Saturday, November 28, 1998
1 mile flight launching from  Mag At 1:19 PM and landing 2 Hours and  8 Minutes later (3:27 PM) in Mrs. Albright's normal field flying  my Ramair. Highest altitude was 3400 Ft. AGL

Jim Kerns, Phil Morgan, Mark Poustinchian and Warren from Minnesota all had good flights in some pretty smooth ridge lift. There was quite a bit of thermal activity too and everyone managed to get to cloudbase. I even saw some buzzards white out. I don't recall ever having seen that before. The wind did pick up quite a bit towards the end and I began to get uncomfortable with the turbulence and inability to penetrate so even though I had planned on flying for 3 hours I decided to go out and land after Warren headed out and I couldn't find Mark or Jim.

1:39 PM (0 hr 20 min) 2700 Ft. Over the towers on the west end of the mountain
This is what I love about this mountain. Even though I am mostly in ridge lift, I still am able to travel a pretty long distance.

2:05 PM (0 hr 46 min) 3000 Ft. North of Snake Knob
Jim and Mark are both east of me and by the east overlook but I am reluctant to go join them there. The ridge is quite a bit shallower and lower over there and I may not be able to make it back to launch or Mrs. Albright's LZ if I get low. Anyway there is plenty of ridge to the west so I decide to turn around and head back to the towers.

2:20 PM (1 hr 1 min) 3400 Ft. At the towers
This is where I got the highest this flight. There is quite a bit of overcast and steady lift. As I was flying over to where I saw some buzzards white out I suddenly became aware that the ground was beginning to disappear for me too. I didn't have a GPS or compass so the thought of losing my way in the cloud was quite disconcerting. I pulled in and flew back east to give myself a couple of hundred feet margin to the cloud and then relaxed and enjoyed the smooth lift.

2:45 PM (1 hr 26 min) 3000 Ft. Over the east overlook
I was high enough and the lift was strong enough that I decided to go a little further east this time for a slightly different scenery. The wind is beginning to get noticeably stronger now and the sun is peeking out from behind the clouds.

3:05 PM (1 hr 46 min) 2500 Ft. Over Launch
It looks like only the four pilots who launched early will fly today. Everyone else is breaking down. I am trying to go back to the towers but it looks like I am not going to make it. The wind is too cross out of the west for me to penetrate.

3:27 PM (2 hr 8 min) In Mrs. Albright's LZ
While I was flying towards the LZ , I watched Warren eat up the field with a west final and pound it in under the power lines at the west tree line. I was nervous about my landing too. I finally decided to set up above the chicken barns then fly north along the tree line until I was low enough to turn south and cross the barbed wire fence low. This strategy allowed me an escape route if I miscalculated and couldn't get to the Arkansas field with enough altitude to turn south. I could just turn west or south west at any time. I ended up clearing the fence with a good margin though and also had a good landing on my feet helped by the headwind. If I do eventually buy a millennium then I will miss landing on my feet more than any other aspect of hanggliding.

Logbook Index