I got started in earnest on my cross country training today.
About two weeks ago, I got a taste of another dimension to the sport of soaring when I got my chance to fly the club's Duo Discus on a short cross country of an hour or so. Today was my first real experience in how to cut the apron strings and move out beyond gliding range of Harris Hill. It was both fascinating and frustrating.
Mostly fascinating. I learned a huge amount during our 140 mile flight. Stuff that would take years to learn on your own was offered up for free as the trip unfolded. I learned that I've more or less been eyeing the clouds up properly, that my instincts are mostly correct, and that I'm on the right track. Mostly.
It was frustrating because I felt I didn't fly as well as I could. I felt like I was mishandling the airplane, flying behind it a bit. I don't think I flew it nearly as well as I did the previous time.
I'll attribute some of it to not feeling lquite 100% today. I woke up feeling ever so slightly off kilter and after breakfast I felt mildly nauseous. But I attributed that to nervous excitement. It was...something else and i'm not sure what. At one point during the flight I felt ill and had to get some air. I didn't get sick, but I wasn't far from it. My instructor had me fly and the feeling passed, but I just wasn't quite right all day.
At least that's the excuse I'm going with.
Regardless, the whole experience was a blast! I got to fly in imperfect conditions, so it wasn't a Textbook soaring day. We headed West towards Hornell even though the forecast was for better conditions to the East. But the clouds were closer together that direction making it look less promising.
As we flew out over Corning, the thermals were cooking and it didn't take long to say so long to Harris Hill. We dodged from cloud to cloud and took a thermal or two that was promising. The issue was that we were never all that high. The thermals would weaken about 1,000 feet from the clouds and we were consistently around 4,000 feet the whole time.
At one point, we were down to 3300 and we needed a thermal. We sauntered around a bit, trying this spot, then another until finally we connected with a decent thermal and got back up to a more comfortable altitude.
We turned back East about 5 miles from Hornell and made it back quicker due to a tailwind. We zipped over Harris Hill after catching a monster thermal and riding it up near cloud base. We worked our way towards Binghamton without having to circle much. One glide segment was 42 miles!
The return trip was similar with two stops for altitude and a nice swoop over Harris Hill as we arrived home for landing. Total distance was approximately 145 miles at an average speed of around 59 mph.
I learned a lot about the art/science of deciding what thermals to use and what thermals to pass up. I learned about staying in the green zone of lift and how falling out can burn precious time. And I learned that you really can fly away from the Hill if you have the proper training.
I'm ready for more. I'm going to try to get checked out on XC this year, but as long as I'm making progress, I'll be happy.
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