Frank[_12_]
June 23rd 10, 05:02 PM
Yesterday was groundhog day at Parowan - same as yesterday except
weaker and fewer clouds. Winds light out of the west, which is
supposed to be a better deal for Parowan, but not this time. Working
band in the 13-15 range, rather than the 17+ from yesterday, but again
not too much problems going north - the trick was getting home
again. At one point I went from almost 16,000 to 6,600 in one long
25:1 glide in almost continual 6-7kt sink. I had gone out into the
Parowan valley to die and was headed backwards to land at Fillmore
when I got a 3kt reprieve. I eventually made it home, but way over
time and way slow compared to the day winners. On the way south
toward Parowan, I actually had to stay away from the Parowan ridge
system, as every time I tried to get there I got into continuous sink
again. I wound up flying along the western edge of the valley in
some sort of convergence line - go figure.
I have placed a couple of photos of the SPOT tracking map in the main
hangar. One is Day 2, and one is Day 3. In the Day 3 photo, you can
see the stream of gliders going along the cloud street to the north.
On this day, almost everyone came home early because the 1st circle
was clearly blue, and the second (of 2) circles was bombastic.
http://i49.tinypic.com/1ixz5y.jpg --- Day 2
http://i46.tinypic.com/2nrzsoy.jpg --- Day 3
TA
weaker and fewer clouds. Winds light out of the west, which is
supposed to be a better deal for Parowan, but not this time. Working
band in the 13-15 range, rather than the 17+ from yesterday, but again
not too much problems going north - the trick was getting home
again. At one point I went from almost 16,000 to 6,600 in one long
25:1 glide in almost continual 6-7kt sink. I had gone out into the
Parowan valley to die and was headed backwards to land at Fillmore
when I got a 3kt reprieve. I eventually made it home, but way over
time and way slow compared to the day winners. On the way south
toward Parowan, I actually had to stay away from the Parowan ridge
system, as every time I tried to get there I got into continuous sink
again. I wound up flying along the western edge of the valley in
some sort of convergence line - go figure.
I have placed a couple of photos of the SPOT tracking map in the main
hangar. One is Day 2, and one is Day 3. In the Day 3 photo, you can
see the stream of gliders going along the cloud street to the north.
On this day, almost everyone came home early because the 1st circle
was clearly blue, and the second (of 2) circles was bombastic.
http://i49.tinypic.com/1ixz5y.jpg --- Day 2
http://i46.tinypic.com/2nrzsoy.jpg --- Day 3
TA