Saturday, December 1st, 2007
WEATHER
Visibility: Clear and sunny.
Wind: Light and variable.
Altitudes: 2900
Time
Aloft: 30 min
Max
Lift: .5 to 1.0 kts
Temperature: 70 deg.
Comment: Smooth, little lift. Confusing
clouds.
HIGHLIGHTS:
1. Joe Anastasio had told me via email that he would
be unable to come out to Avenal today. So, with my Gallery Show looming in the
not-enough-distant future I figured I'd stay home and work on my sculpture. But
as luck would have it, the day opened bright and what looked like a great
soaring day. I stayed home but Joe didn't. What follows is his summary of what
took place at Avenal.
Joe's Stuff
2. Let us start with that fact that I was
wrong, I was able to come out to Avenal this past Saturday. I bet that the
TIP forecast was wrong, that there would be lift. What did I base this
wishful thinking on? The clouds of course! Serious looking clouds were
forming north of
Paso Robles, so I decided to give flying a try (or two). I arrived at
Avenal at about noon, to find Jerry and Loyal telling stories about
motorcycles, sailplanes and other important stuff.
3. Watching the clouds forming over the hills and
the west side of the valley, we decided to forgo lunch and get into the air. I
launched first in the Blanik. Towed to 2900 MSL and released over the power
lines in what seemed like light lift. After scratching for a few minutes the
lift disappeared. I began retracing the tow, since it had seemed that we had
passed through several bumps on the way out to the power lines. As I sank lower
and lower, I was passed by Jerry and Loyal heading for the clouds. No bumps.
4. When Loyal returned I tried again, this time
towing out a bit further and higher. This time was was able to find some 0 to
0.5 knot lift. What seemed to work was to run a bit upwind of the clouds, but
the lift was such a narrow band I could never seem to stay in it for long. My
second flight was more than a sled ride however, id did manage to climb a few
hundred feet.
5. When I returned Steve Schery had arrived,
Jerry had landed the 1-26. We agreed that something must be holding the
clouds up but Jerry had determined that it was very slender thermals.
Jerry and I went to Debbie's for lunch, while Steve got ready for a
flight. When we returned with our burgers, we could see the 1-26
(with Steve) high above the gliderport. We were surprised when Steve
landed, about 1/2 way through our Ortega/bacon burgers. It turned out he
had not done much better than we did, he had just taken a higher tow.
6. So, maximum heights were on or just off tow. The
best lift was 0 to 0.5 knots. The clouds were deceptive. The flying was a lot
of fun. I took a few pictures with my cell phone.
Happy Flying
Joe Anastasio
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