Mustang Tuesday?
Moderators:ioan, John Wolfe, aaroncromer, jlowery
It's still too early to tell, but tomorrow afternoon could be a Mustang day. I'm up for a glassoff if conditions cooperate.
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- Posts:996
- Joined:Fri Aug 12, 2005 6:08 pm
- Location:Oro Valley (NW Tucson)
Evening update
The evening update is showing winds that could be both a bit south and a bit strong, but I'll recheck the morning forecast.
Morning update
The direction looks better but FSL is showing it too strong. I'm going to be running some errands this morning but I'll check back about 11:00 and see if there is a revised forecast then.
Flight Report
Mother Nature can not be accused of not having a sense of humor. With the skies clearing and the winds looking lighter than predicted, I followed Lew out to Mustang. When I got to the LZ about 4:00 PM Lew was already on launch. It looked a little brisk in the LZ and Lew confirmed that winds at launch were 15-20. I started the hike up fully expecting it to be blown out. But when I made it to the top at about 4:45, there was Lew hooked in with his canopy spread out in virtually zero wind. Thinking it might be a temporary lull before the glassoff, I began to set up while Lew waited for a promising cycle. He attempted a takeoff about 15 minutes later but had to abort. I then spread out my wing, and after about 5-10 minutes of almost no wind took a light cycle that resulted in a sled ride to the LZ and a landing in very light north winds. Lew persisted on launch for about another half hour before deciding to hike down. So much for the predicted increasing prefrontal SW winds. Mother N did give us a scarlet orange sunset, but I can't help but think that she was grinning behind it at the thought that we mortals would be so gullible as to actually believe a NWS forecast.
Good on ya for giving it a try.
Sounds like taking light conditions in a PG is more difficult that I thought?
Sorry to hear it didnt work out as planned. I did notice Lenny like clouds over the Lemon in the afternoon on Tuesday so .. at that altitude it was strong SW.
I have observed that in the winter in Tucson many times the upper winds do not get to the surface- where we are flying. This stratification is much more prevalent in the winter.
Sounds like taking light conditions in a PG is more difficult that I thought?
Sorry to hear it didnt work out as planned. I did notice Lenny like clouds over the Lemon in the afternoon on Tuesday so .. at that altitude it was strong SW.
I have observed that in the winter in Tucson many times the upper winds do not get to the surface- where we are flying. This stratification is much more prevalent in the winter.
Eric,
There were lenticular looking clouds near Mustang in the early afternoon, but they disintegrated rather quickly around 4 PM.
Your comments on Winter stratification very interesting.
Launching a PG in very light wind requires running and most of our sites do not have enough clear space for a comfortable long run. (Although the more athletic pilots are able to launch in an aggressive, but somewhat shorter run, I am not in that category.) Mustang is an exception and there is no good excuse for not launching in a wind like the one on Tuesday. I recognize that I need practice in light wind launches (especially kiting and running) and intend to improve my skills in the near future.
Lew
There were lenticular looking clouds near Mustang in the early afternoon, but they disintegrated rather quickly around 4 PM.
Your comments on Winter stratification very interesting.
Launching a PG in very light wind requires running and most of our sites do not have enough clear space for a comfortable long run. (Although the more athletic pilots are able to launch in an aggressive, but somewhat shorter run, I am not in that category.) Mustang is an exception and there is no good excuse for not launching in a wind like the one on Tuesday. I recognize that I need practice in light wind launches (especially kiting and running) and intend to improve my skills in the near future.
Lew