7th Annual Cumberland Spring Soar for Fun ~ March 17-21, 2016

[gunny11]

Nice to hear you guys had fun!

[BobM]

Sounds like another great day......wish I were there with everyone.

The building and new stairs look really fantastic Jim, really wonderful picture of the opening of the season.

Glad to hear the brakes are working so well........I had no doubts about the system........definitely an upgrade I will be making to my Bidule in the near future.

Looking forward to the updates as the event goes on the next several days.........best wishes to everyone there.

Bob

[Asher Carmichael]

OK guys, we know you all are having a 'blast" and we'd love to be there as well, but since we cant, WE NEED PICS!

[Steve P]

Slope carnage. Too gruesome to share!

Aero tow both Thursday and Friday mornings gave way to epic slope lift around lunch. Lots of flying foam. Lowlights include a DAW 1-26 taken out by a molded plane -- tail group of the 1-26 gone, major leading edge damage to the molded. Today a Bluto took out some fine looking v-tailed molded ship. It is howling now.

Everyone bundled up and flying, few careras to be seen.

[Xroadie]

....... few careras to be seen.

I bet...I'd never drive my Porsche up there

[French1]

The nuts are flying, here is proof (Len and I)

Stephane

[Jeff D]

Need a set of deicing boots for the ships.

Gunny, after reading all the posts I think I see another opportunity. It's called the Cumberland Package. It consists of the disk brakes, hot boots and a retractable grappling hook for holding position on the real howling days.

Way to go guys!

[Steve P]

I simply forgot to pull my camera back out and take more pictures. But I did take these three on Thursday morning and a few of my new XModel Stingray before we hurled it out over the valley!

[Steve P]

Maiden flights on my new XModel Stingray were fantastic. Perfect for a large slope and screaming passes with fast rolls. Love this sailplane!

Using the attachment feature to see if my photos upload larger...

[JimD]

As Stephane posted, The weather and the forecast looked grim Saturday morning. Still, aerotowing did happen!





Then the snow really settled in.



Not to be deterred, the great Swiss1 persisted in flying.



Only problem is a white plane in a white sky with white flakes coming down is hard to see...does anybody see it...where s it????



By noon Saturday, most had decided to call it an event and headed for home. Len, Don, Jeremy, Tom, and Burt stayed on and we all went to dinner to reflect on the first event of the year and the fickleness of weather forecasting. Jeremy and Tom pulled their trailer out Saturday night, but Len, Don, and I still had ours at the field and still had planes assembled in the hangar...just in case. By the end of dinner, the forecast called for low ceilings all day Sunday with snow likely, so Len and Don decided to meet me early Sunday morning to pack up their planes, hook up their trailers, and head for home. The scene from the mountain was not what we had hoped to be seeing, but it was beautiful in its own way.



It is always sad to see the last person leave! My friend Joe helped me put everything in the building back in storage and then we shared a pot of coffee and tales of great events gone by!



As the day progressed, we noted that from about 10:00 am on, there were perfect aerotowing conditions. No wind, no rain, no snow, 3,000' ceiling, and reasonably mild temperature. We departed the mountain around 3:00 pm, conditions for aerotowing still perfect, and stopped by the car wash to get the mud off the trailer. As I pulled in my driveway at 4:00 PM, the overcast sky had holes of blue and the occasional burst of sunshine.



and tomorrow now looks to be another perfect wind in your face slope day! Oh well, so much for the weather forecast!

[Soarntz]

Jim, even though I only flew there Thursday and Friday and was in the "Hangar" Saturday morning, it was a great 2 days of sloping! This is first time in years I had not planned to stay the 5 days. Thanks for all your efforts and those that offered assistance if needed.

[Steve P]

Jim,
Time on the mountain seems to go much faster than all other time. Thanks for once again being a wonderful, generous host.
Two great days of sloping and several tows to low earth orbit thanks to Len. I even got to fly the Bidule -- the brakes rule!
Good times!
Looking forward to July.
Steve

[JimD]

"It was the best of times and it was the worst of times..."

As time goes by, I find that hosting events I s as rewarding and enjoyable as flying...but, that is made so by the many wonderful people that come to the events. On one hand, I am sorry the weather was not better for flying, but on the other hand, I greatly enjoyed the time spent eating and "hangar flying" with my friends.

For the record, today was perfect for aerotowing from about 10:00 am until dark...but how could we know that in advance? The forecasts were all but useless!

Next up for me it the Team Gorgeous Event in Delaware. Plan to put some time on the Bidule's DA-150 between now and then to get is broken in and ready for serious tow duty. Porter #3 is at the ready and a Hangar 9 Pawnee is coming up on the workbench.

[lenb]

We made the trip back home on a record breaking 6 hrs and 15 min. Including 2 fuel stops. Traffic was flowing fast and no construction delays anywhere.

The week in Cumberland started on Tuesday night for us. We helped Jim on Wednesday get ready for the event and maided his Bidule, of course a flight or three on the Biplane may have happened. Thursday was good for towing up until about 1:00. Those that were smart and had their planes put together instead of flapping their jaws actually got some flying in. ( insert name here)

Sloping was pretty much the only flying to be had the rest of the week. It's tough to have an event in March, but history has proven this time frame works most of the time. This was not one of the times. Still, a bad day of flying is far better than an great day at work.
Thank you Jim and Marcy for keeping everyone's spirits high despite the bleak forecast and for providing everyone with food and drink way up on a mountain top. That's no small feat.
I hope you know how much we all appreciate everything you do, have done and have selflessly given to this community. You're a rare breed.

Len

[JimD]

The five days set aside for the Spring Soar for Fun did offer a great flying opportunity (provided that you had the correct planes for the conditions).

Thursday 17th: Started with mild wind and temperature and offered a few hours of decent aerotowing. As the wind picked up it transitioned into good slope flying.

Friday 18th: Again started with relatively mild temperature and a short period of aerotowing at the start and then strong wind for great slope flying.the rest of the day.

Saturday 19th: No wind, but snow showers began early. Stephane and Len got in one aerotow launch and then raced the coming "white out" conditions back to landing. All retreated into the hangar and after a bit the snowfall rate became less intense. This temped some to fly various small electrics from the shelter of the porch. About 3:00 pm, we called it a day and departed the mountain. At dinner, the forecast look to be snow, cold, and low ceiling all day Sunday, so all decided that it was time to call it over and depart the following morning.

Sunday 20th: Cold, wet, and muddy conditions greeted us and getting the trailers hooked up and out was a challenge. Len and Don were the last to leave at around 9:30 am. The freeze line around the mountains was beautiful and many pictures were taken. By 10:00 am, the ceiling lifted, the wind remained calm, and the temperature moderated. The rest of the day offered very reasonable aerotowing conditions, but alas, no one was here to take advantage of it.

Monday 21st: Mostly clear and sunny sky with moderately strong wind at the slope was too tempting and Russ, Al, and Greg came back and spent most of the day flying in excellent slope conditions. Probably some of the best that I have every seen on the mountain. Russ was last man out at 4:45 PM.

Bottom line, of the five days, only one had really poor flying conditions, but flying took place none the less. Sunday, the one day that had no flying, could have mostly been a very successful aerotow day. Three of the five days had outstanding slope flying for most of each day. So, if you are coming to Cumberland in March...GET A SLOPE PLANE!

Monday:













.