Towing

Mark Stucky (aka Forger)

Saturday, 7/23/05
Towing Flight Report

From: Sequoia Road tow launch south of Cal City (35 05 44 117 55 55)
To: Aqueduct 2 miles south of Hwy -178 (35 33 51 117 56 47)
32 miles in 1 hr 54 min.

[photos]

Was planning on launching at 11:00 a.m. but due to typical “first day” events, (loading up cell phone numbers, GPS’s, etc.), it was noon before we had Deano strapped in ready to go. Each time we got in position the wind would switch 90 degrees and we would pack up and drive to another spot. I finally picked an intersection that would allow us to tow in 3 of the 4 directions. It took a bunch of launch attempts due to a myriad of factors including training (of all the operators and helpers), weak link failures, and learning the winch. Dean was getting a workout and after breaking a “D” line on something I figured he would be ready to throw in the towel. Surprisingly he pulled out a second glider. Geez, how many gliders does he have? No wonder houses cost so much. We still had an attempt with insufficient tow pressure although it was cranked full (discovered that you need to “pump” the brake a few times prior to launch to ensure you have the full pressure range). We towed the line off the drum on another attempt (the winch is too low to be within a normal field of view). I need to set up a remote indicator for it next time. Finally Dean had had enough and it was my attempt (everyone else had decided to bag it by then too). I was starting to question the wisdom of the entire affair but decided to put my body where my mouth was and pulled out my glider.

I had left my canopy attached to my harness after my last packup but somehow had allowed my harness to flip through the lines. So after hooking in and attaching the towline I noticed each riser had a full twist. I unfastened each riser to untwist them and then disconnected the speed lines to untwist them. Somehow in this process I failed to hook one of the speed lines back up properly. My first launch attempt was a calm wind forward. It seemed to come up cleanly but we must have had too low of a tow setting because the glider was languishing behind me and I aborted.

A cycle was blowing through so the next attempt was a reverse inflation. You need slack in the line for a reverse so that you can move towards the canopy (if you don’t the tow tension will unwind you and pull your feet out from under you during the pull up). Normally it works well to have an assistant near you to hold the line out in a 45 degree angle in the direction you are going to rotate to launch. With only two people we had Eric driving and Dean working the winch. So I pulled up by myself, turned around and watched as the tow vehicle sped away with the end of the towline merrily following it (it had somehow released during the pull up and turn around).

For attempt #3 I had Dean as a launch assistant and Eric was going to do the driving and winch operating solo (not optimum but I figured it was safe enough since we all had radios and I had a PTT). So I pull up, things are looking good and Dean yells for me to abort. Damn it! I don’t want to abort but I do. He then walks up and points out that one of my speed lines is unfastened. Doooh! I distinctly remember refastening both of them but I obviously screwed it up.

I’m now ready for attempt #4 and I know Dean has had about as much fun as he’s willing to endure. He laments that it looks like a 100 mile day and we should have been up there hours ago. Another reverse inflation, clean pull-up and spin around, smoothly airborne – Hooray! Climbing out nicely when I started getting turbulence that was trying to rotate the glider. Dean called for some right brake which I did but then I needed some left and then the glider went 60+ degrees off axis to the right. Dean transmitted that I was in a dust devil. I would have liked to tow out of it but I didn’t want things to get to be too much of a handful and decided to release while the workload still permitted it. My tow bridle consists of an old 2-loop hang glider tow release that I removed from my hg bridle and converted to pg use by tying it to a v-bridle that is simply one-inch webbing with the appropriate knots. It had originally had a single release cord running down one side of the bridle but I had recently modified it so it had dual release cords that were encased in plastic tubing to help them hold their shape for easy grabbing. The cords were interconnected with a foot loop so now I could release with either hand or even with a kick of a foot. This was my first time towing in seven years and I think the modification was a great idea – it was very easy to add brake with the hand that needed it and pin off with the other.

After releasing I hovered around for a bit, tempted to try to work the dust devil but decided at my altitude it would be more prudent to push upwind. I had a nice landing on the tow road and Dean pulled up within moments. He wanted to leave me and go help Eric retrieve the line but being “geared up” I asked him if I could stuff myself with the rosetted glider in his back seat. He agreed and I think that without doing so I would have been too hot for a second attempt. We got the line retrieved without too much effort and once again set up for a launch attempt.

By this time I think the driver and Dean were ready to mutiny. It’s 3:15 pm and the sky is filled with developing cumulus clouds (rare out here). There is a thunderstorm that appears to be over Edwards, about 15 miles due south. Attempt #5 is another nice inflation and liftoff. Eric has a good tension set and I’m climbing out nicely. He’s doing about 45 mph and the line is paying out rapidly. Too rapidly. I radio him to slow down until the line is just paying out which he does but then he immediately stops. I tell him to keep moving but he says he’s near the end of the line. I think there’s plenty more rope but know he is in no mood to have me pull all the line off the drum so I pin off at 600 ft AGL.

The mini vario is beeping in light lift so I start circling. I slowly drift NW as I climb out at 100 fpm. I’ve climbed to over 5,000 ft and drifted a couple of miles in the ten minutes or so it takes them to retrieve the line and get Dean ready to go. I’m a firm believer in buddy flying and since Dean doesn’t have a PTT, I head back to be in position to support him during his launch. The tow area is now completely shaded in and I’m flying around in sink while I wait for Dean to launch. Down below 4000 ft I decide after all this hassle it would be stupid to deck it so I head back to town and promise to provide radio calls from a more distant vantage point.

Dean seems to launch well but it looks to me like he is towing with a large crab angle. That doesn’t make much sense to me and I question if he’s still on tow. Eric radios that he is but he doesn’t seem to be climbing well with the same 60 PSI that I had. I don’t know if it’s because of the apparent crab angle or if Dean is just a lard ass but Eric says he can’t crank the pressure up any more. I tell him that he’s got to slow down, release pressure and then reapply it. Which he does but he adds it on too quick, breaking the weak link. Once again Dean is gliding down from a very short flight. Dean radios to me that he has had enough so off I go.

Although I had made XC maps and borrowed a GPS, due to the day’s events I hadn’t bothered to carry either. The only thing I had done was put on a long sleeve shirt. At a couple of grand altitude I was pleased to find I was no longer a candidate for heat stroke, in fact I was quite comfortable. The lift was smooth and easy to find as long as I kept downwind of the sunlit areas. I had a NW drift and my climb rate increased as I gained altitude, passing by the Cal City airport. My Suunto watch showed I was now averaging 500 fpm as I passed 7500. Looking back towards the launch spot I could see a small downburst a few miles behind me (and heading my way). I headed north along Neuralia Rd (the planned northerly route). I often found myself climbing without turning which was great for awhile but I decided the vertical development was so extensive that I wasn’t going to allow myself above 10K’ MSL. Cloudbase was probably around 13K’ but I was giving myself plenty of buffer to avoid cloud suck as well as to allow me a better view of the more distant clouds. Passing 9,500 ft I was able to level off on full speedbar, heading north in surprisingly mellow air. Chase was behind me, taking the time to unfasten all the cables and secure the winch before following.

I had drifted NW and was nearly over Hwy 14. The Garlock area to the NE was socked in with a serious thunderstorm. To the south I was being followed by a rain shower that had a massive t-storm a handful of miles behind it. To my WSW I could see Tehachapi getting OD’d. The NW was the only quadrant that looked benign but that was over a hard retrieval area. I told chase to continue north and to get ahead of me so he would be in position to report surface winds. The Garlock storm had a massive gust front that was heading SW fast, pushing a wall of dust ahead of it. I wanted to run to Red Rock Canyon but knew that area to always be a big venturi. Chase reported the winds were light out of the east so I pressed on. He was doing 55 mph and was only slowly moving away.

As I approached the southern edge of the park I knew I had successfully skirted the squall line and was well ahead of the weather behind me. I was down to a less than 2K’ AGL and decided it was time to get some more altitude. I cored a nice thermal and climbed out over an outdoor ATV park. I could see the off-roaders having fun but right then I couldn’t picture anybody having much more fun than me. Normally reserved, I let out a big yell. Dean told me later he let out a big yell about the same time as he was driving home (I think his was actually more of a scream). Back up to 7500 ft I headed north.

From a distance Owens Valley looked totally OD’d but as I got further north I could see it seemed to be clearing up. There was, however, a large cell east of the 14 between me and Inyokern. I was watching it keenly trying to see what it was doing when chase informed me he was getting rocked with high winds from the east. With the t-storm behind me I had to either B-line to landing ASAP or try to run around what was approaching from the NE. I immediately turned 45 degrees NW and pressed out on full bar trying to stiff arm it. The virga got closer and the air ratty. I was happy that despite the bumps and the high speed that the Astral 4 handled nicely and I was able to make progress despite some impressive collapses. Eric was reporting rain and I had a nice rainbow between us. I ran nearly to the mountains before I could see the rainfall passing behind me.

I was past the last threat but it was nearing 5 pm and I was once again down to a couple of grand AGL. I had run to the safety of a blue hole yet the towering cumulus behind me were so tall that I was having difficulty getting over sunlit ground. The wind seemed to have switched to the NE and I felt like I needed to stay on at least partial speedbar to have a chance at staying ahead of the shadows and finding a thermal. I only found small patches of weak lift and didn’t bother circling. I was now generally following the aqueduct and had directed chase off Hwy 14 and on the better looking unpaved roads that I would follow several miles to the west.

As I got lower I could see the aqueduct was fenced in and the road chase was on stopped at it. I pressed east against the wind to try to make it to him using full speed bar but at 150 ft AGL I decided it wasn’t worth trying to clear a fence while accelerated. I set up to land on the covered aqueduct and had a beautiful touchdown in 8 mph winds about 100 ft from chase.