Jack's Mountain | Soaringroadtrip

3/23/2021
Dennis and I got some good flying at Jack's.We launched around 5:00 into 6 to 12 straight in winds... Dennis got up right away launching into a thermal... I took a bit longer but caught up to him eventually...We had nice thermal action going on and I got 1650 over... Car was at lz so we had to leave the thermals... Might have gained a lot more... I had to run off my landing and Dennis rolled in after an hour ten.... Might as well mention Sunday's flying... Allan B, William and I had short (extendoes) at Jack's ...Allan got above for a minute or two....
Dave

4/10/21

It was a fun day at Jacks. I launched first into about 8 MPH winds out of the SE. Went right up over the ridge where the ridge lift was consistent. The cloud ceiling was only about 500' over launch with almost 100% cloud cover. So it was mostly just ridge soaring and some light thermals. In all Joe, Karen, Dennis, Sam, Aaron, Dave and myself got to fly. This was my second flight on my U2 145. My flight lasted 2 hours and 45 minutes. Really liking this glider.

Allan B.

8/4/21

G-man, Aron and Sam flew in that order when launchable cycles came. All sled rides. Dave was on launch, but the wind was done, so he decided against a launch...that was probably 6pm. Dennis came to help out on the launch work and launching pilots. Julie also assisted us.
Before flying we had shovels, rakes and wheelbarrow going to improve the launch with subbase material. It is better than last year, and can still be improved more.
I enjoyed flying even a sled ride there today...knock the dust off at that site for when it is really soarable.
Thanks for coming out to work and play!
Let's fly soon!
Aron

9/18/21

Jacks was just a little too light to soar. Allan and I both had sled rides.

We moved a little gravel around also.

Will H

9/20/21
Well holy cow today was the day at Jacks that we've been waiting for! What a dance in the sky!
It was an all day fest, probably soarable till dark.
You could basically fly from early morning all day long...which Steve did in his PG...like 6 hrs.
HG pilots had upwards of 2 hrs and probably could have went more.
The limiting factor was whether you could hold it or get dehydrated enough to not care anymore :)
Man, I hope we get more of those type days this fall.
addendum:

I think my highest was about 450 over. I think some others may have made 600? Not sure.
It was overcast today so there wasn't much thermal going on.
Little bits of dips and uplifts on the ridge. Sometimes a lift line you could work for a few hundred feet out from the ridge for me anyways. I saw some pilots venturing father out from the ridge and getting some gains now and then.

Aron

12/5/21

Jacks was quite a hoot today. Trying to think of everyone who flew...
Steve with PG, Will, Allan, Dennis, Aron, Sam....hope I didn't miss anyone in the chaos.
It was a day that everyone got as much as they wanted.
Big thanks to Dave, Bacil, Charlie for helping out launching and driving!
Aron

2/01/22

Spoons came out and just caught the landing. Snow was only like 3 inches.
It was good to catch up. We chatted for a bit as Julie and I packed up the glider.
Julie brought up the "trunk monkey" video Spoons had sent. We laughed a bit and got some new ideas...we need a trunk monkey hang gliding assistant. Spoons said the monkey needs to be an inner surface wing walker. (Did you ever see the monkey on motorcycle side car racing?)
The trunk monkey needs a turbulence control rating. I could have used it today. I was needing one, as I fussed with zipping in my harness I dropped a left wing hard into a dive or something as I was trying to get up on the ridge. Fortunately the wing away from the ridge was the dropper.
When not saving your butt, the trunk monkey could attend to all the zipping, and unzipping, putting on and off the VG, defogging your visor, videoing, etc.
Overall the air was nice but somewhat textured. The southeast facing launch was melted off. The launching was a bit tricky judging a cycle to go in. At some point I decided it was safer to fly away in a brief lull than stand there fighting the wind on launch.
Again, I stuck the vario in my harness pouch to avoid looking at it. The flight was about an hour or plus? Gains were 400 to 500 over.
So I go out to land and I'm in the mode and I had already unzipped the harness and I'm circling wide at about 700 AGL over the barn and lz and find this fat thermal...crap, it might have been fun to try a low save in warmer weather...I was done, didn't chase it becase I was cold and ready to be done.
Knowing I had lots of room to land and some turbulence was felt, I stayed far away from the power lines...I chose to land in the "Hatchet" and the wind was more south at this point.
I'd say the high temp was 35ish today so it was pretty nice for February 1.
Big thanks to Julie for coming to assist on this venture.
A bunch of people stopped at the overlook to check it out and talk. As I flew over a person with horse and an open buggy cart pulled off at the overlook and waved up and I waved from the air.
Let's fly soon. Hope we get a day for the Sac one of these days!
Aron

3/5/22

I got up top around 1:30 , Bacil already flew and landed . Bari (sp) and Allan B were setting up. It was overcast but the wind was a steady 6 to 8 nearly straight in so I set up. Allan launched and pulled off a nice save from 150 below right of launch and was on the deck a couple times. Bari was next and milked a sled. He was really low before he headed out. William showed up and helped zip me up and wire me. I had a super nice launch after waiting for a stronger left cross to pass . The sun broke out by then and got almost 1100 over in ever changing conditions. Lift was raspy then nice after an hour or so William launched and conditions mellowed to real nice air .... My landing was approach must have looked weird, I circled down pretty low to get drift direction because I couldn't find any of the streamers. I guessed pretty good and after dropping in the last 80 feet I saw that I needed to go left a bit to land into the wind ...I ran it out , didn't need to flair in the strong wind. William landed then Allan and after debriefing each other we realized we were ditched so I waved some cash with my thumb out and got a ride up to my truck (thanks Will and Allan for chipping in)... That guy saved the day! The sun was getting low...Back on top conditions were perfect... We could have flown till sunset ....

Dave

Dave's report sums it up nicely. When I launched the conditions were marginal. The thermals were punchy and on the small side. There was not much ridge lift at times. I got below launch after takeoff and had to work to get up above the ridge. After that I was able to stay up over the ridge and only once did I get down to ridge level. After Bari had landed the ridge lift got more consistent. By the time Will launched it was easy to stay up. Will went up the ridge about 5 miles to the big power lines so I followed him. On the way back I was flying with the bar to my waist with a ground speed between 30 to 35 MPH. Even at that speed I never got lower then 400' above launch altitude. My highest point was 1400' over launch and the flight was 2 hours and 40 minutes long. Nice and easy launch and landing.

Allan B.

Yes I had a good launch- the wind was picking up like ventusky sky predicted/ had a good cycle. Flew for an hour- got up to 1100' over launch. Flew past big power lines then came back near launch and soared some scrappy thermals then went to land and Dave pointed out the wind direction Cuz had a hard time seeing the streamers.
Will H

04/25/22

t was a morning to afternoon day at Jacks.
In the morning it was more calm conditions. About 10:45 Rocco took to the air with his first flight at Jacks. Nice launch! Landed in the big field on the near side of the road.
Sam was next up around 12:45. Sam launched in stronger conditions. Made some passes and stayed up for a bit then made the wise choice to go land when he got below the ridge (likely thermal down draft). The vario wasn't operational either, so he was just free flying. He said it was one of his best most perfect landings...and crap as Murphy's law would have it the camera battery was kaput.
Aron was next about 2:15. Air was pretty active. Got into some strong lift and strong sink. Had a couple over the falls experiences and other turbulence with wire twangs...decided to go land after 53 minutes of roller coaster flying. Holy crap, it was strong lift over the lz fields. Stayed far away from the power lines, did diving slipping turns, went other places looking for some sink, more diving turns trying to get down in combination with making my harness into a droge chute with one leg pulling it forward all while trying to spiral down from 1000ft. Landing was fine at the end into little bit of wind with 2 steps. (hard to believe becase it could have been rough and bad. At about 20 ft I think I flew out the back of a thermal and there was no more headwind, just kind of sank down with not much airspeed even though pulled in for speed...I flared for all it was worth at the end).
Will went next at about 3pm? Will had some of the same stuff with weightlessness and wire twangs. Will chime in here...you were up a long time and had a great long flight!
Julie helped us all today on rides etc. - Thanks.
Glad you all came out...what a time!
Let's fly soon,
Aron

Today I had a most excellent flight at Jacks mountain.

The sky was mostly clear except for some high haze. When I left home it was totally overcast with a few sprinkles.

The wind was strait in around 10 mph. blustery and strong. We felt warm and cold air passing by us.

Sam launched first and had a short flight but he was very happy with it. Said he had a good flare.

Aron launched next and also had a good flight. He said it was a little rough in some spots.

My flight was just over 2 hours and very productive. Although only gaining 1k ft over launch a few times, the lift lines and thermals are getting

easier to figure out. I flew nearly to the 322 gap and I have to say crossing those high voltage power lines is serious business.

The landing approach was well executed and I'm very pleased with my flare.

Although on the high side I gave an extra push on the flare and just parachuted down about 2 feet to the ground.

Thanks to Sam and Arons wife Julie for the launch assist and to Aron and Julie for hanging around till I landed.

Aron has this awesome tell tale wind streamer pole everyone must see!

Lets fly soon

William R. Hnyla

5/24/22

Steve V and I went up and waited til the damp air passed. I decided not to fly and drive for Steve . He got above and made a dozen passes before heading out between two rainy cells that threatened to get his glider wet. We met two sailplane pilots taking photos of sailplanes whizzing by. They invited us to a meeting where they want to start a local soaring club. Steve and I went and had pizza and beer and signed up for their news letter. It sounds like it might happen because they have an older two seater trainer lined up. If it develops I'd love to take lessons and fly stick and rudder! Afterward I fired up a brush pile and Steve and I had a mini Hyner ... He is camping here and plans to fly Jack's early tomorrow before the winds get too strong.. I plan to check it out noonish...

Dave

5/25/22

Mark D and I went and got a vehicle at the farm to the right of normal lZ because the wind had an east cross down there. Mark hadn't flown in 2.5 years and had a bad case of butterflies. Launch wind was strong but lulls were nice and smooth at 8 to 10 ... We basically gambled that we weren't going to get smacked by a 100 mph sailplane because they were whizzing by just were we would be if we pushed out and ballooned up. We decided to fly straight out and get some distance away from the ridge first and then climb and that worked out. Mark got almost 2800 over i only got 1650...I had a chance to get to cloud base in a boomer thermal but bailed since the truck was out front .The air was routy

at times and landing was exciting. I semi beaked in severe gradient conditions.. Mark had a good landing....I went to the airport afterwards to ask about the safety concerns and it seems that the best solution would of been having a radio on their frequency and announce our intentions .... I got a real good supper there!

Dave

6/5/22

The wind at Jack's looked promising earlier on but backed off more and more as time passed. Mark D went first and ran on the flat but the glider nose raised progressively till he "bout stalled it right at the lip and then Swooped big time and had to push out near the saplings not to hit them. It was amazing he pulled it off. He then sank flying to farm on right till he found a thermal -500 and pulled of a fantastic save. With very little drift managed to get 2000+ over launch and later 4100 over and froze. I launched next and tried the run on flat technique keeping my nose down.. I underestimated my acceleration distance (should of backed up 6 more feet) and swooped launch into 5 to 6 mph wind. I pulled in and buzzed the saplings and headed out to the thermal spot Mark located and it was there. I got 2100 over from -500...After a total sinkout that both Mark and I experienced I hung out over the farm another 15 minutes gaining almost 300 from -660 till i lost it. Drift was from the west... Flared too late and belly rolled in a gradient just like Mark...We were stoked as we tore down! We got back up top and Rooco was getting ready...Mark and I split so I could return his jacket and came back to miss Rocco's flight but saw Joe G above... Apparently he followed suit and got his lift ticket over the farm too. I stuck around and convinced Allan B that Jack's is notorious for late evening wind pick up and with enough patience waited till the Jack's mountain shadow was on the trees of the foothill (it was neat to see the obvious slot shadow)Allan had a good launch with a shorter run and two steps down and was above in a minute... He got 30 mins guessing and I drove his nice truck down to assist waving good bye to Joe....

After a bit of discussion about running on the flat. I think it should be used only in super low wind days and the site should be sculpted back to a similar rounded lip and go back to the running down the slope to get the necessary air speed...That lip is just too abrupt ...

Dave

8/28/22

Hmmm, Where to begin? Steve V stopped by my place and caught up on our current projects ... later, on his second flight landed on my brother's farm across from the winery...His first flight he landed at he the curved right lz.. The air was not gentile ... If you found lift it was best to not to bop about because there was Massive sink between thermal spots. Allan B had a good long flight 2.5 hrs + (not sure...gained 1500+) His launch was uneventful. I went next testing my new used Discus and should of kept my nose down a tad more to get the extra last step push off but was airborne and swooped on purpose. The mound I piled up seems to help the transition over the lip. I'm wondering if it effects the wind flow? Dennis had a close call ...glider dipped left wing as he committed and he lucked out... I didn't see it and didn't see Sam's launch ..heard it was a swooper... I managed a 1200 climb but spent a lot of time low on the deck causeI bopped about. I lost 300 in 30 seconds once ...I flew for 50 minutes about .A giant cloud shadow sunk me but had a one stepper landing after changing fields due to switched wind direction at 100 feet over the lz... Sam did in a downtube due to changing his mind on approach... He shouldn't have flown he was suffering heat exhaustion before he flew and could hardly tear down his glider...Dennis rolled in after 30 minutes (had harness issues) Allan was last to land ....Dennis , Sam and I went to JP's for supper and had a good debriefing and lots of laughs...

Dave

9/2/22

Allan B had the flight of the day with a nice low save to 1600 over and several more saves... I was second and got an extendo ... I didn't find the house thermal and quickly landed to not worry about traffic cause Tom from Indiana was at my height just before approach time.. the winds shut down for several hours then started up with steadier smoother winds. Rocco, Brian, Dave from WV and William sledded. I think if they waited a little longer they might of soared... It did pick up more as I went home. Dave

9/10/22

It was one of those days where the wind sniffs dacron and disses those who dare use it.

I launched first after backing off and waiting for 6 mph motion mid slot... I swooped on purpose and hung a left as soon as I felt solid. I flew over 1.5 to 1.75 miles . To my surprise I could see that I was going up and got over a dip and was above...kept going along the higher side of the dip and verified the fact I was good to go and to let everybody see that it was soarible..I only got 440 tops...was mostly 200 then it backed off later and was on the deck... I had enough so an hour later landed.. Soon after I showed myself soaring Allan B had a nice launch and was above in no time (got 1hr+)...Will P was next and he did what I did and went long to got above (got 1hr ). Sam P was next and focused on his landing and landed on his feet. That makes a sledder a little more worthy... By the time Mark was on launch the wind was super light and too risky to launch ....More saplings must go....It is safe at 7 mph iffly at 5..anyways, he was a sport about it and broke down on top...all in all it was still fun to hang out with fellow dacron abusers....

Dave

10/22/22

My flight at Jacks today. I launched around 3:00 and it was light ridge lift, difficult to stay up at first. Around 4:00 it got easier to stay up the thermals were formed better and the ridge lift was more consistent. Around 4:30 it got very easy to stay up on ridge lift. My total time was 2 hours 33 minutes. 1300' over launch. Thanks for letting me know you guys were going and the ride up to launch.

Allan B.

I'll fill in some other flights... Steve V got 4 in and on his last flight flew to the Reedsville gap and went over the back and landed at Sheetz, hitched a ride to my place and I took him back up top..We had a nice meal at JP's after...Mark D and Will P and I had short unabove flights... We should have waited... It got better like Allan said...

Dave

10/25/22

"So I heard about 5 pilots flew Jacks on Tuesday and got all the AT they wanted, but only 400 over." - Aron

The five pilots were Roger, William H, Sam p, Dennis, and me... Late launches starting around 5:00 wind was 6 to 8 till a big cloud shaded to sunset...super smooth air..." - Dave

10/30/22

It was a rerun of the Allan B - Steve V show...Allan went first and scratched and got above multiple times in 5 to 8 winds.Steve was second and got up easier but got low multiple times too.. They got 2hrs...Will P got above briefly then headed out..Will H sledded , Aron got above briefly then sledded and I sledded... I got a left hand turn tweaked out of my Discus so I was happy about my short flight... It was nice, not cold , soon it will be...

Dave

11/09/22

Flying Jack's was challenging today. Dennis went first had a near perfect launch and got 550 over but sank out 25 minutes later .. Conditions were light 5 to 8 and the sink was always threatening. I went second (thanks Steve, for assisting me an Dennis) Swooped launch in 5 mph turned left immediately and scratched my way above over the stone pile. The thermals were punchy and i was locked out multiple times ... managed a 1000 foot gain but was hanging out around 300 to 500 ..hit 600 several times ...got an hour ... Steve had a good one and also did battle s saving a below a ridge top to eventually getting 1000 and going over the back. He hitched back to the top and we talked with Roger . He backed off cause it got lighter...We debriefed at JP's for supper with a pitcher of beer and great discussions... All in all a great fall day! Dave

5/18/23

This isn't the official report by Spoons. 5 pilots.... flew guessing 300 over to 3000 over? if a good one was snagged. Was right cross. It seemed like we all landed to the west which was a first for me there at Jacks. There was quite a headwind to get back if you ventured left of launch. Thank you Mark, Jeanie, and Julie for assisting us today. Dave, you probably got a better report...this is just a primer. Aron

Jacks had soaring conditions today but it was not easy. The thermals were rough and would keep dumping you. There were times you could find a good core and get 1600' to 2200' over launch. But there was a lot of sink around so you would lose the altitude again and end up in the ridge lift which was not very good because of a South cross. Four pilots soared and Sam got an extended sledder. Allan B.

I'll just add that Bill V got 2400 over ....My best I got was 1300 ...I was heading out to land and was just past he tree line 200 below, I ran into a the nicest thermal that drifted real south. It was the only thermal that didn't didn't dump me at the up wind edge. I was beat from fighting the previous thermals so my smile grew ....Conditions mellowed as usual as the sun gets lower.. It wasn't easy air. It was a fight with typical spring punches. Dave

The pucker factor indicator was at red line several times...between the bumpy air, sink, bursts of lift and the sailplanes whizzing by underneath. There was a spot a to the right of launch that seemed to have thermals popping off frequently. One thermal was feeling so strong I was scared by it. The vario pegged. I sort of freaked out death gripped the bar and pulled in and tried to get away from it, maybe I hit the core briefly. But it was broken bullet thermals up till that point so I figured it would soon dump me anyways. Later in that same spot to the right of launch a giant smooth thermal came through and it didn't seem to be drifting too much so it gave time for several turns, that was a nice one. All said and done it was great flying with you all, catching up with everyone...and now that it is over, the tank is full, and I really am appreciative of what hang gliding and the whole community brings to our lives! Aron

5/23/23

I just got home from flying Jacks. On the way up I picked up Steve hitch'n ...He landed at Belleville Menonite School soccer field. He wired me off and I spent 25 minutes scratching in south crossed wind. I finally got a nice thermal and it bloomed the higher i got. I lost it at 2000 over and decided that I might make the soccer field if I go. As soon as I committed I sunk big time and at 100 below I got back to 750 over and hung out for 15 minutes over the field til a sink cycle ended my chances of hanging on and had a sweet landing. It was only 40 some minutes but it was great. As i was packing up Steve flew down the ridge two or three miles east and went over the back . He got a ride to the top to get in a third flight. I'll probably see him fly by later. this just in...Steve just stopped in and he decided not to go for a third flight because it crossed to the south... Dave

5/28/23

Jack's was working . I got an hour ten . I launched into 8 mph smooth (straight in) wind and went long to the left and got above and was golden for an hour. The sun was blocked by a thin overcast cloud deck that kept things very mellow. The highest I got was only 220 over and I was down to 90 near the end. Of course the sun broke out after getting back up top. (hitched a ride) The wind was still coming in and I'm not sure if it went magic later on. I should of went up yesterday. It was sunny and not that crossed. Jack's is fine in ESE if there is enough wind or sun... Dave

5/29/23

Will Hynla and I flew Jacks Monday 29 May. I launched soon after 4:00 and got up on ridge/thermal lift, for a while I was only getting 500' over launch. Later in the flight I caught a very good thermal that took me up to 6700' MSL and I still wasn't up to cloud base. Will launched about an hour later and got up and had an hour or so flight. My flight was over 2 hours. Allan B.

5/31/23

Dennis rallied me to go with him and Sam so I went ...They were doing the vehicle thing when I showed and the wind was a 8 nearly straight in until we got setup. On cue it backed of to 5 with lulls of 2 maybe... Dennis went , swooped (no run) a step or two would have gotten him farther out and less puckered... Sam went next and also swooped . both of them sleded. I almost backed of but went in a 3 or 4 puff swooped and went long to the left . I didn't get above but found some little chunks of lift heading back and lucked out with a 200 over safety margin . I probed upwind and got into a sweet slow climber that got me 2300 over. I was way over the back and when I headed back lost 400 and I decided to make Dennis and Sam a turn point at the lz and flew over them at 1600 over ...I thought I'd give it another go but din't find any and sunk down to landing. The flag switched on me at 150 over the field so I adjusted and then it must of switched back on final and I had one ugly landing..Dennis helped me bow back my left down tube. The crazy thing is they never saw me fly. Just me walking my glider back to tear down. Oh well. Dave

6/19/23

Steve V bopped in and talked me into flying Jack's. It was around 6:30 when he wired me off into a stiff ESE wind. Got above easily and zoomed back to launch to let Steve in on the cross wind. I got 630 over in rather smooth air. It didn't have any bite to it. The overcast haze kept it muzzled. Steve got 700 over and was nearly parked most of the time. I got an hour and Steve 45 minutes... We stuck our thumbs out and got a ride, Steve fetched my truck and afterwords went to JP's for a beer... Too late for food so Burger King had to do...Hung out at my place and had a beer in the warm night wind... Dave

8/6/23

Jack's was the place to be. Launch wind was 5 to 8 mostly straight in with big patches of sun...Allan B went first and easily got up. Jim M was next and zoomed off in his super ship! William H was third then Aron and I was last. Will was sinking in a sink cycle and was heading out when I launched . I had to scratch for a while but once above was golden. I think Allan got 2200 over Jim and I got 2000 ....At 1200 it was goofy...I went upwind and found a good thermal that punched thru the goofy drifting over the back. Landing was another story., at least for Will and me.... The sock was dead and the gradient caught us by surprise. Will was ice packing his shoulder when I plowed in just like he did. Aron might post the video of the mayhem...no down tubes were spent at least....back on top we had a hilarious conversation... wind had picked up to 10+ so we could have stayed up longer , the sky didn't give us a clue if it was going to threaten or not.. I 'm home and hear thunder so it was a good call. Dave

It was nice to fly Jacks again ( it's been quite a while). I arrived at launch around 10:30 to find Alan B, we unloaded and setup, took our cars down and met Will H in the LZ at 11:30. Back up top and launchs commenced shortly after. It was my first foot launch since last Aug ,( just like riding a bike,) off I went and got up with ease at 1pm, worked my way east on the ridge just passed the big OHT wires. Headed back towards launch and watched Aron and Dave launch. About the same time Alan B returned from Reedsville gap and we all traded places in thermals, some of which were a steady 500fpm although most were in the 250- 300 range. The early birds definitely got the worm today, I landed one minute shy of 2 hours in the air, and was home by 7pm . Thank you everyone for making it a truly fun day. Hope to see you in the mountains again soon. Jim M

9/28/23

Allan B, Steve V and I flew Jack's. Steve got two in. His first flight Steve whited out and went over the back and soared Stone mtn . The bench discouraged the soaring there so he hitched a ride back to find Allan and me setting up...Allan went got up easily in raspy wind . I had to scratch to get above ( wind backed of to 5 or 6 mph) It picked up again and had three saves below launch . Conditions got nicer as time passed and I managed several meaty climbs. I cored one banked past 45. I topped at 1620 over ..Allan got 1800. Steve got 1700 after a failed launch . He luckily didn't get tangled in the trees and sorted his wing out 40 minutes later for another go. The Lz is wide open with all the corn harvested. The landings were all good. Steve and I debriefed at JP's afterwords....It was a challenging day but great. I'll be stiff tomorrow!
Dave

10/4/23

Allan and I got to fly in smooth hang two air. Allan got 2hr20 and 1200 over. I got an hour and a half and 750. I had to take a breather during setup. I got a little woosie so I slowed down and cooled off. launched 45 min after Allan. There were hundreds of spotted lantern bugs everywhere on top. Quite annoying too! Landing direction was odd. Final for both of us was heading NW... I flared late and rolled in again... Dave

10/05/23

I earned my Man Badge today. After tweaking my glider for a inherent left turn I got a bird counter guy and stranger to wire me off in a 15 mph wind . The air was strong rodeo air but the thermals weren't torn too bad. I climbed first to 950 and headed more east and upwind, down at 600 I got a nice one that drifted me south so i committed to it going over the back at 1500 and sunk soon after heading towards BMS soccer field . At 200 below bumped into a boomer that was a hand full got 500 back and easily got to the field. I hit another that was super routy and figured I was pushing my luck so I bailed. and did a near vertical decent landing in gusty 15 to 20 switching wind. Struggled to get my glider near the road to enhance the hitch hiking factor. It worked and got my truck just as smooth as can be! The flight was short but on purpose. got 45 min. Dave