Ridge soaring in Southeastern Oklahoma???

October is normally a month of strong winds and hissing rain in the
middle states such as Oklahoma. Randy Teel made a 6 hour-plus flight
in his Glasflugel 304CZ glider! He covered something like 700 miles
going up and down the ridges after a launch from Talihina, Oklahoma!
This is impressive flying that followed impressive organization! Well
done, Randy!

Originally Posted by John Bergeson

October is normally a month of strong winds and hissing rain in the
middle states such as Oklahoma. Randy Teel made a 6 hour-plus flight
in his Glasflugel 304CZ glider! He covered something like 700 miles
going up and down the ridges after a launch from Talihina, Oklahoma!
This is impressive flying that followed impressive organization! Well
done, Randy!

I agree...and was just looking at the KML file in Google Earth. Nice work Randy!

I do have a question about the northeast portion of the flight...if Randy is monitoring this thread. In looking at the terrain traversed for the eastern-most portion of the flight, there is an area that has what looks like a lower ridge line north of a higher ridge line...the choice was to fly the northern, and lower, ridge...why? Was the southern ridge not working well because of airflow off the northern ridge? Cloud cover at the time?

Just trying to get into the in situ decision-making process. Again, congratulations on a great flight!

Brad,
When the ridges are too close together, there is a good chance that
there
will not be any wind (lift) coming up the on the downwind ridges.
Depending
on the weather conditions, the downwind ridge could also be unflyable
to do
wave activity.
In the case for our local ridge, if you were to fly on the downwind
ridge
(Black Fork Ridge) and if any ridge lift quits, there is no where to
land!
You really need to be confident that the wind will be blowing the
entire
time you are flying along the Rich Mountain and Black Fork Ridge
because
the landout areas are very limited.
If you are interested, I can send you an email with a little more
information
about this flight.

We also have some pretty good wave soaring in this area.

Randy

http://talihinasoaring.com/



I do have a question about the northeast portion of the flight...if
Randy is monitoring this thread. In looking at the terrain traversed for
the eastern-most portion of the flight, there is an area that has what
looks like a lower ridge line north of a higher ridge line...the choice
was to fly the northern, and lower, ridge...why? Was the southern ridge
not working well because of airflow off the northern ridge? Cloud cover
at the time?

Just trying to get into the in situ decision-making process. Again,
congratulations on a great flight!

--
Brad Alston

Brad,
When the ridges are too close together, there is a good chance
that there will not be any wind (lift) coming up the on the downwind
ridges. Depending on the weather conditions, the downwind ridge
could also be unflyable to do wave activity.
In the case for our local ridge, if you were to fly on the downwind
ridge (Black Fork Ridge) and if any ridge lift quits, there is no
where
to land!
You really need to be confident that the wind will be blowing the
entire time you are flying along the Rich Mountain and Black Fork
Ridge because the landout areas are very limited.
If you are interested, I can send you an email with a little more
information about this flight.
We also have some pretty good wave soaring in this area.

Randy

http://talihinasoaring.com/

Originally Posted by Randy[_2_]

If you are interested, I can send you an email with a little more information about this flight.

We also have some pretty good wave soaring in this area.

Randy

http://talihinasoaring.com/

Makes good sense Randy. Yes, I would like hear more about the flight...looks like it was a great adventure! Email address follows.

alston (dot) hp18 (at) yahoo (dot) com

Thanks!

On Oct 21, 10:09*am, Brad Alston Brad.Alston.
wrote:
'Randy[_2_ Wrote:

;787840']If you are interested, I can send you an email with a little
more information about this flight.

We also have some pretty good wave soaring in this area.

Randy

http://talihinasoaring.com/

Makes good sense Randy. Yes, I would like hear more about the
flight...looks like it was a great adventure! Email address follows.

alston (dot) hp18 (at) yahoo (dot) com

Thanks!

--
Brad Alston

I flew over this area at altitude last spring while ferrying a Grob
109 from California to Tennessee. Except for Randy and his lucky
group, it is probably one of the most overlooked ridge running ranges
in the US. The terrain is quite similar to the Appalachian ridges in
our area with far less development. If it was closer to major
population centers, it would receive as much attention as the eastern
ridges do.

Don