02 July 2010

Hobbs Day 4

The forecast for today is rain and ceilings at 1000 AGL as the remnants of Hurricane Alex make their way through the area.  Tomorrow does not look much better, but there is a chance we can fly on Sunday.

The long range forecast models are suggesting that Mon - Thurs will be flying days, if you can trust a forecast that far out.

Here is the view we are currently enjoying out of the motorhome window!

01 July 2010

Hobbs Day 2 and 3

Day 2 was scrubbed at the meeting and then it rained all day.

Day 3 the forecast is not optimistic the TAF calls for TSRA and BKN035, OVC 050 CB but we have a grid time set for 1300 in case we can get a 2 hr MAT later this afternoon.

We launched at 1530 after the sniffer reported climbing through 3000 AGL.  I was 8th to launch and off tow, the most I could climb to was 2500 AGL before I was at cloudbase.  About 30 minutes after I launched the day was scrubbed.
 
 
Dave

29 June 2010

Hobbs Day 1

The day was scrubbed today at 12:30 due to low cloud, high winds and thunderstorms.  We rigged the glider first thing this morning with an ugly looking sky and I would have waited until after the pilots' meeting, but I had to fill with water and get weighed.

As we rode our bikes over to the meeting, the clouds to the east were looking very dark and part way through the meeting we could hear the rain on the roof.  The weather man, Walt Rogers who is both a meteorologist and glider pilot is providing the weather briefings to us remotely from California through a webcast tool.  His forecast for today was "likely unflyable".  When asked about the longer term forecast he was not optimistic for tomorrow but thinks that Thurs, Fri should be good.  When he was invited to come to Hobbs and join us he just chuckled - now what does that tell you?
 
Dave

28 June 2010

Hobbs

After North Battleford, Virginia, Sassy and I made the 2800 km drive to Hobbs for the US Standard Class Nationals.

The drive took us through some very desolate areas in southern Saskatchewan, Montana,and Wyoming.  Colorado was the most inhabited state we drove through and then once into New Mexico is was pretty desolate again.  I think we managed to kill about 1,000,000 bugs with the motorhome on the way down, but the drive through the thunderstorms of New Mexico washed most of them off.

Today is the second practise day and as it was yesterday, the forecast calls for thunderstorms this afternoon and the comment from the weather briefing this morning was rig, take your glider to the weigh scale and then de-rig.

 Dave