three days in june

The story of three pilots,
intending to fly as far away from the airport as possible on the first day,
and hoping to return back home within two days.

Introduction

Once you learn how to soar, you practice flying as far as possible each time you launch, selecting various places to fly over and then you try to get home again before the lift quits. We continually challenge ourselves, routinely pushing the envelope. We do this just to see what we can achieve on any given day. The joy of flying, free of constraints, working with nature, trying to get the most out of the flying machine, and flying as far as possible using only the energy of the sun and the wind.

Every day is different.

Virtually every glider pilots dreams about it, one time or another. What if we just try to see how far we can go? On this day in June, three pilots were willing to try it. This is the story of how Jim Herd, Steve Eddy and Peter Kelly planned and accomplished a soaring adventure.

Planning

We agreed to give it a try. On the following Tuesday, June 25, we would all be ready to launch from Minden, takeoff at the first opportunity, in the direction that promised the best lift for the day, and plan to stay at least one night somewhere else. Hopefully at a motel, and not in the desert.

Dr Jack's BLIP MAP suggested a flight eastbound, just north of Interstate Highway 80 was the best track. We could see Afton, Pinedale, Rock Springs, and other places in Wyoming on the edge of the map, and hoped we might be able to fly that far.

We packed a change of clothes, and a few support items, including credit cards and cash. Since we each had the same model ship, the Motorglider DG800B, we were not dependent upon a tow plane. We had created various databases by extracting the databases that come with the "See You" software - keeping each database to less than 200 points in each set. We had WAC Charts that would take us past Wyoming. We felt we were ready.

Day One

Steve in "Echo Four (E4)" launched first, I was next in "Papa Kilo (PK)", and Jim followed in "Papa Whiskey (PW)". We all had our flight recorders on, so we would be able to review the flight later. We are using the "See You" software to analyze and display the flight here on this page (visit http://www.seeyou.ws/ for more info about the "See You" software).

The airfield is not depicted on the graphic chart, but here you can see the taxi down the parallel taxiway,

and the takeoff on runway 34 at Minden. The engine noise level is shown in red. You can see a right turn at the end of the runway, and thermal was found at about 1,000 feet. A few turns were made before the engine was shut down, and after a bit more climbing the flight was started out towards the north east. You may see an enlargement, if you click on the image.

E4 hadn't flown through this thermal, and was searching for lift on the east side of the field. He thought he had one, shutdown his engine, but couldn't get above 8,000. As he began to lose altitude E4 headed back towards the field. PW and PK headed north.

E4 adamantly refused to do a relight, and instead, circled slowly with other gliders up to 9,000 ft. His persistence paid off, as he caught up to PW and PK just north of Tiger Field at Fernley.

The lift was good, but it was quickly overdeveloping. As soon as we climbed to cloud base, it would begin to rain - virga actually, but it was rain to us. We kept moving. Along the south side of Black Rock Desert, out towards Sulfur - north of Winnemucca, we could see it was heavy rain to the east.

Looking north west back towards Gerlach you can see we were under some dark clouds, cruising near 15,000 ft.

You may see an enlargement, if you click on the image.

We turned towards the northeast. It looked like McDermott, Oregon would be our target- less than 100 miles away. It's actually right on the border with Nevada. As we approached, it looked like heavy rain south of the field, and probably over the field, but it appeared to be moving towards the south west. We considered Caldwell - a place just north of Boise, but that track would take us across a blue hole more than 50 miles in diameter. There were scattered clouds to the north. We studied the charts and agreed to keep our option open for going back to McDermott, but we decided to explore to the north. We were 85 miles to Caldwell, but the blue hole was still there. E4 suggested we call Flight Service (FSS) and ask about facilities at Burns Airport, some 50 miles to the north of our current location. Since PK was in the lead, he made the call. FSS was extremely helpful, apparently using airport guides, etc., to describe the field to us, telling us about the town, the FBO, and even mentioned the books stated there was transportation to town. PK had final glide, so after a few photos, he landed, and arranged the parking, transportation, motel and dinner. Actually, Pat, who was running the UNICOM there at Burns, along with her husband Walt, provided all of the info and the resources. She told us we could use her daughter's car for the night, and even recommended a motel and restaurant. What great hospitality.

Here is the town, about five miles from the airport.......................................

You may see an enlargement, if you click on the image.

Here is the view of the runways from overhead, as seen from the glider cockpit. The FBO and ramp are on the south side of the field.

You may see an enlargement, if you click on the image.

The sign over the door says it all.... We certainly felt welcome. What fine hospitality...

welcom to burns

Here is a copy of the flight trace on Day One, from Minden, Nevada to Burns, Oregon.

26p

Once on the ground at Burns, we decided to reload the water ballast, before heading to town. You may see an enlargement, if you click on the image.

It was a pleasant evening in Burns, Oregon.

The next morning a photo was taken of Jim (PW) and Steve (E4) each leaving their motel rooms, with the infamous blue honda in the foreground. You may see an enlargement, if you click on the image.

Day Two

We had phoned Milt Hare on his cell phone the night before, told him where we were, and asked if he would do us the favor of providing us with a weather forecast for the next leg of our journey. At 9 AM the next morning we called Milt as we had prearranged. In typical fashion Milt described part of the flight as a "rocket ride" if we headed south from Bend, Oregon, but cautioned that there might be poor lift from abeam Mt Lassen southward. As for getting out of Burns, he couldn't say.

As we waited for the lift to start, we could see there were cu to the north west as well as to the north east. There were massive thunderstorms forecasted for Idaho, and we could already see them developing north of Boise, as shown in this photo......

panaroma looking north

We eventually headed northwest towards those clouds you see on the left in this photo. They were less than 20 miles from the field, and we were able to stay within glide distance as we headed towards them, catching lift as we went.

Our intention the night before was to depart to the southwest, and to explore the lift in the direction of Siskiyou/ Montague, with the possibility of spending the night there, assuming we could make it back to Minden the third day. After talking to Milt, our personal meteorologist, we decided Lakeview Oregon, or Alturas California might be a more prudent location for our next overnight.

As we approached Lakeview from the north, we could see Goose Lake to the south, and Alturas was just past that. It wasn't quite a "rocket ride" but the lift was good on certain stretches. We decided to keep going. Even though it was a much more difficult day than the first day, it was still early.

Communication between pilots on a trip like this is essential to a safe operation. We were able to talk freely, keep each other informed of the flight conditions and our individual progress because we were each operating a licensed ham radio from the cockpit on the two meter band. The benefit of these ham radios is dramatic. Sailplane pilots must have this type of communication if flights are to be conducted safely. Adequate description of changing flight conditions, and precise flight following information cannot be conveyed on a frequency that is congested by the use of dozens of other pilots, all trying to talk at the same time. The ham radio has added an entirely new dimension to soaring - especially cross country flying. If you are interested in more info on how to become licensed as an Amateur Radio Operator, simply visit your nearest Public Library or Radio Shack Store, and look for a book by Gordon West. Using the internet, there is a super site for hams, and from that site you can locate study material. See http://www.w5yi.org/Technic.htm The entry level ham license (Technician Class) does not require knowledge of morse code. As a pilot, you will find the material is easy to learn, and the test is very straight forward. Also, the cost of the equipment is reasonable - less than 300 dollars for a high quality transceiver. You can be operating on VHF frequencies in the two meter band, just slightly higher than our normal aircraft radio frequencies, in a very short time.

Here is the flight trace on this second day .........

You may see an enlargement, if you click on the image.

As we approached Alturas, there was no visible lift either further south, or towards Redding in the southwest. E4 made contact with the UNICOM at Alturas. A Mr. Bob Burns was manning the radio, and he was instrumental in helping us to land and park safely.

The wind on the surface was a gusty 20 knots from the south west, but it was over 30 knots in the pattern. Windshear occurred about 300 feet above the runway. Steve (E4) had several people assist him in parking, and then Steve assisted Jim after he landed. They both assisted Peter as we parked the ships for the night.

Here is a photo of the Alturas area as we approached from the north......

You may see an enlargement, if you click on the image.

Again we were met with wonderful hospitality. Bob Burns provided us with a vehicle, we found a good motel, and had an excellent dinner in a nearby Basque restaurant. After a big breakfast we returned to the airport to get ready for the journey home to Minden.

Day Three

We sat on the porch, waiting for the lift on our second day.......
You may see an enlargement, if you click on the image.

The lift was already starting to appear to the south and south west. It looked like it might be an easy day. You may see an enlargement, if you click on the image.

We climbed easily from 2,000 ft above the runway, reaching 9,000 ft MSL in only a few minutes. Proceeding east, we soon realized we were not going to have too many clouds to show us the way. E4 did a low save over the dry lake bed, just past the first ridge line, and it didn't get any easier. By the time we reached Gerlach, there was not a cloud in the sky on our route back towards Minden. It was slow going. At Tiger Field, Fernley, we found lift over the mine, just southeast of the runway, that took us from 8,000 up to 11,000 and that allowed us to get over to Dayton Valley, and from there we were able to make it to the runway at Minden.

Here is the flight trace from that last day. You may see an enlargement, if you click on the image.

Summary

Here is map, again from "See You", showing the first day in Blue, from Minden to Burns, the second day in Green, from Burns to Alturas, and the last day in red, from Alturas to Minden. You may see an enlargement, if you click on the image.

The "See You" software also provides detailed statistics of the flights......

	Tue, 25 June	Wed, 26 June	Thu, 27 June
Takeoff	12:42	12:12	12:15
Total Engine Time - (used only on takeoff)	7.3 Minutes	7.8 Minutes	5.7 Minutes
Land	17:25	17:57	16:59
# Thermals	27	25	30
Amt of Circling	30%	25%	33%
Altitude Gain	47,170	43,450	42,970
Average L / D when gliding	61	57	42
Task Distance - Straight line from Engine-off to Destination	318.6 miles (512.7 km)	169.1 miles (272 km)	176.2 miles (283.5 km)
Task Ground Speed	59.3 MPH	40.5 MPH	39.1 MPH

You can see from the stats that the last day was the most difficult. More thermals were used, a greater percentage of the flight was used for circling, the speed on course was slower, and the L/D during the cruise shows there were very few, if any, cloud streets.

It had been three days of hard flying, and we were glad to be back home. You may see an enlargement, if you click on the image.

We are looking forward to our next adventure, possibly the second week of July.

See other stories, links to the Soaring Diary, and weather forecast pages at
http://www.soaringnet.com/~pk

Send email comments to
Peter Kelly (PK) at pk2@sbcglobal.net
Jim Herd (PW) at JLHerd@attbi.com
Steve Eddy (E4) at steve.eddy@charter.net