Ridge Soaring?

Chip,

I see your point, but not really......We get people who come to BT who
say they have "ridge experience" but we we take them on the ridge,
they don't have a clue. Because they never really flew a "real"
ridge. I guess there is something to be said about starting out
easy........but at BT the "local" ridge is a "pussy" ridge. You can
learn what you need to know, and not get in any trouble at all. Once
you are ready for more, then you can get more advanced and learn gap
crossings etc. Sure we don't go too far north, because the ridge
doesn't go there! (we are at the end of the line) With a couple of
thermals, you can head north to more ridge, but what's the point when
you can sure go south!

I always say that ridge flying is "deceptively simple".....when it
works it is a no brainer....just point and go! Learning to fly ridge
is all about knowing what to do when things don't go well. Learing to
thermal out when you are below ridge top, how to cross gaps and
transitions, how to read changes in conditions during the day. Anybody
can fly on a "pussy" ridge and soon get a false sense of
confidence.

It's like when people say you can't really learn to fly in a 2-33
because it doesn't spin well. Learning on an "easy" ridge doesn't
really do the job.

Cookie[/quote]

POINT ME TO THE ''PUSSY'' RIDGE.
Walt

Originally Posted by

On Jan 31, 10:31*pm, Walt Connelly Walt.Connelly.
wrote:
I am told that the ridge by Dillingham Airfield (Hawaii) is very
reliable. Unfortunately, it is kind of short.

Bart

Thanks to all for the advice. *Opinions are like rear ends, everybody has
one. *I would definitely take a two or three week jaunt to some place good
for the opportunity to ridge soar as much as possible. *Just wish that
Central Florida Convergence would pop up once occasionally.

On the positive side, we have had a few good days of thermal activity at
Seminole Lake GP. *Managed a few climbs to over 5K the other day in a
1-34. *I have a lot to learn but an enjoying it thoroughly.

Walt

--
Walt Connelly

"Opinions are like rear ends, everybody has
one."

Right, but you asked! LOL

So FWIW, here's some more opinion..........It doesn't matter where you
go! Just go! If it's easiest to go to the closest place, go there.
If time and money don't matter, go somewhere that catches your fancy
(France or Hawaii). As long as you do something to expand your
horizons, you will become a better pilot! On top of that, a "soaring
road trip" is going to be a blast on any number of levels!

Cookie

Right you are Cookie. Hawaii sounds good. France not so hot. There are two types of people in this world I can't stand: 1, Those intolerant of others due to their race, religion or nationality and.....2, the French.

Walt

Amen brother!

I've only had wonderful experiences in France. Of course just like in
the US you have to look past the occasional snob/red neck.

Bob

On Feb 2, 6:18*am, Bob wrote:
Amen brother!

I've only had wonderful experiences in France. Of course just like in
the US you have to look past the occasional snob/red neck.

Bob

One of my glider student pilots has the good fortune to be able to
travel the world on a fairly regular basis. He flies gliders wherever
and whenever he can. So he's flown at most of the "famous" places in
the US and several in outher countries. Last year he flew in
France. He says it was the greatest experience he's ever had. Both
the area, and the pilots were "the best". He's headed back there this
year too.

Once you have somthing in common with somebody else......like
soaring....all of the petty bulls--t is quickly forgotten. Mutual
respect and friendship comes easy.

Cookie

Originally Posted by gotovkotzepkoi

This is a bit off subject but I could not resist. Can't stand the French? I hear this a lot from other Americans and it usually turns out that the people who say this have zero direct experience with the French. I have been to France many times (while in the US Army for 12 yrs in Germany I used to go hang gliding in S. France a lot, for instance). I very rarely encountered the mythical, asshole Frenchman. I found the French to be generally a very gregarious, happy, polite people. Ok, there was the occasional impolite waiter but let's face it, they are a planetary wide phenomenon. On one HG'ing trip to Provence I drove from our base in Germany into the wee hours of the night, pulled my beat up old BMW over in some vineyard in S. France in the dark, put my sleeping bag on the ground and went to sleep. At dawn I awoke to an old guy whacking my legs with a stick and babbling in French. He made me get up and come to his farmhouse a couple of hundred meters away. I thought he was going to call the police. Turns out he led me into the massive underground storage room with huge casks of fermenting wine and told me to fill whatever containers I had with as much wine as I wanted directly from the tap. Then he fed me one of the best impromptu meals I can remember, shook my hand and wished me well. That was a very pleasant beginning to a wonderful 3 weeks of HG'ing in France! Why do Americans so dislike the French? OK, here's my theory: France is associated with what some consider the more refined aspects of life: food, wine, fashion, perfume, a certain lack of interest in the mass slaughter of other humans, etc. Insecure anglo saxon males see these as feminine interests and reject France for fear of even the most remote hint that they might be interested in something that is, well, for girls. This explains why Germany is liked so much! Why? Germany means fast cars, beer, spiked helmets, Messerschidts, rocket scientists, etc. You get it right? Real honest to goodness bad boy stuff. To sum it up, these comments about "hating" the French have become a tired cliché and have more to say about the hater than the French. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Apparently you did not see the humor in my post? However I must admit that my experience in France was not quite as was yours. I met a few nice people but for the most part I was amazed at the snobbery. Germany was not to my liking, at least not the food. Spain was great but perhaps because I had a reasonable command of the language. Portugal was a blast. Italy, now there is some great food.

Walt

Originally Posted by Bob

Amen brother!

I've only had wonderful experiences in France. Of course just like in
the US you have to look past the occasional snob/red neck.

Bob

My experience in France was that the snob was more than occasional. Forget trying to speak to them in tourist French. Spain was amazing though, I can handle the language after hanging with Cubans, Puerto Ricans and Mexicans much of my life. Italy was awesome, especially the food and the women.

Red Neck? Guidos? Hicks? Good ol boys? The French have their own version as does every society, they just give them different names. For the record I speak fluent red neck, cracker and cowboy. If you ever find yourself landing out in Central Florida and encountering an irate one of the above mentioned I suggest you call me. Remember, "ya'll" is singular, "all ya'll" is plural.

Walt

Originally Posted by gotovkotzepkoi

This is a bit off subject but I could not resist. Can't stand the French? I hear this a lot from other Americans and it usually turns out that the people who say this have zero direct experience with the French. I have been to France many times (while in the US Army for 12 yrs in Germany I used to go hang gliding in S. France a lot, for instance). I very rarely encountered the mythical, asshole Frenchman. I found the French to be generally a very gregarious, happy, polite people. Ok, there was the occasional impolite waiter but let's face it, they are a planetary wide phenomenon. On one HG'ing trip to Provence I drove from our base in Germany into the wee hours of the night, pulled my beat up old BMW over in some vineyard in S. France in the dark, put my sleeping bag on the ground and went to sleep. At dawn I awoke to an old guy whacking my legs with a stick and babbling in French. He made me get up and come to his farmhouse a couple of hundred meters away. I thought he was going to call the police. Turns out he led me into the massive underground storage room with huge casks of fermenting wine and told me to fill whatever containers I had with as much wine as I wanted directly from the tap. Then he fed me one of the best impromptu meals I can remember, shook my hand and wished me well. That was a very pleasant beginning to a wonderful 3 weeks of HG'ing in France! Why do Americans so dislike the French? OK, here's my theory: France is associated with what some consider the more refined aspects of life: food, wine, fashion, perfume, a certain lack of interest in the mass slaughter of other humans, etc. Insecure anglo saxon males see these as feminine interests and reject France for fear of even the most remote hint that they might be interested in something that is, well, for girls. This explains why Germany is liked so much! Why? Germany means fast cars, beer, spiked helmets, Messerschidts, rocket scientists, etc. You get it right? Real honest to goodness bad boy stuff. To sum it up, these comments about "hating" the French have become a tired cliché and have more to say about the hater than the French. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

BTW, when I heard this joke originally, "There are two types of people in this world I can't stand: 1, Those intolerant of others due to their race, religion or nationality and.....2, the French," the punch line was "the Dutch." Lighten up.

Walt

At 19:19 02 February 2011, Walt Connelly wrote:

Apparently you did not see the humor in my post? However I must admit
that my experience in France was not quite as was yours. I met a few
nice people but for the most part I was amazed at the snobbery.

Well, I at least got a chuckle out of your original effort.

OTOH, I visited friends in Europe in October of 2011, while
the pile of rubble in downtown NYC was still smoking. The
airport in Paris (or maybe it was the train station) was the
only place where someone went out of their way to mock
me for being an American, and laughed because the WTC
was no more.

Jim Beckman

I second the advice to go to France and fly at St. Auban. Very good
instructors. A fleet of sailplanes that can't be beat. Ridge soaring
for just about any wind.
Most people speak pretty good english. The costs are very reasonable.

I have been to St. Auban five times. Most days begin with thermals on
the ridges. As the surrounding mountains heat up and the local winds
pick up you fly the bulk of the day in mixed thermals and ridge
soaring. At the end of most days it is was primarily ridge soaring.
Actually, many of the ridges are limestone cliffs. It is great fun at
many locations to cruise the length of the ridge gaining altitude
until you top out at one end of the ridge. Then you do a 180, pull
the airbrakes and blow off all of your altitude as you run to the
other end of the ridge. Then you close the airbrakes, turn back into
the face of the ridge and scream back along the face gaining altitude
at 100kts. Then do it again. One day you do it in a Janus, the next
in a Discus 2, then an LS-8, then a Nimbus, then an LS-4, then an
ASW-24, and so on. How can you get bored?

That's my vote.

Guy