Electroglide Report for April 20th, 2019
We had one fun Electroglide this month, beautiful weather and plenty of lift. The predicted weather was supposed to be partly cloudy with a south west wind of 12 mph and 67 degrees. What we had was partly cloudy with north west winds at 7 mph and enough sunlight shinning to create wonderful thermals.
At around 9:40 a.m., Dennis La Berge had his Radian up looking for potential lift. He found it just under 100 feet altitude and slightly north of our runway. The sun had been shining for a time, the winds were very light, so the thermal must have been generated by all the vegetation at our flying area. Hey, go green.
First launch was at 10 a.m. and ten aircraft took to the skies. Most of us headed to the western edge of our flight area. We didn’t have to search long as we quickly found solid lift. At least eight aircraft were working a very broad lift when a full-sized helicopter came roaring through from the west. We all had to drop altitude quickly and it was decided to restart the first launch.
The wind had started to pick up, and by the time we relaunched, the lift was no longer in the same spot.
Arthur Markiewicz had the long flight of four minutes plus a 20-point landing. Scott Vance came in second for that launch at 3:46 with a 10-point landing and Dennis La Berge had a flight of 3:17 plus a 30-point landing. I managed a 20-point landing and Alex Sutton picked up a 10-point landing.
Second launch happened two minutes after Arthur’s Radian touched down and the lift had returned. Flight times jumped with the longest recorded by Arthur at 9:36 with a 20-point landing. Next was Stephen Treger at 9:30 plus a 30-point landing and coming in third was Scott at 9:12 and a 20-point landing. Dennis also picked up a 20-point landing.
Third launch had only Arthur finding the lift with a flight time of 9:13 and a 20-point landing. Scott had the second longest flight at 4:54 with a 10-point landing and Dennis came in third at 4:41 with a 20-point landing.
Forth and final launch was much more fun with five gliders staying aloft beyond nine minutes. Arthur had the long flight at 9:50 and a 30-point landing. New to Electroglide, Eric Byrd had a very good flight of 9:48 plus a 30-point landing and Alex Sutton had a flight of 9:43 minutes with a 20-point landing. Dennis picked up a 30-point landing and Scott had a 10-point landing.
The weather gave us great flying conditions that was enjoyed by all. Landing conditions however were a bit tricky, so it was nice to see many pilots scoring extra points by landing in the target circles.
Thanks to Frank Sutton for providing wonderful pictures of the event.
Next Electroglide is scheduled for May 18th 10 a.m. first launch.
See you there,
Jeff
