We arrived at Harris Hill with winds blowing at 10, gusting to 15. My personal crosswind limit is 10 knots (I've flown in more, but only with an instructor) but these were mainly down the centerline of the runway, and no more than 30 degrees off center so I felt good about it.
After checking with some of the pilots and instructors who were flying, Kevin and I rolled the trusty 2-33 out to the flight line and I briefed him on the controls, seat belts, and so forth. We did an inspection of the aircraft together and then got in line for a tow.
I was kind of excited because I know the ridge at Harris Hill starts to work when you get 10 knots or so of wind on it from the North, which was the case today. The other pilots who had been up said the ridge was working off and on during the day.
The tow was a good one and we got a nice push upward as we cleared the ridge on takeoff, which said to me that there might be some good ridge lift. We continued up to 3,700 feet (sea level), which is just about 2,000 feet above the tops of the ridges around us and is the standard height to get off of tow. Just before we got to 3,700 we bumped through a nice thermal. I pulled the release handle and we made an immediate 180 degree turn to see if it was still there.
It was, and we started circling to gain altitude. In just a few minutes we were up to 4,100 feet - 400 feet higher than we had left the tow plane. As the thermal died, we headed upwind to see if there were more. There were and we kept finding lift, but it was all topping out around 4,100.
By then, Kevin was getting quiet and I asked him how he was doing. It w
as evident that spinning circles was not something we should keep doing. So, I leveled out and headed upwind of the field, figuring we might find some lift on the way but if not, we could land in awhile.
What a pleasant surprise we got! Arriving over the western end of the ridge at around 3,000 feet, I had intended to poke around a little bit until we got to 2,500 when I could begin my entry into the pattern for landing. However, we were descending very slowly, more slowly than in still air and when we got to the far end of the ridge we were greeted with strong 400 foot per minute lift! I slowed down to maximize my time in it and before I knew
it, we were at 3,100 feet, a nice 200 foot gain.
Figuring that this was probably ridge lift, I turned back east and followed the ridge and lost very little altitude as I traversed it. Doubling back to the western end, I was at 2,900 feet when I got that nice boost back up to 3,100. We repeated the process several times for about 15 minutes or more as we, talked, me pointing out things on the ground, or explaining when we were climbing or descending while he asked me questions about most everything.
For awhile, we were joined by one of the club's 2-33's but it came in lower than we were and only made a couple of passes before turning in to land. It was one of our solo students and I would have done the same thing if I was lower and not going up. Better to land and play it safe than get too low to make an approach.
We could have stayed up as long as the wind was blowing, but after a bit I asked Kevin if he'd had enough. My ulterior motive is to slowly bring him along and get him hooked on becoming a glider pilot and I don't want to wear him out on the first couple of times out. Then, he'll never come out with me again. He sounded a little tired, so I told him we'd head back. Secretly, inside I wanted to stay out for another hour at least!
I told Kevin (he's a little bit of a nervous flier right now, but we'll fix that) that things were going to start happening much more quickly and that it was going to get louder from the wind noise as we started down. I said, "If you want to know if everything is okay, just ask me: Is this normal?" We turned downwind and picked up a good 15 miles per hour from the ridge wind while I accelerated to a little over 60 mph for the landing. Normal approach speed is 55 mph but you add about 1/2 of the wind in case it gusts on you. I added about 7 mph for the approach.
In a flash, we were ready to turn base leg and I did a nice steep turn, rolling out to correct for the wind. I was quite high for landing, but with the wind I wasn't worried about going long. It was going short that is the big mistake. I opened the dive brakes all the way and started a slip. Then, from the back came the voice, "Is this normal?!"
If you've never flown a slip before, it can be an unnerving experience. All pilots learn how to do them and far from being unsafe, they are a great tool for losing lots of altitude while maintaining good control. There are two types of slips, the side slip and the forward slip. The forward slip (the one we were flyin
g) is the more dramatic because you yaw the nose off to the side and the aircraft actually flies sideways as it comes down. By putting that big, draggy fuselage into the breeze, you can lose tons of altitude without speeding up.
However, to keep the airplane following the line you want rather than where you've got the nose pointed, you have to dip the wing low and the result is your are both looking down and out the side window at the runway while the plane is pointed sideways. In addition, the air burbles off the fuselage and bumps into all parts of the airplane making a lot of thumping noise, which can alarm someone who has never heard it before. I love doing slips, but they can take the uninitiated by surprise.
I informed Kevin that, yes, everything was normal and we were right on track. We made a slipping turn onto final and I lined us up with the grass runway. As we cleared the small hill at approach end of the runway, we hit the rotor.
At my field, Harris Hill, when you land into a North wind, it can swirl up over the ridge and come crashing down right on your final approach leg. This is one reason for adding the extra airspeed. It also can cause quite a bit of turbulence. The pilots who flew earlier in the day said to expect it, so I did. It turned out not to be much, actually. Most of it came not from the ridge but the trees to the left. Just as we got to treetop height, we got bounced around a little bit but again, nothing too bad. I'd had much more turbulence in some of my student flights, but that voice came from the back again, "Is this normal?!"
I assured him that yes, we were fine, just a few bumps before landing and it smoothed out nicely as we flared. I held it off until the energy was gone and we set down right at mid-field and rolled out in a straight line - quite an achievement for me! As we stopped, the left wing dropped to the ground. Again, an achievement for me!
Thirty four minutes had passed. I turned to Kevin and said, "Wow! What a great flight we had!" He fully agreed and we high-fived, got out of the glider and rolled it back to the flight line.
We talked all night about how much fun we had on that flight. It was great to take my son as my first passenger and what a day we picked for it! THIS is why I started flying again. Just for the sheer joy.
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