On Monday, October 15, 2018 at 10:30:04 AM UTC-4, Michael Opitz wrote:
I did my Diamond climb at Gorham a few years ago. Low point about
700
above=
the airport. Max 17990. Made Diamond by 62 feet. I was told that
this was
=
the 5th "legal" Diamond done there.
Window was not open that day because gubment shutdown had just
ended and
th=
ey need the airspace for other stuff.
FWIW
UH

UH,

Maybe the 5th one out of Gorham, but there were numerous
climbs like that made from the old White Mountain airport in North
Conway before that airport was closed. After we opened up modern
wave flying there in 1966, people figured out that one didn't have to
tow 23 miles to get to the primary at Pinkham Notch. All one had to
do was climb up off the ridge at the east end of the airport and then
jump about 5 or 6 waves upwind. There were numerous flights that
were made to Diamond altitude gains with releases about 300' AGL on
the ridge right off the end of the runway. It sure cut down on the
launch time intervals as opposed to the tow plane having to do a 46
mile round trip through the Moat Mountain range rotor out and back.

RO

I was trying to point out that one does not have to take a whore tow and use Class A airspace to get the diamond. My flight was not at all remarkable, but relatively uncommon. The only uncommon thing about my flight was that I did it on the first try.
We are lucky to have Gorham as a site, having lost the other sites to uses like shopping malls.
UH