Great Flight in Iowa today!

I didnt get a tow until 2:05 PM and the sky was littered with Cu's.
by 2:15 I was at 5000 AGL and headed west towards the Boone Airport,
12.2 miles away. Got there around 2:45 at cloudbase of 7500 AGL and
turned north, into the wind, and worked towards Webster City, 26.7
miles to the north of Boone. Lift was killer, with 6-800 fpm climbs,
occasionally 1000 on the Vario! Sink was pretty rough but I screamed
through that often as fasta s 75 mph! Clouds were great and cloudbase
eventually got up to 8200 AGL. By 4 PM I was over the Webster City
airport and turned for home. Ames Municipal was 33.1 miles to the
southeast, downwind. I was at 8000 AGL and am pretty sure I was on
final glide. I did stop a few times and did a couple of quick climbs
to add 700 feet. As I got below 3000 AGL I was in solid lift
everywhere. I flew over town at 80 mph barely losing any altitude.
As I landed at 4:30 PM my soaring mentor Matt Michael pulled out by
the runway to greet me. Only took me 2.5 hrs to do the 72 mile
flight, for an average groundspeed of a whopping 28.8 mph! Not too
bad for a chunk of wood falling through the air!

Sounds great! Definitely NOT a day like other days.


Jack

-------

wrote:

I didnt get a tow until 2:05 PM and the sky was littered with Cu's.
by 2:15 I was at 5000 AGL and headed west towards the Boone Airport,
12.2 miles away. Got there around 2:45 at cloudbase of 7500 AGL and
turned north, into the wind, and worked towards Webster City, 26.7
miles to the north of Boone. Lift was killer, with 6-800 fpm climbs,
occasionally 1000 on the Vario! Sink was pretty rough but I screamed
through that often as fasta s 75 mph! Clouds were great and cloudbase
eventually got up to 8200 AGL. By 4 PM I was over the Webster City
airport and turned for home. Ames Municipal was 33.1 miles to the
southeast, downwind. I was at 8000 AGL and am pretty sure I was on
final glide. I did stop a few times and did a couple of quick climbs
to add 700 feet. As I got below 3000 AGL I was in solid lift
everywhere. I flew over town at 80 mph barely losing any altitude.
As I landed at 4:30 PM my soaring mentor Matt Michael pulled out by
the runway to greet me. Only took me 2.5 hrs to do the 72 mile
flight, for an average groundspeed of a whopping 28.8 mph! Not too
bad for a chunk of wood falling through the air!

yes, the soaring lately has been a welcome rarity. usually by this
time of the year the corn is tall and the atmosphere wet, with lower
cloudbase and updraft strength as a result.


Jack wrote:
Sounds great! Definitely NOT a day like other days.


Jack

-------

wrote:

I didnt get a tow until 2:05 PM and the sky was littered with Cu's.
by 2:15 I was at 5000 AGL and headed west towards the Boone Airport,
12.2 miles away. Got there around 2:45 at cloudbase of 7500 AGL and
turned north, into the wind, and worked towards Webster City, 26.7
miles to the north of Boone. Lift was killer, with 6-800 fpm climbs,
occasionally 1000 on the Vario! Sink was pretty rough but I screamed
through that often as fasta s 75 mph! Clouds were great and cloudbase
eventually got up to 8200 AGL. By 4 PM I was over the Webster City
airport and turned for home. Ames Municipal was 33.1 miles to the
southeast, downwind. I was at 8000 AGL and am pretty sure I was on
final glide. I did stop a few times and did a couple of quick climbs
to add 700 feet. As I got below 3000 AGL I was in solid lift
everywhere. I flew over town at 80 mph barely losing any altitude.
As I landed at 4:30 PM my soaring mentor Matt Michael pulled out by
the runway to greet me. Only took me 2.5 hrs to do the 72 mile
flight, for an average groundspeed of a whopping 28.8 mph! Not too
bad for a chunk of wood falling through the air!