-----------------------------
Flight report for Crazy Creek on 12/24/00.
I had a nice wave flight (although it took two tows for my rusty wave skills to sort of kick in) of 2.5 hours on Sunday. The winds aloft were 20-25 knots out of the north. Wave was found just south of Boggs mountain with the highest climb rate of 2kts and the top climb was 9k. There was no wind to speak of on the ground. No other PO's were flying.There were several commercial rides out of CCS. Visability was unlimited.Jimmy Indrebo and Kenny Price in a Pawnee and Supercub respectively did a very professional and tight low pass and landing at CCS in the late afternoon that I was able to catch with my digital camera and have posted on http://www.picturetrail.com/asw24 and click on flight of two if you have any interest.
The Indrebo's and Kenny will be flying their traditional Christmas flight this year weather permitting and there will be a candy drop I am told.
Chuck Griffin
99
-------------------------------------
End entry for Sunday 14 January 2000
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Begin entry for Friday 30 November 2000There have been a few good flights - but only one report. We have a message from Larry about his flight yesterday. I'll post that along with other messages, at the end of this section. We've been getting good weather reports from Doug Armstrong, so if you have been reading them, and looking at charts, then you should be learning more about how to predict soaring weather - or maybe not. Doug is a professional meterologist, with at least three decades of experience, so don't expect simplistic answers or solutions to forecasting soaring weather. It's a challenge, if not impossible, to simplify the complex balance of nature that gives us a lift.Here's part of the last message I received from Russell....We've also been getting good reports from Russel down at Holister - you can also get on that mailing list, if you wish, by going to the soar Hollister web site. I'll put Russell's latest msg here also.
I came across the Sierras last night about 6 PM (in a commercial power plane). Both good convection and wave were both in evidence (wave the over Sierras, convection on the west side of the San Jauquin Valley). I thought today would be good, so I just checked using my weather page. The upper air is too warm. The jet is coming at us from along the 38th parallel, i.e. it's not cold wind from the north, or descending air from a high, but air from across the pacific. Looking at the 850mb (5,000 ft) chart you can see the surface high over Nevada, so we'll be having a nice day today, with temps up to almost 60, but with the upper level air so warm, it isn't worth going to the gliderport, as convection above 3,000 is unlikely, and there is little evidence of wave. I didn't look ahead, but you could -- by looking at the charts.
I was advised by both Key Dismukes and Steve Smith that neither one of them have sold their old gliders. Key is now selling his ASW-20 for near to $20,000 and Steve is selling his LS-6 for near to $35,000. Phone Key at 408-243-0891, or call Steve at 408-996-2932.
----------------------------------------------------Here's the last message I received from Doug.....
28 Nov 2000 19:21:19 -0800 (PST)
From: HGC Alert <hgc_alert@yahoo.com>
Subject: HGC Weather Forecast
To: hgc@soarhollister.com
Reply-To: info@soarhollister.comHollister Gliding Club Weather Forecast
This is going to be an interesting week, with a little
bit of everything. No less than three fronts are
poised to move through before the end of the weekend.
The first will hit on Wednesday, and make for a pretty
soggy day.Thursday and Friday may provide some good post-frontal
thermaling. Another front is forecast to move through
on Friday night or Saturday, which means Friday
evening may also have some wave thrown in.More good post-frontal thermals may be around on
Saturday, as long as it doesn't get too wet. On
Sunday, the third front should hit. The timing of
this one is critical, since it isn't to moist right
now, and could provide some good wave.Keep an eye out for updates later in the week, and
don't forget the Hollister Gliding Clubs holiday party
this Saturday, December 2nd at 6:00 p.m.Good Flying,
Russell
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Here's the flight report I received from Larry about yesterdays's flight...
Subject: Soaring weather for 11/29...WedGood morning!
A winter storm has moved over nrn CA into the Sierra...mtn wave conditions are still available from around MEV south...but likely better around MMH-BIH south as the storm is packing some punch...winds at remote sites arnd Lake Tahoe upper ski slopes just reported a gust to 119 mph...rain and strong gusty winds have already moved into ASI/PVS-RNO-MEV area. The front's leading edge is near Pyramid lk to TVL and south into Big Sur. Strong gusty S-SW winds will be increasing in the Owen's vly and on the Mojave later tda. Please exercise extreme caution for any mtn wave flying tda. Sfo/ebay-cntrl
vly locations..good day to work on sailplanes/trailers...in a hangar. Trop on VBG raob around 400-430.Otlk...recovery days with decreasing mtn shwrs on Thu improving weather into Sat...with another chance for mtn wave over soaring areas on Sun.
Cheers...Doug
--------------------------------------------
Larry, sounds like a great flight. I really enjoy those kind of flights, thanks for sharing it with us....---------------------------------------------A note from Lee on Cambridge GPS changes:
From: Larry Hood <LHood@hudsonusa.com>
To: "'pjkelly@community.net'" <pjkelly@community.net>
Subject: Great Wave at Williams... again
Date: Wed, 29 Nov 2000 23:31:12 -0800Hi Peter,
Never submitted before but have enjoyed watching the diary over time.
November 29, 2000
I drove to work this morning in the rain only to get a call from Kenny Price at Williams that things were beginning to break up and it looked like some small lennies were forming over the hills. I hurried through my mail and dashed out to grab my equipment. I thought I might fly the ASW-20 but called Kenny again to see if I might check out in the Duo Discus as well as get a little more familiarity with the area. As we got ready to depart the cloud cover looked more like scattered Cu's with no sign of lennies at all.
Throughout the afternoon we picked up various sectors of the wave and noticed that the lower level winds were from as far south as 220 degrees at 15 knots and swung north to as far as 330 degrees at 27 knots. We were getting as much as eight knots as we surfed up the face of some of the Cu's to about 10,000 ft. The colors and clouds were fabulous, checking out in the Duo, and flying with Kenny capped off another great day at Williams.
Larry Hood
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------One more thing.
From: "Lee Edling" <ledling@earthlink.net>
Subject: 300 Series of Flight Instruments
Date: Wed, 22 Nov 2000 09:42:41 -0800Hi,
I was on the Cambridge web site and saw [an] announcement dated 9/17 for their new 300 Series. Elsewhere on their site, they say they'll have Windows based software by 2001 since WinME won't run DOS.Lee Edling
--------------------------------------------------I've received one entry for the glider pilot experience page. He tells me abut his 50 flights, and total hours and miles flown. I just finshed up my log book showing that I flew about 29 flights, and logged about 102 hours - I don't have the miles figured yet, but I'll figure it out. From my GPS log, I print out each flight on a scaled chart. Then I just measure a few points on each flight and make a note of the mies flown. If you don't have each flight, estimates are good enough. Mainly, I'd like readers to see number of flights and total hours flown.End entry for Friday 30 November 2000Each of you keep a log book, and know how many flights you flew during the year 2000, and how many hours you were in the air. How about sharing that info with the rest of us? After I get a few more, I will begin posting the "glider pilot experience" web page at --
http://www.community.net/~soaring/tsgpe.htmlThe purpose is to show that there are a variety of pilots flying. Some only fly a couple flights per year, while others do lots. I will add your experience to the page, and it will be referenced only by the date it was received. If you have the total miles you flew, let me know that info also. Thanks.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Begin entry #2 for Sunday 19 November 2000 at 9 PMJust to let you know - I went soaring today as I said I would. Flew with "PW" Jim Herd. Wind stayed out of the north - albiet light, but none the less it was from the north. Cirrus kept interrupting the heating of the ground. We managed to get in about two hours, but had to do at least three relights - using 5 liters of fuel each. It was a good day, about what we expected. We didn't go anywhere, and the lift topped out at 2, 200 ft on the ridge, and 1800 ft in the valley. We got a good look at Charters and Cooks, and used a rice fire one just norht of WSC. Williams had 21 tows today - not bad for mid-november.End entry #2 for Sunday 19 November 2000 at 9 PM-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Begin entry for Sunday 19 November 2000This is the first entry of this new volume.End entry for Sunday 19 November 2000Last night was the PASCO Banquet, and yesterday the safety seminars were held. Good turnout. About 65 pilots at the seminars. Don't have a count on the banquet - but certainly over 100 people. A well organized event, with an excellent talk and presentation by JJ about the Super Albatross that he built. Lots of recognition to those who set new state and world records, as well as recognition of the trophy winners for this year. Norma Burnette was honored with the life-time service award, a very befitting recognition. For one of the few instances, Norma was speechless, but indicated her appreciation. It was also her and Alex's 48th wedding anniversary.
The seminars were well worth attending. The safety briefings were especially good, and seeing the effort that others are putting into the sport of soaring tends to alter your own perspective. I get the feeling that many pilots seem to be putting in way too much time on things other than just launching, flying, and landing. But, that just shows you the complexity of this sport.
It'd be nice to have the newsletter article that described all that went on yesterday. I'm sure many readers would appreciate beinga able to read it here. I don't think the PASCO West Wind magazine is on line, but if it were, maybe there would be fewer subscribers and thus fewer members in PASCO - that wouldn't be good. It's a tough decision as to whether or not to publish newsletter material on line.
I'm still going soaring today, as I said two days ago. Forecast hasn't changed any to speak of, lift to 3,000 ft, light winds out of the southwest. Probably get an hour or two of flying in, but with the low thermal height, I probably won't go anywhere. The three day forecast pressure charts that I looked at on Friday were quite accurate. And so it came to pass.....
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