Hop, hop, and away!

It's happened twice, now. On takeoff, just before I reach liftoff speed, I horse the airplane into the air and get a bounce, bounce, and airborne.

I know why, of course. The first time, I was rather pleased with my crosswind correction during takeoff roll but wanted to get airborne so I could establish a good crab angle and keep tracking straight. So I took off before I had all of the speed I needed. Bounce, bounce, liftoff.

The second time, there was even less excuse. NO wind but I attempted to liftoff about 5 knots too soon. Bounce, bounce and away.

It is now on my official list of stupid stuff I need to improve on.

Also, after great progress Friday, my thermaling flat out sucked on Sunday. I kept slipping as I circled. Despite paying close attention to it the whole time, I just couldn't coordinate it to my satisfaction. It doesn't help that glider 8 flies "funny" since they repaired it but that's no excuse.

Sigh. More work before I feel confident enough for a check ride.

Woo-hoo!

"We'll be up there tomorrow and we'll have a tow plane.  You around?  It's supposed to be good flying.

Indeed it was.  A couple of our instructors were getting their Certified Flight Instructor (CFI) ratings renewed and arranged for a tow pilot today.  The weather has been nasty or I've been gone and I've been itching to fly, so I was eager to go.  Even if I had to take some time off from work.

After I saw the weather forecast, I was MORE eager.  Plenty of thermals and a north wind at about 15 knots.  That meant the ridge would be working plus I might be able to fly away if I could connect to a thermal.

I showed up about 11 and was airborne by 11:30.  Sean Murphy towed me to a thousand feet where I let go and pointed the nose towards the ridge.  It was working, but it was a little weak.  Often, you will get either zero or positive lift as you fly along the ridge but this time I was getting some sink -about 2 knots or so mixed in with some lift.  The effect was net negative and I was slowly descending with each pass.

I started thinking I *might* have to set up for the landing pattern if this didn't get any more promising.  I was able to find lift on the west end of the ridge, but on the east side, not so good.  I decided I would zig-zag back and forth in the lift on the west side and see what happened.

Zig.  Zag.  A little bit of a climb.  Zig.  Zag.  A little bit of a climb.  Then it hit me.  "You moron, you are zig zagging in a thermal.  CIRCLE and CENTER it.  So I did and up I went.  3 knots of lift, 4 knots of lift, 5 knots of lift, 6 knots of lift.  I worked to center it, fly smoothly and coordinated, and also fly slowly to maximize the thermal time.  Up and up I went.  The longer I circled the stronger it got and a few minutes later I topped out at close to 6,000 feet.  I headed off towards the nearby shopping mall to see if there was any parking lot lift.

There was.  In fact, there was quite a bit of lift scattered all over the place.  I could hear other glider pilots talking about this cu or that cu but from where I was, the sky was blue.  Blue flying is more difficult because you can't spot the lift, but today I felt pretty brave.  First, if I got low near Harris Hill, I could hug the ridge and ride the lift back up high enough to enter the landing pattern.  Second, the thermals were not only fairly plentiful, they were pretty easy to center up and climb away in.

I could see Seneca lake and Watkins Glen in the distance and considered heading upwind to check it out.  I figured if I would lose the most altitude heading into the wind and could always make it back to the airport in Elmira if necessary.  Alas, work was calling and I didn't have enough time to try it out!

I returned to the ridge and figured I'd spoiler my way down to pattern altitude.  Instead, I decided to point the nose down and pick up some speed for fun.  Whenever I entered lift, I would accelerate to keep myself either at zero sink or a slight descent.  If the wind is blowing hard, this means you pick up a LOT of speed.  I was zooming along at over 90 knots at times.  If the lift stopped, I would raise the nose to slow the descent.  Eventually, after a lot of fun I was near pattern altitude.

The landing was to the North.  I held my pattern close to the field and turned base close to the field.  I carried and extra 5 knots of speed to deal with the gusts and opened the spoilers and planted the tailwheel right on my intended spot - the taxiway that cuts across the grass.  I heard it squeak as it touched down.

Was playing hooky worth it?  Absolutely.  Best flying of the season so far.

What Harris Hill looks like this Spring

  That picture pretty much sums up what has to be the worst and soggiest Spring I've ever seen.  I've only lived here for 5 years so I can't really speak to what Spring normally looks like around here -except for my recent experience.  However, old-timers say it's nothing like this.  Spring usually arrives with clear skies, moderate temps and the promise of outstanding soaring - day after day.  We do get the rains, but they come and then they go.  They don't hang on for a week at a time!

It's getting downright disheartening to look at the weather forecast these days.  Right now, the last good, flyable day we had was the middle of last week.  Naturally, I was on a business trip and couldn't be here for it.  I tried to check in on the webcam but it was mysteriously down for two days then fixed itself before I could head out to the Hill to see what was the matter.

Outlook for the weekend is similar to this week - cloudy, rainy.  We've got a regional contest coming up in June and I'm wondering if the weather is going to cooperate!  Here's hoping the weather breaks - SOON.

A day on the hill

Galo Grijalva shows how you have to keep
flying it until it stops

Actually, this post should probably be titled "A day without rain," with a tip of the hat to Enya's album of the same name.  April has been a miserable washout with just two flyable days for me!  It took me all month just to get in my three takeoffs and landings for currency this season.  It is one of the coldest and wettest months on record around here.  Lovely.

But the skies did part and the sun came out last weekend and I made sure to take advantage of it by heading up to Harris Hill for the better part of a rather eventful day.  The skies started out dotted with small cumulus clouds, indicating thermal activity, but by the end of the day, they dried up leaving just a blue soaring day.

Finally, a clear, sunny Spring day.

Whether you fly or not, just being up at Harris Hill is fun.  Today, there was plenty of activity as private club gliders were pulled out to be flown for the first time this year while the regular club gliders also got a full workout.  The 2-33's, the 1-34, the 1-26 and of course, our ASK-21's were all out on the flight line awaiting their turn in the air.

I took the 1-34 up for a pleasant one hour flight to remind myself that I actually can find and center thermals and to work on my steep turns.  At first, I thought I would be the only one to head up and come back down - after release, I headed into a gaggle of gliders circling a few hundred feet above me, hoping for a quick climb above release height, but today the thermals were more like bubbles -if you didn't get in as it was rising, there was no lift underneath them.  As I passed through the center of the thermal, below the climbing aircraft there was no lift at all, so I headed over towards the ridge searching for thermals that were being blown up the hill.

Flying is coming to an end as the club and
private gliders wait their turn to be put away

No luck.  I'm getting down to decision time to begin my entry into the landing pattern, so I lined up over the hang glider field and suddenly felt the whoosh and saw 2 knots of upward lift with signs that it was stronger than that.  I calculated what would happen if I circled and lost 100 feet of altitude and decided that wouldn't be a problem.  I turned sharply and was rewarded with 3...4...5 knots of vertical speed!  I feebly tried to ascertain where the lift was strongest and weakest the last time around and moved my circle slightly...6 knots of lift!  After just two circles, the field was looking LOT smaller than it did when I was contemplating landing.

I stuck with the thermal and really concentrated on centering it and getting as much lift as I could out of each circle and pretty soon I was climbing through 4,400 feet after starting at 2,500.  The thermal topped out with a nice 2,000 foot altitude gain.  I headed off to search for more thermals, fat, dumb, and happy.

Andy and Stefan preparing to search for lift

They were out there and an hour later, after a number of climbs and descents, I decided to open the spoilers and come down so others could enjoy the flying.  It was actually a little difficult because that same thermal was cycling again in the same spot, so I had a chance to see what happens if you get caught in an updraft underneath a thunderstorm - full spoilers, still climbing.  Pointing the nose down fixed that and I was back on the ground in a few minutes.

What do you do up there besides fly?


Often, when I'm up at the hill for quite awhile, I get that phone call asking me, "What are you doing up there?"  There's all kinds of stuff that just burns up the afternoon.

First of all, there's something about Harris Hill that is a little bit like a time machine.  You get out of your car and you enter a DIY world where it's up to YOU to take care of everything.  Launch, retrieval, even routine maintenance is all up to you.  I think it is related to the fact that most pilots aren't required to assemble their aircraft before they fly them!

Louis and Bryan replace a flat tailwheel

Our club ships stay put together in the hangar, although they can and do come apart for transportation or maintenance.  But the private gliders are stored in trailers, which means each time they are flown, they are put together by their pilots.  Wings are attached to fuselages, horizontal stabilizers are connected to tails, controls are connected to control surfaces each and every time they are flown and the whole process is reversed after flight to store them safely in their trailers afterwards.

Naturally, it helps to have some assistance to assemble and disassemble, so we all get familiar with the process.  That seems to breed the DIY mentality that permeates the atmosphere up there.  Tailwheel on the tow plane is flat?  Replace it.  Tow rope needs swapping out?  Go ahead.  Need a little lubricant on the hinges?  It's over there, go get it.  Add oil to the engine?  Okay.

Chris Butler tows in the Super Cub

Now, to be clear, we don't do anything that isn't allowed under the Federal Air Regulations.  Several of our members are mechanics and they do the inspections and maintenance that can only be done by mechanics.  But the DIY spirit is prevalent everywhere on the hill and it's something that I really appreciate -especially around an airport.  Most people are used to the commercial airports where passengers are routed like cattle through the terminal and onto the aircraft and restricted areas and special badging requirements abound.  Not at a private airport like Harris Hill.  I like it, and it contributes to the free and easy atmosphere that makes it fun to be there even if you aren't flying.

The unexpected


Sometimes you end up doing a little DIY duty for some unexpected tasks as well.  After my first flight, as I got back to the flight line, several members were watching a glider as it sank out of view below the ridge line over the valley.  After a few minutes, it was obvious that this glider was not climbing back up in a thermal which meant that the pilot must have landed in our alternate field in the valley below.

A call on the radio revealed that he was in the field and okay, having been out to test his sustainer engine but had been unable to start it and was forced to land in the field below.  The alternate field is for just this purpose - if you get low out on the ridge, you can land in a field down in the valley.  I've done it, as a matter of fact, and it's a great resource to have as it gives us a 'second chance' if things don't work out the way we'd planned.

I volunteered to drive down and see about him while others hooked his trailer up to a truck and brought it down.  It is possible to tow out of that field, but the torrential rains made it soggy and we figured it was best to simply disassemble the aircraft and tow it back up to the hangar.  An hour later, several of us had managed to get the trailer into the field without getting stuck in the mud, disassembled the glider, and brought it home to Harris Hill.

Between swapping stories, hooking up gliders, making minor repairs, and even retrieving landouts, there's plenty to do up at the hilll, even when you're not flying.  The only thing there's not enough of is...time.

Back in the Saddle

Thursday evening I headed out to Harris Hill for the first flight of the season!  I took my field safety checkout with Ron Ogden and realized that while I might be a bit rusty, I still remember how to fly!

The winds were tricky, out of the East-Northeast at 8-10 knots, a little gusty.  Perfect for training.  When the wind blows out of the East, and particularly when the wind favors landing to the North, as it did today, you have to be on your toes to prevent a tricky situation from becoming dangerous.

There are a couple of things that an East wind causes.  In the diagram below, pretend that North is to the right -the direction of the aircraft labeled 'Straight out departure'.  You enter the pattern in the 45 degree entry point on the diagram and then turn parallel to the runway and fly downwind.  With an East wind, that means the wind is off your left wingtip and trying to blow you away from the runway.  You compensate by flying at an angle with your nose pointed slightly into the wind.  Although you aren't parallel, the wind blows you out as you point your nose into the wind and the result is you fly a straight line.  

You'd better fly that straight line CLOSE to the runway because as you turn left onto your base leg, your groundspeed will slow as you fly directly into the wind.  The airspeed indicator will show the same speed, but your groundspeed will slow by the amount that the wind is blowing.  So, your 60 knot groundspeed will slow to 40 knots if the wind is blowing 20 knots.

The solution is to keep the base leg short, or you'll lose altitude and not be making any progress on your pattern.  As you turn to final, the wind is now off your right wingtip and trying to blow you away from centerline.  You fly at the opposite crab angle, nose pointed slightly into the wind to compensate and track straight.

The wind was gusty and as we turned final, we encountered not just turbulence but wind shear that caused us to lose 10 knots of airspeed almost instantly.  Fortunately, I was flying at 60 knots and the stall speed of the glider is quite a bit less than the 50 knots we were suddenly flying at as we went through the shear.  The airspeed indicator bounced around wildly for a second or two, then we passed through it and I managed to touchdown pretty much where I was aiming - a little farther than I wanted but not by too much.

Now, I'm checked out for the coming flying season and I need two more flights to be 'current' and carry passengers.  I'll work on getting those next week during training as the weather is pretty iffy this weekend.  Regardless, it was great to get back in the air and I'm looking forward to the flying 2011 flying season!

Web cam updated

I updated the webcam for Harris Hill and it is a huge improvement!  It's a logitech Pro9000 and whatever they did to build intelligent optics into it, they did it right for my needs.  The old camera wasn't really intended for outdoor use and I'd put a piece of cardboard over it with a pinhole but the picture was always a bit blurry and washed out.

The new one is higher resolution and adjusts better for bright light conditions.  You can make out the cloud types, see which gliders are out on the runway and so forth.  It updates every 10 minutes, along with the weather station at this address: http://www.wunderground.com/webcams/GliderWx/1/show.html

Yawn. I hate studying for the written test.

I'm studying for the written test for the commercial glider pilot exam.  I've always done well on standardized tests and I'm taking it seriously, so I don't expect to have a lot of trouble passing it.  It's just a drag.

Not to mention I have to actually go take the test, and the testing facility isn't anywhere nearby, I don't think.  I actually don't know.  The last time I took an FAA written test, it was back in the 80's when you used pencil and paper and waited for the results for several weeks.  Now, it's computer based and you know right away if you passed - much better.

In preparation, I've attended our weekly ground school sessions at Harris Hill for the past couple of months and sat through lecture, read through Bob Wander's "Commercial Glider - Made Easy!" book and am currently working my way through the Glider Pilot's handbook.  Then, I'll use the commercial glider prep book that has actual questions in it to prep.

It's not like a lot of this stuff isn't good to know, but that doesn't mean it's not boring.  The Glider Flying Handbook is a good example.  It explains the differences between different types of hypoxia but the results are the same - euphoria, feeling that everything is fine, drowsiness, possible headache, blue lips, tingling fingers, unconsciousness, possible death either from hypoxia or accident.  Now, whether I need to know the medical differences between the various forms of hypoxia is a different matter.  Since the point is for me to know how to A) avoid it; B) Or barring that, recognize it by descending and using oxygen or both, then while I suppose it is good background, the practical aspect is what I need to know.

Anyhow, minor rants.  I'll study it, take it, hopefully pass it, and I'll be all ready for the oral portion of the flight test, so the only thing to do is get it behind me.

On a very encouraging note, I've been teamed up with Ron Ogden as my instructor to prepare for the commercial flight test and that's a good thing.  Ron is a top notch instructor and I'm looking forward to learning some good stuff from him and being an even more proficient pilot than I am.  He would like to try and get me ready for the test by June.  I'll see how I'm doing by early April and try to set a date with the local examiner so I have a hard deadline to work against.

Buff and wax of #6 ASK-21 this winter

Next week, we buff and wax the Duo Discus, our cross country trainer and our first safety meeting takes place.  We'll go over the electronic scheduling system I've worked on over the winter and will hopefully implement going into mid-summer.

In any case, the new flying season is coming and I'm looking forward to improving my skills again this year!  If things go very well, I'll also look at adding some cross country experience so I can get checked out in the single seat Discus -the last club glider that I'm not yet checked out in.