Saturday Miller! (Flight reports added)
Moderators:ioan, John Wolfe, aaroncromer, jlowery
Northeast aloft all day long. We should go fly.
Last edited by jlowery on Mon Apr 14, 2008 9:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
Should be brisk from the East, 15-20kts, with a strong inversion.
My guess is that it will be kinda ridge soarable and bumpy.
I've got a spare glider (the Xtralite would be fine), but sadly, I've got to work this weekend. Doah!
Have fun without me.
Oh- don't bother getting there too early. It will be better after noon.
My guess is that it will be kinda ridge soarable and bumpy.
I've got a spare glider (the Xtralite would be fine), but sadly, I've got to work this weekend. Doah!
Have fun without me.
Oh- don't bother getting there too early. It will be better after noon.
- Shane Smith
- Posts:69
- Joined:Sat Nov 03, 2007 11:28 pm
- Location:Tucson AZ
- Shane Smith
- Posts:69
- Joined:Sat Nov 03, 2007 11:28 pm
- Location:Tucson AZ
- Shane Smith
- Posts:69
- Joined:Sat Nov 03, 2007 11:28 pm
- Location:Tucson AZ
videos from saturday
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADh2yVFvy5o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wqb89x1nW4c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADh2yVFvy5o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wqb89x1nW4c
- Shane Smith
- Posts:69
- Joined:Sat Nov 03, 2007 11:28 pm
- Location:Tucson AZ
Flight Report
The prediction was strong northeast mellowing as the day progressed. It was already gusting to about 25 by 7:30 and not looking too promising. As a result, we got a bit of a slow start, but John, Eric, and Eric's tandem student Teresa met Gunter in the LZ and headed up the road just about the time Shane, Katie, Eric Tucker, and I arrived in the LZ. We put up a wind sock and were a bit surprised that the wind in the LZ was actually southeast and lighter than all the strong northeast winds we had seen all the way from Tucson through Sierra Vista. When we got to the top it was gusting up the southeast launch and even favoring south at times. A walk out to the east and northeast launches confirmed that the predicted east / northeast winds just weren't happening at Miller. We hung out on launch for an hour or so watching the wind gust until John overcame the inertia and started to set up. Shane followed, and that was enough to start the lemming effect and get the rest of us to do the same. Conditions seemed to be improving and John took a light cycle and showed us that there was lift if you were only willing to work hard to use it. Shane and I followed John into conditions that were dominated by small ragged thermals with a lot of intervening sink. Shane valiantly scratched over the LZ but gravity eventually won out after about 30 minutes of effort. In the meantime, John got a low save and worked back up over launch. We continued to fall in and out of lift over launch with the top of the lift about 9200'. Several attempts to work up toward Carr peak were rewarded with major sink, so we stayed pretty much between launch and the LZ waiting for Eric and Teresa to do the tandem dance. Conditions continued to get lighter on launch and they jumped off, with Eric Tucker following shortly thereafter. We played around for awhile longer, but the sink monster eventually won out with John, I, and Eric/Teresa all landing within a couple of minues of each other. Eric Tucker was the last to arrive about 10 minutes later. We packed up with smiles on our faces and watched Raphael, Eric and John head back up the hill to get Raphael his first flight off Miller.
Special thanks to Gunter for driving and joining us - it's great to have you back on the hill. Also many thanks to Katie for being a superb photographer and driver. And thanks to Shane and Katie for posting the YouTube videos of the launches.
Special thanks to Gunter for driving and joining us - it's great to have you back on the hill. Also many thanks to Katie for being a superb photographer and driver. And thanks to Shane and Katie for posting the YouTube videos of the launches.