Quote from barry.morse on July 27, 2022, 5:58 pm

Thank you for sharing, Al. You definitely made the case for wheels if it hadn't already been made.

In hindsight, anything you might have done differently if you had it to do over?

Quote from rick.fitzpatrick on July 27, 2022, 6:16 pm

Thanks for sharing Al!  As everyone knows, I’m a big fan of midday flying. But even for us veterans, we can have our hands full after we take off. We never know what the air will be like. But good thermalling and solid landing approach can help keep us safe. 

I hope the new H3’s watch this and learn. Make sure you’re prepared with good thermalling and landing approaches before you take on the midday bear at Ellenville. Get time in thermals later in the day when you have less turbulence and some nice ridge lift in between your thermals. There’s no shortcuts.

Also notice that Al left a lot of landing field in front of him without making a dangerous low turn. Yeah, he hit a lot of sink on final, but he had encountered lift he had plenty of field in front of him. Never be complacent about landing approaches. During thermalling conditions, every approach is serious business. You don’t only have to navigate changes in wind direction on a compass, but also potentially strong up and down. 

Quote from Paul Voight on July 28, 2022, 10:23 am

Interesting day for sure. I was considering it..... but saw about 5 different types of clouds.... clouds going in different directions, switchy winds... birds having a tough time circleing... kinda knew I should'nt even go up there.... (or I might have been tempted to "fly because I went up there")...   🙂

Thanks for sharing Al ! You did a good job handling what looked like a handful....