Wonderlift

Damn, I thought I saved my post yesterday, here goes:

I was supposed to work, but the winds looked strong and the sky clear. Good decision to play hooky; Marshall was going off.

Even a caveman could soar it. Or a newbie H2 in a Falcon. As a matter of fact, my biggest concern was penetration. The lift was banded ridge lift, with funky eddies, both up and down, and a lot of turbulence.

I set a couple of firsts and bests. This was my first flight where I got over launch (I mean directly over). It was my first flight over an hour (1:19). I had my highest altitude (6000' msl, 4300' AGL), fastest sustained climb (3000' in 5 minutes), and highest spike on my vario (1600 fpm).

Weeeeeeeeee...!

There were no "thermals" to speak of. There were pockets of great lift, but when I tried to circle in them, I'd get blown out of the back of them pretty quickly. Instead, I rode them the way that I would fly my RC gliders in strong lift, just trying to maintain pitch and roll to optimize lift.

By the time I got past 5500' on the wonderlift, I was worried about getting caught in a high band of wind that would push me behind the hill. I had the bar fully stuffed and was still climbing! Finally, I popped out of the front and circled around it back to more familiar turf. Since there were only 2 of us in the air, this was my windiest day, and discretion is the better part of valor, I am content with my decision, especially since I got another 50 minutes after bailing out of that band. It must have been part of a cold front rolling in. After about an hour, the turbulence and a bad burger from McD's were tag teaming my stomach, so I decided to head out to smoother air again, this time to no wonderlift.

Not the best day to be in a Falcon, but I landed it pretty easily, before the winds got even stronger. The wind graph showed it at 35 mph sustained about the time I landed.

What a fun day!

PS: Here's the flight: