Dan Gill
Howdy club!
I went flying with Joe, John H and my dad yesterday.
John was there when I arrived at 9:30 or so. He was flying an e-hand launch. Joe arrived and set out his new hi-start. He’s been searching for a rubber supplier for a bit and decided today was the day to test his histart. Wind was 5-10 down the gravel road with pure blue skies. I launched his his histart and it was nice! I launched a second time with more tension on the line. It was nice. If you are looking for a histart – Joe is your guy.
My dad arrived and then it was the four of us. Joe launched and flew. As the clouds rolled in from the west (or so) so came the difference in ground heating and increase in thermal power. Joe skyed out and brought it down – 12 minutes 22 seconds. It would be his longest and highest flight to date – 1063 feet. He sent me a screenshot with it later. John went up once or twice. Dad went up a few times and skyed out. John and I sat watching Joe fly. On approach he stalled around the turn to downwind at about 50 feet and he recovered. After landing he walked into the pit area. “Nice recovery”. He replied – I need a few minutes after that. The clouds brought more wind and a higher gust line. We went up a few more times until Joe called it. The wind was getting to be tricky. Good call. We had been flying for almost 3 hours and the air temp wasn’t hot, 84 F ish, but it was still warm enough to make you sweat.
We packed up and headed out. It was 12:30 pm.
Today, it’s already a little different – it’s 61F and fall might be here to stay? Maybe? We left the field commenting about how nice a day it was. These are the days we wished for during the heat of the summer. Is it better to fly all the hours we can while it’s nice like this and risk exhaustion and an accident or take the time, be thankful and return another day? Soon we will have full Saturdays with liveable temps and our limitations will be dictated by time, food, water and for some of us – battery life. For fear of hot weather coming back – I won’t jinx it anymore by saying anything else.
Dan
