Flying possibilities

[Bill Cummings]

Monday at Guadalupe Rim if we speculate that what is happening at Dell City TX which is to the SW of the Rim is comparable to conditions at the Rim then things look bad for soaring.
The Rim near launch faces 245 degrees Grid north. (270 is straight west and 225 is SW)
Wind direction from SW (225deg.) to WNW (292deg.) is good.
The history at Dell City is showing that the wind is out of the east with a little north on it.
See history below. Reports from pilots would be appreciated.

Dell City TX Pres. Day history.JPG (33.49 KiB) Viewed 5841 times

[Bill Cummings]

Robin may be posting of our trip to Magdalena Rim for a 12:02 pm launch by Robin. I was nose wire man and driver today since Robin did that job for me 2-9-15
At the time of his launch this is what the history at Deming, NM shows. Deming, (KDMN) is way out in front and slightly to the right of the southwest facing launch and Las Cruces NM (KLRU) is to the left of launch.

These two reporting stations so far are the ones that we hope to learn from.

We want to find out what the forecast velocities and wind direction at these two weather sites will also yield favorable soaring in ridge lift at the remote Magdalena Rim.
Below Deming (KDMN)

Mag., Rim 2-19-15 Robin.JPG (37.54 KiB) Viewed 5833 times

Below Las Cruces (KLRU)

Mag Rim 2-19-15 KLRU Robin.JPG (36.42 KiB) Viewed 5833 times

Stay tuned for Robin's report to see if these stations did or did NOT yield soarable conditions.

[RobinHastings]

Well, that may explain the sort of flight I had today. The forecast was for strong winds out of the southwest, turning to west and becoming a blowout. As I write this at 5:00 pm, there is finally a hint of a breeze in the trees across my street. Alas... Bill and I arrived at the Rim parking area at 9:15 am, and by 11:00 we had my Wills Wing U2 hauled to the launch and set up. Then we waited for a wind. And waited some more. At 11:25 we had a pretty good breeze suddenly start up, but I wasn't in my harness then. By the time I was, the winds died down. At noon I took off into what looked like a pretty good cycle. (Bill agreed!) I went left, and - at best, maintained. Then sank. I found one thermal with possibilities, near the south face, but when I completed my first turns, it was gone. Once again, alas. I set up a good southwest approach into our standard LZ (the one that opens out of an arroyo) and had a pretty good touchdown. Duration: About 5 minutes. But don't sneer - I had a great day, enjoying 70 degree weather outdoors with Bill, and we had a nice lunch afterwards when we got back to Las Cruces. With 6 feet of snow in Boston,and 0 degrees in North Carolina, there are worse things to experience than a sled run on a beautiful day in New Mexico. I hope everyone gets some airtime this weekend!
-Robin

[Bill Cummings]

Sunday Feb., 22, 2015
Wow---are we ever blown out here!

[Bill Cummings]

The forecast winds for today had been showing out of the east but now Launch Code Deming, NM (USA) area is showing west for today Tuesday. They’re thinking it will build to around 25 mph.

Launch Code for the Las Cruces area being 60 miles east of Deming naturally is showing west winds and also high winds for today.

If you are on launch at the top of Dry Canyon Alamogordo NM, right now and ready to launch you are cold. Wind chill is under 45 degrees (F.) And it too will blow out later on.

One interesting thing that the weathermen never get right for the Tularosa Basin at Alamogordo is when cold air comes down from the central plains when warm air is out of the wsw locally it many times will be dead calm at the Dry Canyon launch ramp. All this while at Santa Teresa Airport and Las Cruces Airport it could be showing high winds all day. The cold air coming down the Tularosa Basin will not allow the warmer air coming over the mountains east of Las Cruces to descend into the Tularosa Basin below 7000’ msl which is the altitude of the launch ramp.
This could happen on Wednesday. It’s always a tough call. Mostly because the weathermen in this rare occurrence are not much help at all.

[RobinHastings]

Sunday, March 1st. Spring is here - maybe a little earlier than the calendar predicts. It was a good day. With my daughter Keighley as our driver, I met up with Mike Ellsworth and Jan Zschenderlein at the Cox Field LZ in Alamogordo, about 11:45 am. (Still Mountain Standard Time.) We went up to Dry Canyon launch, with light to moderate winds out of the southwest. It was a beautiful, clear day with some high cirrus, and no indication of inversion as we so often see in our winter conditions. Jan was first off in his PG. He had no trouble getting 1000 feet over launch; but as the winds picked up, his trouble was moving forward. He did make the field, though, with plenty of altitude. Mike was next to launch, in his Wills Wing T2C, and he had no trouble skying out, either. A flock of geese, unusual to hear at Dry Canyon, was having a good time circling around launch and showing him how it's done. I was last off. No problems, despite the growing winds at 2:40 pm. I shot up 100 feet in seconds, cruised the launch, and quickly rose to 8000 ft MSL (1000 over launch). I cruised the ridge and found plenty of lift, though most thermals seemed to have no backsides to them. For several minutes I even thermalled with a hawk! I found a good deal of lift at the West Ridge, waited until Mike had landed, and then finally headed for the field as I heard about increasingly strong winds there. I set up a careful, southwest approach, crossed into Cox Field at 50 feet, and rose to about 100 feet as I traversed the entire field before making a relatively light, sideways touchdown at the western edge. (Mike and Jan both had GOOD landings, darn it! And great flights, too...) Keighley missed the sight by 5 minutes or so, driving into the LZ just as I was looking at my Wills Wing U2 and trying to remember how to put it in the bag. With her help this was eventually accomplished, and with handshakes all around, we finally scattered to our respective dwelling places. We all have work to do this week - but man, it sure was nice to start it with some airtime. Spring has sprung!
-Robin

[Bill Cummings]

RGSA/Hawks,
Robin and I are going to keep an eye out for conditions holding for Anapra tomorrow. If it's good to go we each will be driving our own vehicles because (snicker-snicker) Robin has to work later just a short ways away. (I'm so bad )
So I will be the one reporting in tomorrow evening. Hopefully Robins flight will be better than mine because he deserves it .
(Keep my Soc. Sec. ponzi fund stoked up Robin )

[RobinHastings]

Hi, Bill. Friday looks better than today, both for the winds and for my working schedule. Let's try for Anapra tomorrow morning!
-Robin

[Bill Cummings]

I copy you Robin---mercy sakes cotton picker by golly for sure good buddy we definitely have a 10-2 copy on ya --your coming in here wall to wall and ten feet tall on channel one nine. Bring it on back

[Bill Cummings]

RGSA/Hawks,
It looks now like the wind at Anapra will be light in the morning and building until 5pm from the east.
Now Robin and I will meet at his house at 10:50 and see if our lunch date with a fellow in El Paso will be at noon or one pm.
Next it's on to Anapra and let's fly there.