How About Story Time

SGS
No these Marfa Shear Waves have nothing to do with the Dry Line.
Or Cu.
As I recall we were almost always in the blue, and at the top of the Thermal, you would keep the nose up and poke around looking for this subtle bump, you'd know it when you found it. It went smooth and these areas were say, roughly, 1/2 mile by 1/2 mile. You would have to slowly drift with it and S turn and /or slowly 360 to stay in them. And these areas would drift at about 1/2 the wind speed.
It was pretty windy when we were doing all this.
They are differential wind direction induced.
They were easy to stay in, but it was windy during all this and you'd drift quite a ways downwind. In my Ka6 CR I'd have to leap frog forward to keep the airport in glide.
Fun times in Marfa.
We got to go see the "Marfa Lights" too which are really cool.
Goggle those things.
They had/ have grandstands set up next to the interstate to hang out on and watch, they are a trip to see in person.
Nick
T

On Saturday, May 2, 2020 at 9:03:59 PM UTC-4, Nick Kennedy wrote:
SGS
No these Marfa Shear Waves have nothing to do with the Dry Line.
Or Cu.
As I recall we were almost always in the blue, and at the top of the Thermal, you would keep the nose up and poke around looking for this subtle bump, you'd know it when you found it. It went smooth and these areas were say, roughly, 1/2 mile by 1/2 mile. You would have to slowly drift with it and S turn and /or slowly 360 to stay in them. And these areas would drift at about 1/2 the wind speed.
It was pretty windy when we were doing all this.
They are differential wind direction induced.
They were easy to stay in, but it was windy during all this and you'd drift quite a ways downwind. In my Ka6 CR I'd have to leap frog forward to keep the airport in glide.
Fun times in Marfa.
We got to go see the "Marfa Lights" too which are really cool.
Goggle those things.
They had/ have grandstands set up next to the interstate to hang out on and watch, they are a trip to see in person.
Nick
T

No cu, but you did say "thermal". With the air too dry to form cu, you can climb higher, rather than being limited by cloudbase. That may give you a better chance of reaching the altitude where the wind shifts (above the inversion) forming the "wave". But the thermals are needed, as they poke up into the inversion so the (relative) wind has something to bump up against. Also the half-wind-speed drift is characteristic of thermals (and that's a whole 'nuther topic to argue over - at what speed do thermals drift).

It does seem that I used to find these sort of things more often in 1-26's and later HP-14, and less often in recent years even though my glider's wing loading is not very high (AC4, 7psf).

Two years ago at the Std. Nats at TSA, I went thru mile after mile of sink getting to the second turn in the blue. Mitch Hudson helpfully had his ADS-B indicating a decent climb. It was a long glide but I went for it and rolled into a turbulent thermal at something over 1,000 ft. AGL. It was work but I was finally breathing a sigh of relief and getting ready to leave when I realized the thermal wasn't rough anymore. It was smoother. A lot smoother.


I shouldn't have stayed because it wasn't that great but I tracked back and forth in classic wave lift, watching the flatlands around Dallas, and picked up another few thousand feet over the thermal tops that day. It was still going up when I turned downwind. I went through another area of sink, another weak up section, then more sink. When I turned crosswind for the final leg, I was more focused on not getting caught flying in the down cycle of whatever was going on than I was pushing to go fast. Apparently no one else had problems with falling out of the sky nor did they have the chance to climb up high like I did.


We had a laugh the next morning hearing Walt Rogers, met man and daily winner, describe how he looked up at one point and saw my glider above 9,000, several thousand feet ABOVE his forecast for max for the day. Anguished, he briefly imagined that everyone else was romping around at that altitude before reality set in.


Chip Bearden
JB

VAL AIR DURANGO COLORADO CHECK OUT FLIGHT

I go down to Val Air to fly my Asw-20. I knew Beverly and LaVerne St. Clair and actually interviewed with then to be a commercial ride pilot.
So I was a little surprised when I arrived to go flying that they required everyone to have a " Field Check" flight with a local instructor.
But what he heck I thought as Val Air looks to be a challenging grass airstrip; Theres tall trees on the approach to miss, barb wire fences to take your head off, the Animas river is right there you could conceivably go into, its in a fairly narrow valley etc etc.
So I rig and go up the the booth to get a field check flight in their ride plane a Blanik L23
LaVernes going to be my instructor, and I ask what are we going to do?
Oh the usual he said some straight ahead stalls, some slow flight and coordination exercises, OK lets go. You've got it he says as the rope goes tight and we take off, all ok and we look to be in good shape.
Ascending through about 6-700 ft AGL He yells, 'THERES THE TRAIN! LET GO OF THE CONTROLS- I'VE GOT IT!!" he pushes over into a zero G dive setting up to buzz the Durango Silverton tourist train. And buzzs it he does, he gets in 2 passes lower than the powerlines and then cranks a low level 180 to land. He's got it in a max effort slip at about 20' and asks me if I land to land it.
I decline and he does a short field landing so we don't have to push back too far.
How did I do I ask? Did I pass? Yea your OK he says.
I doubt the flight lasted 3 minutes.
Nick
T

VAL AIR DURANGO COLORADO FIELD CHECK FLIGHT

I go down to Val Air to fly my Asw 20 and I was kinda surprised that they tell me I'm going to have to take a field check flight first.
I had actually interviewed with owners Bev and LaVerne St. Clair about being a commercial ride pilot for them, as I has giving rides and towing at the time in Telluride.
They said everyone had to have a field check and I think, OK, probably not a bad idea as Val Air looked a little challenging, Barb wire fences to take your head off, tall trees on the approach to miss, hangers to hit, the Animas river right there that you could really blow it and go into, etc etc and it's in a fairly narrow valley.
So I rig and go up to see Bev in the kiosk to get a field check.
LaVerne is going to be my instructor. We get in the Blanik L 23 and I ask him what are we going to do? Oh normal stuff he says, stalls, slow flight coordination exercises. As the slack comes out he says " Your Airplane"
Off we go and everything looks pretty good when at about 6-700 AGL, LaVerne yells " THERES THE TRAIN! LET GO! I'll TAKE IT"
The Durango -Silverton tourist steam train was coming by and LaVerne pushes over into a zero G dive and gets in 2 passes next to the train, below powerline height, at redline, which I was keeping a eye on.
He does a low level 180 and lines up to land in a full performance slip. He asks me if I'd like to land it. I decline and he lands short so we don't have to push back too far.
"How did I do I ask?" Your OK he says.
I doubt that flight lasted 2.5 minutes.
Later when I'm paying my bill I ask Bev if I have to pay for that checkout.
She asks if I learned anything?
I said, Sure did! Don't hit the train!
She waived the checkout fee, sweet gal she is.
Nick
T

LOL.....I won't name site...but decades ago I was at a club site (I was a member of) and wanted to take my son on a flight in club -21....
I was informed I needed a quorum of onsite staff and then a check ride (since I hadn't done prior written approval...fine...).
I received the quorum, then set up the check ride.
I reviewed the ship papers as well as operating manual....strapped in....maybe 300' AGL.....bang...."rope break".....turn and land....comment from back was...."don't bang the front wheel, it splits the fuselage seam...".
I was signed off (to the eyeball rolling of my check pilot) to use the club 2 seater. Yes, my son and I had a fun local XC flight...
:-)
Sometimes, "when in Rome....".....

On Tuesday, May 5, 2020 at 3:35:44 PM UTC-5, Charlie M. (UH & 002 owner/pilot) wrote:
LOL.....I won't name site...but decades ago I was at a club site (I was a member of) and wanted to take my son on a flight in club -21....
I was informed I needed a quorum of onsite staff and then a check ride (since I hadn't done prior written approval...fine...).
I received the quorum, then set up the check ride.
I reviewed the ship papers as well as operating manual....strapped in....maybe 300' AGL.....bang...."rope break".....turn and land....comment from back was...."don't bang the front wheel, it splits the fuselage seam...".
I was signed off (to the eyeball rolling of my check pilot) to use the club 2 seater. Yes, my son and I had a fun local XC flight...
:-)
Sometimes, "when in Rome...."....

Back in 1982, I took the checkride for my glider ticket at an East coast soaring site, now moved to a different location and run by different folks. Was told to pre-flight the 2-33. Found that one of the elevator hinge pins was a rusty nail. Didn't think too much of (or about) that. The examiner finally showed up (names withheld out of respect for the dead) and off we went.. I flew the tow, no problem there. Upon release, the examiner said "I got it" and proceeded to take over and give me a very nice lesson in thermalling. After 15 minutes or so, tells me to get back on the controls and close my eyes. He said he would put the ship in an attitude and when he said to open my eyes, I was to recover to straight and level. I felt the nose come up and what I thought was a bank to the left. Of course, it was a spin entry. Just as the glider started shaking in a stall and he put in full left rudder, the instrument panel (held on by one dzus fastener and the scat tube) fell off in my lap. Now I'm holding the panel up with my left hand and he's telling me to open my eyes and recover the aircraft. It worked out OK since a 2-33 will recover from a spin pretty much on it's own anyway. The examiner took over again and flew for another 30 minutes before having me land and stop right by his car. I passed.

A few months later I stopped by the same soaring site on a Sunday afternoon.. There is that same 2-33, on a normal looking downwind for landing, then the glider drops into a steep dive and then pulls up into two consecutive loops. Coming out of the second loop it goes straight into a short final approach and lands. Things were different then...

I think this "Story Time" thread is one of the most entertaining things I've seen on RAS. I hope it keeps going! This isn't a soaring story per se, but it's pretty amusing.

One of Sundance Aviation's tow pilots in Moriarty was renowned for his quick and sardonic wit. He told us of an occasion (shortly after the establishment of the TSA as a result of 9/11) when he ferried an airplane to San Francisco, CA. He flew back commercially on an airline. While going through the new "security" check (before the days of X-Raying the carry-on and taking off your shoes, he ran into a particularly snotty Asian female TSA agent who was VERY impressed with the uniform epaulets. Hers, not his.

She was digging through his flight bag (his only baggage) and pulled out his handheld radio, headset, charts and all the rest of the detritus that makes an airplane fly (according to the FAA) when she came upon his portable Garmin GPS.

Obviously perplexed with the device, she demanded, "WAAT DEES!?"

Without missing a beat, he replied, "It's a vacuum-actuated water-inducted overhead fiber duster."

She looked at it again. Looked at him (all innocent and compliant). Looked at it again and snapped, "No turn on in airplane!" He adopted a pleading expression and said, "But, but, I have allergies!"

She relented, and quietly said, "Well...OK.)

The guy behind him in the TSA line who watched the entire episode was another pilot and was absolutely convulsed with laughter and was almost choking himself trying to stifle it because at that time, you NEVER laughed around an annoyed TSA agent, lest you become a candidate for a random cavity search.

Ever since then one of our catch phrases at Moriarty when seeing an unfamiliar piece of equipment is, "WAAT DEES!?)

On Wednesday, May 6, 2020 at 7:41:08 PM UTC-5, wrote:
I think this "Story Time" thread is one of the most entertaining things I've seen on RAS. I hope it keeps going! This isn't a soaring story per se, but it's pretty amusing.

One of Sundance Aviation's tow pilots in Moriarty was renowned for his quick and sardonic wit. He told us of an occasion (shortly after the establishment of the TSA as a result of 9/11) when he ferried an airplane to San Francisco, CA. He flew back commercially on an airline. While going through the new "security" check (before the days of X-Raying the carry-on and taking off your shoes, he ran into a particularly snotty Asian female TSA agent who was VERY impressed with the uniform epaulets. Hers, not his.

She was digging through his flight bag (his only baggage) and pulled out his handheld radio, headset, charts and all the rest of the detritus that makes an airplane fly (according to the FAA) when she came upon his portable Garmin GPS.

Obviously perplexed with the device, she demanded, "WAAT DEES!?"

Without missing a beat, he replied, "It's a vacuum-actuated water-inducted overhead fiber duster."

She looked at it again. Looked at him (all innocent and compliant). Looked at it again and snapped, "No turn on in airplane!" He adopted a pleading expression and said, "But, but, I have allergies!"

She relented, and quietly said, "Well...OK.)

The guy behind him in the TSA line who watched the entire episode was another pilot and was absolutely convulsed with laughter and was almost choking himself trying to stifle it because at that time, you NEVER laughed around an annoyed TSA agent, lest you become a candidate for a random cavity search.

Ever since then one of our catch phrases at Moriarty when seeing an unfamiliar piece of equipment is, "WAAT DEES!?)

Story from back in Germany at our glider club: We had a contract with a local brewery that gave us a lot of money upfront for committing to buying exclusively their very good Pilsener beer. It was delivered by the pallet load and kept under lock. Our "beer currency" meant that ANY good or bad deed at the club cost you a case with 20 bottles. Sometimes we managed to have 5-6 cases brought out at the end of a flying day. We often had a hard time getting through all that Freibier. It pains me to admit that there was no age limit to who could partake, we probably created quite a few youth-alcoholics.
Herb

On Saturday, April 4, 2020 at 2:40:32 PM UTC-4, wrote:
Maybe this is a good opportunity for some of us to share some stories of our experiences.
I'll go first.-

Another story:
I started out as a child. I saw gliders at Harris Hill when we flew a kids contest as part of the Nationals in 1955.
Fast forward to out of college and finally flying gliders.
I bought a 1-26D during my second real year of soaring and set out to do my badges. I had literally dreamed of that first real cross country flight for most of my life. Visions of a long distance flight landing late in the day, and all that stuff.
Time for my first distance flight.
The appointed day comes. It is a beautiful day. I prepare and take my tow about noon. I proceeded to notch the barogram to the ground in record time. No give up- lets try again. New record for barograph notch time.
Obviously it was not the time for me to make the flight, so I went about doing some training flights with my sister. We had no problems soaring with ease.
This, of course, proves that the heaviest object known to a glider pilot is a barograph on a badge flight.
About 4:00 I decided to take a tow and at least do my altitude leg.
Having given up all hope of cross country, I managed to notch without falling down and gained about 4000 feet in short order.
A cloud street beckoned to the north east as far as I could see so I turned and headed over toward the Hudson river. I don't think I circled until I got to the river. There I climbed to cloud base and made the glide to a single cloud a few miles past the river. I topped that and made a straight glide landing at Danbury airport, a little over 50 miles from home, but good enough for Silver distance.
After anticipating this flight for much of my life, it was so easy and such a non event that it still is one of the greatest letdowns of my life.
The sense of adventure has remained and there have been lots of rewarding flights since.
UH