WEATHER
Visibility: Severe Clear
Wind: 12 G 18 direct crosswind, from 220 degrees.
Altitudes: 8200 msl.
Jennifer Bauman and
Troy Wollman.
Time Aloft: 3.8 hours,
Mario Pauda
Max Lift: 900 fpm.
Temperature: Mid 60's.
Comment: Wave flying for everyone.
Tow pilot:
Dan Gudgel,
Andrew ???, and
Luciano Worls.
A great day for everyone to see what flying the wave is all about. Some made it only through to the top of the rotor, while others got to see what a glider elevator feels and looks like.
Below about
3000 msl the air was quite rough and too much for my students to handle. It was so rough that the tows took so much longer than normal to get above that altitude. For most of the tows I simply gave up and got off at around
2500-2600 msl. After going up through, and down through for eight training flights, my own patience was a bit frazzled. However, once above, the air was laminar smooth and most had fun flying in the wave. After sixteen times in that rough air, my control arm was complaining a bit and my right palm got a bit sore.
Jennifer Bauman and
Troy Wollman did the smart thing and flew together in the
Orange Crush, spelling each other during the flight. Since they were up for nearly three hours, they had forgotten how rough the sub-ridge air could be. They made it down with no trouble but on the patio they well remembered how difficult the transition was through and down to a landing.
Russ Genet and I were up first and we managed to get into the wave and up to
5300 msl. We could have gone higher but realized that there were others waiting for their rides since I had been scheduled every hour from 9 am to 5 pm. Fortunately two time slots cancelled and made it a bit easier to work everyone in that wanted to fly. Here is
Russ's comment:
Hi Harold (and Russell and Don),
Nice flights today! Very exciting to ride the wave!
It was good to have a crosswind.
Russ Genet
Hi Troy and Jenn (and All),
Fantastic! I look forward to your report! Way too much fun by everyone today.
Cheers, Russ
Two newcomers were
Beth Hotchkiss and
Alexia (
Lexy)
Aguirre and neither had ever been in the wave. After suffering through the rough air, we snagged the wave and went high.
Beth got to a bit over
6000 msl and
Lexy managed to get to
5800 msl. Both, of course, were most impressed with how smooth and how quickly we rose in the wave. While most were experiencing around 4 knots of lift, both
Beth and
Lexy saw
700-800 fpm of lift in the area in which we captured the wave. See the accompanying photos.
For
Jim Bell and
Beth Platz the day was mostly about suffering through the rough air (rotor) and then spending time trying to capture the smooth air for a ride up. But after enough time had passed and their working hard at getting just above
3000 msl, we headed back down for another try at the tow and the rough air. Although neither got very high, the experience was definitely worth the effort and
Jim Bell remarked that in learning, he was OK with it since he knew the future might bring such conditions after his solo and he needed to know how to deal with it.
Beth Platz was her usual implacable self and wasn't too bothered by getting knocked around the sky for two flights.
Mario Pauda was the only other ship in the sky besides the
Orange Crush for any length of time. He managed nearly four hours aloft and, like
Troy and
Jennifer, ranged around in the vicinity of
8000 msl.
It's too bad more members weren't out at the field, but on the other hand, it would have shortened the flight for
Troy and
Jennifer because my use of
Big Bird lasted all day with few downtime spaces to take advantage of. We certainly expect more wave days at
Avenal and I strongly suggest members watch for the
RASP by
Alex Caldwell. His production of the data for Saturday was correct and could have been the key to whether or not a member chose to drive a distance to get to
Avenal for the wave. I'm sure most members saw the chatter of emails concerning the wave long before Saturday arrived and the prognostication was accurate.
There will be more days like Saturday so pay attention to those all important emails a few days prior.
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| Dennis Lyons wrote: "Looking NE toward Avenal from my house, north of Paso Robles 12:35 today." |
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| Russ Genet chats with Dan Gudgel and his tow pilot trainee, Andrew ???. |
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| Russ Genet is anxious to see what the wave is all about. He found out at 5300 msl. |
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| Mario Pauda joins the group at the far NW end for launching. |
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| Russ Genet coming up on 5000 msl. He topped off in the wave at 5300 msl. |
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| Russ headed back down when he reached 5300 msl just to give the others a chance at wave flying. |
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| Russ is seeing 300 fpm lift but the lift was often much higher than that. |
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| Beth Platz worked hard at fighting the rotor but we didn't get much above 3200 msl in wave. |
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| Jim Bell had two flights, mostly in the rotor because it took so darn long to climb. |
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| The cloud showing is the primary wave lenticular. There were secondary and tertiary waves east. |
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| Beth Platz stayed around for awhile after her flight but headed home early afternoon. |
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| Jennifer Bauman and Troy Wollman launching on their record-setting flight, for them. |
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| Whoever was flying did very well countering the strong crosswind. |
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| Off the ground and holding low, Jennifer and Troy had no idea how much fun the flight would be. |
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| Beth Hotchkiss is just about to launch on her first flight in the wave. |
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| Approaching 5500 msl, Beth topped out at just over 6000 msl. |
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| The altimeter shows just at 6000 msl and Beth is one happy young lady. |
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| Yes, Beth Hotchkiss just had a wonderful, first wave flight in Big Bird. |
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Next up was Alexia Aguirre who was excited to see what wave flying was all about.
Note that we are just about 800 feet per minute going up in the wave. |
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| The altimeter shows 5100 msl, Lexy actually topped off at 5800 msl. Notice Lexy's hand gently on the stick. |
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| Late afternoon, both gliders are tied down after a fun day for most students. |
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| The Orange Crush was the final glider to be tied down after Mario Pauda landed his 1-26. |
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| With the sun below the West Ridge, the primary wave cloud can be seen with its front edge colored by the sun. |
Here are six pictures taken by
Troy and
Jennifer during their epic wave flight of nearly three hours aloft:
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| Troy Wollman and Jennifer Bauman in the Orange Crush at altitude. |
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| Mario Pauda in his 1-26 a hundred feet below Troy and Jennifer. |
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| The view was magnificent from 8000 msl in smooth air, no turbulence. |
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| On our way down from 8200 msl but regained the altitude later on. |
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| Far in the distance one can see multiple lenticular clouds marking tertiary waves. |
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| Jennifer and Troy are a bit tired but enthused after their record setting flight in the wave to 8200 msl. |
Hopefully we will see more of you members out at Avenal this time of year. I remind all of you again that these conditions from now until March are ideal for training. Take advantage of them.
Harold Gallagher
