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Mustang Tuesday?

Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2010 11:49 am
by Fred
It's still too early to tell, but tomorrow afternoon could be a Mustang day. I'm up for a glassoff if conditions cooperate.

Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2010 12:29 pm
by John Wolfe
I'd love to go, but I'm stuck in meetings all afternoon/evening.

Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2010 2:20 pm
by lewsmith
I am interested in Mustang - provided the wind prediction still looks good tomorrow.
Lew

Evening update

Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2010 8:26 pm
by Fred
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

Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 7:44 am
by Fred
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.

Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 11:00 am
by Fred
FSL is still showing forecast winds in double digits at 6,000' which is usually above my threshold for trying Mustang. Given that and the cloud cover, I think I'll wait for a better day.

Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 12:11 pm
by lewsmith
Fred is right, it is a somewhat marginal day according to the forecasts. Nevertheless, I am going to go to Mustang. It may Just be a hike up and down, but I may get lucky. My cell is 549-8250.
Lew

Flight Report

Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 9:34 pm
by Fred
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.

Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 10:03 am
by Eric
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.

Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 12:55 pm
by lewsmith
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