Cherokee II out and about

I posted this on a few other aviation forums. Got the Cherokee out into
some of those booming kansas thermals today. I didnt think the stats for
the trip were too shabby for a 23:1 glider flying most of the flight below
2500 AGL.

Weather was forecast to be decent, although there was a strong south wind.
often when the wind is too strong it breaks up the thermals and makes them
unworkable. I could tell that a later than normal start was going to be
necessary as the temps needed to get up in the mid to high 90's for the
thermal height to be above 4000 feet or so. I went out to the gliderport
about 11 AM to start getting things ready. glider preflighted, wings
taped, canopy cleaned, water loaded, landout kit loaded, maps folded,
trailer hooked up and lights checked, made sure we had everything we
needed for putting the glider in the trailer. the list goes on and on.
Another guy was giving rides in the Grob and reported choppy lift on his
flight at noon. at 12:30 he reported that it was getting a little better
and the towpilot concurred.

I took off at about 1:30. tow upwind was rough to begin with but then it
started to smooth out. smooth air on tow is generally a bad sign but we
were occasionally flying through some up and down. I took a 3000 foot tow,
as on windy days it usually pays to be up high, where the thermals are more
organized and it would give me more time to find a thermal before heading
out.

Long story short I caught a thermal by the airport and milked it up to
5700 MSL, my high point for the day. called leah and told her to start
heading north/northeast like we had planned and she hit the road.

I was making good speed. 20 mph winds meant that when I was circling I was
still making progress on course and when I was cruising I was really
cruising. I noticed a disturbing trend and that was that I kept getting
lower and lower. Next few thermals I was able to squeek back up to 4500ish
feet. Climb rates were dissapointing, mainly in the 1-200 fpm range. The
lift was workable though and above 3500 or so it was actually pretty
smooth. I was able to get the glider slowed way down which it doesnt
always like to do. So even though I was barely climbing I was still
climbing.

I kept clicking away the miles and soon found myself flying mainly between
3 and 4000 feet. Ground in this area was around 1200. Its pretty hilly too
but there were enough hay fields and other areas that I was never too
worried about having a place to land. Leah was doing a decent job of
keeping up, although I was outrunning her.

Finally I had to land, after 2.5 hrs. Put it down in a grass/hay field
just south of Alma, KS. Total distance was right about 97 statute miles.
One of my longest flights yet. Groundspeed of 40ish mph sounds pretty slow
but is pretty good for my old glider and for flying so damn low. Spent a
LOT of time circling. I was starting to get dizzy.


-Tony Condon
Cherokee II N373Y

Nice flight and report, Tony! If you don't have any sort of logger, I can
loan you one when I get back. Then, you can post these flights to OLC for
Kansas Soaring Association (and increase the number of regularly uploading
pilots by 50%!).

Steve Leonard

On Aug 9, 9:30*pm, Steve Leonard wrote:
Nice flight and report, Tony! *If you don't have any sort of logger, I can
loan you one when I get back. *Then, you can post these flights to OLC for
Kansas Soaring Association (and increase the number of regularly uploading
pilots by 50%!).

Steve Leonard

Steve the guy has talent why not lend him an entire ship from your
collection with the data logger.
Lets see what he can really so when not glide angle or wing loading
challenged.

Cheers

Al

At 04:30 10 August 2009, Steve Leonard wrote:
Nice flight and report, Tony! If you don't have any sort of logger, I
can
loan you one when I get back. Then, you can post these flights to OLC
for
Kansas Soaring Association (and increase the number of regularly
uploading
pilots by 50%!).

Steve Leonard


Steve,

sounds good! I've always known I need to eventually get a logger but it
just hasn't been a top priority.

And the Cherokee was the perfect ship for this flight. Much heavier and I
would've never made it in the first thermal. There was a lot of time
where I was just circling in zero sink hanging on for dear life until i
could find that 50 fpm up.

I uploaded the few pictures that I took he

http://picasaweb.google.com/cherokee373Y/AlmaKS#


-Tony Condon
Cherokee II N373Y

W&W has a Cherokee II for sale for only $3,000. I'm not very familiar
with the Stan Hall design but I can report that this particular sailplane
is a delight to fly.
Bob Gaines,
VSA